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| Via @talkingkoala |
A message from the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
9 August 2022
The ePetition "End Public Native Forest Logging" has closed for signatures and has been presented in the Legislative Assembly by Mrs Shelley Hancock.
The ePetition text in full is:
To the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly,
Public native forest logging is pushing iconic species like the koala, swift parrot and greater glider towards extinction.
The 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires burnt over 5 million hectares of forest and have left them more vulnerable to the impacts of logging. The Natural Resources Commission (NRC) and the Environmental Protection Agency have recommended that in bushfire affected areas logging should cease entirely or face tighter restrictions, as current logging practices may cause irreversible damage to ecosystems and wildlife.
Logging of public native forests is tax-payer subsidised. Forestry Corporation’s Hardwood Division has been operating at a significant loss for the past decade. In 2020/21 it ran at a loss of $20 million, with predictions that it will face losses of $15 million until 2024.
Reports also show our state forests can generate far more income through their protection than from logging, through recreation, tourism and carbon abatement.
The Western Australian and Victorian Governments have already committed to ending this industry and have developed transition plans to support affected workers and businesses.
The petitioners ask the Legislative Assembly to:
1. Develop a plan to transition the native forestry industry to 100% sustainable plantations by 2024.
2. In the interim, place a moratorium on public native forest logging until the regulatory framework reflects the recommendations of the leaked NRC report.
3. Immediately protect high-conservation value forests through gazettal in the National Parks estate.
4. Ban use of native forest materials as biomass fuel.
The ePetition received 21046 signatures and has been sent to the NSW Government for a response.
You will receive an email with a link to the response when it is received.
As the ePetition received more than 20,000 signatures, it will also be debated in the Legislative Assembly at 4pm on 15/09/2022.
You can watch the debate on the webcast at https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/pages/la-webcast-page.aspx
Ms. Taneska Frank’s e-petition was signed by a total of 21,046 NSW residents by the end of the petition period on 2 August 2022.
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| Via @talkingkoala |
