NSW conservationists are concerned about future koala populations as the state's Forestry Corporation increases its logging intensity to keep up with the demand after the bushfire crisis.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Nature Conservation Council of NSW says Forestry Corporation documents released through parliamentary processes show 85 per cent of native forest on the South Coast designated for logging was burnt.
Some 44 per cent of designated forest on the north coast was scorched in the 2019-20 bushfire season.
Council chief executive Chris Gambian says despite the concerns, the state-owned logging company has told wood contract holders it's confident of maintaining supply.
He believes this can only be done through increased logging in viable NSW forests.
"Maintaining supply from the southern forests where only 15 per cent of the public native forest estate was unscathed will require a six-fold increase in logging intensity in those unburnt areas," Mr Gambian said in a statement on Friday.
"On the north coast, where about 65 per cent of the public native forest estate was unburnt, this would require a doubling of logging intensity in those unburnt areas.
"Even before the fires, our native forests were being logged too hard and too often to allow them to recover between harvests."
Mr Gambian urged the NSW government to reconsider logging in unburnt koala habitats and to provide an assistance package for the forest industry.
The government should consider pausing all native forest logging until the full impacts of the fires are assessed and wood supply agreements should be negotiated to ensure logging operations do not exceed pre-fire levels, he added.
"If the Forestry Corporation insists on supplying the same volumes of timber after such devastation, our forests will be stripped and will take generations to recover - if at all," Mr Gambian said.
A Forestry Corporation spokesman told AAP on Friday the company has moved more harvesting operations into timber plantations in the short term with a goal of returning to normal levels in the future.
"Forestry Corporation has greatly reduced the intensity of timber harvesting and implemented additional precautionary conditions to protect soil, water and wildlife in areas impacted by fire," he said in a statement.
"We're working hard to maintain local industry and ensure renewable timber continued to be supplied, which assists the community to recover from fires in rebuilding homes and infrastructure in fire-affected areas."
Australian Associated Press
