OPEN LETTER TO PREMIER MINNS ON KOALAS & LOGGING

The situation of koalas in NSW has been of major concern for years with fears the species could be extinct in the state by 2050.  This fear is not surprising as the state koala population is declining rapidly. It fell by a third between 1990 and 2010.

The main threats to koala survival have been habitat loss and disease. The devastating fires of 2019-20 made things worse.

The election in March 2023 brought the expectation that koalas would at last be given a better chance of avoiding extinction – at least in the area between Kempsey and Grafton - because of the new Government’s promise to establish the Great Koala National Park (GKNP). 

The GKNP proposal seeks the addition of 175,000 ha of publicly-owned forests to existing protected areas to form a 315,000 ha reserve over five local government areas – Clarence Valley, Coffs Harbour, Bellingen, Nambucca Valley and Kempsey.

Progress towards fulfilling the election promise in the year since the election has been minimal.  In fact, koalas and their habitat have suffered because the NSW Government is allowing Forest Corp to continue logging in the areas which contain prime koala habitat.  Just how much of this important habitat will remain is a matter of great concern. And this is a major reason for the rise in activity by forest campaigners who are appalled at what is happening.

Concern about koalas and the accelerating biodiversity crisis has been growing in the general community as well as with scientists and conservationists.  The Australia Institute recently published an open letter to the Minns Government calling for the end of logging in public native forests and koala habitat.  It was signed by more than 100 political leaders, academics, environment and climate experts. 

It called for action on creating the GKNP, ending logging in public native forests, and abandoning support for and plans to develop carbon credits associated with NSW forests. Attached was a petition asking supporters to add their names to the open letter.

It concluded with “No delay. No excuses. No carbon offsets.”

-        Leonie Blain

 Published in the "Voices for the Earth" column in The Clarence Valley Independent , April 24, 2024.

PENNY SHARPE TAKES HER HANDS OFF THE WHEEL AS SHE DRIVES KOALAS TO EXTINCTION

 

North East Forest Alliance

Media Release

31 July 2023 

Surveys undertaken for the North East Forest Alliance have identified numerous threatened species within an area now being logged in Newry State Forest, within the proposed Great Koala National Park, including confirming the ongoing occupation of a Koala Hub identified by the Government in 2017 as one of the most important areas to protect for Koalas.

It is grossly irresponsible for the Minister for the Environment, Penny Sharpe, to allow this irreplaceable Koala habitat, identified as both a Koala Hub and a Nationally Important Koala Area, within the proposed Great Koala National Park, to be logged, NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh said

“Penny Sharpe has taken her hands off the wheel as she drives Koalas to extinction.

“NEFA wrote to Minister Sharpe on 3 April pointing out that within the proposed Great Koala National Park over the next 12 month the Forestry Corporation was intending to log over 1,300 ha in 28 Koala Hubs¹ identified by the Office of Environment and Heritage in 2017 for protection as known resident Koala populations of outstanding importance.

“We thought that given their limited extent and outstanding importance for Koalas that it would be easy for her to rule them out for logging

“We provided her with a map showing the location of the Koala Hub in Newry and advised her that it was under imminent threat. A recent assessment by Biolink for NEFA confirmed that Koalas are still resident in this Koala Hub and recommended its protection.

“We also provided her with maps of Koala Hubs in Moonpar, Orara East, and Boambee State Forests that she has since allowed to be logged.

“Koala strongholds are being destroyed while Penny Sharpe stands aside.

“A survey just completed by for NEFA  by Bower Books Works in Newry identified five threatened plant species from 40 locations, a Greater Glider den tree, Koala scratches on numerous trees, and significant patches of high quality habitat for the nationally threatened Glossy Black Cockatoo, Koala and Greater Glider.

“Two of the threatened plant species and the Greater Glider den tree require protection under the CIFOA logging rules so we have  written to the Forestry Corporation and EPA for immediate action to protect them.

“The fact that these brief surveys have revealed additional threatened species and records highlights the inadequacy of Forestry Corporation’s surveys, and in particular the refusal of Penny Sharpe to require pre-logging surveys for nationally Endangered species such as Koalas and Southern Greater Gliders.

“Logging in Newry State Forest should be halted immediately, the Koala Hub protected, and independent surveys undertaken to identify the area occupied by Koalas and Greater Gliders, and all locations of threatened plants. 

“Penny Sharpe is now part of the problem, its time she came part of the solution to avoid the extinction of Koalas” Mr. Pugh said.

1.     Koala Hubs were identified in 2017, at the request of the Chief Scientist, the Office of Environment and Heritage analysed Koala records "to delineate highly significant local scale areas of koala occupancy currently known for protection", identifying “areas of currently known significant koala occupancy that indicate clusters of resident populations known as Koala Hubs”.

 

THE GREAT KOALA NATIONAL PARK

A recent University of Newcastle report examined the economic and environmental benefits that could result from the creation of the proposed Great Koala National Park (GKNP) on the NSW Mid- North Coast.

Kevin Evans, spokesperson for the GKNP Steering Committee, said the research demonstrated “the Great Koala National Park would make a significant contribution to the NSW economy and be a major job boost for the Mid-North Coast region just when it is so desperately needed.”

Habitat loss is a major threat to survival of the koala as a species.   The GKNP proposal was developed to increase koala habitat protection by adding 175,000 ha of native state forests to existing protected areas establishing a 315,000 ha reserve.  This new park would stretch across the local government areas of Coffs Harbour, Clarence Valley, Bellingen, Nambucca and Kempsey protecting an area that is home to around 20 per cent of the NSW koala population.

The proposal was initiated by Mid-North Coast conservation groups who commissioned an independent scientific assessment by ecologist David Scotts of the public native forests that would need to be protected if we are to avoid koala extinction.

Mr Evans said the Newcastle University report included employment projections as forestry related jobs are transitioned over a ten year period to park management and restoration through a government funded transition plan.

“We fully support a government funded industry transition,” he said.

He believes that as NSW currently obtains over 85% of its timber requirements from plantation sources, an investment in expanding this resource should be a priority.

The urgent need for improved protection of koala habitat was confirmed by last year’s NSW Legislative Council inquiry into koala habitat which found that koalas could become extinct in NSW by2050 unless effective action was taken.  Significantly this inquiry said that the GKNP “has great merit”.

Mr Evans says that there is widespread community support for the proposal.  He wants the NSW Premier to live up to her promise of being the Premier to save our koala for future generations.

            - Leonie Blain

Published in the "Voices for the Earth" column in The Clarence Valley Independent , February 17, 2021. 

 

For more information on the proposed Great Koala National Park see   https://www.gknp.org/