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Forestry NSW will replant 13 million pine seedlings into plantations previously destroyed by bushfires across the state.
Key points:
- 3.2 million seedlings are being planted in fire-affected Bombala pine plantations on NSW's Far South Coast
- The seedlings are expected to reach full maturity in 3 decades
- Forestry NSW hopes the future trees will help the current shortage of timber
More than 3 million pine seedlings were planned for Bombala plantations on the Far South Coast as part of the corporation's annual replanting program.
The program was designed to keep the forestry cycle going by planting a new tree for every one harvested for renewable timber.
"After the Black Summer fires, we lost about a third of the plantation here, and the business set a target of re-establishing the forest within 8 years."
Mr Gillespie-Jones said Forestry NSW expected to reach the target by the end of winter next year.
"To see the forests re-established gives some of the locals a bit of closure too from those traumatic events of 2019-20," he said.
Despite the many trees being planted, a severe shortage in timber was a very real problem nationwide.
Mr Gillespie-Jones expected the shortfall in supply to be resolved in "about 10 years' time".
"[A new plantation] probably grows between 15 and 18 years before it gets its first thinning harvest, but it grows to about 32 years before we reach clear full age," he said.
He said once those carrying out planting mastered the correct technique, they could plant up to "a couple of thousand trees a day".
Work 'challenging yet rewarding'
Malcolm Stone was one of the contractors tasked with planting Bombala seedlings this year.
"It's very hard work, especially these last couple of seasons because it's been very wet and difficult to get seedlings into the blocks," he said.
Mr Stone was in charge of 80 different workers split into four crews.
"The reason why we've got such a big crew this year is so that we can 3 million trees in the ground in four months," he said.
Though the work could be challenging, he said it was rewarding.
"It's really good to be involved in it, especially for our community because it's stabilising the future so that we can harvest these trees again and use them for houses," he said.
Forestry NSW had around 230,000 hectares of pine plantations in NSW and in normal years produced enough timber to construct a quarter of the homes built in Australia each year.