Letter to the Editor: Who are the real hypocrites here? Opinion Property/Sports/Opinion - popup ad by News Of The Area - Modern Media - March 27, 2024 DEAR News Of The Area, Really! Who are the hypocrites here? While Steve Dobbyns claims to be an independent forest industry expert (Opinion, NOTA 22 March) he disappointingly trots out the same rubbery figures and denialist rhetoric that has already failed to convince those on the ground who are concerned about native forest logging. His suggestion that anti-logging campaigners protesting about the current clear-felling of mature hardwood plantations are being hypocritical, is both an uninformed reading of the situation and misleading. The provisional area of the proposed Great Koala National Park, which was based on the best available scientific data of the most viable koala hubs to ensure connectivity and species survival, was always going to include some mature ‘plantation’ hardwood forests. That is an unfortunate function of plantations being integrated within the native forest network and areas of core koala habitat being contained in original retained native forest remnants within plantation areas. It was always going to require the adults in the room sitting down and negotiating a compromise solution. That is why there were calls right from the start for a moratorium on logging within the proposal area until this process could be completed. Sadly, despite the accepted information regarding the dire state and predictions regarding the future of NSW koala populations, the ‘new’ Labor Government and the Forestry Corporation’s and logging industry’s claimed concern for the future of our iconic marsupial; all we have seen is a ‘full steam ahead’ harvest program of industrial clear-felling right in the heart of some of the region’s best core koala habitat, along with the continuing destructive ‘selective’ logging forays into adjacent non-plantation native forests. To NOT rally against the current harvesting situation would be even more hypocritical! Regards, Dave WOOD, Boambee East.
So it appears the State Government and the wider public in NSW actually understand the biomechanics of logging. They understand that trees are either planted to become timber or they are selectively harvested here in NSW in a manner which is safe to koalas and wildlife. Otherwise the practice would have been outlawed. The reason the timber industry has been in Victoria is due to soft leaders listening to a vocal minority. We all have timber in our homes and rely on it. Australian forests produce the best timber in the world there is no denying. The process of sourcing it has been refined over centuries to ensure it is sustainable and leaves a smaller footprint on the landscape for a few years. Its as simple as knowing Australia has a building materialise shortage and a housing crisis the country needs timber its as simple as that. The Greens will spout all this misinformation talking about crimes in our forests etc when it actual fact they are the misinformed ones. These greenies can’t even do simple math they say there were 500 people at a Bob Brown march in Lismore and 1000 on NBN News in Bellingen the pictures actually showed about 200 to 300 people at both events. From what I see one side of the debate deals in reality, facts and figures the other is creative at proving its own selfish narrative. It would be criminal for Australia to stop logging and decimate Indonesian and Pacific forests in producing timber. Just harvest it and replant it and harvest it again. Timber is the most sustainable product known to man. Reply
The biomechanics of a tree cause it to fall over when its trunk is severed. The practice wouldn’t need to be outlawed if the consequences were not so devastating. Soft leaders have more followers – honey/vinegar. Native flora is good for native fauna. The wood in our homes is imported or farmed. Just two centuries of pillage have removed most of the big trees. Fact with figures: in the last 5 years, NSW forest cutters have spent $610 million to get back $565 million – a loss of $45 million. More of the wood from native forests is turned into paper than houses. Actual actual facts: https://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/products/insights/snapshot-of-australias-forest-industry Reply
