The State Government will spend $120 million in a deal with the private sector to establish 14,000 hectares of softwood plantations in Gippsland as part of the Victorian Forestry Plan, which aims to close the region's hardwood native forest sector by 2030.
Agriculture Minister Gayle Tierney said the agreement with Hancock Victorian Plantations involved planting an extra 16 million trees to create a new forest estate.

HVP, which already has extensive plantations in Gippsland, will match