[nefanews]: The NSW Government must explain why it ignored the advice of the independent Natural Resources Commission and kept logging forests in regions hit hardest by the 2019-20 Black Summer Bushfires.
The 2019/20 wildfires were unprecedented in their scale, extent of high and extreme fire severity, and duration. They burnt 4.8 million hectares of land in NSW, including just over 64 percent (around 0.7 million hectares) of the native state forest estate. The wildfires significantly impacted forest ecosystems, including native flora and fauna, soil, and water.
The government has kept the Commission’s report secret since June 2020.
“It is now clear the government was advised it should suspend timber harvesting for at least three years in extreme risk zone, including Narooma, Nowra and Taree,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said.
“The leaked extracts from the NRC report validate what the conservation movement has said since day one – logging must stop in burnt native forests to give them a chance to recover.
“For some unknown reason, the government and its logging company, Forestry Corporation, chose to ignore the expert advice and put wildlife at extreme risk.
“It’s quite astonishing. If you were looking for a case study of environmental negligence, you wouldn’t need to look any further than this.
“The government must explain why it has kept this report secret for almost 18 months and also why it has not fully implemented the recommendations.”
The leaked report:
REFERENCES
Extract from Advice on Coastal IFOA operations post-2019-20 wildfires, June 2020, NSW Natural Resources Commission. Published on The Guardian Australia.
