forests – National Parks Association of NSW

Private Forestry Bill to propel koalas to extinction

Posted by NPA NSWon November 14, 2022November 14, 2022in Media ReleasesLeave a comment

Barely a week after conservationists, business and community came together in Coffs Harbour to plan for the return of healthy koala populations across NSW¹, the NSW Government has chosen to undermine all recovery efforts by stripping away restrictions on Private Native Forestry.

National Parks Association CEO Gary Dunnett said the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Private Native Forestry) Bill 20222 effectively removes local government’s ability regulate logging in private native forests.

NSW parliamentary debate on ending native forest logging shows government is out of touch with community expectations

Posted by NPA NSWon October 17, 2022in Media ReleasesLeave a comment

A 21,000 strong parliamentary petition to end native forest logging triggered yesterday’s NSW parliamentary debate — a sign that it is time to transition our dying native timber industry into sustainable plantation timber.

NPA NSW Acting CEO Samantha Newton said NPA NSW was one of 14 conservation groups who rallied in front NSW Parliament to show their support for ending public native forestry logging.

Koala Protection in NSW: how our most valued native animal is abused

Posted by NPA NSWon May 31, 2021in Winter 2021Leave a comment

Gary Dunnett, Executive Officer, NPA NSW

The koala populations of NSW were decimated during the first quarter of the 20th century by commercial hunting for the fur trade. Many local populations were pushed towards or into extinction. We’re now nearly a hundred years since the peak of commercial hunting and many areas, especially in the south-eastern corner of the State, remain largely bereft of koalas. In other places, especially those with limited accessibility, such as the military lands in southwestern Sydney and the dense forests of the northeast, koala populations staged major recoveries after the cessation of commercial harvesting.

Unfortunately, that recovery had largely come to an end by the 1970s as habitat loss from coastal development, agricultural clearing and forestry, along with increasing mortality due to collisions with motor vehicles, dog attacks and infectious diseases, all took their toll on local koala populations. The result is that, as we approached 2021, the NSW Upper House Inquiry into the future of koalas in NSW concluded that, without significant change in the way we protect koalas and their habitats, the species will become functionally extinct (ie incapable of maintaining viable local populations) in NSW within the next 50 years.

On the Campaign Trail – Summer 2019

Posted by NPA NSWon November 27, 2019in Summer 2019Leave a comment

Gary Dunnett, Executive Officer

This campaign update begins with actions by the NSW and Commonwealth governments that threaten the ability of NPA members to participate in conservation campaigns.

2019 NSW Election

Posted by NPA NSWon March 5, 2019March 6, 2019in Autumn 2019Leave a comment

The NSW Election is days away and the future of our natural areas will be in the hands of who we elect to represent us in Parliament and who can form Government.

Read More “2019 NSW Election”

State of Forests report contains dubious climate claims

Posted by NPA NSWon February 19, 2019February 19, 2019in Media ReleasesLeave a comment

The National Parks Association of NSW (NPA) has questioned the use of industry research and the exclusion of independent science in the 2018 State of Forests Report, and is concerned that the report appears to be an effort to lay the ground for the burning of forests for electricity.

Case study 5.2 ‘carbon dynamics of managed native forests in Australia’ concludes that removing logging does not reduce carbon emissions from forests, and that replacing fossil fuels with wood for electricity generation can help tackle climate change. Both claims are highly contested domestically and internationally.