The NSW Government has released a plan to build a stronger, more competitive and ecologically sustainable forestry industry.
Minister for Primary Industries Niall Blair said the NSW Forestry Industry Roadmap demonstrated NSW government support for the state's forestry industry, which is critical for many towns in regional NSW and the construction of new homes in Sydney.
NSW's softwood plantation sector is valued at $1.9 billion, and the native forestry sector is valued at $465 million. Locally-sourced timber is to be a primary construction material for the projected 660,000 new homes built by 2031.
“Our forestry industry is vibrant and sustainable – whether it’s pine for new homes or paper produced from plantations at Tumut or Oberon, or the beautiful hardwood timber floorboards sourced from renewable native forests at Lismore and Eden,” Mr Blair said.
The roadmap includes strategic actions around four key pillars:
- regulatory modernisation
- balancing supply and demand
- improving community understanding and confidence
- industry innovation and new markets.
The roadmap will help the NSW Government achieve its objective of creating 150,000 new jobs, including 30,000 new jobs in regional NSW. It will also help to increase the value of primary industries by 30 per cent by 2020.
Find out more about the NSW Forestry Industry Roadmap on the Department of Primary Industries website.