I write in response to Alison Frame’s (Department of Planning and Environment) letter of reply to NEFA’s article “Stop Baird Exterminating Koalas” (Courier-Sun November 16).
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NEFA expressed grave concerns about the, “result of the Baird Government’s, comprehensive removal of koala protections” stating that, “it is unlikely that NSW’s koalas will survive the next 20 years in the wild”.
NEFA representing North Coast environment groups have nailed the NSW government’s “systematic, coordinated and comprehensive attack on koalas”.
The recent changes to the biodiversity legislation approved the removal of Sepp 44 is simply legitimising ‘random’ inspections for private forested land by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)”. It is common knowledge that private logging applications of high value koala habitat can be made at 9am and approved by 1pm.
The bottom line is that it does not matter what is written into the legislation, vital koala protections will continue to fail if there is no rigour applied by the (EPA) who have failed repeatedly to be the responsible body for the monitoring and regulation of koala habitat on either private or public land even before the legislation was removed.
The reliance on every developer to resist the lure of profits and to look for koalas is ludicrous and North Coast communities understand all too well that, forest logging is not about what is right or wrong, but about what you can and can’t get away with.
Bellingen Shire Koala Management Plan is lauded as one of the best in the state and at least 12 months later, our shirewide koala protection plan remains unapproved by Minister for Planning, Rob Stokes.
If local government is to become the assessor for all of these private, forested land applications, how does that fit into the huge pressures put on council’s by “Fit For the Future” and necessary funding to safely carry out this process. Unless the NSW and the federal coalition governments properly staff and support, rigorous monitoring and regulation of all Forestry Logging practices the drop in the number of koalas will continue to decline.
Numbers of koalas plummeted by 33 per cent between 1990 and 2010 will continue to decline apace. Meanwhile ecologists disappear from the region and staff from all environmental protection agencies have been forensically removed.
Changes to the recently approved Biodiversity Laws mean there is now no need for Forestry Corporation to look for koalas on public land/ state forests. This is simply formalising what has been going on anyway in Forestry Corporation’s operations, that are not in the public eye. Independent Environmental Assessments are not permitted in NSW State Forests.
In June of this year environmental groups attended a meeting with the EPA and were informed that a $4m dollar grant to the OEH section of the EPA to map North Coast koalas habitat had failed and the remainder of the money had been given to Forestry Corporation?
Against the background of this bleak picture, NSW Planning Minister Stokes has yet again asked the community for more comment on koala protection: Draft koala habitat protection SEPP
It is very clear that the Nationals tail is wagging the Liberal Party dog. We are watching the demise of Liberal leader, Mike Baird who is crumbling under the weight of planning decisions that continue to favour an overarching policy of regional profit and development over any social or environmental considerations. Our communities are united in their efforts to fight for a future that includes healthy habitat for our koalas.
Time and again the public has supported the Great Koala Park, and the removal of koala protections will result in the destruction of North Coast opportunities to prosper from globally, significant biodiversity.
NEFA representing North Coast environment groups have nailed the NSW government’s, “systematic, coordinated and comprehensive attack on koalas”. The solution is simple, immediately stop clearfelling, empower regulatory agencies properly, and put our iconic threatened and endangered koalas before profit.
Caroline Joseph
For the Bellingen Environment Centre