A book entitled 'Wattles: Australian Acacia Species Around the World' was published in November 2023. It has reviewed the 'biology, ecology, biogeography and management' of the clade of 1082 species. It examines their spread around the world both as commercial species and invasives. The book represents a very major contribution to the literature on acacias and includes 31 chapters written by 120 authors from 17 countries. The aim of this perspective paper is to provide useful introductory information to assist the management of native and plantation forests both in Australia and overseas under conditions of changing climates. It considers the following three key points that provide additional information to complement the 'Wattles' book: 1) The Atlas of Living Australia provides very detailed information on environmental conditions at native occurrence sites of acacia species, as well as powerful tools for bioclimatic analysis, 2) Australian advances in bioclimatic analysis provided not only the basis for modern species distribution modelling (SDM) but also for a 2023 SDM analysis of nearly 50 000 tree species, including most Australian Acacia species, 3) SDM analyses can help to suggest which Australian Acacia species and which occurrence areas may be most vulnerable to climate change impacts in future years. The development of a global tree trial database, which collates data from ex situ trials of Australian acacias, as well as for other woody species, is recommended. • A new book has reviewed the ecology/management of Australian Acacia species. • Modern species distribution modelling (SDM) was developed in Australia. • The Atlas of Living Australia provides occurrence data and SDM analysis tools. • Climatic requirements of most of the 1082 Acacia species have been analysed. • SDM analyses identify occurrences most vulnerable to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]