CALL TO STOP LOGGING KOALA HABITAT ON NSW PUBLIC LANDS

 North East Forest Alliance

MEDIA  RELEASE

February 29, 2024

The NSW Government has released Reviewing the NSW Koala Strategy  discussion paper  and is seeking community input on current koala conservation actions.

The NSW Government’s 2021 Koala Strategy identifies that the highest priority to avoid the extinction of Koalas in the wild by 2050 is to protect their habitat, to this end they have allocated $71 million to buy private properties and implement conservation agreements over up to 22,000 hectares.

So far they have bought 10,000 ha of land to add to national parks and entered conservation agreements over 7,700 ha of private land.

Only part of this is high quality Koala habitat, said NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh.

“There are 230,000 hectares of State Forests on the NSW North Coast identified as high quality Koala habitat by the NSW Government and as Nationally Important Koala Areas by the Commonwealth Government, yet both Governments refuse to stop logging them.

“The Forestry Corporation is losing $15 million a year, and getting tens of millions in equity injections, to log tens of thousands of Koala feed trees in thousands of hectares of high quality Koala habitat every year.

“If the Government was serious about saving Koalas and saving money then their highest priority must be to protect Koala habitat on public land

“The Government has identified 50 koala populations “where koalas have the potential to persist over the long term”, and in 2021 prioritised 19 of these for immediate protection of strongholds, including in the Banyabba Area of Regional Koala Significance (Whiporie-Rappville).

“Despite this they are right now logging identified Koala strongholds in Braemar and Myrtle State Forests within the Banyabba ARKS.

“The Government is asking people to tell them what else they should be doing to protect koala habitat.

“Please tell them to immediately stop logging Koala habitat on public lands” Mr. Pugh said.

 

 

 

NSW KOALA STRATEGY MARK II

The 2019/20 bushfires, and a damning report from the 2019 Legislative Council Inquiry into NSW Koala Populations sent the NSW government hurrying to produce a report claiming successes with their earlier Strategy, and deciding on further tactics to prevent Australia from losing a globally renowned species on their watch.

Will this updated Strategy be any better?  It comes with funding of $193.3 million, along with 30 actions aimed at doubling NSW koala numbers by 2050. This in itself could be questionable when eventual outcomes are released since koala numbers today are not known, with an estimate of 15,000 to 30,000, giving a ballpark figure of 20,000.

There is also concern that this commitment will not see any marked changes, for a number of reasons. The main one is that although over 280,000 ha of premium and secondary koala habitat is officially identified in north-east NSW State forests alone, with some supporting important koala hubs, there are still no plans to permanently protect these vital habitats from logging.

Another is that instead of basing conservation outcomes on legislative changes and government responsibilities, they once again are to rest on private landowner decisions - to either sell their homes to the government, or take up binding conservation agreements (CAs) attached to their properties' titles. For the first option the government wants 15,000 ha, with some already selected from the Northern Rivers. For the CAs, they plan for just 7,000 ha from across the whole of NSW. This does not generate confidence that many necessary koala corridors will be safely protected.

Also the actual protection value of a CA can often depend on adjoining neighbours, who can legally log their properties, and gradually clear for a number of legitimate reasons, even through koala habitat.

On a more positive note, if this funding can support a dedicated effort to bring our koalas back from the brink, then we might hope to see some level of success, perhaps to a point where a passing tourist in known koala habitat might even be able to see a koala.

- Patricia Edwards

 

Published in the "Voices for the Earth" column in The Clarence Valley Independent , May 18, 2022.

 

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/

 

 

NEFA CALLS ON ENVIRONMENT MINISTER KEAN TO "STUMP UP"

Recently the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) called on the NSW Environment Minister to take action to protect important koala habitat from further logging and to ensure that the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) prosecutes the Forestry Corporation for their breaching of logging rules.

NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh reminded the Minister that on July 26 he said  he wanted  to see Koala populations doubled by 2050, stating “Koalas are the most iconic example of our mismanagement of the environment and we’ve got to say 'enough is enough'."

On July 18 the EPA imposed a Stop Work Order over 3 compartments in Wild Cattle Creek State Forest near Cascade on the Dorrigo plateau , 9 days after they found the Forestry Corporation had illegally logged 2 giant trees.

 

A brief audit by NEFA on the afternoon of 28 July 2020 found a further 12 breaches of the logging rules.  This consisted of  2 more felled giant trees, with reckless damage to 4 giant hollow-bearing trees and 6 Koala feed trees.

Mr Pugh said, "The felled giant trees were around 1.5 metres diameter, and the giant hollow bearing trees damaged by logging machinery driving over their roots and bashing their trunks were 1.5 to 2 metres diameter."

"These massive awe-inspiring trees are the height of 10 storey buildings and 300-500 years old. They provide the large hollows that many of our iconic animals depend upon for dens and nests. They predate European settlement of Australia, yet the Forestry Corporation are recklessly felling and damaging them. This has to be stopped.

"These forests have also been identified as being outstanding Koala habitat. In 2017 the Office of Environment and Heritage identified the logging area as part of the largest cluster of resident Koala populations (Koala Hubs) on the Dorrigo Plateau, and last year the Department of Planning Industry and Environment identified it for protection as part of a greatly reduced Great Koala National Park to "provide a feasible and strategic balance between increasing protections for koalas, while minimising impact to forestry operations".

"The pitiful 10 Koala feed trees per hectare the Forestry Corporation are required to retain in this forest are only 40% of the number recommended by the Expert Fauna Panel and the EPA, and even these they are recklessly and carelessly damaged.

"While it is important that the Forestry Corporation are prosecuted for their flagrant breaches of the new logging rules, if Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Environment Minister Matt Kean are fair dinkum about reversing the decline of Koalas the first thing they need to do is stop logging their homes and feed trees.

"Premier enough is enough. Time to stump up Minister Kean," Mr. Pugh said.

Blue Gum stump with 149.5 cm diameter at stump height.

 

 

 

 

 

Giant Blue Gum left where it had been felled

For more information see  NEFA's .Wild Cattle Creek Brief Audit