Anshul Chaudhary has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Forestry Corporation of NSW.

Forestry Corporation’s Chairman James Millar AM said Mr Chaudhary led the organisation through last year’s record program of infrastructure repair and fire salvage and had a vision for replanting and regrowing for the future.

“The Board is delighted to welcome Anshul Chaudhary as Chief Executive Officer of Forestry Corporation of NSW. Anshul has been a part of Forestry Corporation’s senior management team for the past 10 years and has provided strong leadership over the past year as acting CEO,” Mr Millar said.

“The unprecedented fires in 2019-20 had a significant impact on Forestry Corporation and the forests it manages, but under Anshul’s leadership, the organisation has already made significant strides towards recovery.

“Anshul has the vision, commitment and leadership needed to continue this vital work.”

Mr Chaudhary said he was excited to be leading Forestry Corporation through the recovery phase.

“The Black Summer fires were unprecedented and the recovery phase will be challenging, but the road ahead is clear, we will recover, rebuild and regrow for the future,” Mr Chaudhary said.

“We are already seeing the green shoots of recovery following significant work over the past year to repair infrastructure, salvage timber and being our seven-year replanting program.

“To date, we have repaired more than 5,000 kilometres of roads and 80 bridges, salvaged close to five million tonnes of plantation timber, completed detailed environmental and timber supply assessments and increased seedling production and replanting to record levels to replant fire-affected plantations as quickly as possible.

“There is still a lot of work to do but I am proud to lead a skilled and passionate workforce with a shared commitment to our vision of regrowing forests, restoring infrastructure and rebuilding the business.

“Above all, we maintain our commitment to managing State forests sustainably for the long term, balancing environmental protection, community access and renewable timber production for today and into the future.”

Mr Chaudhary has been acting CEO for the past year following the departure of long-serving former CEO Nick Roberts in early 2020.