A weekend inspection of Royal Camp State Forest revealed a large numbers of breaches of Forests NSW’s Threatened Species Licence requirements – most notably logging of Koala high use areas, felling of ‘V-notch’ feed tree for Yellow-bellied Glider, failures to retain required feed trees for a range of threatened species, and failure to retain required numbers of recruitment habitat trees. Initially we have written to the responsible Ministers, the EPA and Forests NSW asking them to stop current logging of Koala High Use areas. Open letter to the Ministers for the Environment and Forestry
MEDIA RELEASE 6/8/2012
The North East Forest Alliance has written to the Ministers for Environment and Primary Industries asking them to take urgent action to stop illegal logging being undertaken by Forests NSW of Koala high use areas in Royal Camp State Forest, 16 kilometers south-west of Casino.
Spokesperson for NEFA, Dailan Pugh, said that a weekend inspection of logging areas in Royal Camp State Forest revealed logging underway in one Koala high use area, about to enter another and proposed for two more.
“Forests NSW are prohibited from logging in Koala high use areas by their Threatened Species Licence.
“Royal Camp is known to have a large Koala population, and Forests NSW are legally required to thoroughly search for Koala scats (faecal pellets) in advance of logging in order to identify and protect Koala high use areas.
“We could see no evidence that Forests NSW had searched for scats. Given how easily we found them in the few areas we searched, we expect they have already logged some high use areas and that we have only identified a few of the areas they are about to log.
“Unless stopped Forests NSW will continue logging this core Koala habitat today. The Ministers must act urgently.
“NEFA has identified numerous other breaches of licence requirements in Royal Camp State Forest and have asked the Ministers for their assurance that the Environment Protection Authority will prosecute Forests NSW for their failure to meet their legal obligations to protect Koalas and other threatened species” Mr. Pugh said.