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Gunns began pioneering research on the development of cool climate eucalyptus plantations in the early 1970's. Extensive trials were carried out with many eucalypt species, leading to the finding that Eucalyptus nitens and E.globulus are the most productive species for the production of woodfibre in southern Australia. Further work was also carried-out over many years in tree-breeding and genetic propagation. Gunns' Fibre Tech laboratory continues to carry out leading edge work in the evaluation of wood fibre qualities, feeding this back into its tree-breeding program. Research is also being carried-out into the utilisation of plantations eucalyptus not only as a source of fibre for pulp and paper-making, but also for the production of veneer for plywood and other engineered wood products, and for sawn timber production. There are significant challenges to be met in this area, as the technology for the application of young, fast-grown eucalyptus in these applications is still evolving. Today Gunns is one of Australia's largest private plantation owner/managers, with about 110,000 hectares of eucalyptus plantation under management. To support this development Gunns operates its own seedling nursery. This state-of-the-art nursery was opened in 1997, at Somerset in northwestern Tasmania, and produces in excess of 13 million seedlings per year. Plantations are established on Gunns' own land, land leased from others, and land secured through joint ventures with private landowners. The development of plantations is funded through a combination of Gunns own funds, the prospectuses of Gunns Plantations Ltd (GPL) and joint ventures with customers. Gunns is a partner in two such joint ventures:
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