The Forestry Corporation of NSW is a state-owned corporation that has been appointed to manage environmental conservation, community access, tourism, fire, land management and renewable timber production across 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) of public land on behalf of the NSW Government.[4][5]
History
In 1871, as settlement advanced through the Colony of New South Wales, with land cleared for cultivation, trees ringbarked for grazing and timber used for the development of the colony, the first forest reserves were proclaimed with the aim of preserving the timber resource of the colony.[6][7] By 1905, more than three million hectares of land was in timber reserves.[6]
The Black Summer bushfires of summer 2019-20 burnt half of Forestry Corporation's native forest estate and a quarter of its softwood plantations.[8]
Operations
Forestry Corporation manages 2,186,893 hectares (5,403,930 acres)[9] of multiple-use state forests, including coastal native forests, cypress forests and red gum forests, approximately 225,000 hectares (560,000 acres) of softwood timber plantations in the central west, south and north of New South Wales and just under 35,000 hectares (86,000 acres) of hardwood timber plantations in north east NSW.[4] Around 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of forests are permanently set aside for conservation.[4] The land managed by Forestry Corporation is primarily State Forests, with small areas of freehold and private land managed through joint investment partnerships.[9]
Several groups have called for an end to native forestry in NSW, including the NSW Greens,[10]World Wildlife Fund,[12] Wilderness Australia,[8] National Parks Association of NSW,[13] and Nature Conservation Council of NSW.[14] However, in June 2022, the NSW Agriculture Minister signalled that the government has no plans to phase out logging of native hardwood in state forests.[14]