Rainforest logging marks world environment day in NSW - 5 June 2007

25 years after Neville Wran banned the logging of rainforests on public land, the practice continues on privately owned land up and down the east coast of NSW, while the government sits on its hands.

“There are so few controls on private native forestry in NSW that I am sadly confident that rainforest is being logged right now, on world environment day,” said Upper House Greens MP and environment spokesman Ian Cohen.

“NSW Government maps show that over 500,000 hectares of old growth forest and 100,000 hectares of rainforest on private land are available for logging on the eastern seaboard of NSW.

“The failure by the NSW Government to regulate private logging is a major structural loophole in its native vegetation reforms.

“Recently up near Dorrigo, a land owner logged a block classified by the government as ‘Warm Temperate Rainforest’, with towering old growth Brushbox and Coachwood.

“The block logged was mapped as a key wildlife habitat and part of a major regional corridor by the Department of Environment and Conservation ‘Key Habitats and Corridors’ project. It was also identified as a particularly significant location for wet forest fauna by the Comprehensive Regional Assessment process. Within a 3km radius there are known occurrences of at least 12 threatened fauna species.

“If the community was aware that this was going on right now, there would be an outcry similar to that caused by the clearing of the Gwydir wetlands two weeks ago, yet this is happening, hidden from scrutiny on privately owned land.

“The minister claims that the Threatened Species Conservation Act is one control over logging on private land, but there has not been a single prosecution for private logging under the TSCA.

“The NSW government has made empty promises about introducing a Private Native Forestry Code of Practice since 2003. Meanwhile the rainforests of this state on private land, continue to be felled.

“We need a code of practice immediately, in line with controls on publicly owned lands, otherwise NSW is little better than the third world in terms of logging practices,” said Mr Cohen.


Further Information: Ian Cohen: 0409 989 466 or Nic Clyde: 0417 742 754