An electronic petition debated in the New South Wales (NSW) parliament Thursday last week demonstrated the flawed and unfounded argument against native forestry according to the Australian Forestry Contractors Association (AFCA). Source: Timberbiz
In a statement AFCA said the debate was perfectly described by Mr Christopher Gulaptis, Member for Clarence as: “One of the problems when we talk about native forestry in this country, and in this State in particular, is that a lot of the proposals that have been raised are based on a range of misconceptions, misinformation and unfounded beliefs.”
Much of the petition’s premise was based on the horrendous losses resulting from the bushfires. However, focus was brought back to the point at hand when it was noted that each year in NSW timber harvesting operations occur in only one percent of State forests, representing 0.1 percent of forested lands in NSW.
Shelley Hancock, Member for South Coast, claimed that: “Public native forestry is pushing iconic species like the koala, swift parrot and greater glider towards extinction.” However, she quickly attributed the impact of the Black Summer bushfires as leaving them more vulnerable.
“The productive conservation of our working forests contributes every day to the outcomes that everyone, including the opposition is looking to achieve,” said Carlie Porteous, General Manager, Australian Forest Contractors Association.
“Access for recreation, tourism and agriculture is built and maintained by sustainable forestry operations, in addition to contributing to climate abatement.”
