An ePetition to the NSW Legislative Assembly calling for the ending of public native forest logging will be discussed by the Assembly on September 15 at 4 p.m. (To be eligible the petition required 20,000 signatures by the end of the petition period. 21,046 NSW residents signed this online petition.)
The Petition Text in Full:
To the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly,
Public native forest logging is pushing iconic species like the koala, swift parrot and greater glider towards extinction.
The 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires burnt over 5 million hectares of forest and have left them more vulnerable to the impacts of logging. The Natural Resources Commission (NRC) and the Environmental Protection Agency have recommended that in bushfire affected areas logging should cease entirely or face tighter restrictions, as current logging practices may cause irreversible damage to ecosystems and wildlife.
Logging of public native forests is tax-payer subsidised. Forestry Corporation’s Hardwood Division has been operating at a significant loss for the past decade. In 2020/21 it ran at a loss of $20 million, with predictions that it will face losses of $15 million until 2024.
Reports also show our state forests can generate far more income through their protection than from logging, through recreation, tourism and carbon abatement.
The Western Australian and Victorian Governments have already committed to ending this industry and have developed transition plans to support affected workers and businesses.
The petitioners ask the Legislative Assembly to:
1. Develop a plan to transition the native forestry industry to 100% sustainable plantations by 2024.
2. In the interim, place a moratorium on public native forest logging until the regulatory framework reflects the recommendations of the leaked NRC report.
3. Immediately protect high-conservation value forests through gazettal in the National Parks estate.
4. Ban use of native forest materials as biomass fuel.
You can watch the debate on the webcast at https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/pages/la-webcast-page.aspx
