Forestry in the north has a long and rich history. It means so much more than simply the extraction of timber to so many. For example; on Melville Island (north of Darwin) it has been supporting the culture, ceremony, and way of life for the Tiwi people for many thousands of years. 

The termite-resistant Northern Cypress Pine has had a long construction history in the north, having built the first Government House in 1865 in an area that was to be later known as Darwin. It also featured as a product that travelled the historical Macassan maritime trade route or Malay Road back in the 1800’s, which the northeastern tip of Arnhem Land was a part of. This trading is evidenced by northern cypress pine houses in the South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

 In 1897 after one of the worst cyclones ever to strike the Northern Territory (known as the “Great Hurricane”), Melville Island with it’s one sawmill became integral to Darwin’s rebuild. This grew to three sawmills in 1898 as exports began. There have also been numerous sawmills operating over the years in other areas across the Territory to build the infrastructure required for communities such as at the Mary River in 1910 which was run by the Chinese processing local cypress pine, Groote Island Mission in 1921, Maningrida and Murganella just to name a few.

 In 1927 the South Australian government identified Melville Island as an ideal location for plantation forestry. This then led to the first plantations of exotic pine being trialled there in the 1950s and 60’s. A large trial of cypress pine was also planted at Howard Springs in the 1960s as part of the Northern Territory Forestry Program.