Groundbreaking research published today by fourteen of Australia's premier forest scientists has revealed the extent of the destruction of native forests in New South Wales and presents the clearest picture yet of the species and habitat at stake due to ongoing native forest logging.
The paper, published in the journal Conservation Science and Practice, found that:
Over 60% of native forest in New South Wales has been destroyed or degraded by logging since European invasion
The methodology for determining the environmental impact of logging fails to consider vital historical land-use context and is as a result pushing species to extinction faster than predicted
Ongoing logging operations threaten the habitat of over 150 already vulnerable species at risk of extinction.
New South Wales lags behind other jurisdictions in Australia and around the world which have banned native forest logging
A letter from Ms Higginson sent today to the Premier, the Minister for the Environment and the Minister for Agriculture can be found here .
Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson said, "This new science confirms our worst fears and totally undermines the pretext for the deeply unpopular, unprofitable, and dangerous practice of native forest logging,"
"This death by a thousand cuts is so much worse than the sum of its parts,"
"Forestry Corporation's pretext for destroying our native forests is a lie. Places as beautiful and complex as native forests cannot be adequately accounted for with ad hoc impact assessments that ignore history, context, and connection of the places they survey,"
"Last week, the Land and Environment Court found Forestry was a serial illegal logger and unlikely to change its practices. This must concern the Premier, the Forestry Corporation is a State Owned Corporation"
"Right now, the Labor Government is ready to log another 400,000 hectares of critical habitat for some of our most threatened wildlife including the koala, quoll and cockatoo. The Premier could call off the bulldozers and the chainsaws tomorrow - what will it take for him to show some leadership and put a stop to the vandalism of an utterly unique natural public asset?"
"This Government is hogtied by the Forestry Corporation, and New South Wales has become a laggard and an outlier. Victoria stopped logging. New Zealand stopped logging. Western Australia and South Australia have stopped logging. We need to get on with the inevitable,"
