NVAC and Forestry at loggerheads

A war of words has broken out between Nambucca Valley conservationists and NSW Foresty Corp following last week’s story in the Guardian (see related content below) in which the method of logging currently underway at Buckra Bendinni State Forest was described as such.

President of the Nambucca Valley Conservation Association, Paula Flack, said the words “single tree selection” conjured images of “a tree cut down here and there”.

“And that is exactly why Forestry Corporation uses this soothing language,” Ms Flack said.

“But that is not what Forestry Corporation does under the term Single Tree Selection, it clear fells.

“It is clear-felling patches of forest across the region, some as large as 100 hectares and calling it ‘single tree selection’ … and koalas cannot survive this total destruction of forest areas.” 

She said when forest conservationists brought this intensification of logging to the authorities’ attention last year, they were advised the (then) NSW Environment Minister Speakman and the Environment Protection Authority did not agree with Forestry Corporation’s interpretation of the definition of ‘single tree selection’ in the logging rules and declared the clear felling outside the rules. 

“Unbelievably, no State Government action has yet been taken to stop this.

“Instead we hear the State Government plans to ratify the clear felling by changing the rules to make it legal across over 100,000 hectares of public native forest between Grafton and Taree.

“They also intend to do away with pre-logging koala surveys and weaken the already inadequate koala protections.”

Ms Flack said the reason for this was that were over-committed by their quotas and desperate to fill them.

“Koalas get in the way … they are also extremely susceptible to stress.

“When koala feed trees and familiar home patch of forest are devastated by logging, they are either killed during tree felling or die later from injuries, predation by dogs, starvation or stress related disease.

“This is the harsh reality of what really happens when logging of koala habitat occurs in public state forests and is a significant contributing factor to the alarming decline in koala numbers in NSW ... 50 per cent over the last 15-20 years on the NSW north coast.”

PLEASE NOTE: Forestry Corp has been asked to respond – their reply will be online later tomorrow (Wednesday).