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Koalas have now been declared endangered due to 200+ years of exploitation of the animals and the habitats they live in, and the massive bushfires of 2019/20. This is part 2 of Brian Davies report on the need to save Koala habitat, including Ourimbah State Forest.
By Brian Davies
They used to be hunted and killed. Massive areas of their former habitat have been destroyed. And instead of any serious attempt to save them, it’s now death by a thousand cuts as the trees they rely on for survival are cut down.
Koalas have been sighted in the Ourimbah State Forest (OSF) area with a photo of one taken in 2020. NSW Department of Planning and Environment Central Coast Koala Management Area includes OSF[1].
The department encourage the planting of koala feed trees to supplement the forest. Neighbours in Palmdale who live adjacent to the area currently being logged did exactly that and are devastated that their good work will come to nothing as no koalas can survive in the logged area.
The former COALition government weakened the laws that were supposed to protect koalas. As a result, Gladys earned the epithet “koala killer”.
North East Forest Alliance reported[2] that
The Government decided to remove the need for the Forestry Corporation to look before they log and instead protect 10 Koala feed trees per ha over 20cm diameter in modelled high-quality habitat and 5 per ha is medium quality habitat.
Those laws are still in place.
Koalas are now on the endangered list. Forestry themselves admit that the biggest primary threats to koalas are “loss, fragmentation and degradation of habitat”, which pretty much describes the Forestry business model.
Then, in a contradictory statement in the same document, they claim logging makes no difference to koala numbers.
But the research they use as the basis for the claims has been proven to be false and to have no correlation to koala numbers. Koala numbers are in fact declining in logged areas. The supposed measures taken to protect koalas are a sham.
Forestry’s claims are based on one flawed survey recording a few male mating calls in prime koala habitat that gives no accurate information on koala numbers.
There are many articles providing evidence that those claims are false and have no scientific basis.
They debunk the claims and show that koala numbers are actually declining in logged areas. A couple of examples of articles refuting forestry’s claims are[3]
“The impression gained from this review is of unstable Koala colonies in logged forests, declining as mature feed trees are progressively removed, at risk of collapse from the combination of logging, drought and fire. The assumptions and conclusions of the study by DPI Forestry (Law et. al. 2022) misrepresent the threat to the ongoing survival of Koalas, and is therefore a threat itself. The data collected needs a full reassessment and critical review by independent experts.”
and[4] “The one survey relied upon by the timber industry to justify the ongoing logging of Koala habitat was undertaken by the forestry unit of the Department of Primary Industries, who are not independent and whose data do not justify their subjective conclusions. There are far more robust studies that shows that Koalas are declining on State Forests and that this will be exasperated by the increased logging intensity, reduced retention of mature trees and reduced exclusions allowed by the new logging rules.”
Page 9 of the OSF harvest plan says that if they see a koala in a tree, they have to set up a 25 metre exclusion zone around it, but as soon as the koala comes down the exclusion no longer applies and they can cut those trees down. How can this possibly be in the best interests of koalas?
The current Labor government in NSW promised they would set up the Great Koala National Park in forests in northern NSW that contain 1 in 5 of the surviving koala population.
But they have reneged on their promise and have now allowed large sections of the area to be logged.
This destroys the habitat for decades and effectively kills koalas, so by the time a National Park is created it will be too late. Environment groups are seeking an urgent injunction to stop further logging.
The EDO site[5] states:
July 31 2023: The North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) has lodged an application for an urgent injunction [1] to stop NSW Forestry Corporation logging vital koala habitat in two state forests in northeast NSW.
If granted, it would be the first time a community group has obtained a logging injunction in NSW in more than 20 years. In a brief hearing late Friday, the Forestry Corp agreed to cease logging in the habitat until Wednesday, August 2, when the urgent interlocutory application will be heard by the court.
Myrtle and Braemar state forests [2] were hit hard by the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires. The forests are in an area where experts say the fires reduced the koala population by 70 per cent or more. [3]
NEFA’s own surveys indicate koalas remain present, highlighting the importance of protecting the area. The forests before the fires were also home to 23 other threatened species, including the southern greater glider, yellow-bellied glider, rufous bettong, masked owl and squirrel glider. [4]
NEFA has asked the Land and Environment Court, through the Environmental Defenders Office, to grant an urgent interlocutory injunction. If granted, this will prohibit Forestry Corp from conducting the operations in these forest areas until the final proceedings are determined, or until the court makes further orders.
An ABC news report[6] states: The New South Wales government has been urged to fast-track a national park sanctuary for koalas, with MPs and environmentalists saying logging operations continue to kill the endangered marsupials. The koala reserve will connect 300,000 hectares of state forests and existing national parks between Coffs Harbour and Kempsey in NSW.
But conservationists and crossbench MPs said the government’s $80 million commitment to create the park was pointless if it continued to allow logging in the area.
SMH reports: [Planned logging] would include areas identified by the government as the most important koala habitat in the state at Wild Cattle Creek, Clouds Creek, Pine Creek and in the Boambee State Forests. “[Forestry Corporation NSW] knows this national park is coming, and they are deliberately ramping up operations within its boundaries to extract as much timber from it as possible,” NSW Nature Conservation Council chief executive Jacqui Mumford said.
“The NSW government committed to protecting koalas by creating the [Great Koala National Park], but before the assessment process even begins, Forestry Corporation plans to log nearly 20 per cent of the park.”
EDO reports: July 31 2023: The North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) has lodged an application for an urgent injunction [1] to stop NSW Forestry Corporation logging vital koala habitat in two state forests in northeast NSW. If granted, it would be the first time a community group has obtained a logging injunction in NSW in more than 20 years.
In a brief hearing late Friday, the Forestry Corp agreed to cease logging in the habitat until Wednesday, August 2, when the urgent interlocutory application will be heard by the court.
Myrtle and Braemar state forests [2] were hit hard by the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires. The forests are in an area where experts say the fires reduced the koala population by 70 per cent or more. [3]
NEFA’s own surveys indicate koalas remain present, highlighting the importance of protecting the area. The forests before the fires were also home to 23 other threatened species, including the southern greater glider, yellow-bellied glider, rufous bettong, masked owl and squirrel glider. [4]
NEFA has asked the Land and Environment Court, through the Environmental Defenders Office, to grant an urgent interlocutory injunction. If granted, this will prohibit Forestry Corp from conducting the operations in these forest areas until the final proceedings are determined, or until the court makes further orders.
[1] https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/threatened-species/programs-legislation-and-framework/nsw-koala-strategy/local-government-resources-for-koala-conservation/central-coast-koala-management-area
[2] https://www.nefa.org.au/koalas Search on 20cm (lots of other compelling information about why logging should stop)
[3] https://assets.nationbuilder.com/ncec/pages/40/attachments/original/1650957322/DPI_Forestry’s_Koala_Claims_Invalid.pdf?1650957322
[4] https://www.candobetter.net/sites/default/files/Is_Logging_Really_Benign_For_Koalas_as_DPI_Forestry_Claim.pdf
[5] https://www.edo.org.au/2023/07/31/forests-defenders-seek-injunction-to-stop-nsw-forestry-corporation-logging-koala-habitat/
[6] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-28/calls-for-great-koala-national-park-to-save-koala-lives/102536232
[7] https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/before-creation-of-koala-national-park-loggers-target-key-habitat-20230520-p5d9w0.html
