Steve Quain, Information Manager for Great Southern Plantations was the winner for Excellence in Plantation Establishment and Management at the inaugural WA Timber Industry Innovation Awards in October.

NGIS played an important role in developing the GIS system that Steve uses to help manage the plantation. The system enables Great Southern to efficiently store plantation data such as trees species, date planted, soil condition, date inspected and fence condition. Foresters can view and retrieve specific information for any area by simply clicking on a map. The system allows foresters to monitor, manage, record and report on all plantation activities quickly and accurately. 

The GIS is used as a core business management tool at Great Southern Plantations for land assessment, land acquisition, inventory reporting, maintenance programs, work programs, management plans and reports.

Great Southern has planted over 50 million Eucalyptus trees and manages more than 41,000 hectares of plantations across 181 properties in southern WA, the Green Triangle region of Victoria, and in the Gladstone region of Queensland.

“We wish to congratulate Steve on his award” said NGIS director Paul Farrell. “His clear vision for the system really drove the development process”.