Irreplaceable 6.5-hectare forest protected for future generations of Aussies

Yahoo

5 days ago

A speck of ancient forest, feared to be at imminent risk of destruction, is on the verge of being protected for future generations of Australians.
Described as 'magical', the 6.5-hectare fragment of NSW Mid North Coast bush is remarkable because it remains intact and has never been harvested for timber. Earlier this month, conservationists were becoming increasingly concerned it could be bulldozed because a company owned by the NSW Government had earmarked the wider area for harvesting this year.
Located at the edge of the 1,000-hectare Viewmont State Forest, the wilderness is blessed with towering eucalypts that are home to species threatened with extinction, including koalas and yellow-bellied gliders.
Dailan Pugh, a spokesperson for the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA), said it's one of the region's 'last remaining coastal stands of intact forest'.
Dr Stuart Blanch, conservation scientist at World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia (WWF), explained that some of these hollows that provide shelter for gliders would have taken 200 years or more to form. 'They're like gold. Stands of giant trees are far too priceless to be logged. They can't be replaced in our lifetime or our children's lifetime,' he said.
Forest could be included in Great Koala National Park
Government analysis indicates NSW is on track to lose 50 per cent of its threatened species in the next century, and its wild koalas will be wiped out in 25 years.
While both koalas and yellow-bellied gliders are federally protected threatened species, state governments controversially have an exemption to log their habitat. While native forest logging has largely ceased on state-owned land in Victoria and Western Australia, the Minns Labor government continues to back the industry in NSW. And the state-owned Forestry Corporation is in charge of deciding which areas should be harvested.
The 6.5 hectares of old-growth forest and the surrounding Viewmont State Forest are being considered to be part of the proposed 315,000-hectare Great Koala National Park (GKNP), a project Labor committed to before its election in 2023. The scheme would see a string of fragmented national parks joined together by protecting state-owned land that's currently subject to logging.
Around 176,000 hectares of state forest are being assessed for inclusion in the park, which it is hoped will help slow the extinction of koalas in NSW. But in the meantime timber continues to be harvested from these areas, angering conservationists who have called for a moratorium until its borders are finalised.
Environment Minister Penny Sharpe or Premier Chris Minns are yet to advise when the GKNP will be delivered. Questions to Sharpe's office from Yahoo News were redirected to her department, which said the GKNP 'will be delivered', although it did not specify when.
'There has been a comprehensive assessment process which considers environmental, economic, social, ecological and cultural issues,' it said in an email. 'All of the inputs are being finalised so government can create the park.'
Experts frustrated by 'complex' forestry rules
What's proving a challenge is understanding which parts of state forest are eligible to be logged. They want to ensure high-value forests aren't destroyed before the GKNP is created, as this could lessen its ability to protect koalas.
The 6.5 hectares were not earmarked for protection until 2025, but it extends out of Bowraville Nature Reserve which was protected in the 1960s. Both areas have the same value to wildlife and the ecosystem.
Even experts at large environmental groups like WWF-Australia and smaller outfits like NEFA find it a challenge to understand the state's harvest plans for these parks. Looking at a map alone is often not enough, and it has taken Yahoo weeks to establish whether the 6.5-hectare old-growth forest in Viewmont State Forest was protected in perpetuity.
Part of the problem was that publicly available maps aren't scheduled to be updated for the area until late in 2025, even though decisions were internally made in January and February to retain it. Its protection won't be formalised until operations resume and Forestry Corporation returns to the area, which it said is 'subject to weather and logistical considerations'.
Pugh argues this highlights the "frustration" he feels around "navigating the complexities of forestry regulations". "The situation is opaque, and it's often not clear to us what Forestry is doing," he told Yahoo.
Call to bring mapping 'confusion' to an end
Another problem is that complicated rules have evolved over decades of discussion between the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), Forestry Corporation, multiple levels of government and the courts. And this has resulted in confusing regulations and jargon that only experts understand.
For instance, the 6.5-hectare old-growth forest is marked in pink on maps as a 'non-harvest area', a designation that means it won't be immediately logged. The area is set to be reclassified as a 'tree retention clump' and marked in brown, and this will protect it in perpetuity. Although this doesn't cover the entire area, and some parts are only protected because they're inaccessible.
Regulations are complicated when it comes to protecting wildlife, too. Under the regulations set by the EPA, it's not necessary for Forestry Corporation to search for endangered greater gliders at night in this area, even though they're a nocturnal species and not active during the day. However, elsewhere in the state, they have to be conducted after sunset, before harvesting can begin.
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WWF believes the situation is 'complex' when it should be 'simple'. Blanch argues the only way to be confident forest in the area is protected, is for the government to follow through with its promise to create the GKNP.
'Only around 10 people can probably understand the details about the different map versions, classifications and interpretations of the pre-logging survey requirements,' he told Yahoo News.
'It's up to one person to bring this confusion to an end. And that's the Premier of NSW. He needs to declare the Great Koala National Park.'
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