Sustainable management

Forest types in NSW

Native eucalypt forest near Tamworth

Forests NSW manages just under 2 million hectares of native forests and half a million hectares of forest plantations.

There are about 150 different forest types that occur naturally within New South Wales. These include:

rainforest, found in the north-east corner of the state
sclerophyll forests
mallee woodlands on the Western Plains
coastal swamps
alpine forest near Mt Kosciuzsko.

Native forests

Native forests are predominantly coastal eucalypt forest, and smaller areas of red gum in the state�s south-west and cypress pine in the state�s central west. Over 1 million hectares of this area is available for timber production. Of the total area, less than 3% is harvested annually.

Plantation forests

Softwood pine plantation at Sunny Corner, near Bathurst

Our plantations comprise approximately 209 000 hectares of softwood plantations and 63 000 hectares of hardwood plantations, as well as over 229 000 hectares of retained vegetation and areas for other purposes such as infrastructure.

The majority of Forests NSW softwood plantation estate is comprised of radiata pine, from the tablelands to the west of the Great Dividing Range. The hardwood plantations consist mainly of blue gum eucalypts and are predominantly located on the NSW north coast.

Multiple-use management

All NSW state forests are managed as multiple-use forests, which means that these public forests simultaneously provide more than one (and usually most) of the following resource objectives:

biodiversity management
timber production
recreation
aesthetics
grazing
water catchment protection
carbon sequestration
cultural and scientific values.

Find out more about ...

Australia's forests - different forest types in Australian forests (www.australianforests.org.au)
Forests in NSW (www.australianforests.org.au)
Native forest management in Australia (www.australianforests.org.au)
Plantation forest management in Australia (www.australianforests.org.au)