Tuesday was International Day of Forests and Forestry Corporation of NSW’s CEO Nick Roberts said the day celebrated the vital role productive State forests continue to play in local communities.
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In Walcha the company’s northern softwoods region manages around 12,000 hectares of plantations and another 100,000 hectares of hardwood forest is managed by the hardwood division.The company also employs nine permanent staff in the district and 14 oncall casuals.
Mr Roberts said more than 100 million trees have been regrown in NSW State forests over the past five years alone, bringing thousands of timber industry jobs to regional communities and maintaining thriving forest flora and fauna.
“Because we continue to manage these forests sustainably, they will carry on regenerating and supplying renewable timber 100 years from now and beyond.”
“Every year we replant a new crop of around 10 million seedlings by hand and we also naturally regenerate millions more trees in native forests. While the number of trees growing in State forests is not an exact science, based on data from our planting programs and regeneration surveys we estimate we regrow between 20 and 30 million trees in NSW State forests each and every year.
“We have been working in the same productive forests for more than a century, continuously harvesting and regrowing these forests sustainably so we have an ongoing source of timber to support NSW’s booming timber industry. With 100 to 150 million new trees growing over the past five years, these forests will continue to support this vital industry for generations to come.
“Around 22,000 people work in the NSW timber industry and we have the largest number of hardwood sawmills in Australia. Equally importantly, we also carefully manage State forests to protect their many environmental values and welcome many thousands of campers, bushwalkers, trail bike riders, four wheel drivers, horse riders and mountain bikers each year.
The United Nations General Assembly has designated 21 March as the International Day of Forests to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests and of trees outside forests.
For more information about Forestry Corporation of NSW, visitwww.forestrycorporation.com.au