Media Release - 20/3/05

Community Outrage Over Forest Logging

Sunday 20 March More than 150 concerned residents from many areas of the Bega Valley and beyond attended a meeting at the Murrah Hall south of Bermagui. The meeting was hastily called after NSW State Forest announced they had commenced logging operations in five State Forests in the Bermagui/Cuttagee area. According to one of the organisers of the meeting, Ms. Andrea Powell, the large turnout, despite the short notice, demonstrates the concern people have about further degradation of their environment. "These forests have been exploited for long enough and residents are fed-up with being ignored while our forests and catchments are degraded and native species are pushed to extinction. It is the politicians and city based bureaucrats who have made the poor land management decisions that should be accountable for this destruction." Ms Powell said. The areas which have been identified in the logging operations include:

Murrah State Forest from the back of Quaama, along the Murrah River and throughout the Cuttagee catchment.Areas around Mumbulla Mountain in the Wapengo Lake catchment.Forest areas west of Bermagui.
Areas in the Corunna Lake catchment north of Tilba.

At the public meeting outrage was unanimously expressed at the proposal to "intensively harvest" these areas. A State Forest spokesperson who met with concerned residents last week stated that intensive harvesting meant the removal of 60% of vegetation in the area of operations. State Forests have also confirmed that the main reason for the operations is to source timber to meet woodchip quotas. 2,500 hectares have been identified for the logging operation, including 13 compartments in the Murrah State Forest alone. The community meeting unanimously resolved to push for an immediate cessation of harvesting operations which have already commenced east of Quaama. Issues of concern raised at the meeting included:

The impact of the logging operation on threatened species. The Murrah-Cuttagee forests are the last known habitat for koalas in south eastern NSW. Other known threatened species regularly sighted in the forests include the yellow belly gliders and glossy-black cockatoos.The impact on the already degraded rivers and catchment areas for the Murrah River, Cuttagee and Wapengo lakes including deforestation and sediment run off.
Concerns regarding the impact of an expected 12 month forestry operation on local roads and communities.

Ongoing action to oppose State Forests' logging plans were identified. Speakers at the meeting included Robert Bertram who provided detailed information about koalas and the ecology of the areas of concern. Chris Allen from the NSW Department of Conservation talked about the survey work which had been completed in the past on the koala population in the area. Ludo McFerran and Susie Herbert shared with the gathering the information they had from State Forests on the proposed operations, including maps of the areas to be logged. Jack Miller talked about his role in the struggle to stop logging north of Tathra some 29 years ago and his despair that the decision had been made to log again. State Forest NSW gave their apologies for the meeting but encouraged anyone wanting further information on the proposed operations to contact their Eden office during business hours.

Concerned residents were encouraged to make their opposition known by writing to the Minister for Primary Industries Ian Macdonald and their local member(s).