Last night saw the Greens call on the NSW Labor government to stop logging koala hubs that have been identified to become part of the future Great Koala National Park (GKNP) following the reignition of conflict over the logging of Newry State Forest by NSW Forestry Corporation.
‘This Government is destroying the very heart of the Great Koala National Park (GKNP) through continued industrial scale logging,’ said Greens MP and spokesperson for the Environment Sue Higginson.
‘Just two weeks ago the NSW Premier said protecting koalas is non-negotiable and here we are listening to the Environment Minister talking about setting up some kind of negotiation process while we are logging critical koala habitat. It’s politically, environmentally and socially untenable and starting to look a lot like political failure. It is disastrous for our poor koalas and the other forest dependent endangered species.
‘The motion I put forward simply stated facts about what is going on at Newry. NSW Labor moved amendments to remove all acknowledgement of the fact that right now their own Forestry Corporation is destroying the only thing that stands between NSW koalas and extinction. This Government promised a Great Koala National Park. It’s been over four months since they were elected and since then all we have seen is increased logging activity in the areas that are essential to any Great Koala National Park.’
Bulga State Forest camp
The logging of the Newry State Forest is just one of numerous areas that are being logged or under threat of logging that local communities have been standing up for.
Currently, a new camp is being set up at the Bulga State Forest where locals are concerned that new logging activities are imminent.
The Save Bulga Forest action group set up a camp yesterday with the intention to conduct more searches for koalas, yellow-bellied and greater gliders, glossy black cockatoos and other threatened species.
We had a camp at the end of May. There was a huge amount of interest with about 10 people camping and as many coming out for day trips,’ said Sharyn O’Dell, a spokesperson for the group.
‘The results were extraordinary. In the areas of Bulga Forest that had not been badly burnt we found evidence of Koalas in several areas. As well as actually seeing four Koalas.
‘But it was the number of Greater Gliders that we saw that just blew us away. The area appears to be a stronghold for the species.
‘Currently the area is planned for logging. Logging would see many of the trees the Gliders use damaged or removed. It’s an absolute outrage that this is being done and subsidised by NSW taxpayers,’ she said.
‘The government owned logging company, Forestry Corporation has done no pre-logging surveys for Koalas or Gliders. They also haven’t looked in the extensive areas of the forest that were burnt to see how many animals survived. The logging is driving these precious, unique animals towards extinction. The Greater Glider is endangered because its population is estimated to have crashed to only 20 per cent or one-fifth of what it was only a decade or so ago.
‘Most people actually think our native forests are protected. They have no idea at the destruction that is going on. Governments talk about Species Recovery Plans and no more extinctions, but it’s just talk. What’s happening on the ground in the forest is year after year of degradation. And after they log it they burn it, often damaging many of the trees that are left behind.
‘We’re hoping if we can demonstrate that these forests are strongholds for endangered species, they might get some kind of reprieve, and the logging will stop,’ Ms O’Dell said.
‘It’s disappointing that Labor has chosen to exacerbate the wars going on in our forests instead of protecting the very area they promised that they would. The community will continue to fight but we are running out of time for koalas,’ Ms Higginson said.
The Greens introduced the motion, Labor moved amendments, the amendments were passed with support from the Coalition, Shooter Farmers Fishers, One Nation and Legalise Cannabis and voted against by the Greens and Animal Justice Party. The motion as amended was voted for by Labor, the Greens, Animal Justice and Legalise Cannabis and against by the Coalition, One Nation and Shooters Farmers Fishers and passed the House.
The motion does not stop the logging by NSW Forestry Corporation but recognises that the NSW Labor government will work towards a GKNP through a consultative process.
‘Minister for the Environment Penny Sharpe contributed to the debate saying the government has a plan to establish the park but failed to identify what, when or how this plan will be rolled out,’ said Ms Higginson.
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