New South Wales North East Regional Forest Agreement

​​​The North East Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) is one of three RFAs in New South Wales, and comprises two sub regions: Upper North East and Lower North East. The Australian and New South Wales governments signed the North East RFA on 31 March 2000.

The North East RFA was varied on 28 November 2018 with an extension until 26 August 2039, as it has proven to be a strong and effective framework for the sustainable management of North East RFA region’s forests. The extension was formalised following assessment, public consultation and independent review.

The North East RFA now has a 20-year rolling life, so at any point in time the North East RFA will be between 15 and 20 years from expiring, depending on the satisfactory completion of the five-yearly reviews.

Extending the North East RFA gives long-term surety of resource access for industry, ecologically sustainable management and use of forested areas and an extensive system of conservation reserves.

The North East RFA variation includes two Annexures: Annexure 1 is the RFA marked up; Annexure 2 is a ‘clean’ version of the RFA as varied without the mark up.

Download

Document	Pages	File size
2018 North East RFA variation PDF	346	5.4 MB

This report may not meet Australian Government accessibility guidelines. The report has not been prepared by the department.

The North East Zoning Map - Upper (2018) (PDF625 KB) and North East Zoning Map - Lower (2018) (PDF 596 KB) identified the extent of the comprehensive adequate and representative reserve system in the North East RFA region at the time of signing.

For details on the process for extending the North East RFA please see the New South Wales Regional Forest Agreements webpage.

The 2000 North East RFA

The Australian and New South Wales governments signed the North East RFA on 31 March 2000. The agreement was for a duration of 20 years and was set to expire on 31 March 2020.

Download

Document	Pages	File size
North East RFA PDF	151	1.1 MB
North East RFA DOC	151	1.7 MB

If you have difficulty accessing these files, please visit web accessibility.

The North East Zoning Map - Upper (2000) (PDF 332 KB) and North East Zoning Map - Lower (2000) PDF 358 KB) identified the extent of the comprehensive adequate and representative reserve system in the North East RFA region at the time of signing.

New South Wales RFAs five-yearly reviews

It is a requirement of the North East RFA that its performance is reviewed every five years. The details of the North East RFA review process is outlined in the agreement.

The Australian and New South Wales governments have reported on the three NSW RFAs collectively:

• NSW RFAs: first five-yearly review
• NSW RFAs: second and third five yearly review

Historical Publications

Many historical publications informed the development of the North East RFA and continue to underpin the management of forests covered by the agreement.

There are also historical statewide publications that informed the development of the three RFAs in New South Wales.

[expand all]

Comprehensive Regional Assessments:

Cultural and Heritage Reports:

Directions or Options Report:

Ecologically Sustainable Forest Management Reports:

Environment Reports:

Factsheets:

Resource Reports:

Social and Economic Reports:

Annual Reports: