Shoalhaven activist hopeful as logging ban petition to be tabled in NSW parliament

A South Coast activist is hopeful that calls to ban public native forest logging in NSW will be heeded by legislators, as a petition signed by more than 20,000 residents is set to be tabled in state parliament.

After seeing large swathes of their beloved forests destroyed in the Black Summer bushfires, residents in a remote area of the Shoalhaven have banded together to try and stop destructive logging operations from further harming fire-damaged ecosystems.

Two years after the devastating firestorms, the Brooman State Forest Conservation Group is one step closer to its goal of ending all native forest logging in NSW after garnering more than 20,000 signatures on a petition, compelling legislators to debate the plan in parliament.

Organiser Takesa Frank said that after an eleventh-hour surge in signatories, which nearly doubled in a week, she was confident the petition would receive support when it’s put before parliament by South Coast member Shelley Hancock on September 15.

“The leaders of the state government are elected by the people,” Ms Frank said.

“And, the people are saying they want to see change to the way logging is done in NSW.”

The campaign had been widely shared by environmental organisations in its final days, including Wires and WWF.

But, Ms Frank said many local residents were still oblivious to extent of the Forestry Corporation of NSW’s operations on the South Coast.

“A lot of people don’t know it’s happening because it’s taking place outside of town, 30-45 minutes drive away,” Ms Frank said.

“When we started sharing the campaign on Facebook, people were shocked to find out what’s happening.”

In June, FCNSW was slapped with a $15,000 fine for allegedly felling crucial hollow bearing trees in Brooman State Forest.

The state-managed organisation’s operations were slammed by the EPA as being “unacceptable”, but were defended by a FCNSW spokesperson who said that only a single tree was felled. A month later, the organisation was slapped with $230,000 fine for operations near Bodalla.

The petition calls for an immediate moratorium on public native forest logging, such as in Brooman, in lieu of a plan to transition the industry to an 100 per cent sustainable plantation model by 2024, and was drafted with support from the Nature Conservation Council of NSW.

NCC forest campaign manager Wilson Harris was less optimistic of the petition’s chances of generating policy change once it’s tabled, but said it would nonetheless start meaningful debate among politicians and the public.

“The petition is a really good opportunity to have a full and frank discussion about the outdated and destructive nature of the native forest logging industry in NSW, which has gone on for far too long without facing enough scrutiny,” Mr Harris said.

In the last two years, Mr Harris said FCNSW had been slapped with 10 convictions in the Land and Environment Court, and that to protect threatened species residing in the state’s forests, regulators needed to be empowered and be able to hand down harsher penalties.

“It’s important that the EPA keeps holding to account, prosecuting, and fighting FCNSW,” he said.

“But, really the only way to ensure our forests are protected, given that FCNSW continually break these rules with only a slap on the wrist, is to fade out the industry altogether.”

East Lynne forests, near Brooman State Forest, in the Shoalhaven area. Picture: Nathan Schmidt

In the Eurobodalla Shire, councillors are pushing forward with their own plans to end native logging.

At its August 9 ordinary session, councillors will debate a notice of motion to “end to native forest logging in Eurobodalla Shire” after it was first introduced on April 12. The motion was abandoned so that council could seek more information from FCNSW and the state government.

“After two briefing sessions, it is now appropriate for the council to consider the recommendations,” council documents state.

The move also comes at a time when, with a new government in Canberra and a state election on the horizon, activists have been emboldened to continue to raise the profile of environmental issues in politics.

“The State of the Environment report really made it clear that our forests, among many of our other iconic ecosystems, are really suffering and they have felt the brunt of unregulated forestry operations and clearing for decades,” Mr Harris said.

Ms Frank said the Brooman State Forest Conservation group would be gearing up for the 2023 state election.

“Having 20,000 people sign the petition means we’ll hopefully have a lot of support and backing,” she said.

“Hopefully we will get to see some real action soon.”