Tiwi Islands Community Forestry Pilot: Demonstrating sustainable native forestry business opportunities for remote Indigenous communities

Develop the interests, knowledge and skills of Tiwi Traditional Owners (from all eight clans) to participate in an Indigenous-led commercial native forestry industry, including supporting community capacity to operate viable place-based native forestry and timber processing/manufacturing enterprises.
Understand the Tiwi Islands native forest resource: distribution, productivity, potential timber (and non-timber) product mix, and what products have the best local applications and other commercial (including export) potential.
Develop, install and market research prototype value-added timber products from locally-sourced logs to better understand product characteristics, specifications and processing protocols, and potential applications/markets/expectations for these products.

Realisation of TPC’s vision for a diversified (beyond plantation monocultures) and vertically integrated Indigenous-led native hardwood forestry industry on the Tiwi Islands.
Transformational change for the Tiwi forestry industry, from a current focus on export woodchips from plantations of a single exotic species to a mixed native hardwood species industry (plantations and native forestry).
Local timber processing by trained TOs, with value-added timber products for community housing, household needs, other local infrastructure, and feeding into regional and potentially national construction, cabinetry, and craft markets.

*(2-year, phase-1 project)

This project commenced in June 2025 and is set to finalise in May 2027.

This project works towards these UN Sustainable Development Goals:

Tiwi Islands Community Forestry Pilot: Demonstrating sustainable native forestry business opportunities for remote Indigenous communities | UniSC | University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia