Sammlung von Newsfeeds

Forest & Wood Communities Australia Chair Steve Dobbyns says the NSW Government’s justification for the Great Koala National Park is increasingly contradicted by its own scientific evidence and appears to be driven more by carbon credit generation than koala conservation. Source: Timberbiz “The NSW Government’s Environment Minister Penny Sharpe continues to promote the Great Koala National Park as essential for koala conservation, yet its own scientific evidence does not support the claim that regulated native forestry is causing widespread koala decline on the Mid North Coast,” Mr Dobbyns said. “Instead, the proposal is increasingly being driven by the prospect of carbon credits under the proposed Improved Native Forest Management (INFM) methodology – a scheme that raises serious concerns about carbon leakage, displaced timber production and questionable net climate benefits.” Mr Dobbyns said years of NSW Government-funded research failed to support the political claim that ending native forestry would “save koalas”. “Research undertaken by NSW DPI Forest Science and reviewed through the NSW Natural Resources Commission found no statistically significant decline in koala density following selective timber harvesting in north-east NSW state forests,” he said. “The NRC reported koala densities remained stable in harvested forests, koalas continued using harvested areas after operations, and any declines observed during the study period were more strongly associated with drought and climate stress, particularly across the National Park estate. “Published peer-reviewed research reached the same conclusion – regulated native forestry operations in north-east NSW did not reduce koala density.” Mr Dobbyns said the NSW Baseline Koala Survey further confirmed koalas remain widespread throughout production forests on the Mid North Coast with estimates of 274,000 koalas across the state (with a 95% confidence interval of 231,000–320,000). “This is the critical point the Government keeps ignoring – its own science demonstrates koalas and regulated forestry are already coexisting across the landscape,” he said. “The assertion that state forests must be converted into national parks to prevent koala extinction is simply not supported by the available evidence.” Mr Dobbyns also noted that more than half of the 176,000 hectares of state forest earmarked for inclusion in the Great Koala National Park is already managed primarily for conservation through existing environmental exclusions, old-growth reserves, rainforest protections, stream buffers and conservation zoning and reserve systems. “A large proportion of these forests were already effectively protected from harvesting activity,” he said. “The public is being led to believe all of this forest is under intensive logging pressure, which is simply untrue.” Mr Dobbyns said the Government had now explicitly linked the park’s creation to the proposed INFM carbon methodology, exposing what he described as the “fundamental flaw” in the proposal – carbon leakage. “Stopping native forestry in NSW does not stop Australia needing timber,” he said. “We will still need hardwood for construction, pallets, poles, flooring, fencing and packaging. Since harvesting has halted across these forests, that demand has simply shifts elsewhere. “That ‘somewhere else’ includes increased logging on neighbouring private property, increased pressure on remaining state forests, interstate harvesting, greater reliance on imports from countries with weaker environmental standards and substantially higher transport emissions. “In carbon accounting this is known as leakage – and it can completely undermine the claimed climate benefits of the project.” Mr Dobbyns said the Government was effectively proposing to stop harvesting in NSW state forests, claim carbon credits for “avoided emissions”, while timber production and associated emissions simply move elsewhere to meet unchanged demand. “If replacement timber comes from other native forests, imported hardwood products or more emissions-intensive materials like steel, concrete and plastics, then the claimed emissions reductions may be entirely negated,” he said. “The atmosphere does not care whether emissions occur in NSW, Queensland, Victoria, Southeast Asia or South America. “A carbon project that simply exports timber production and emissions elsewhere is not delivering genuine global abatement.” Mr Dobbyns said the proposal also ignored the role of sustainably managed native forests and harvested wood products in long-term carbon storage. “Under sustainable forestry systems, harvested forests regrow, more carbon is absorbed and timber products continue storing carbon for decades,” he said. “Meanwhile, alternative materials such as steel, aluminium and concrete carry substantially higher embodied emissions.” Mr Dobbyns warned the proposal risked destabilising regional economies across the Mid North Coast. “The Great Koala National Park increasingly appears to be based on monetising public forests through carbon credits rather than evidence-based conservation,” he said. “That risks undermining regional manufacturing jobs, destabilising timber supply, increasing reliance on imports and reducing Australia’s sovereign hardwood capability.” “All while the Government’s own science shows koalas remain present in managed forests and that broader threats such as bushfire, drought, disease, dog attacks, cars and habitat fragmentation are more significant pressures.” Mr Dobbyns said Forest & Wood Communities Australia supported genuine conservation measures based on evidence, not ideology. “Protecting high-value habitat and improving koala outcomes are legitimate goals,” he said. “But the current proposal increasingly relies on a simplistic political narrative — stop forestry, save koalas, generate carbon credits. “The evidence does not support that framing.” “A more credible approach would focus on targeted habitat protection, stronger fire management, plantation expansion, continued ecological monitoring and sustainable multiple-use forest management. “Otherwise, the Great Koala National Park risks becoming less a conservation initiative and more a carbon-credit land-use transfer with uncertain climate benefits and significant regional economic consequences.”

The post Great Koala Park driven more by carbon credits than conservation appeared first on Timberbiz.

ForestrySA has appointed South Australia Forest Products Association’s Nathan Paine as its new CEO. Mr Paine will start in his new role on 22 June following five years as CEO of the South Australia Forest Products Association where he has been highly successful in raising the profile of the state’s sustainable plantation industry. Source: Timberbiz His appointment by the ForestrySA Board follows a comprehensive recruitment process that attracted a significant field of highly qualified candidates. It comes amid a period of leadership changes in both the Australian Forest Products Association and the Tasmanian Forest Products Association. AFPA CEO Diana Hallam recently resigned to pursue other interests and Tasmanian Forest Products Association CEO Nick Steel has indicated he will not renew his contract after six years leading Tasmania’s peak body. ForestrySA says Mr Paine is well-placed to lead the organisation in its management of more than 10,000 hectares of sustainable pine plantation in the Mount Lofty Ranges, and its stewardship and protection of the more than 16,000 hectares of native forest in the Mount Lofty Ranges and Limestone Coast regions. “ForestrySA plays a critical role in the management of South Australia’s forest industries, from the Adelaide Hills where pine forests are both valued recreational spaces and productive plantations, to the forest industry powerhouse of the Limestone Coast region,” Mr Paine said. “With forecast demand for wood fibre expected to quadruple over the next 25 years, there is a need and an opportunity to grow ForestrySA’s plantation estate in order to meet that demand. “The opportunity for the state’s forest industries is not just to grow the forest estates that will build the houses of tomorrow, but also to educate the community about the vital importance of timber products in our economy.” Forest Industries Minister Clare Scriven said she looked forward to continuing their work together in growing SA’s forest industries. “Nathan has been outstanding in his five years as CEO of the South Australian Forest Products Association, and his depth of knowledge of timber industries and insights into forest industries more broadly will be of significant value when it comes to managing the state’s pine plantations,” she said. “As South Australia continues to grow both its economy and its ambition into the future, I am confident Nathan Paine will be an effective and reliable partner in the delivery of stronger and more prosperous forest industries across the state.”

The post Nathan Paine ForestrySA’s new CEO appeared first on Timberbiz.