Environmental and Cultural Heritage Protection Policy

Purpose. This policy sets out how Timberline protects soil, water, biodiversity and Aboriginal cultural heritage during forest and mill operations and meets its obligations under state forest practice codes and certification standards.

1.Purpose and scope

Timberline's licence to operate depends on managing forests responsibly. This policy applies to every planning, harvesting, roading, silviculture and mill activity, and to contractors working on Timberline's behalf.

2.Policy statement

Timberline will comply with the state code of practice for timber production, the conditions of its forest allocation and its forest management certification. No harvesting, road construction or site preparation will start until the coupe has an approved harvest plan that includes an environmental and cultural heritage assessment. The business will regenerate every harvested coupe to at least the stocking standard required by the code.

3.Soil and water

Streamside buffers and filter strips shown on the coupe map must be flagged on the ground before machines enter and must not be entered by machines except at approved crossings. Snig tracks, landings and roads will be located, drained and rehabilitated in line with the harvest plan. Refuelling and servicing must happen at least 20 metres from any watercourse with spill kits on hand.

• Flag all buffer boundaries before harvest
• Install drainage on tracks before the wet season
• Report any spill or sediment discharge in the register within the shift
• Rehabilitate landings and snig tracks at coupe completion

4.Biodiversity

Habitat trees, hollow-bearing trees and retained vegetation identified in the harvest plan must be marked and protected with the exclusion zones the plan specifies. Sightings of threatened species must be reported to the Forest Operations Manager immediately and work in the area must stop until the SHE and Certification Manager confirms the response.

5.Cultural heritage

Timberline will conduct a cultural heritage assessment with the relevant Traditional Owner organisation before harvesting any coupe not previously assessed. Any artefact, scar tree, stone arrangement or other suspected heritage place found during operations must be left undisturbed, an exclusion zone established, and the discovery reported the same day.

6.Responsibilities and review

The Forest Operations Manager is responsible for including environmental and heritage controls in every harvest plan. Harvesting supervisors are responsible for flagging and enforcing exclusion zones. The SHE and Certification Manager will audit compliance on a sample of coupes each quarter and review this policy every year.