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 of public land on behalf of the NSW Government.
History
In 1871, as settlement advanced through the
Colony of New South Wales
The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...
, with land cleared for cultivation, trees
ringbarked
Girdling, also called ring-barking, is the complete removal of the bark (consisting of cork cambium or "phellogen", phloem, cambium and sometimes going into the xylem) from around the entire circumference of either a branch or trunk of a woody ...
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. By 1905, more than three million hectares of land was in timber reserves.
The first attempt at a commercial pine plantation was made at Tuncurry State Forest on the mid-north coast in 1912. Eucalypt plantations followed in 1939–40 at Wallaroo State Forest and Whian Whian State Forest (now
Whian Whian State Conservation Area
Whian Whian State Conservation Area is one of the protected areas of New South Wales, operated by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. By 1971, of pine plantation had been established.
In 1916 the '' Forestry Act 1916'' was enacted and the Forestry Commission of NSW, a government department reporting to the
Minister for Forests
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
, was established to manage the state's forests. This legislation was replaced by the '' Forestry Act 2012'' and the Forestry Commission was corporatised.
The
Black Summer
''Black Summer'' is a comic book limited series written by Warren Ellis, illustrated by Juan Jose Ryp, and published by Avatar Press starting in June 2007. The plot revolves around the consequences of a superhero, John Horus, who kills the Presi ...
bushfires of summer 2019-20 burnt half of Forestry Corporation's native forest estate and a quarter of its softwood plantations. of multiple-use state forests, including coastal native forests,
cypress
Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the ...
forests and red gum forests, approximately of softwood timber plantations in the central west, south and north of New South Wales and just under of hardwood timber plantations in north east NSW. Around of forests are permanently set aside for conservation. The land managed by Forestry Corporation is primarily State Forests, with small areas of freehold and private land managed through joint investment partnerships.
Compliance
The
NSW Environment Protection Authority
The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is an independent statutory authority that sits in the Environment portfolio as part of the Planning, Industry and Environment cluster. The NSW EPA was established as an independent governing Board ...
has described Forestry Corporation as having a "history of noncompliance".Mogo State Forest, and habitat for ''Critically Endangered'' Swift parrots at Bodalla State Forest and Boyne State Forest.koala habitat exclusion zones at
Wild Cattle Creek State Forest
Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to:
Common meanings
* Wildlife, Wild animal
* Wilderness, a wild natural environment
* Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed
Art, media and entertainment Film and television
* Wild (2014 film), ''Wi ...
.NSW Greens,World Wildlife Fund, Wilderness Australia, However, in June 2022, the NSW
Agriculture Minister
An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
signalled that the government has no plans to phase out logging of native hardwood in state forests.