Preparations are underway to grow and plant 300,000 seedlings in recently-harvested timber plantations in Maria River State Forest near Kempsey.

Forestry Corporation’s Hardwood Plantation Manager Craig Busby said seeds were collected from State forests near Coffs Harbour last week and would be propagated at Grafton ahead of the mass replanting early next year.

“Like many State forests on the north coast, Maria River State Forest contains a mix of native forests and plantations. The plantations were planted for timber production and grown for about 40 years before they were harvested for timber and now we are ready to replant them for the next generation,” Mr Busby said.

“Unfortunately, parts of this plantation were affected by the 2019-20 wildfires, so in preparation for replanting we’ve chosen species that produce good quality timber but are more resilient to fire. The area will be replanted with a mix of Gympie Messmate, which is a species native to Queensland that has grown well in the local region in the past, and Blackbutt, which is fast growing and fire tolerant.

“Our nursery staff in Grafton have been out gathering seeds from trees with good genetic properties that will produce high quality trees and they will spend the next nine months or so growing and nurturing new seedlings to replant this plantation.

“Our Grafton nursery grows around a million native eucalypt seedlings every year.

“Over the coming months, we will also be completing some burning to remove the parts of the trees we have been unable to use for timber and prepare a rich seed bed for replanting, as well as weed control, before we bring a team of planters out early next year to plant around 300,000 new seedlings by hand.

“Plantations like this are a really sustainable way to supply the community with renewable timber products that look beautiful and store carbon for life and we manage them to be harvested and replanted so the same plantation continues to produce renewable timber in perpetuity.

“Hardwood timber is a product the community love in their homes, it is in high demand for everything from flooring and decking to fencing, furniture and power poles, and it is processed right here on the north coast of NSW, supporting local jobs.”

Media contact: 0408779903