The Five Forests: Tilba, Bermagui, Murrah, Tanja, Wapengo, are part of the Southeast Corner Bioregion.
NEWS ALERT 2010: August 25: Yet to be confirmed but rumor has it that the Five Forests are off the logging list until after the NSW election. Clearly the idea is to ensure these forests remain off the logging list.
August 19: After some reluctance the DECCW has made available the data on 17,000 plus trees from the RGB-SAT surveys. According to Forests NSW Mr James Jaggers is to contact regarding provision of their dieback information, but they may need some prompting.
August 10: Under the new Government Information Public Access Act it is necessary to request information from the agencies if they have not been 'pro-active' in making the information publicly available. To test this process initial requests have been sent to FNSW and the DECCW seeking the GIS shape-files of dieback in the Eden and Southern regions and data from the RGB-SAT koala surveys.
August 4: The complaint re past and proposed logging in Bermagui and Murrah State Forests has been sent to DEC Forestry and NCS International and is available on the resources page.
July 25: The Forest Stewardship Council are calling for comments on the application of the FSC to Australian forests. According to their website . . . "The Board of FSC Australia seeks input on an interpretation of Principle 5.6 in the Australian context for use in an FSC Australian Standard. Integral to this is stakeholders’ views on the regrowth periods / harvesting rotation lengths for various types of stands that are representative of Australian forests. The submission period of 60 days has been set from June 7th 2010 to August 7th 2010. All comments will be taken into account and incorporated in a final draft. The final draft will serve as a basis for discussion during the development of the FSC Forest Management Australian Standard in 2011." Further detail at http://www.fscaustralia.org/index.php?id=78 but clearly Forests NSW would fail this criterion.
July 17: Download the flyer (490kb)and come along to a "Tranquility Day" at the Murrah hall, Sunday, July 25, 9.30 til 3 pm.
July 16: Jim Adams from Timber Communities Australia on ABC radio talking about the crisis is plantation and native forest sawlogs. The recent (July 15)article from the Eden magnet, timber-supply-reaches-pinch-point, refers to the latter. Having known for 30 years when the hardwood sawlogs would runout and having failed to properly manage the pine plantations clearly in this Ministers eyes FNSW can do no wrong.
June 29: In an ABC news report this morning the Koala recovery officer said they are intending to implement Forests NSW's idea (1997) and trans-locate koalas to Yurammie and Tantawangalo(?) forests. The idea is that while koalas are extinct in these forests, the habitat may still be suitable. According to Chris Allen they are undertaking foliage studies to determine if it is suitable for koalas. The problem is koalas use a lot of trees and logically their extinction infers a reduction in suitable habitat. The NSW government will demonstrate their commitment to koalas when they support attempts to maintain and improve habitat in the Five Forests, as opposed to time wasting crap.
June 27: Yesterday the DECCW held a koala information session at Candelo. At the session the Koala recovery officer was to ask why people thought the number of koalas has declined. It would be reassuring to know that the people responsible for the recovery of koalas knew why they declining but that capacity eludes them. Reports have it that no further evidence of koalas was found during RGB-SAT surveys undertaken by the DECCW and Forests NSW in Murrah State Forest. Perhaps not surprising and one expects, no agency staff will question any part of the approved logging plan for Cpts 2051/52, silly duffers.
June 19:Yesterday in the Moruya Local Court Forests NSW and the NSW Police failed to convict the 'Bermi 4' on charges of entering and failing to leave a prohibited area. Thanks to an excellent defence the magistrate was not convinced that the prosecution had proved- 1. that the prohibited area sign was in place when we entered the area and 2. that we remained in the area after being informed of its status. The magistrate also agreed that while there are many reasons FNSW can use to put a prohibited area in place, enabling the Police to arrest 'protesters' isn't one of them. Now that’s done with it will be possible to complete the complaint about various aspects of FNSW’s non-compliance in Cpt 2002.
Who are Friends of Five Forests?
The Friends of the Five Forests (FOFF) are a community group implementing an integrated approach to natural resource management on the south coast of New South Wales in Australia. Decades of ignorance and greed have had a massive negative impact on the environment of the Bateman Bioregion. Intensive broad-acre logging and burning have degraded our forests to the point where we risk losing the remaining forest cover.
Eucalyptus forests are declining as a result of reducing soil fertility due to long term soil erosion and dispersion.
Soil degradation causes dieback associated with Bell-miners in wetter areas, now listed as a Key Threatening Process in New South Wales and reduced soil water holding capacity on ridges and slopes causing dieback during dry weather and drought. The obvious decline in the health of eucalyptus forests is the most readily observable aspect of the deforestation process. Most of our coastal estuaries are rapidly filling with sediment. Native animal species that are critical for forest health and growth are extinct and plant species are also being pushed to extinction.
The Five Forests are home to the last few endemic Koalas in the Southeast Corner Bioregion. These koalas are constrained to forests growing on the Murrah soil landscape. This population was nominated as endangered and likely to become extinct in 2001. Despite the fact that there have been no sightings of koalas outside the Five Forests the NSW Scientific Committee believed the claims of the NSW Forestry Commission, that koalas can be found everywhere and refused to support the nomination.
These steep coastal catchments have been subject to sustained intensive logging to meet unsustainable woodchip quotas and repeated burning over the past three decades. Coupled with the deforestation process, the gross mismanagement of State Forests and National Parks threatens:
- Flora and fauna biodiversity and consequently our climate
- The quality and quantity of water in rivers, streams and estuaries
- The fishing industry
- Oyster Farmers
- Aboriginal Heritage Values
- Tourism
- And our much loved recreational natural amenity.
FOFF believe it is time for positive change to the way we manage our soil, water, flora and fauna so that the environment, the community and the economy can all benefit.
Review fact sheets on koalas, catchments, dieback, and forest management claims.
Read more about FOFF's management and research proposals
See Sustainability Day information sheets (5 November 2006)
Or see how can I help?