Forestry Corporation is currently carrying out timber harvesting in Orara East State Forest near Karangi. The areas of operation include the hardwood timber plantations within the forest and parts of the native forest. Detailed harvest plans are available on our Plan Portal.

About these operations

Forestry Corporation has been appointed by the NSW Government to sustainably manage around two million hectares of State forests in NSW. These forests include around 1.8 million hectares of native, or naturally occurring forests, around 225,000 hectares of softwood timber plantations and just under 35,000 hectares of hardwood timber plantations.

Orara East State Forest contains a mix of timber plantations, planted specifically for timber production, regrowth native forests that are periodically harvested and regrown, and native forests managed for conservation and recreation - including award winning tourism destinations.

Native forests provide sustainable timber, recreation and biodiversity. The native state forests that are harvested for timber are regrowth forests, which means the trees we see today have grown to replace trees previously removed for timber.

Hardwood timber plantations are located in the north of NSW and include a range of native eucalyptus and Corymbia timber and wood products. While these are native species that occur naturally on the north coast, the trees in these plantations have been planted for the purpose of timber production and are harvested once they have reached maturity. They are replanted with a mix of native species. Hardwood timber plantations can take 30-50 years to grow to maturity. Plantation forests are generally established on former plantations or farmland. They are specifically planted and cultivated to be harvested for timber production.

What to expect

Compartments 10 and 11 in Orara East State Forest are 233 hectares in size. Operations are in around 100 hectares of the native forest and 40 hectares of hardwood timber plantation in these two compartments.

Native forestry operations

During native forestry operations, a portion of the trees is harvested and large areas are set aside for wildlife habitat, along riparian corridors, to protect environmental features, to maintain seed resources for regeneration and to maintain biodiversity.

During the planning phase, our ecology staff carried out surveys and broad area habitat searches to identify and set aside suitable habitat and feed trees and develop detailed harvest plans that adhere to the environmental regulations. Our Aboriginal Partnerships Liaison also conducted cultural heritage surveys in consultation with the local Aboriginal Land Council. Watch the video below or read more about native forestry operations.

Plantation operations

Approximately 40 hectares of hardwood plantations in Orara East State Forest are being harvested and replanted. Work in the timber plantations is nearing completion. These plantations were established in 1978 and 1988 on primarily cleared land. The plantation includes a mix of Blackbutt, Flooded Gum, Blue Gum and Dunns White Gum, which will be harvested primarily to supply sawlogs to local mills, but will also supply a full range of wood products.

The plantations in Orara East State Forest were last harvested in 2008 in a thinning operation, which means some of the trees were removed to allow the remaining trees more space to grow. The plantation trees are now mature and this is the final harvest, which means the entire plantation area will be harvested and replanted with new seedlings to regrow the plantation. The plantation will be replanted by hand with native seedlings grown from locally-sourced seed in our Grafton production nursery and regrown for approximately 40 years before being harvested and replanted again. Watch the video below or read more about hardwood plantations.

Find out more

You can subscribe to the plans for our operations in Orara East State Forest through our Plan Portal. There are separate plans for the native forest and hardwood plantation sections. If you have any questions, please contact us.

Thank you for your patience while we complete our work.