Staff and contractors receive training in our operating standards that combine wildlife welfare, safe work practices, and regulatory compliance. These standards have been used as a model by others in the industry. We take action to minimise risk to koalas during harvest operations, including:
- Trained spotters undertaking pre-harvest surveys to detect koala presence
- Daily pre-harvest surveys using thermal imaging drones and ground surveying at sites of confirmed koala presence
- Daily welfare checks of any koalas in operational zones
- Recognising signs of koalas and searching the work area prior to starting and following work breaks
- Designing the harvest sequence to encourage koala movement to nearby habitat, and avoiding the isolation of small patches of trees, and
- Retaining trees and buffer zones around any koala that is sighted.
If a koala is detected, we stop and relocate operations (by at least 150 metres wherever possible). With this safe buffer, and maintaining a tree-covered pathway back to nearby habitat where possible, koalas have time to move on naturally. Our contracted operators carry out daily welfare checks on all koalas located in the operational zone.
If a koala remains in place for more than two days, harvesting may resume in the surrounding area – but the tree the koala is in, along with several nearby trees, is retained. This approach is only used when it is the only option to progress the harvest operation. Under regulations, HVP is not permitted to relocate koalas. As a result, retained trees are not harvested until the koala has moved elsewhere.
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