Terania Rainforest Publishing is an Australian family company owned by Hugh and Nan Nicholson. It was established in 1985 with the publication of the first volume of Australian Rainforest Plants.

Hugh and Nan Nicholson first moved to the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales from Victoria in 1974.  Along with running a farm and raising two daughters, they established the first specialist rainforest nursery in Australia at Terania Creek, near Lismore. They pioneered the propagation and extensive use of rainforest plants in gardens and in reforestation on degraded lands. They ran Terania Rainforest Nursery for almost 20 years before selling it in 1995.

Hugh collected most of the seeds for the nursery and combined the hunt for seeds with photographing plants in flower and fruit. These photographs became the basis for their rainforest publications, with Nan writing the botanical text.

Following their interest in rainforest the Nicholsons have travelled and worked extensively throughout Australia, photographing plants, animals and landscapes as well as documenting land-use. They have had a special interest in the plant connections of the ancient landmass Gondwana.

The Nicholsons have long been involved in the protection of rainforest through activism, starting with the defence of the rainforest of Terania Creek. The now-famous blockade of Terania Creek in 1979 led eventually to the establishment of Nightcap National Park.

The battle continued with the rainforest campaigns in New South Wales and culminated in the declaration of many rainforest national parks. Most of these are included in the World Heritage Gondwana Rainforests of Australia. There are ongoing campaigns to protect the remaining pockets of native forest that are still under threat.

Nan and Hugh are also concerned with numerous other conservation issues and with human rights. 10% of the income from the publishing business are donated to conservation and social justice causes.

Their current local focus on rainforest preservation is to help protect The Channon Gorge from the proposed Dunoon Dam which would destroy and fragment 6.7% of the remaining 1% of The Big Scrub Rainforest in the northern rivers of NSW.

Terania Rainforest Publications:
– The series of six rainforest identification books, Australian Rainforest Plants I-VI
– The interactive digital identification key (desktop and mobile app)
Desktop App (new edition 2.0 released March 2024) Rainforest Plants of Australia – Rockhampton to Victoria
Mobile App – available from App store on smart phones
– Alex Floyd’s Rainforest Trees of Mainland south-Eastern Australia

Hugh continues to photograph rainforest and his photos appear in numerous books, journals and websites, including the CSIRO-published book Australian Rainforest Seeds.