An Ernst + Young Report shows that the hardwood timber industry is critically important to the Northern NSW economy. Plans for a Koala Park and ‘transitioning’ native forestry to plantations are unnecessary and unworkable, threatening the livelihood of thousands of timber workers in the region. Source: Timberbiz
NSW Labor has announced that it will establish a Great Koala National Park if elected on March 25.
Labor has promised it will spend $80 million establishing the sanctuary, comprising existing national parks and state forests between Kempsey and Grafton.
The proposed area for the park would protect roughly 20 per cent of the state’s koala population.
The Ernst + Young’s report shows that in North East NSW the hardwood timber industry contributes $1.8billion in revenue each year, adding $700million to NSW GDP and employing 5,700 people. Amid rising demand for nation-building timber supplies, the region provides two thirds of NSW’s hardwood timber.
Commissioned by the Commonwealth-funded North East NSW and South East NSW Regional Forestry Hubs, the Report tracks the hardwood timber industry’s economic impact beyond the direct harvesting activities seen primarily in rural areas to the supply and servicing of downstream sectors including construction, transport and manufacturing. Hardwood timber generates wholesaling and processing jobs and supports tradesmen in regional centres and the Greater Sydney region.
The NSW timber industry undertakes highly selective native forestry, certified to the highest forest management standard. Hardwood timber is a renewable, sustainable and essential input into the construction, agriculture, mining and energy sectors and this strong demand for hardwood timber is driving its increasing value.
“The hardwood timber industry is a growing part of the State’s economy , yet opponents of native forestry want to place an additional 175,000 hectares of State Forest in North East NSW into a Koala Park and replace native forestry with plantations,” Timber NSW CEO, Maree McCaskill said.
“Both these plans are misguided and unfeasible. Ninety percent of publicly owned forests on the north coast of NSW are already protected. Only 10% is available for timber harvesting and it is re-planted once harvested.
“The Great Koala National Park is unnecessary and unworkable, both environmentally and economically. Extensive scientific research shows that koala populations in North East NSW State Forests are stable and are not being impacted by timber harvesting,” Ms McCaskill said.
“Likewise, plans to ‘transition’ timber supplies from native forests to plantation timber are a fantasy. While NE NSW Forestry Hub modelling identified cleared land in the North East that could support the growth of hardwood plantations, only a small fraction of this land is likely to be available. It cannot hope to replace supply from the 782,000 hectares of native State Forests in the region. Even given available land, any transition would take 40-60 years and be financially unfeasible.”
Ms McCaskill said that all forests required active management and some harvesting was critical to forest health and minimising bushfire risk. Given this, NSW State Forests can and should be managed for their critical economic contribution, in harmony with their contribution to our communities, environment and biodiversity. All current State Forest land must remain available for timber production.
“In a context of rising demand for nation-building timber supplies, how can NSW policymakers plan to shift hundreds of thousands of hectares of State Forest into a Koala Park? This will do nothing except decimate jobs in the NSW timber industry and hike timber imports from less regulated neighbouring countries,” Ms McCaskill said.
“One job loss in a rural area has the impact of 100 job losses in the cities, impacting schools, local services and small businesses. We must safeguard local timber supplies and keep these jobs and skills in NSW.”
