Plantations Regulation

Plantations on farms provide an alternate or additional revenue stream to land managers through carbon projects, timber production or other uses such as bushfoods or tourism.

Plantations can also improve natural resources and can deliver environmental outcomes including increased biodiversity, erosion control, carbon sequestration, salinity management and other landscape benefits. These multiple benefits result in an improved natural resource base.

Plantations also provide a sustainable timber resource that is used for essential products used by the community such as house frames, furniture, paper, poles and packaging.

In NSW timber and non-timber plantations are regulated by the Plantations and Reafforestation Act 1999 (the Act) and Plantations and Reafforestation (Code) Regulation 2001. The Act requires plantations over 30 hectares on a property to be authorised. Many landholders also choose to authorise smaller plantation areas.

Plantations can be on private or public land and include a wide range of species including radiata pine and native hardwoods. There are currently over 1,700 authorised plantations in NSW covering an area of approximately 489,000 hectares including over 35,000 hectares of retained native vegetation.

What's new?

The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) has produced a new publication, the Introduction to Carbon Farming - Plantations and Farm Forestry. It provides introductory information about carbon farming opportunities for plantation and planted farm forestry.

The guide provides links to further information for landholders considering participation in a tree planting carbon project or for those wanting to understand the process and requirements for tree planting carbon projects.

NSW Plantation Viewer

The NSW Plantation Viewer shows the approximate location of timber and non-timber authorised plantations in NSW. The map also provides an indication of the area of each plantation with the size categories able to be viewed in the legend. Further information regarding the authorisations can be found in the public register of authorised plantations.

What is a plantation?

Plantations are planted (by sowing seed or otherwise) trees and shrubs for timber and non-timber purposes. A plantation may contain some non-planted trees and shrubs that have not been planted but it is still a plantation if the predominant canopy is planted. Plantation species can vary and may be pine, native hardwoods or other species.

The Act defines a plantation as an area of land on which the predominant number of trees or shrubs forming or expected to form the canopy are trees or shrubs that have been planted (whether by sowing seed or otherwise):

• for the purpose of timber production, or
• for the protection of the environment (including for the purpose of reducing the salinity of the land or otherwise repairing or improving the land, for the purpose of biodiversity conservation or for the purpose of acquiring or trading in carbon sequestration rights), or
• for any other purpose,
• but not principally for the purpose of the production of food or any other farm produce other than timber.

A natural forest is not a plantation for the purposes of this Act and a plantation area is not a natural forest merely because it contains some native trees or shrubs that have not been planted.

This drone footage was taken by Plantations Regulation Unit staff while monitoring plantation operations for compliance with the environmental standards of the Plantations and Reafforestation Act 1999 and Plantations and Reafforestation (Code) Regulation 2001.

More Information

• Plantation Authorisation
• Tree and shrub plantings requiring authorisation
• Plantation Operations
• Plantation Opportunities
• Plantation Compliance
• Plantations Regulation -  Overview Summary

I want to:

• Notify of change of ownership online form OR download (DOCX, 65.78 KB)
• Update plantation owner/ manager contact details
• View the Public Register
• Apply for a Plantation Certificate
• Apply for a Plantation Authorisation
• Submit a Harvest Plan or Operation Plan
• Make an enquiry or complaint regarding plantations
• View Compliance Updates
• View unique or special wildlife values updates
• Download a copy of the Plantations and Reafforestation (Code) Regulation 2001
• Know about plantation authorisation threatened species protections

Contact Details

Contact the Plantations Regulation Unit for advice on new plantations or if you have any concerns regarding plantation operations.

Weblink form: Plantations and Forestry Contact Form

E: forests@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Please include as much detail as possible regarding your concern or enquiry.

Plantations Authorisations and Audit Team