Former PFT CEO receives Forestry Australia fellow honour

Posted 17 October 2023

The largest ever cohort of forestry experts have been awarded prestigious Forestry Australia Fellow status at a special ceremony at the 2023 ANZIF Conference on the Gold Coast honouring exceptional individuals who have made an indelible contribution to forestry.

It comes as no surprise that PFT's former chief executive officer, Penny Wells who retired earlier this year, was one of nine fellows to receive such a prestigious award for her outstanding contribution and commitment to the forestry industry in Tasmania for over 30 years.

Penny has worked for a variety of government departments during her career, including Primary Industries and Development portfolios, Forestry Tasmania, and was a key contributor in the development and evolution of Tasmania's forest management systems including the 1997 Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement (RFA). The RFA ensures the State's comprehensive forest management system is accredited by the Commonwealth of Australia, meaning all Tasmanian forest operations only require State approvals.

Penny again led the team in extending the RFA to become a 20-year rolling agreement in 2017.

Private Forests Tasmania were fortunate to have Penny join in 2018 for a term of 5-years leading the team to align with emerging challenges faced by farm foresters and the institutional forestry sector.

Penny's leadership and contribution to the forestry sector is highly regarded across the industry and we congratulate Penny on being a recipient of this prestigious award.

Read full Forestry Australia media release HERE.

Penny is picture above with Forestry Australia's CEO, Jacquie Martin and below with the nine fellow award recipients at the Conference.