Australia

Australia's timber industry has historically been based on the native eucalyptus forests. In recent decades, plantations have tended to expand slowly until relatively recently. The last 10 years has seen a 51% increase in plantation area, including a 150% increase in hardwood plantations. There are currently just over 2 million hectares, roughly ½ being hardwoods – dominated by eucalyptus, and ½ being softwoods – dominated by radiata pine. This accounts for less than .3% of the land area of the country. By comparison, native forests cover 147 million hectares, and farming and grazing utilized 473 million hectares.