NSW forest stewardship pilot

The NSW forest stewardship pilot addressed known barriers to engaging in private native forestry including:

• knowledge gaps
• legacy forest management issues
• associated cost burdens of management.

Project objectives

This project worked to provide expert advice and incentives for participants to address barriers for entry to private native forestry.

Project delivery

The Forest Stewardship Pilot has assisted 43 landholders, including two Local Aboriginal Land Councils.. Local Land Services co-designed a plan for forest stewardship on each of their properties. Pilot participants were provided expert advice and a grant to help realise their forest stewardship aims.

The pilot attracted a diverse mix of participants with:

• varied property sizes
• stewardship priorities
• forest management experience.

The grants were provided for activities across seven categories:

• training and education
• stand management
• pest and weed control
• cultural heritage assessment
• ecosystem management
• fire management
• road and infrastructure.

LLS was assisted by the Farm Forestry Expert Panel over the course of the Pilot. The Farm Forestry Expert Panel consisted of:

• Adjunct Professor Neil Byron – Institute of Applied Ecology at University of Canberra
• Dr Michelle Freeman - Vice President and Board member of Forestry Australia
• Professor Jerry Vanclay – Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research), Southern Cross University
• Associate Professor Michael Shawn-Fletcher – Associate Dean (Indigenous), Faculty of Science at the University of Melbourne
• Dr David Freudenberger – ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society.

Find out more information about the grants and recipients.

Project success stories

Post-fire forest management

For over 30 years Trevor has managed a property in the Martindale Valley, bordering Wollemi National Park. Following the 2019 bushfires the forest had regenerated into dense overcrowded regrowth. This was placing stress on the larger more well-developed trees and posed a fire risk. Trevor identified the need to improve the health of this forest and restore for future generations.

Through the Forest Stewardship Pilot program, Trevor received on-ground support and expert advice including:

• on-site forest assessment and discussion of management options
• a written report outlining thinning strategies and long-term forest management recommendations
• ongoing support.

Trevor is an active member of the Hunter Farm Forestry Network. The network brings together people managing their forests for a range of reasons including regrowth, planting trees for biodiversity, and commercial timber milling. The network provides a forum to share knowledge, build skills, and strengthen forest management across the region.

With support from LLS and the Hunter Farm Forestry Network, Trevor has:

• begun thinning dense regrowth to reduce stress and restore forest health
• set the forest on a path to producing large, healthy trees in the long term
• improved resilience against pests and disease by reducing overcrowding
• contributed to broader knowledge-sharing in the Hunter forestry community.

Looking ahead, Trevor’s vision is for the forest to once again resemble an open, healthy woodland with strong biodiversity and a thriving understory — a legacy for future generations. 

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Video transcript

Managing forest health

My name is Trevor. We live in the Martindale valley. We've been here for over 30 years. We have a property which extends from the Martindale Creek up to the boundary with the Wollemi National Park. All told, about 140 hectares. Yeah, the Forest Stewardship Pilot for our property is to thin a forest which has been previously logged. It was logged a long time before we got here, so I'm guessing 50 to 80 years, and we're hoping that by thinning the regrowth we’ll improve the health of the forest. At the moment, there's so much regrowth there that the forest is actually locked up. There's not enough nutrient. There's not enough moisture or light to grow all the trees that are there at the moment. It will affect the health of the forest, because it's overgrown, because there's not enough nutrient and moisture. The trees are stressed, some of them are badly distorted, some of them aren't growing and the borers activity and the mistletoe activity is quite high and it's actually killing a lot of the trees. In the past it was probably an open forest with some very, very large trees. The Pilot program offered to help and assistance in managing the forest. The LLS came, they provided advice and help, spent almost a whole day walking through the forest with me and talking about management options. They wrote up a report and offering ongoing support. We had some very large fires here back in 2019/2020. I do a lot of bushwalking and now the areas of those forests that were burned severely are almost impenetrable. They’re incredibly hard to walk through because of the very, very dense regrowth in what should be a fairly open forest. The LLS have established private native forestry officers in quite a few locations around the state. In the Hunter here, there's one officer at Singleton and another one at Tocal down near Paterson, and they’re there to provide information and help. They’re there to allow landholders to use the trees that are on their properties and improve the trees that are on their properties. So, if you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask them. They're there to help. I’m a member of the Hunter Farm Forestry Network. The Hunter Farm Forestry Network was formed in, about, 2000. As part of the network, we have people who are planting trees for biodiversity and windbreaks. We have people who are managing regrowth, as I have, right up to people who are actually milling timber and selling it on a commercial basis. We meet four or five times a year in amongst trees on somebody's place with the aim of sharing knowledge, of helping each other within the Hunter and adjoining areas. In 20 years’ time, probably when I’m long gone and forgotten, the forest will be healthy. It will contain big healthy trees that are usable for some productive use. And there will be some biodiversity, some understory, and a generally healthy ecosystem.

Building healthy forests and a sustainable lifestyle

Glen and Brooke run Glenbrook Farm, a 235-acre property with cattle, river frontage, and patches of rainforest. The property is over 130 years old and includes several historic outbuildings. They have lived there for three years with their young son. Alongside cattle, they run a hipcamp business and focus on both farming and conservation.

Glen and Brooke needed a way to improve the health of their forest and property while building a sustainable lifestyle and future for their family.  

When they purchased the property, they knew it was going to be a challenge. Weeds including lantana, blackberry, and thistles were covering much of the property. Sections of the forest were tall and thin, with poor growth and limited resilience. As new landholders, they faced a steep learning curve in land management. They needed to manage weeds, forest care and farm infrastructure while also generating an income.  

LLS supported Glen and Brooke through the Forest Stewardship Pilot program with:  

• assistance to establish a major fire break at the top of their property driveway  
• advice on weed management and forest conservation  
• guidance on sustainable harvesting and replanting activities  
• access to training, information, and networks to build their skills and confidence.  

With support from LLS, Glen and Brooke focused on replanting trees and propagating native species on-site. They completed their first harvest two and a half years ago.  As a part of the harvest, local sawmills utilised by-products such as bark and chips, reducing fire risks and waste on their property. Glen and Brooke plan to continue responsible harvesting with a focus on conservation.

The combination of their own efforts and LLS support has enabled Glen and Brooke to:  

• restore native vegetation by reducing invasive weeds and replanting forest areas  
• improve fire preparedness with new fire breaks and reduced fuel loads  
• increase biodiversity, with wildlife now more abundant across the property  
• balance conservation, cattle grazing, and tourism through their hip camp business  
• set the property on a path to long-term resilience
• create a vision of leaving it in better condition for future generations.  

Glen and Brooke have been able to create a sustainable lifestyle for their family. They now have the tools and confidence to continue transforming their property with the knowledge that LLS are always on hand to assist them through their challenges. 

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Video transcript

A family’s journey from city to forest

Hi we’re Glenn and Brooke from Glennbrooke Farm. We run a Hipcamp called Glennbrooke River Camp. We've got a two and a half year old child and we've been living here for nearly three years. We originally come from Shellharbour, but we decided to start looking for some land and this just had something special, it’s got the river, a bit of rainforest. We just wanted to slow down a bit and wanted to try something new. Cash is our two and a half year old son and he just loves life on the property. He’s on the tractor, feeding the cows. Having the river down there, he's in the water, he’s in the bush, he’s everywhere. I couldn't imagine having him back in the city. There's approximately 235 acres here. This property's 130 odd years old, and there's a couple of old outbuildings that need a bit of love and care and Brooke wanted to go down the road of a BNB set up or a Hipcamp. I want to be able to earn an income from the property as well as Glenn doing the cattle side of it. It's going to have an income to be a stay at home mum. With the forest conservation we were obviously new to it. The journey of learning has been steep. I'm not real tech savvy, so I mean I learn a lot from YouTube and Googling and stuff like that, but it's hard to get training more than anything. With Local Land Service, you need the resources that they've got. If they weren't around, I don't know what you would do. And even if you've got a question, pick up the phone, they’ll always guide you to where you need to be and what you need to do. With the Local Land Service Forest Stewardship Pilot, it made us get moving on projects that we would have otherwise left. With part of the grant we got from the LLS we've just done a major fire break up at the top of the driveway. We've learned a lot from the sawmill as well and they're doing things very different at the moment. They're using the bark and they’re getting the chipper to come in to be able to utilise the whole tree so that there's not such a fire risk left behind. We logged two and a bit years ago now. We've got a lot of the area cleaned and ready. We're replanting a lot of the trees that were taken out of here previously. Brooke’s propagating her own at the moment. Conservation I think, is essential. Since we've been here, we've cleaned a lot of the area. We had a bit of Lantana, a lot of blackberry thistles and stuff. Now since then, we've kept on top of all that. We're finding the natives are coming back. The wildlife is abundant now, and the trees that were just growing really thin and tall are all widening and producing. It is a lot of work, but we've signed up for that. The little fella turned up right at the start and that just threw a massive curveball into it, Covid in the middle, but besides that, we're on top of this property now. We knew what it was when we bought it. We will definitely go down the road of logging again at some stage. The whole idea for us is to leave the place better than when we come. The future for the property is hopefully Cash would want the place, but that's up to him. Local Land Service, they've been great to us. There was projects that we wouldn't have got done for a long time. Anybody who's thinking about doing this sort of thing, you've just got to be ready to get your hands dirty, number one. It’s so worth it. It is a beautiful lifestyle to be here.