New South Wales Southern Regional Forest Agreement

​​The Southern Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) is one of three RFAs in New South Wales. The Australian and New South Wales governments signed the Southern RFA on 24 April 2001.

The Southern 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 Southern RFA region’s forests. The extension was formalised following assessment, public consultation and independent review.

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

Extending the Southern 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 Southern 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.

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Document	Pages	File size
2018 Southern RFA variation PDF	280	3.6 MB

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The Southern Zoning Map (2018).(PDF 568 KB) identified the extent of the comprehensive adequate and representative reserve system in the Southern RFA region at the time of signing

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

The 2001 Southern RFA

The Australian and New South Wales governments signed the Southern RFA on 24 April 2001. The agreement was for a duration of 20 years and was set to expire on 24 April 2021.

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Document	Pages	File size
Southern RFA PDF	112	658 KB

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The Southern Zoning Map (2001) (PDF 170 KB) identified the extent of the comprehensive adequate and representative reserve system in the Southern RFA region at the time of signing.

New South Wales RFAs five-yearly reviews

It is a requirement of the Southern RFA that its performance is reviewed every five years. The details of the Southern 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 Southern 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 NSW.

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Comprehensive Regional Assessment:

Cultural and Heritage Reports:

Directions or Options Reports

Ecologically Sustainable Forest Management Report:

Environment Reports:

Factsheets:

Resource Reports:

Social and Economic Reports:

Annual Reports: