Echo
NetDaily, 21 September 2020:
The
Knitting Nannas standing up (and sitting down) for koalas in Casino.
The
Knitting Nannas are holding regular public knit-ins in Casino in
support of NEFA, to raise awareness about Forestry operations logging
in koala habitat in particular in Myrtle Forest, near Casino which
was severely impacted by last summers’ fires.
The
Nannas say recent surveys by Dailan Pugh and NEFA volunteers found
evidence of koala scats in Myrtle forest and additional roosting
trees.
The
Nannas say the forest needs to recover to enable koalas to recover.
SpokesNanna
Rosie said that the recent government report that found koalas will
be extinct by 2050 in the wild makes this imperative. ‘It is
estimated Banyabba koalas which range this forest lost 83% of their
population. Last week we had a long chat to an old forester who
agrees that current Forestry practices are not sustainable…….
The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 September 2020:
Almost three-quarters of key habitat the Berejiklian government was planning to set aside for koala protection was burned in last summer's fires.
The government announced in May 2018 it would begin to address the decline of koala numbers including preserving extra habitat, according to a Planning Department paper dated June 23 this year.
It started to transfer more state land to the national parks system, including 1382 hectares from the Mount Boss State Forest to the Kindee Creek area and 2080 hectares earmarked in the Carrai State Forest to the Willi Willi National Park.
However, last season's devastating bushfires burnt more than 5 million hectares in the state. Of the state forests transferred to national park tenure, 72 per cent "were impacted", as were about 58 per cent proposed flora reserve, the documents show......
ABC News, 23 September 2020:
Agreements to change logging rules in New South Wales to better protect animals that survived last summer's bushfires have been torn up by Deputy Premier John Barilaro's department and government-owned loggers, sparking yet another inter-government stoush over koala habitat.
An explosive letter sent earlier this month to the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) from the heads of the Department of Regional NSW — Mr Barilaro's department — and Forestry Corporation of NSW states there has now been "substantial recovery post-fire in many coastal state forests".
It declares logging in NSW can return to "standard" this month in forests not covered by new site-specific logging rules.
The letter comes despite an agreement struck between the loggers and the EPA earlier this year to only log areas according to those new rules.
The letter sparked a fiery response from EPA boss Tracy Mackey, which was published yesterday on the EPA's website.
She said the move did not appear to be lawful, and the EPA was now considering action to stop Forestry Corporation.....
Other documents released to NSW Parliament earlier this month show the EPA believed the actions were partly motivated by the direction of Mr Barilaro, the Department of Regional NSW and Forestry Corporation.
The documents also detail allegations that Forestry Corporation made false reports about its logging operations to avoid new protections.....
Almost three-quarters of key habitat the Berejiklian government was planning to set aside for koala protection was burned in last summer's fires.
The government announced in May 2018 it would begin to address the decline of koala numbers including preserving extra habitat, according to a Planning Department paper dated June 23 this year.
It started to transfer more state land to the national parks system, including 1382 hectares from the Mount Boss State Forest to the Kindee Creek area and 2080 hectares earmarked in the Carrai State Forest to the Willi Willi National Park.
However, last season's devastating bushfires burnt more than 5 million hectares in the state. Of the state forests transferred to national park tenure, 72 per cent "were impacted", as were about 58 per cent proposed flora reserve, the documents show......
ABC News, 23 September 2020:
Agreements to change logging rules in New South Wales to better protect animals that survived last summer's bushfires have been torn up by Deputy Premier John Barilaro's department and government-owned loggers, sparking yet another inter-government stoush over koala habitat.
An explosive letter sent earlier this month to the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) from the heads of the Department of Regional NSW — Mr Barilaro's department — and Forestry Corporation of NSW states there has now been "substantial recovery post-fire in many coastal state forests".
It declares logging in NSW can return to "standard" this month in forests not covered by new site-specific logging rules.
The letter comes despite an agreement struck between the loggers and the EPA earlier this year to only log areas according to those new rules.
The letter sparked a fiery response from EPA boss Tracy Mackey, which was published yesterday on the EPA's website.
She said the move did not appear to be lawful, and the EPA was now considering action to stop Forestry Corporation.....
Other documents released to NSW Parliament earlier this month show the EPA believed the actions were partly motivated by the direction of Mr Barilaro, the Department of Regional NSW and Forestry Corporation.
The documents also detail allegations that Forestry Corporation made false reports about its logging operations to avoid new protections.....
"Well
the number of healthy and otherwise treatable Koala who have
died from being hit on our roads this year is ridiculous,
irreplaceable & equates to many future generations of Koala not
being born." [Maria Mathes @talkingkoala, NSW Northern Rivers region, 17 September 2020]
 |
| Where is my tree? Photo: |
The former head of the New South Wales Young Nationals and chair of its women’s council has resigned from the party joining a growing list of high-profile members to quit in the wake of the koala policy saga.
Jess Price-Purnell, an almost decade-long member of the Nationals, has left, describing the threat by John Barilaro to blow up the Coalition government over the koala policy saga “despicable”.
It comes as the NSW Coalition held its first joint party room meeting since Barilaro was forced to back down over his threat to pull the Nationals out of the Coalition after the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, issued an ultimatum to either support the policy or resign from the ministry....
BACKGROUND
NorthEast Forest Alliance (NEFA), excerpts from website:
* The North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) travelled out to Braemar State Forest in July 2019 to survey and protect koala habitat under logging rules that meant areas significant koala use would need to be protected.
What we discovered blew us away with an exceptional population of an estimated 60+ koalas at risk of logging.
Scat searches indicate there are over 100ha of Koala High Use areas – unprecedented in State Forests. What we found was so compelling that we returned multiple times and completed four different audits of koala evidence in the area.
When we submitted this data to Forestry Corporation of NSW they simply announced they would be logging Braemar State Forest under the new logging rules meaning no koala habitat will be protected.
We have estimated that homes of over 60 koalas will be decimated if this logging were to go ahead - unthinkable while local koala populations have halved in just 20 years. (source) With logging due to commence, we are turning to the community to come together in support of Braemar's koalas.
We can stop this devastation, but we need your help....
* NEFA are preparing a proposal for the 7,000 ha Sandy Creek Koala Park covering significant Koala habitat in Braemar, Carwong, Royal Camp and Ellangowan State Forests, as well native vegetation on land Forestry Corporation purchased for pine plantations. The values of these forests for Koalas are documented in our audits,
What we discovered blew us away with an exceptional population of an estimated 60+ koalas at risk of logging.
Scat searches indicate there are over 100ha of Koala High Use areas – unprecedented in State Forests. What we found was so compelling that we returned multiple times and completed four different audits of koala evidence in the area.
When we submitted this data to Forestry Corporation of NSW they simply announced they would be logging Braemar State Forest under the new logging rules meaning no koala habitat will be protected.
We have estimated that homes of over 60 koalas will be decimated if this logging were to go ahead - unthinkable while local koala populations have halved in just 20 years. (source) With logging due to commence, we are turning to the community to come together in support of Braemar's koalas.
We can stop this devastation, but we need your help....
* NEFA are preparing a proposal for the 7,000 ha Sandy Creek Koala Park covering significant Koala habitat in Braemar, Carwong, Royal Camp and Ellangowan State Forests, as well native vegetation on land Forestry Corporation purchased for pine plantations. The values of these forests for Koalas are documented in our audits,
These encompass a regionally significant Koala population in forests that have been degraded by logging, though are capable of supporting an expanding Koala population if left alone.
We were dismayed when on the night of 8 October the Busby's Flat fire changed direction and burnt out most of the proposal overnight. It was an anxious time while we waited to get in there and see how the Koalas had fared.
The good news was that while the understorey was incinerated, the fire had rarely crowned meaning quite a few Koalas survived. The bad news is that the crowns of most trees were cooked by the intense heat and the leaves have since died, leaving large areas devoid of food and most of the surviving Koalas with little to eat.
NEFA have been assessing core Koala colonies and found that Koalas are surviving in the areas where large scattered feed trees, or patches of trees, have retained most of their canopies. With limited fresh feed and desiccated leaves some Koalas are dehydrated, and severely so. A report on this is available at https://www.nefa.org.au/audits
This regionally significant Koala population has been severely affected by the fire, it has set back its recovery by decades. Help is needed to stabilise the population if further decline is to be averted. The last thing they need is for forestry to log their remaining feed trees.....
NEFA have been assessing core Koala colonies and found that Koalas are surviving in the areas where large scattered feed trees, or patches of trees, have retained most of their canopies. With limited fresh feed and desiccated leaves some Koalas are dehydrated, and severely so. A report on this is available at https://www.nefa.org.au/audits
This regionally significant Koala population has been severely affected by the fire, it has set back its recovery by decades. Help is needed to stabilise the population if further decline is to be averted. The last thing they need is for forestry to log their remaining feed trees.....
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