{"id":29486,"date":"2025-10-22T16:52:27","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T06:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=29486"},"modified":"2025-10-22T16:52:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T06:52:30","slug":"thanks-bob-jolly-medal-honours-four-decades-shaping-australian-forestry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/thanks-bob-jolly-medal-honours-four-decades-shaping-australian-forestry\/","title":{"rendered":"Thanks, Bob \u2014 Jolly Medal Honours Four Decades Shaping Australian Forestry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bob Gordon has been awarded the N.W. Jolly Medal, Forestry Australia\u2019s highest honour, in recognition of a distinguished career that has shaped Australian forestry and forest science for decades. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m very honoured and it\u2019s great to be in a profession that recognises achievement but also a profession that\u2019s extraordinarily supportive and worthwhile,\u201d Gordon told Wood Central. \u201cI think it’s a recognition of all the people that helped me in my career, from lecturers who taught us at the forestry school through to my colleagues, through to the people that mentored me and gave me advice over the years, and I can see that that culture of support and mentoring is continuing with Forestry Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First awarded in 1959, the N.W. Jolly Medal recognises outstanding contributions across sustainable forest management, research, education, policy and community engagement. Named in honour of Norman William Jolly (1882\u20131954), the award now counts among its recipients 58 of the country\u2019s most distinguished forestry professionals \u2014 many bearing honours such as MBE, CBE, AO and AM \u2014 each recognised for exceptional service to the development of professional forestry in Australia. The medal is conferred by Forestry Australia\u2019s board on the recommendation of a Merit Awards Committee composed of Forestry Australia members and previous Jolly Medal recipients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bob
Bob Gordon\u2019s four\u2011decade contribution to Australia\u2019s forest science was recognised this morning when Dr Michelle Freeman, President of Forestry Australia, presented him with the N.W. Jolly Medal on stage before more than 400 foresters in Adelaide. (Photo Credit: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gordon’s selection celebrates one of the industry’s most influential figures. Beginning his career with the Tasmanian Forestry Commission in 1978 and advancing through forest management planning and district operations, Gordon transitioned into marketing and trade development, where he helped open new markets for Tasmanian products in China and other parts of Asia. From 1991, he held a succession of senior and executive roles that placed him at the centre of the profession\u2019s most contested debates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As managing director and chief executive of Forestry Tasmania from 2006 to 2013, Gordon steered the agency through intense public scrutiny and structural reform, navigating complex negotiations and helping to reframe governance amid sharp political and community pressure. Colleagues credit his consultative, steady style with delivering outcomes that balanced technical forest practice with social and economic imperatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"image001
Bob Gordon (right), chair of the Supported Affordable Accommodation Trust, with Julie Collins, Australia\u2019s Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and former Housing Minister, inspecting the Trust\u2019s modular supported\u2011housing project that Gordon helped initiate in 2015; the design uses reproducible two\u2011bedroom and bedsit modules to deliver high\u2011quality, wheelchair\u2011friendly, energy\u2011efficient homes with onsite staff accommodation and reduced construction and maintenance costs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the national level, Gordon was instrumental in modernising governance and professional pathways. As president of Forestry Australia, he worked with Kevin Harding to navigate the 2021 merger with Australian Forest Growers, providing the \u201ccritical mass\u201d the profession needed. That merger has allowed the body to thrive with more than 400 professionals in Adelaide for this year’s conference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whilst in 2023, he was named the inaugural chair of Australian Forest and Wood Innovations, a $100 million research and development program co-matched by industry contributions, which has been instrumental in accelerating research and commercial development of Australian forest products: \u201cA lot of people deserve credit for helping to set up AFWI,\u201d Gordon told Wood Central, who is proud that the initiative \u201cnow has widespread support across the political spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Forest
In May 2023, Bob Gordan (top right) was one of six forest presenters at the Northern Australia Food Future Conference. Including Mick Stephens (Timber Queensland), Gibson Farmer Illortaminni, Thiago Gimenez Barbosa (Syntropic Solutions), Kim Purantatameri and Frank Miller, Chair of the Forest Industries Association of the NT.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A consistent theme across Gordon\u2019s four-decade-long career has been engagement with First Nations communities and a commitment to social justice. He developed partnerships to increase Indigenous participation in forest management and to support local use of timber for housing and construction, mentored many junior foresters, championed diversity and succession planning, and served as a trusted adviser to government, industry and unions on forest policy. Whilst his public service also extends far beyond forestry, he is also the deputy chair of MyState Limited, president of Football Federation Tasmania, chair of the Supported Affordable Accommodation Trust and honorary consul of Finland for Tasmania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n