Mark McGrath, NORTHERN TERRITORY ORD VALLEY FORESTRY HUB
The Northern Territory Ord Valley Forestry Hub (NTOVFH) has now been up and running just on a year now and has got off to a flying start.
To recap a few achievements in its first year;
- Steering Committee assembled of Industry experts from within NT and interstate
- Website developed & launched www.ntovfh.com.au/
- 70+ stakeholder engagements (as many face-to-face as possible) in conjunction with numerous workshop / forum attendances & presentations to introduce / promote NTOVFH to whole of industry
- Hub represented at numerous National Manager meetings (including two in-person; Brisbane & Melbourne)
- Three projects commissioned;
- Export Infrastructure, Supply Chain, and Skills Gap / Training Needs Analysis
- Emerging Forestry Opportunities for Northern Australia using GIS Hotspot Analysis
- Northern Australia Forestry Literature Review
- Two other projects which we may commission in the near future;
- Indigenous Engagement Strategy & Platform
- Imagine a Career in Northern Forestry
- As a sign of confidence in the National Forestry Hub program, which encompasses 11 regional forestry Hubs throughout Australia, a two-year funding extension was recently announced by the Commonwealth along with an expansion of its role into the extension space.
There is still plenty left to achieve in the ensuing few years. We’ll look to build upon the learnings / outcomes of the above projects and spark projects in our other Industry identified priority areas which include;
- Manufacturing and Value Adding
- Land Access & Tenure
- Carbon Opportunities
- Other areas of interest – Silvopastoral model, Forest Health & Biosecurity, etc.
The Hub is always looking for entities to collaborate with in the information gathering / data analysis space which will feed back to the Commonwealth to help inform strategic direction and future investment to improve both productivity & expand the industry.
Feel free to contact Mark McGrath at director@ntovfh.com.au