The North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) has called on the NSW Government to stop approving koala habitat for clearing and logging.
NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh pointed out the illogical situation where koala habitat continues to be cleared while the NSW Government spends tens of millions of dollars on koala hospitals, open range zoos and planting seedlings. All of this will not prevent koalas becoming extinct in the wild unless existing koala habitat is protected.
“Every day the NSW Government is allowing the Forestry Corporation to cut down mature Koala feed trees in public forests, and farmers to bulldoze them, while their propaganda arm goes into over-drive pretending that Koalas don’t need their feed trees.
“We know that Koalas only utilise certain individuals of certain species, and that the larger those trees are the more they use them. Protecting these key trees and allowing others to mature is essential for Koala’s survival.
“If the NSW Government is sincere about saving Koalas they need to ensure thorough surveys of potential habitat before clearing or logging is allowed, and to protect any core Koala habitat found.
“For a start they can ditch their current policy that if a logger sees a Koala in a tree they just wait for it to leave before they cut its home down, Mr. Pugh said.
