Assessing the sustainability of private native forestry using biodiversity surrogates and metrics

Biodiversity surrogates and their compiled metric scoring systems are increasingly used by governments to monitor compliance with environmental standards and certification schemes, and to direct natural resource management investments to on-ground activities. Biodiversity surrogates and related metrics were developed as techniques to rapidly assess vegetation condition and to rank the expected habitat biodiversity value. The metrics include assessment of forest stands relative to regional benchmarks, and the connectivity to nearby remnant vegetation. This report uses four case studies in northern NSW, eastern Victoria and southern Tasmania, to examine the applicability of biodiversity metrics to assessing the ecological sustainability of private native forestry under different forest management inputs.