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NEFA AGAIN ASK MINISTERS TO URGENTLY INTERVENE AS EPA CONFIRM LOGGING OF TREATENED SPECIES HABITAT

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MEDIA RELEASE – 6 May 2012

The North East Forest Alliance have again called on the NSW Minister for the Environment and Minister for Primary Industries to stop illegal logging of Rufous Scub-bird habitat in Styx River State Forest, east of Armidale, and instigate an independent inquiry following revelations that Forests NSW have fraudulently ignored their own records of the Rufous Scrub-bird and falsely claimed that suitable habitat does not exist.

The Rufous Scrub-bird is a small secretive understorey bird of highland wet forests in north-east NSW.  It is a living fossil with a lineage dating back to the age of the dinosaurs that is now threatened with extinction due to burning and logging of its habitat.

North East Forest Alliance spokesperson Dailan Pugh said that conservation groups have now organised two site inspections by independent experts and written to the Ministers for the Environment and Primary Industries three times presenting evidence and asking for them to urgently stop the illegal logging of the habitat of this threatened species.

“Despite this illegal logging being reported to the new Crown Forestry division of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on March 9 it wasn’t until last Friday, 4 May, almost 2 months later, that the EPA organised their own expert assessment that confirmed our claims that habitat of the threatened Rufous Scrub-bird is indeed being burnt and logged

“We first wrote to the Ministers on the 17 April asking them to urgently intervene to stop the illegal logging, while we still have had no reply, the logging has continued unabated.

“Forests NSW’s Threatened Species Licence requires that all suitable habitat within 320 metres of records of the Rufous Scrub-bird must be protected from logging and burning.

“There is now evidence that Forests NSW deliberately omitted 10 of their own records of the Rufous Scrub-bird from their planning documents and certified that the records did not exist.  They then falsely claimed that suitable habitat did not exist in the area, before targeting the habitat in a pre-logging burn and commencing logging it.

“The EPA’s belated site inspection on Friday confirmed what the experts we engaged have been telling the Government for the past month, that is that suitable habitat for the Rufous Scrub-bird remains despite much of it being destroyed. Unfortunately, aside from being asleep at the wheel, the EPA is a toothless tiger that is unable to place Stop Work Orders on Forests NSW.

“We have also identified to the Ministers other threatened species which have not been appropriately protected and numerous other breaches of Forests NSW’s Threatened Species Licence in this area which are yet to be investigated by EPA.

“The Ministers must now uphold our threatened species laws and stop this rogue Government agency from openly flouting the law and continuing to illegally log the habitat of the Rufous Scrub-bird.  They must immediately stop the logging while the matter is fully investigated and legal action taken against Forests NSW”,

“We know that Forests NSW are desperate for timber to try to satisfy gross over-commitments, but NSW Government Ministers must stop condoning illegal logging to get it” Mr. Pugh said.

Letter to Environment and Forestry Ministers_1May2012

Letter to Environment and Forestry Ministers_30April2012

Letter to Environment and Forestry Ministers_17April2012

FOR COMMENT: Dailan Pugh 66 807063.

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Conservation groups have written to the NSW Minister for the Environment and Minister for Primary Industries asking them to take urgent action to stop illegal logging of Rufous Scub-bird habitat in Styx River State Forest, east of Armidale, and instigate an independent inquiry.

The Rufous Scrub-bird is a small secretive understorey bird of highland wet forests in north-east NSW. It is a living fossil with a lineage dating back 97 to 65 million years but is now listed as vulnerable to extinction, with burning and logging recognised as primary threats.

North East Forest Alliance Spokesperson Dailan Pugh said that in 2007 a Forests NSW ecologist saw Rufous Scrub-birds at 7 locations in compartment 502 of Styx River State Forest.

“Forests NSW identified these records as extremely reliable and they were included in NSW’s Wildlife Atlas.

“Forests NSW’s Threatened Species Licence requires that all suitable habitat within 320 metres of such records must be protected from logging and management burns.

“When a local conservationist inspected the area in March he was shocked to find that Forests NSW had burnt the bird’s habitat and were in the process of logging it. When he checked their logging plans he found that all the records of the Rufous Scrub-birds had been deleted” Mr. Pugh said.

North Coast Environment Council President Susie Russell said she had met with the regional forester about the issue. “I was told that when planning the current logging Forests NSW questioned their ecologist about his records and decided that he had erroneously identified a common bird for the Rufous Scrub-bird.

“In an astounding move, apparently without undertaking new surveys, Forests NSW then attempted to delete all records made by their ecologist and proceeded to ignore both the records of the Rufous Scrub-bird and the mapped habitat in their planning process.

“We know that Forests NSW are desperate for timber and it seems they are prepared to go to any length, including breaching their licence conditions, to obtain it” Ms Russell said.

Clarence Environment Centre spokesperson, John Edwards, said that in response to Forests NSW’s claims that no suitable habitat existed in the area, he organised a visit to the area by two experienced ornithologists.

“Contrary to Forests NSW’s claims, both experts agreed that there are extensive areas of ideal habitat for the Rufous Scrub-bird and that it appeared that logging areas would have been good habitat prior to being trashed.

“Conservationists are dismayed that despite it being over a month since blatantly illegal logging of the habitat of a threatened species was reported to the new Environmental Protection Authority they have failed to undertake a proper investigation and refused to stop the logging.

“We have therefore appealed to the responsible Government Ministers to immediately stop the logging while an independent inquiry into this sordid affair is undertaken” Mr. Edwards said.