A CENTRE OF ENDEMISM ON CLARENCE VALLEY COUNCIL LAND

It’s no secret that the area around the Shannon Creek dam supports very high levels of biodiversity, thanks to a variety of geological forms and habitats that occur there. This was confirmed over 20 years ago by the numerous environmental impact surveys conducted before the dam’s construction.

More recently, a significant project to regenerate rainforest remnants in the area, funded by the Environmental Trust, has added significantly to that body of knowledge. Surveys conducted as part of that project found the Shannon Creek – Chambigne area supports more than 1000 native plant species, many of which are endemic to the Clarence Valley, leading to its being recognised as a centre of endemism, with new discoveries still occurring. 

These include a never-before recorded Donkey Orchid spotted by a keen-eyed visitor last month. As well, several trees that have defied botanists who have tried to identify them for the past two years, have finally flowered. This has further deepened the mystery as they appear to be an undescribed form of White Beech, and flowering specimens are currently being examined at the Mount Annan National Herbarium to determine if they are a new species.

High diversity of plant life generally correlates to a high diversity of fauna, and the Shannon Creek area is proving that point. For example, the current state-wide “bats in backyards” program, being conducted by the Environment Department’s Saving our Species team, proudly announced that the program had so far identified 20 microbat species including 8 listed as threatened across some 300 properties.

Microbats were also separately monitored at Shannon creek as part of the rainforest regeneration project, and in the three years that monitoring was carried out, no less than 17 species were recorded each year, with 23 different species identified over that period. Those records were recorded from just four sites across Council’s “Rockview” property.

The regeneration project has now ended, and follow-up work is crucial, but with only 2 bush regenerators on council’s staff, that appears unlikely and all that good work will be undone.

 -        John Edwards

 Originally published under the title "A centre of endemism on council land" in the Voices for the Earth column in The Clarence Valley Independent , 8 January, 2025.

Governments host global nature conference while koala and greater glider homes are being logged

 

FOREST ALLIANCE NSW

Media

October 8 2024

 

The Forest Alliance NSW has restated calls to urgently end native forest logging in NSW to stem the decline of biodiversity in Australia.

The call comes as the Federal and State Environment Ministers host the Global Nature Positive Summit in Sydney over the next three days which aims to drive investment in nature and strengthen activities to protect and repair our environment.

 Justin Field from the Alliance said, “45 football fields a day of native forests are being logged in NSW including the homes of threatened species like the koala and greater glider. There is clear hypocrisy in asking for private investment to protect and restore nature while allowing and funding its destruction through native forest logging.”  

Susie Russell from the North Coast Environment Council said, “the NSW Government is currently logging their promised Great Koala National Park and the state owned logging company has been fined and reported for repeated illegal logging including in greater glider exclusion zones. The state and federal governments could act today and stop the destruction. They need to explain to summit delegates why they are failing to do so, when many other jurisdictions have already moved to protect their native forests.”

Steve Ryan from the Nature Conservation Council of NSW said “Australia is ashamedly a global leader in mammal extinctions. If Governments are serious about reversing the decline of nature and the loss of our beautiful animals, we need to stop allowing native forests to be logged.

Stuart Blanch from the World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia (WWF-Australia) said, “forests need protection, timber workers need jobs, home buyers need more sustainable timber. Private investment in plantations can play a role to be sure, but native forest logging needs to end and that should be the starting point in a ‘nature positive’ plan.” 

Dr Sophie Scamps, Independent Federal MP for Mackellar said, “Australia needs to get serious about protecting our natural environment and our great Aussie bush. It isn’t rocket science. We could simply stop subsidising the logging of our native forests, it is a loss-making enterprise being propped up by taxpayer subsidies after all. Equally simple would be to end the exemption of native forest logging from our national environment laws.

 “If the Albanese Government was serious about being Nature Positive it would take these commonsense and simple steps. Instead the Albanese Government is pushing off responsibility for protecting our environment to the private sector without taking these critical first steps themselves," Dr Scamps said.  

 

Balance Needed in Independent Forestry Panel

North East Forest Alliance 

MEDIA RELEASE 27 August 2024

The North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) is concerned that the NSW Government’s recently announced Independent Forestry Panel is not independent and is calling for the appointment of a forest ecologist to provide some balance.

The three member Independent Forestry Panel can not be considered independent when Peter Duncan AM was once the Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Corporation and Mick Veitch was previously the ALP’s shadow Forestry Minister, NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh said.

“We would welcome a truly independent and impartial review of logging of public native forests in NSW as the evidence is that it is neither economically nor ecologically sustainable.

“In 2022/23 the Forestry Corporation lost $15 million on its native forestry operations, costing the NSW Government $1,281 per hectare to log the homes of Koalas and Greater Gliders. In addition the Forestry Corporation was paid $31 million of taxpayer’s money for its community service obligations in 2022/23, while also receiving regular massive public handouts.  

“Logging increases the risk of extinction of many threatened species, reduces stream flows and inflows to regional water supplies, increases wildfire risks to local communities, spreads weeds, increases erosion, while reducing the carbon stored in forests and forests’ ability to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere” Mr Pugh said.

For north east NSW Blueprint Institute (2023) found that ending native forest logging in 2023–24, and instead utilising the land for carbon sequestration and tourism will deliver a net benefit valued at $45 million in present-day dollars. This includes the estimated cost of providing transitional packages to the industry as it shuts down, as well as the cost of breaking wood supply agreements that extend to 2028.

“NEFA considers that if the NSW Government was fair dinkum about undertaking an independent assessment they would ensure the assessment was undertaken by a balanced panel that will fairly deal with our evidence.

“The appointment of an independent ecologist could provide the balance needed” Mr. Pugh said.

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