FRAGMENTS OF FOREST MANAGEMENT, A PRIVATE PRACTICE:
AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
REGIONAL FOREST AGREEMENTS ON PRIVATE LAND IN THE
SOUTHERN AND THE EDEN REGIONS OF NSW

HOLLY PARK

ABSTRACT: This article comprises a critical analysis of the implementation of Regional Forest Agreements ('RFAs') on private land in the Southern and the Eden RFA regions of NSW. It does this by discerning two key objectives for private land from the RFAs - the conservation of priority ecosystems and the promotion of Ecologically Sustainable Forest Management ('ESFM'), and evaluating the effectiveness of the RFAs in facilitating the achievement of these objectives. It maintains that RFAs have proven largely ineffective in achieving these objectives and have failed to provide a strategic approach in the management of private forests. It finishes by considering the potential for the recently implemented Native Vegetation Act 2003 (NSW) to build upon RFAs and overcome these failings, but concludes that this most recent attempt to manage native vegetation on private land comprises a completely separate management regime and appears highly unlikely to achieve the private land objectives derived from the RFAs.