New study finds Murray Red Gums dying fast - 14 April 2005

Logging of Australia’s largest Red Gum forests along the Murray River is killing the trees at a rate faster than plans for restoring the river system can reverse, the results of a new three-state study show.

“The number of dead or dying Red Gums along the Murray has increased from 51 per cent to more than 75 per cent in just two years,” Greens MLC Ian Cohen said today.

The study “Survey of River Red Gum and Black Box Health Along the River Murray in NSW, Victoria and South Australia – 2004” was commissioned by each state’s agency for water and natural resources and the Murray-Darling Basin Commission and released today.

“The study concludes that its real value lies in being able to show a significant change in tree health over a short period of time. The $500 million promised to restore the Murray will cause flooding on a barren plain unless they are protected from ongoing logging.”

Mr Cohen said new national parks along the Murray are vital if forests such as the Barmah-Millewa Forest, which covers an area of 60,000 hectares is the largest River Red Gum forest in Australia, are to survive.

“The forests are significant for their ecological, recreational, tourist, scientific, educational, cultural, scenic and aesthetic values and are particularly valuable for breeding waterbirds and the threatened Superb Parrot.

“Logging is destroying these icons but it is going to take action in both NSW and Victoria to halt the decline. The protection afforded by a national park would preserve the forests but still allow everyone to enjoy them.”

Increased irrigation activity and diversion of river flows have also had a huge impact on the forests, which rely on flooding to revive.

Long duration flood events in the Barmah-Millewa Forest (that is, four months duration, with greater than 500 GL volume) now occur on average in 22 per cent of years, rather than in 62 per cent of years under natural conditions. Periods between these floods have also increased. Under natural conditions, the maximum period was five years, while under ‘current’ conditions, dry periods of up to 14 years occur.

Further Information: Paul Sheridan, 0410 516 656