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Leard State Forest is 8000 hectares of bushland located between Narrabri and Boggabri in north west NSW. The nearest township is the farming community of Maules Creek, which sits at the foothills of the Nandewar Range.

Leard State Forest includes the most extensive and intact stands of the nationally-listed and critically endangered Box-Gum Woodland remaining on the Australian continent. The forest is home to 396 species of plants and animals and includes habitat for 34 threatened species and several endangered ecological communities.

Open-cut coal mining threatens to destroy more than half of the Leard State Forest. Two open-cut coal mines are already operating and have approval to expand further into Leard State Forest. A third open-cut coal mine is approved and expected to begin production in 2015.

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