DEAR News Of The Area,

WHEN someone with a vested interest in an activity provides facts about said activity we would do well to question these “facts” (We all know what happened to Little Red Riding Hood when she believed the spin from the Big Bad Wolf).

The recent letter “It’s time to table the facts” makes many claims about the ecological sustainability and economic benefits of native forest logging.

Although not stated in the letter, author Steve Dobbyns is a spokesperson for the industry.

The same industry, managed by the Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCNSW), had to be propped up by the taxpayer to the tune of $29 million last year and over $70 million over the four years prior.

As a taxpayer and member of several non government organisations dedicated to protecting the environment, I believe these funds would be better spent in transitioning timber workers to more sustainable employment.

Since the Black Summer bushfires FCNSW has been fined over $1.7 million for numerous breaches of its own guidelines to protect wildlife.

A 2024 Land and Environment Court judgement stated that FCNSW has a pattern of environmental offending.

Since European colonisation 60 percent of the forest estate has been cleared or degraded.

Yet ongoing logging in NSW affects the habitat of at least 150 species at risk of extinction.

Planting new trees is not the same as retaining forest.

Many species such as owls and gliders depend on hollows that only form in old mature trees.

This situation has been made far worse by the Black Summer bushfires.

Logging puts our communities in greater danger from bushfires.

If you take a look at a forest after logging, you will see huge mounds of debris left to dry out and become fuel for fires.

Recent students show that logging and thinning can increase risk of intense fires for decades to come.

The bare earth left increases erosion and invasion by weeds.

Storing carbon in forests is critical to slowing climate change.

Science shows that the larger, older trees store the most carbon, not re-growth after logging.

Logging native forests damages regional water security.

For example the Coffs/Clarence was polluted by extensive logging on the Dorrigo Plateau, requiring $100 million of public funding to filter out sediment.

Farmers were not compensated for erosion and damage to the Kalang River after logging of the Kalang State Forest.

Wood from native forests forms a tiny part of housing construction.

Only four percent of the biomass ends up as sawn timber.

Houses are built mostly of pine from softwood plantations.

The world is facing a biodiversity crisis that threatens the survival of future generations.

NSW should follow the lead of SA, ACT, WA and Vic, and many other countries around the world and end native forest logging.

Yours sincerely,
Judith KIRWOOD,
Valla Beach.