National Parks Association of NSW President, Dr Grahame Douglas said recent reports of severe damage to an environmentally sensitive private property (NBN news story 10 April 2023) is yet another example of why Forestry Corporation cannot be trusted to continue logging within the proposed Great Koala National Park.
‘Not only have these works been conducted without legal authority, but they have damaged an area that was supposed to be protected in perpetuity under a formal conservation covenant under the Biodiversity Conservation Trust. Important native vegetation has been bulldozed, including riparian vegetation, along Sherwood Creek’ Dr Douglas stated.
‘This follows several cases in recent years where Forestry Corporation has been fined for illegal breaches of their operating approvals. However, damaging private lands under a conservation covenant is a new low point, one that beggars belief’.
‘It’s time to put the brakes on this rogue, publicly owned corporation. Our forests deserve better than this recklessness’.
‘The incoming NSW Government has committed to the establishment of the Great Koala National Park. The question is how much damage to the region’s forests will Forestry Corporation inflict while the Government’s consultation and assessment processes are underway?’
‘Our iconic koalas are at the mercy of Forestry Corporation. Their planning portal shows that 16,000 ha of the native forest within the proposed Great Koala National Park is up for destruction over the next 12 months. The new national park is at risk of being destroyed before it is even created’, Douglas finished.
ENDS
Media Contacts:
Dr Grahame Douglas President NPA NSW
029299 0000
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