A PROFILE OF THE NORTHERN NSW PRIVATE FOREST RESOURCE AND THE PRIVATE NATIVE FOREST INDUSTRY   6. The Hardwood Plantation Resource Unlike the private native forest resource, which is owned and managed by private individuals or companies, the hardwood plantation resource comprises a mixture of:   plantations on land owned and managed by private individuals and companies; plantations on land owned by private individuals or companies, but managed or partly managed by the State Government (Forests NSW) or private companies in leasing or joint venture arrangements; and plantations on Crown land (State Forest) managed solely by Forests NSW. Rather than attempt to differentiate between these three categories, for the purpose of this report the hardwood plantation resource in the Northern Rivers region is considered as a whole and includes both public and privately managed plantations.   Prior to 1994 the vast bulk of hardwood plantations were on State Forest, with only very small, fragmented areas (mainly cabinet species) established on private land. There are no reliable records of the area on private land, but it is insignificant.   Since 1994 most of the hardwood plantation development has been undertaken by Forests NSW under their Eucalypt Plantation Program and by private plantation development companies from Queensland, Tasmania and more recently Western Australia. The Forests NSW program has mainly involved joint venture and leasing (annuity) agreements with private landowners or establishment on purchased land. The private companies have established plantations on purchased land or under leasing agreements with landowners.   The plantation area data presented in under 6.1 and 6.2 below represents plantations authorised by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR, previously the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources or DIPNR) under the Plantations and Reafforestation Act (P&R Act) 1999 and accompanying Code of Practice (for more information see Section 8.3). Authorised plantations are provided with harvest guarantee under the Act. Transitional arrangements allowed for plantations authorised under a previous Act to be authorised under the P&R Act.   There would be smaller plantations scattered across the landscape that were established under the exemption to the Act (less than 30 hectares) or where authorisation has not been sought, however data is not available and in any case their contribution to the total hardwood plantation area would be minimal.   6.1 Hardwood Plantations on State Forest Established Prior to 1994   The pre 1994 State Forest plantation area comprises plantations purchased from APM Forests in the Coffs Harbour-Bellingen region, from the former Banana Growers Federation in the Tweed and plantations established by Forests NSW elsewhere. It includes areas that were cleared and planted but does not include areas of even aged regrowth established by sowing or other intensive silvicultural practices.   The 2002 report recorded a total of about 11,400 hectares of pre 1994 plantations on State Forest. About 60% of this area was located in the Bellingen LGA, 23% in the Coffs Harbour LGA 11% in the Clarence valley LGA. The remainder comprises smaller areas in Lismore, Tweed, Byron and Kyogle LGA’s.   Since 2002 about 1,000 hectares of this pre 1994 plantation resource has been transferred from Forests NSW management to National Park. About 860 hectares was transferred direct to National Park under the National Park (Reservation) Act 2003, including all plantations in the Tweed, Lismore and Byron LGAs, as well as some plantations in Coffs Harbour and Bellingen LGAs. A small additional area of plantations in Coffs Harbour and Bellingen LGAs (about 100 hectares) are subject to transfer to National Park by July 2006, following harvesting by Forests NSW.   The area of pre 1994 plantations remaining on State Forest is about 10,400 hectares and is shown by LGA in Table 6.1.   6.2 Hardwood Plantations Established since 1994   In 2002 the post 1994 hardwood plantation area was estimated at about 22,500 hectares. Since then, a further area of about 8,000 hectares has been established or has been authorised for establishment, bringing the total to about 30,300 hectares. Most of this plantation development since 2002 (about 7,000 hectares) has been undertaken by private development companies on purchased land or under leasing or annuity arrangements. At the same time Forests NSW has established a further area of about 800 hectares. Tables 6.2 and 6.3 respectively set out the total plantations areas established by Forests NSW and private individuals and plantation development companies.   Note that the data presented in Tables 6.2 and 6.3 is based on the best available information and areas are approximate. Some minor overlap may have occurred in reviewing the 2002 data and adding data supplied by DNR, however any discrepancy would be very minor.   Click on the table for a larger view in a new window   Click on the table for a larger view in a new window   Click on the table for a larger view in a new window   Maps 2 to 10 show the hardwood plantations managed by Forests NSW and the indicative location of the major hardwood plantation areas managed by private individuals or plantation development companies on private land, for each LGA.   Subject to suitable land availability, the plantation development program by both Forests NSW and private development companies is ongoing.   back to the top of the page < previous                 table of contents                 next >   Back to the Home Page contact us |  guest book |  hot topics |  regional map |  disclaimer   Copyright © 2006 by the Northern Rivers Private Forestry Development Committee Web Design by Michael Goasdoue