More than 2,000 hectares of southern pine plantations near Grafton, Australia, are now in public hands, after Forestry Corporation of NSW bought the timber rights to plantations established under contract for a private company.
General Manager of Forestry Corporation’s Softwood Plantations Division Mike Beardsell said the purchase delivered a long-term boost to timber production in the region.
“By purchasing the timber rights to this plantation, we have increased plantations in our Grafton Management Area by 20%, bolstering the supply of locally-grown renewable timber into the future.”
State-owned pine plantations currently produce enough structural lumber to construct a quarter of the homes built in Australia each year as well as supplying renewable pulpwood for paper and packaging.
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