On March 21, at the Southern Cross University campus, hear from frontline campaigners and local experts who know the forests best, to hear about the plan to secure protection for Richmond River Koala Parks.
This is a chance to understand what’s at stake – and how protection is possible when our community stands together.
Below is a concise summary of legislation changes over the past 30 years that have removed existing legal protections and increased the destructiveness of logging of native forests.
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1. Native Vegetation Conservation Act 1997 (NSW) – [Later replaced by the [even worse] Native Vegetation Act 2003:
The 1997 Act claimed to regulate land clearing but instead allowed exemptions for forestry operations from existing regulations under Integrated Forestry Operations Approvals (IFOAs).
The 2003 Act relaxed restrictions further, introducing self-assessment for landholders and reducing oversight on clearing activities.
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2. Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Act 2005 (NSW):
This amendment reduced scrutiny and simplified development approvals, reducing environmental impact assessments for forestry and other projects.
ON 7 SEPTEMBER THE NSW GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCED THEY ARE GOING TO CREATE THE FULL GREAT KOALA NATIONAL PARK, AN HISTORIC CONSERVATION WIN AFTER A 10 YEAR CONCERTED COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN.
NEFA:
“This park will protect 12,000 Koalas and enable their populations to recover as their feed trees regrow. This is the sort of action we need if we want to double their population in NSW.
“This park will also protect the homes of 108 other threatened species from further degradation, most notably for the nationally Endangered Southern Greater Glider, Spotted-tailed Quoll, Hastings River Mouse, and Rufous Scrub Bird.”
NEFA have started a campaign for 56,200 hectares of public native forests in the southern Richmond River valley and on Richmond Range (south of the Bruxner Highway) to be created as the Richmond River Koala Reserves. This is largest stronghold of koalas in the Richmond catchment, a genetically different population from that found in the Great Koala National Park (see below). Protecting these forests will also help over 130 other threatened species and improve the health of the Richmond River.
It is proposed that 56,200 ha of State Forests in the southern catchment of the Richmond River valley and along the southern Richmond Range be created as the Richmond River Koala Parks. These parks will:
These parks encompass 40,000 ha (5.7%) of the Richmond River Catchment, including 37,800 ha (21%) of the Bungawalbin Creek sub-catchment. The proposed parks extend from the floodplain up into the headwaters on the Richmond Range. Forests are an important part of the water cycle, recycling rainfall back into the atmosphere (cooling the land in the process), storing water and releasing surplus water into streams. As the forests recover from past logging the maturing forests will moderate streamflows, increasing baseflows in dry periods and reducing peak flows and flooding in rainfall events.
