The Practice Guide provides detailed advice on how to undertake critical load and site impact assessments to ensure forestry does not cause adverse impacts on water quality in acid sensitive water catchments.

Forestry is known to affect the acidifi cation of waters, principally due to the ability of forest canopies to capture more acid sulphur and nitrogen pollutants from the atmosphere than shorter types of vegetation. As a result, it is important to manage forestry within vulnerable areas to ensure acidifi cation is not exacerbated and opportunities for improvement are realised.