ASHLEY Love is considered by many to be the ‘father’ of the Great Koala National Park (GKNP), and while he was delighted with the initial announcement confirming its creation, as time progresses he is becoming less enthused.
He says a recent environmental report, prepared on behalf of and with input from local environmentalists, indicates the current Government proposal is “grossly inadequate”.
Mr Love states it fails to adequately protect the largest coastal koala population in NSW, which occupies Bongil Bongil National Park, Pine Creek, Orara East and Tuckers Nob State Forests.
The proposal is said to allow for ongoing clearfell logging of native forests, many of which a number of local conservationists say have been falsely claimed to be “plantation”.
“There have been a litany of environmental and economic mistakes over time with timber plantations
on the North Coast and they continue [to] contribute to the substantial and ongoing annual losses of the
NSW Forestry Corporation.
“The majority of plantation production is for pulpwood into a market that is now heavily oversupplied in South-east Asia or for burning as “biofuel” for electricity production.”
News Of The Area was informed that as well as being a reserve for koalas, the GKNP will contribute substantially to the economic, environmental, tourism and climate change outcomes of the region.
Mr Love said it will also deliver water security to the region because the forests of the GKNP provide drinking water to hundreds of thousands of town and city residents across the region.
“We look forward to the NSW Government acting upon this report,” Mr Love said.
“And urgently delivering a truly World Class GKNP, because it will benefit this and all generations to come and be the finest of legacies for our community.”
Mr Love mentioned the proposal also excludes large areas of globally significant publicly owned native vegetation preventing the movement of species between reserves, including existing Gondwana Rainforest World Heritage Areas.
He said many plantations were established on lowlands and river flats across the Coffs Harbour and Bellingen coast, areas that were once high-quality koala habitat of moist eucalypt forests.
According to Mr Love, the report identifies shortcomings in the Government’s proposal and “provides it with clear guidance about and irrefutable evidence in support of” urgently gazetting a “world class” GKNP to protect the globally significant landscape.
The report identifies major additions of native forests and plantations across seven major sectors and three smaller sites to be included in the GKNP, making it potentially eligible for World Heritage listing.
By Andrew VIVIAN
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