Millions of pine seedlings have been replanted in NSW state forest pine plantations this year, continuing the cycle of growing renewable timber resources to build future homes, schools, businesses and infrastructure.

This year around seven million radiata pine seedlings have been planted across recently harvested NSW State Forest pine plantations.

The ongoing replanting program underscores the long-term nature of forestry, where every harvested plantation is replanted to ensure a continuous supply of renewable timber for future generations.

NSW’s State forest softwood plantations collectively produce enough timber each year to build around 40,000 homes, making them a critical part of Australia’s housing and construction supply chain.

Forestry Corporation Regional Manager Tumut Roger Davies said the annual seedling dispatch highlights the planning and care that underpins sustainable forestry.

“Most people see the end product in a timber house frame, a pallet, paper or cardboard product or piece of furniture, but that story begins years earlier with a pine grown from seed in a nursery,” Mr Davies said.

“The 230,000 hectares of pine plantations in NSW are carefully managed as they grow to maturity and harvesting just a small portion each year produces enough timber to construct about a quarter of the homes built in Australia each year.

“Every seedling planted represents an investment in the future. These trees will grow for decades before supplying the renewable timber products Australians rely on every day.

“Our plantation forests operate on a continuous cycle of growing, harvesting and replanting. As one crop is harvested, the next generation is already being established.

“Radiata pine takes about 15 years of growth to be ready for fibre extraction and around 28 years for structural timber and in between there are many years of silviculture to produce the best pine sawlogs for processing.

The seedlings are grown from carefully selected radiata pine seed and nurtured through their early development before undergoing rigorous quality checks ahead of dispatch.

Different seedlots are matched to specific growing regions to maximise survival, growth and timber quality.

Once dispatched, the seedlings are mostly hand-planted by crews across the State’s pine plantation estate, where they will grow for around three decades before being harvested and processed into structural timber, engineered wood products, paper and packaging.

These forests are an essential source of renewable building materials and play an important role in carbon storage, with growing plantations continually absorbing carbon from the atmosphere as they develop.