Wellington Discovery Forest Master Plan
Wellington Discovery Forest Master Plan
The WDF concept was proposed before there was consideration of making the area a national park. The area was originally part of State Forest No. 25 but was later identified in the Forest Management Plan (FMP) in the proposal to expand Wellington National Park. Debate arose over the potential to use the area for demonstrating silvicultural activities including harvesting of trees. This would not have been compatible with the proposed national park purpose.
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After extensive consultation, the WDF was included in the Reserves Bill 2004 that was introduced to Parliament in 2004, as part of the expansion of Wellington National Park. The Bill was subsequently amended in Parliament to exclude an area of 684 ha that comprised the WDF from the proposed national park expansion, and instead proposed to reserve it as CALM Cat section 5 (1) (h) reserve for the purpose of scientific research and education. The Parliamentary Hansard shows that there was support and agreement for this amendment to the Reserves Bill.Since this time the WDF has been a great education & research tool. With the 2021 commitment to expanded Wellington National Park, it was time to review how the Discovery Forest fitted into the overall plans.In 2022 a working group of DBCA Wellington District, South West Timber Hub, Friends of the Wellington Discovery Forest, Forest Products Commission, Leschenault Timber Industry Club, Ferguson Valley Marketing Inc and commercial operators within the Wellington National Park was from to commission the development of the Wellington Discovery Forest Master plan.
