Forester honoured for leadership

AUSTRALIAN Bluegum Plantations (ABP) has announced silviculture forester Neil Turner as the 2025 recipient of the John Kiely Award, recognising his outstanding leadership and perseverance in responding to one of the most significant environmental and production challenges faced by the business.

Established in 2024, the John Kiely Award honours an ABP staff member who demonstrates exceptional commitment to tackling difficult challenges while delivering strong environmental and commercial outcomes.

The award is named in memory of industry champion John Kiely, a long-serving ABP team member whose career exemplified innovation, determination and a willingness to rethink traditional approaches to achieve better operational results.

In its second year, the award recognises Mr Turner’s leadership following the devastating January 2022 fire at ABP’s Callendale Plantation in the Wattle Range area of south-east South Australia.

The fire impacted more than 1000 hectares of plantation estate, creating unprecedented rehabilitation and re-establishment challenges.

Confronted with extensive fire damage, erosion risk and highly sensitive environmental conditions, Mr Turner led a re-establishment program that went beyond standard plantation silviculture practices.

His response involved complex decision-making, including delaying planting in some areas and trialling new establishment techniques in others to improve environmental outcomes while protecting long-term productivity.

Rather than defaulting to established practices, Mr Turner adopted a measured, evidence-based approach that balanced immediate recovery pressures with longer-term landscape health.

His leadership ensured environmental risks were effectively mitigated, new learnings were embedded into operations, and production objectives were maintained without compromising environmental values.

ABP CEO Russ Hughes said Neil’s work extended to establishing new fire water resources in the local drainage network to mitigate future fire risk.

“Neil demonstrated exactly what this award stands for – innovation under pressure, perseverance through uncertainty, and the courage to challenge established approaches in pursuit of better outcomes,” Mr Hughes said. “This was John’s approach and I am very pleased that we have staff, like Neil that are continuing John’s legacy and commitment.

“Neil’s leadership at Callendale set a new benchmark for how large-scale environmental rehabilitation can be delivered alongside commercial objectives.”

Mr Turner said he was incredibly honoured to be recognised with the award.

“The work at Callendale was one of the most challenging projects of my career and it was only possible because of the support, trust and teamwork across the ABP team,” he said. “I’ve always valued being part of an organisation that backs its people to innovate and look outside the box, even when the hard decisions take time.”