All Gunns forest activities are governed by the Tasmanian Forest Practices Act 1985, which is operationally implemented via the Forest Practices Code, one of the toughest and most comprehensive such codes in the world. Tasmania's Forest Practices Code was first published in 1987 and revised in 1993. The Code has undergone recent revision and a new Code was launched on 24th November 2000.

The Forest Practices Code prescribes the manner in which forest operations are to be planned and conducted so as to provide reasonable protection to the environment, and applies equally to operations on private land as well as public forests. The Code deals with:

• The establishment and maintenance of forests, including standards to be complied with in the stocking or restocking of land with trees
• The harvesting of timber
• The construction of roads and other works (including quarries) connected with the establishment of forests or the growing of timber
• Reforestation including plantation establishment and maintenance and afforestation of cleared land

The Code provides guidelines for the conservation of natural and cultural values such as:

• Flora and fauna, including threatened species;
• Soils and water;
• Geomorphology;
• Cultural heritage; and
• Visual landscape.

All these issues must be addressed in a detailed Forest Practices Plan (FPP), and signed off by a warranted Forest Practices Officer before any harvesting or related activities can commence.

Forest operations carried-out under a FPP are closely monitored by the Forest Practices Board, which audits 15% of all FPP's. The results of these audits are reported to the Tasmanian Parliament as a public report.