Kalateenee State Forest
Kalateenee State Forest is part of the two million hectare forest estate that Forestry Corporation manages for multiple values including environmental conservation, tourism and renewable timber production. Like many State Forests, Kalateenee State Forest is a regrowth native forest, meaning it has been sustainably harvested and regrown many times, with operations balanced across the landscape. Forestry Corporation works to balance these multiple objectives, in line with Ecologically Sustainable Forest Management principles.
Current operations
Forestry Corporation is currently planning harvest operations within compartments 4-6 and parts of compartments 2 and 3, which are regrowth native forests. Follow the links below to find out more about these different types of operations.
Planning process - native forests
About one per cent of the State Forest estate is selectively harvested for timber and regrown each year. There are detailed environmental protections in place during all forestry operations in NSW and a thorough planning process must be completed ahead of every operation. Planning can take many months and involves teams of trained and skilled staff including ecologists, who carry out flora and fauna surveys, particularly targeting threatened species.
Aboriginal Partnerships Liaisons collaborate with local Aboriginal communities to carry out cultural heritage surveys and ensure protections are in place. Our team also liaise with neighbours and other stakeholders such as apiarists, community groups, recreational clubs and utility providers.
The planning team uses their understanding of silviculture – the science of forestry – to carefully determine the silvicultural technique that will create ideal conditions for regeneration, provide habitat and maintain a diverse forest ecosystem while ensuring a continued and sustainable supply of timber into the future. Planners then identify, map and describe protection measures for environmental features such as rainforest and old growth, wetlands and riparian zones, threatened ecological communities, ridge and headwater habitat, rocky outcrops and other habitat for wildlife.
These features contribute to the 400,000 hectares of State Forest on the north coast that is permanently protected for conservation and ensure habitat connectivity is maintained throughout the operation area.
Broad area habitat searches occur immediately prior to every native forest harvesting operation to identify threatened flora and fauna species and ensure suitable habitat is set aside within each harvest area. These are carried out by our qualified and experienced ecologists and forest technicians who follow comprehensive rules detailing the types of surveys that must take place and the features that must be protected when certain species or their habitat are present. These conditions were developed by expert scientific panels.
In every compartment there are large areas that are reserved to protect wildlife habitat and other forest features. Feed and habitat trees for birds and arboreal mammals are also identified and protected, and mature trees are retained to provide a high-quality seed source to promote and enable harvested areas to regenerate, providing long-term wildlife habitat and ensuring a sustainable timber resource for the future. These searches result in hundreds of kilometres of bush being traversed by our staff, and thousands of important trees and other habitat features being physically and electronically marked.
Watch the video below for a summary of the planning process and visit our Plan Portal to view a 12-month plan of operations indicating the areas where planning is underway and to access detailed harvest plans. You can subscribe to any plans that you are interested in to be updated on progress.
Protecting koalas
Kalateenee State Forest is known to have a strong population of koalas and specific rules are in place to protect their habitat during operations. Koala habitat has been mapped across the landscape and Forestry Corporation observes strict rules that specify the number and type of koala feed trees to be protected in each area depending on the quality of the habitat. This means that preferred koala feed and habitat trees are protected in all forestry operations.
In addition, targeted ecology surveys and broad area habitat searches must be carried out before every harvesting operation and operators must inspect trees before felling and immediately apply a temporary stop to operations if a koala is detected within a harvest area. Long-term independent research has shown these prescriptions provide a high level of protection for koalas.
Koalas have been recorded living in and around areas of State forest where harvesting has occurred both recently and historically at the same rate as unharvested areas. Forestry Corporation also assists in the management of other key threats to koalas, including fire and wild dogs, in collaboration with external agencies such Regional Bush Fire Management Committees and Local Land Services, as well as providing continued contributions to research. More about koalas on the north coast.
The videos below explain our koala management and research.
Managing forests for communities
There will be some temporary closures during operations, and neighbours and forest users may notice an increase in trucks and noise while we are working. Forestry Corporation has been engaging with the local community and forest users during the planning process to minimise these impacts.
Recreation
We have worked closely with the Macleay Valley Mountain Bikers Club who operate under a forest permit in Kalateenee State Forest. As a result, operations will be carefully monitored such that many of these mountain bike trails can continue to be enjoyed during these operations.
However, on occasion Forestry Corporation may need to close part, or all of the State forest associated with this operation in order to ensure the public is kept safe, for example during road maintenance works, removal of dangerous trees or bush fire hazard reduction burning activities.
For the latest information on closed areas, please visit the closures and notices page on our website.
Fire
Another important part of the process is our management of fires. As one of the four statutory firefighting authorities in NSW, Forestry Corporation puts a great deal of effort into preparatory and preventative measures to protect communities, neighbouring properties, and State Forests from bushfires through maintenance of forest trails and reducing fuel loads. Fire is also a vital tool to enhance regeneration and maintain forest ecosystem health.
More about fire management in State forests.
Cultural heritage
Our planning process for all operations includes consultation with the Aboriginal community and field surveys to identify and protect Aboriginal Cultural Heritage in line with our Operational Guidelines for Aboriginal Cultural Heritage, a due diligence code of practice.