Australia's Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers has advised the three levels of government about its plans to start harvesting of the fire-damaged plantations on Kangaroo Island.
Salvage harvesting will begin in the area of fire-damaged pine trees which is most at risk of decay, to recover the higher value logs. Advice to the Company is that these logs must be harvested within two years of the bushfires and stored under water or sprinklers in order to preserve value. This strategy will allow the company to maximise recoverable volume, as it awaits approval for the KI Seaport facility at Smith Bay.
An Expression of Interests (EOI) process started in 2019 for provision of harvest and haul services and the Company is now received proposals from a number of operators to start initially in the pine and then move to the bluegums. KIPT is also in discussions with independent growers on the Island regarding harvest of their fire-damaged trees.
Early work will start this calendar year prioritising trees along power lines, in consultation with SA Power Networks. It is expected that the pine harvest will start early in 2021.
The Company expects to salvage a total of 3 million tonnes of timber with sufficient value to support building of the KI Seaport. Other uses are contemplated for a further 1.5 million tonnes of timber which is not considered suitable for log export.
The salvage harvest is expected to generate in excess of $200 million in economic activity for the Island over the next four years, excluding the beneficial impact of the port.
Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers is Australia’s only listed timberland company. It manages a wholly-owned portfolio of hardwood and softwood forestry plantations, growing on former agricultural land on Kangaroo Island, South Australia.
