NPA Science Officer, Dr Oisín Sweeney, said: “this puts the lie to the greenie spin that people care about nature. Why on earth would we even consider ending the generous public subsidies1 for native forest logging when FC manage forests so effectively for tourism?”
“Destination NSW and Tourism Australia are just plain wrong: nature is not the number one factor attracting international visitors2,3, it’s our world-class logging industry;”
Dr Sweeney continued: “State forests are safer too: because FC has diligently removed all the old trees4, you don’t risk having a branch fall on your head. Plus there are fewer hidey holes5 which means less wildlife to potentially run into6;”
“Think about it: why would you choose to spend time in a National Park listening to birds when you could go to a state forest and check out all the cool machines:”
Ms Eileen Dover, a recent visitor to the mid-north coast said: “mate! Those forests are an adventure playground! It’s incredible. There are heaps of bare soil mounded up, loads of logs lying around the place and hardly any trees to crash into. What an awesome obstacle course!”
“I’ll never visit a National Park again. They’re just so boring. And gloomy too—it’s so much better without all the leaves blocking out the sunshine.”
“There is room for improvement though. I’d like to see a bit more logging round The Sealy Lookout. It would enhance the view over the Coffs coast and make water flow down to the sea quicker7.” Ms Dover concluded.
You can find out more about what native forest logging has done for our environment, wildlife and regional economies!
REFERENCES
1 Macintosh, A. The Australian native forest sector: causes of the decline and prospects for the future. Technical Brief No. 21., <http://www.tai.org.au/node/1971> (2013).
2 Destination NSW. Nature Based Tourism to NSW: Year ended September 2014, <http://www.destinationnsw.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Nature-based-tourism-YE-Sep-14.pdf> (2014).
3 Australian Government & Tourism Australia. Australia’s National Landscapes: a partnership between conservation and tourism, <http://www.tourism.australia.com/documents/corporate/NL_Program_Summary_2011.pdf> (2011).
4 NSW Scientific Committee. Loss of hollow-bearing trees – key threatening process determination, <http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/determinations/lossofhollowtreesktp.htm> (2007).
5 Lunney, D. & Matthews, A. in Conservation of Australia’s Forest Fauna (ed D. Lunney) 988-1021 (Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, 2004).
6 Woinarski, J. C. Z., Burbidge, A. A. & Harrison, P. L. The action plan for Australian Mammals 2012. (CSIRO, 2014).
7 Croke, J., Hairsine, P. & Fogarty, P. Soil recovery from track construction and harvesting changes in surface infiltration, erosion and delivery rates with time. Forest Ecology and Management 143, 3-12, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-1127(00)00500-4 (2001).