Forest plantations can provide an important wood resource for regional industries as well as other benefits such as salinity abatement, land rehabilitation, biomass production and carbon sequestration. A strategic plantation capability and suitability assessment was undertaken for New South Wales to determine the potential of regions to support hardwood and softwood plantations for a range of purposes. The plantation capability assessment used the Physiological Principles for Predicting Growth (3-PG) model to simulate potential tree growth in plantations and the land suitability assessment identified cleared private land that is potentially suitable for plantation establishment. The study concluded that there is land within NSW regions that is suitable for plantations and capable of growing trees in plantations for a range of purposes. In addition to the outputs of this biophysically based plantation capability and suitability assessment, strategic regional planning also needs to consider the potential economic returns, social concerns, environmental issues and other relevant factors.