Nick Roberts
After 13 years at the helm of Australia’s largest plantation owner, Nick Roberts announced that he was stepping aside as CEO of Forestry Corporation of NSW (Forestry Corporation). Source: Timberbiz
Mr Roberts said it had been a privilege to lead the business over the years taking carriage of the State’s two million hectares of forests and supplying renewable timber to the diverse customer base in NSW.
With a strong focus on replanting and regrowing, more than 500 million trees would have started their lives in the NSW native and plantation forests under his leadership.
The future sustainability of the forests and a strong commercial forest and timber industry in NSW has been at the heart of Mr Roberts’ journey with Forestry Corporation.
“The safety of the forest and timber industry has been a personal passion of mine and an area while there is always more to do, I believe we have made a solid collective progress,” Mr Roberts said.
Mr Roberts’ career to-date has spanned all facets of the forest and timber industry with roles across the globe.
“I’m very proud of Forestry Corporation and the changes the business has embraced over the past decade,” he said.
“The impact of the 2019-20 bushfires on the business has been significant and as an organisation, we are now entering a new re-building phase. It is important that the business has leadership to see it through the planning and implementation of this phase and so I asked the Board to consider the future leadership of the Corporation as the organisation faces this next set of challenges.”
As the board seeks a new CEO, Mr Roberts’ will remain with Forestry Corporation over the coming months to steer the business through its initial bushfire recovery including the substantial salvage timber operations already underway; repair of millions of dollars of infrastructure; and the initial replanting efforts for the State’s plantations assets.
