FOR00109 Forest Land Use and Management
FOR00109/FOR03082 Forest Modelling and Management
Assessment 2 – Critique of management plan
10%, due Monday 9 December; Max 3 pages.
This assignment is to prepare a critique of selected content of a published forest (or natural resource)
management plan. The purpose is for you to become familiar with the nature of forest management plans in
Australia, especially regarding growth predictions and simulated future scenarios. I prefer to use a draft plan that
is open for comment so that this exercise can be a productive real-world enterprise. Sadly, this year I can’t find a
elevant draft plan, so we will have to work with existing plans.
You can review any recent (less than 10 years old) forest management plan for any public forest in Australia. I
offer a list of electronic resources overleaf. If you want to review a foreign forest management plan, or a
management plan for a non-forest natural resource that’s OK, but talk to me first, and show me a copy of the
plan you have in mind - before you commence your assignment.
Note that your critique need not be negative, and shouldn’t simply criticize. When you’re critical, try to be
constructive, and offer suggestions as to how things could be done better. And comment on the good aspects too.
Ideally, this assignment should be consistent with, or expand upon the checklist you prepared for assignment 1.
You might like to bear in mind the advice Hartley (2006; box below) offered in respect of book reviews.
Note that the plan should not just be a statement of
what is going to be done, but (in my view) should also
explain how those decisions were taken (e.g., Was
there community consultation, and if so, how was it
done?), and discuss the implications of the plan for all
stakeholders. Accordingly, you may wish to comment
on the process of preparing the plan, on its intended
audience, and its relevance to that audience (e.g., How
much jargon?) – but remember to focus your
assignment on the predictions and future scenarios.
In previous years, some students have struggled with
the size of some of these plans. You don’t need to read it from cover to cover: I prefer that you read salient parts
from a couple of plans, rather than getting bogged in the detail of one plan. Hopefully you will have already
eflected on the need to monitor the resource, and use the right indicators, so keep these in mind, and remember
the utility of a few key indicators, rather than an endless list. Hopefully, by the time you submit this assignment,
our classes will have equipped you to understand the capabilities of models, and you have a view of what can be
modelled, and what conclusions may be drawn. And this assignment should help you decide a sensible scale and
level of detail for estate-level planning.
Remember, this is a 10% assignment, with a page limit of 3 pages, so keep it
ief and to the point. The learning
outcomes for this assignment are for you to be familiar with the norms, strengths and weaknesses of forest
management planning in Australia.
Finally, some advice to guide your assignment writing… In your assignment, I’m looking for several things, so
one mark each for
1. Evidence that you’ve read a management plan and are familiar with the norm in your field;
2. Evidence that you’ve formed your own view about what such a plan should comprise;
3. Ability to recognise and comment on strong aspects of such a plan;
4. Ability to recognise and offer constructive suggestions to improve weak aspects of a plan (2 marks);
5. Your reflections on the adequacy and explanation of modelling and forecasting of key parts of the
esource (3 marks);
6. Your comments on the practicality of the plan, and whether progress can be monitored;
7. Observations on the planned timeframe and on the process for review and renewal of the plan.
Suggested reading (some is rather dated, but still represents – in my view – a useful summary…)
Bettinger and others, 2009. Forest Management and Planning. Elsevier XXXXXXXXXXFORE
Dennis-Perez, 1998. Forest Management Planning.
http:
extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/NR_FF_003.pdf
Hartley, J, 2006. Reading and writing book reviews across the disciplines. JASIST 57: XXXXXXXXXX.
Higman and others, 1999, The Sustainable Forestry Handbook, Chapter 15. (SCU Li
ary: 634.9 SUST) or
on-line here https:
ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.scu.edu.au/li
scu/detail.action?docID=429897
Moore & Rodger, 2009. Learning from others: A selective review of management planning approaches in
Australia. http:
esearchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/2865/1/management_planning_approaches.pdf
Examples of recent forest management plans
NSW
https:
www.forestrycorporation.com.au/old XXXXXXXXXX/management/esfm
http:
www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/132249/U
an-Forest-Strategy-Adopted-Feb-
2013.pdf
QLD
http:
www.nprsr.qld.gov.au/managing/plans-strategies/pdf/master-plan-qld-parks-forests-to-2015.pdf
http:
www.timberqueensland.com.au/Growing/The-Plan.aspx
SA
https:
onefortyone.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Forest-Managment-Plan-OFO_FINAL-for-
web.pdf
Tas
https:
www.stategrowth.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/160141/Tasmanian_Special_Species_
Management_Plan_October_2017.pdf
Vic
https:
www.gunaikurnai.com.au/joint-management/the-plan
http:
li
ary.intranet.vic.gov.au/client/en_US/VGLS-
public/search
esults?qu=management+plan&te=ASSET&rt=false%7C%7C%7CTITLE%7C%7C%7
CTitle
WA
https:
www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/management/forests/managing-our-forests/161-a-plan-for-managing-
our-state-s-south-west-forests
http:
extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/NR_FF_003.pdf
https:
ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.scu.edu.au/li
scu/detail.action?docID=429897
http:
esearchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/2865/1/management_planning_approaches.pdf
https:
www.forestrycorporation.com.au/old XXXXXXXXXX/management/esfm
http:
www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/132249/U
an-Forest-Strategy-Adopted-Feb-2013.pdf
http:
www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/132249/U
an-Forest-Strategy-Adopted-Feb-2013.pdf
http:
www.nprsr.qld.gov.au/managing/plans-strategies/pdf/master-plan-qld-parks-forests-to-2015.pdf
http:
www.timberqueensland.com.au/Growing/The-Plan.aspx
https:
onefortyone.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Forest-Managment-Plan-OFO_FINAL-for-web.pdf
https:
onefortyone.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Forest-Managment-Plan-OFO_FINAL-for-web.pdf
https:
www.stategrowth.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/160141/Tasmanian_Special_Species_Management_Plan_October_2017.pdf
https:
www.stategrowth.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/160141/Tasmanian_Special_Species_Management_Plan_October_2017.pdf
https:
www.gunaikurnai.com.au/joint-management/the-plan
http:
li
ary.intranet.vic.gov.au/client/en_US/VGLS-public/search
esults?qu=management+plan&te=ASSET&rt=false%7C%7C%7CTITLE%7C%7C%7CTitle
http:
li
ary.intranet.vic.gov.au/client/en_US/VGLS-public/search
esults?qu=management+plan&te=ASSET&rt=false%7C%7C%7CTITLE%7C%7C%7CTitle
http:
li
ary.intranet.vic.gov.au/client/en_US/VGLS-public/search
esults?qu=management+plan&te=ASSET&rt=false%7C%7C%7CTITLE%7C%7C%7CTitle
https:
www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/management/forests/managing-our-forests/161-a-plan-for-managing-our-state-s-south-west-forests
https:
www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/management/forests/managing-our-forests/161-a-plan-for-managing-our-state-s-south-west-forests