Save Our Forests: The Greens by Willhemina Wahlin

SAVING

OUR

FORESTS www.savingourforests.org.au

In my 25 years in politics and community campaigning, the protection of our forests has been one of the defining issues. Saving our forests was a central goal of the 1995 state election campaign that saw Ian Cohen elected as the first Greens MP in New South Wales. During that campaign and my subsequent years as a Parliamentary adviser we worked with the conservation movement to ensure the Carr Labor Government kept its election promises to deliver ecologically sustainable forest management and protect biodiversity. Now we are approaching key decisions that will affect how our state’s forests are managed for the future. The Regional Forest Agreements are set to expire soon and must not be renewed. We have a collective responsibility to protect the environment for future generations. At this crucial point in time, we need to acknowledge how precious our forests are. Despite the best efforts of many, we have seen them continue to be degraded, threatening the survival of native species and destroying cultural heritage. It’s vital that communities take action and call on politicians to protect our precious forests, to take action on climate change by halting logging and to take advantage of the carbon capture they deliver and create new social and economic opportunities in tourism and recreation. Now more than ever, we need to recognise the values our forests offer and draw inspiration from the history of protest and effort expended to prevent their destruction. This booklet offers a snapshot of the history and importance of our precious forests. I encourage you to value our forests. Explore them and join with conservationists to take part in the action needed to save them from destructive logging. Let’s unite and engage our communities to join us in this important effort for the future.

Jan Barham, Greens MP from 2011-2017

NATIVE FORESTS ARE CRUCIAL FOR SUSTAINING LIFE. WE MUST ACT NOW TO PROTECT AND PRESERVE OUR FORESTS. Protecting the environment from the consequences of our actions is a fundamental human responsibility. It’s essential for the survival of plant and animal species, the ecosystems they comprise and the wellbeing of current and future generations. There are opportunities to be realised by acting now to address climate change and transform the economy to create a healthier environment. Managing forests more responsibly is a crucial part of this. Nonviolent protest has been an integral part of environmental protection in NSW for nearly 100 years. The importance of our native forests has seen people prepared to take great personal risks to prevent their destruction. The threats to these precious natural areas have galvanised activists, and in some cases whole communities, towards acts of civil disobedience. Peaceful resistance has often been the only option when all of the other alternatives have failed. Across the state, communities have secured important protections for their land, water and biodiversity through environmental activism. Without the successes of forest campaigners, most of the state’s old growth would have been lost. The lessons of the forest campaigns have inspired and empowered today’s environmental movements, including the campaigns to protect our climate and end the mining of fossil fuels. As global warming takes hold and governments’ inaction or obstruction continues to threaten the wellbeing of current and future generations, people from all walks of life are taking up many different forms of protest – and whether rallying, marching, blockading or knitting, they’re acting to stand up for issues that ensure we all have a healthy natural world.

Photo: Stephen Codrington (Creative Commons)

THE STATE OF NSW FORESTS After decades of protest against destructive logging in public native forests, the policies and agreements negotiated between industry, government and the community in the late 1990s and early 21st century were supposed to ensure the long-term future of our forests and the protection of biodiversity. Along with ensuring the ecologically sustainable management of these forests and the future of the timber industry based on ongoing research into the environmental, social and economic issues affecting forests, a fundamental aim of these agreements was to establish a Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative (CAR) reserve system to protect forest ecosystems and threatened species. A 2016 evidence-based review by the National Parks Association of whether the agreements have achieved their aims concluded that “in all cases, the [Regional Forest Agreements] RFAs have failed to substantially meet their goals either wholly or in part.” Timber supply agreements have overestimated the amount of wood that was available for harvesting, resulting in overcutting and an increase in the areas of native forests being logged to provide for the shortfall. The promised CAR system was never achieved and the current system remains inadequate, fragmented and biased towards steep and infertile land that leaves substantial areas of high quality habitat required to sustain threatened native species with little protection. These failures have caused the continuing degradation of public forests and declining populations of native species. The contribution of native forestry in NSW to employment has been minimal and the sector’s profitability is questionable. Plantation forestry on disused agricultural land is demonstrating much better economic performance without the same environmental and social impacts.

TURNING POINT: A TIME FOR CHANGE Despite the many challenges now confronting our forests, there are obvious, practical actions that can be taken to restore their structure, diversity and long-term viability and ensure our forests play their vital role in maintaining healthy ecosystems and sustaining human existence. The Greens NSW support: •

Ending the logging of public native forests to protect biodiversity, including the many native animal and plant species at risk of extinction

•

An environmentally sustainable and profitable plantation industry that can replace the logging of native forests for timber production and jobs

•

Carbon storage benefits of forest protection to contribute to addressing climate change

•

A ban on mining and gas extraction in State Forests

•

The restoration of public forests and additions to the National Parks estate, which will result in enhanced tourism and recreational opportunities

We are at a crucial time for the future of our forests. The current Forest Agreements that, through lack of government will, have failed to protect our forests are due for review and will expire within the next few years. Now is the time for a focus on the value of our public forests to society and on their responsible management for the long-term protection of our biodiversity and for the overall health of the planet. Without a strong message that our community demands a sustainable future for our forests, governments may extend or redraft these agreements, which would allow increased destruction of precious forests, further threaten native animals and biodiversity, and abandon the opportunity to use our forests for more sustainable purposes. We have to act NOW before opportunities are squandered and the damage is irreversible. WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU CAN DO? TURN TO PAGE 27.

VALUING OUR PRECIOUS NATIVE FORESTS The magnificent forests of NSW provide important benefits to the people of the state. They help regulate climate, induce rainfall, absorb and release clean water, maintain productive soils, prevent erosion and boost the tourist economy. They filter and oxygenate the air we breathe. They are home to some of the world’s most distinctive wildlife, provide refuges and resources for migratory birds and mammals, and they provide places of recreation and inspiration for many people. Vast quantities of water are stored in forests, particularly in old growth stands, and released slowly into river systems, providing clean drinking water for those in rural areas and cities alike. Because the moister forests with their dense canopies hold so much water, they also help to reduce the severity of fires. Forests absorb massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that are stored in the leaves, branches and trunks of trees and in the soil. Climate change represents a significant environmental, economic and social risk to the people of NSW, and protecting forests would contribute to addressing these impacts. It is in the interests of every citizen in NSW, along with future generations, that we protect the state’s diverse and complex forests that provide such crucial life support systems for the community. (Photo this page: James Clark; next page: Jenae Johnston)

CLIMATE CHANGE & CARBON CAPTURE Native forests provide the most effective carbon sinks in Australia. Some of the most carbon-rich forests are moist temperate forests such as those in southeast Australia. Protecting native forests is an essential and efficient way to deliver reductions in carbon emissions, and should be an important part of the government’s efforts to mitigate climate change. While planting trees on already-cleared land is a valuable way of drawing down carbon from the atmosphere, the existing mature forests are much more valuable in climate mitigation because of the longevity of their accumulated carbon stocks. The mountain ash forests of Victoria, for instance, have been shown to store up to 1,200 tonnes per hectare, more than any other forests in the world. Maintaining carbon stores in landscapes (including forests) through avoiding emissions from deforestation will help us reach our greenhouse gas emissions targets. Stopping harvesting in public native forests could provide 51% of the emissions reduction task to 2020. By contrast, the logging and woodchipping of NSW forests, along with the controlled burning involved in forestry activities, releases large amounts of carbon dioxide into the air immediately. Less than 5% of the carbon in logged forests ends up as long-term timber products like furniture. Most of the biomass carbon is made into short-lived products such as paper, which simply delays emissions for around three years. The new market for carbon provides an incentive to maintain forests as carbon stores. The federal government’s Emissions Reduction Fund provides payment for private landholders who change their land use practices to preserve forests as carbon stores. Currently there is no methodology for preserving state forests to be included in the fund, but new methodologies are being developed and must be considered to recognise the value of preventing deforestation to reducing emissions.

STOP BURNING NATIVE FORESTS FOR POWER GENERATION In 2013 the NSW government amended the Protection of the Environment Operations (General) (Native Forest Bio-material) Regulation 2013 to allow native forest biomass, including whole trees, to be used in electricity generation. Along with the change to the Australian Government’s Renewable Energy Target, this means that both state and federal levels of government now approve the burning of native forests

for electricity production. Power stations in NSW are using native forest biomass in their mix of fuel sources. Burning forests for power is not renewable energy. It creates more greenhouse gases than burning coal, creates pollutants that are injurious to human health, and destroys vast quantities of trees. 7

ECOLOGY & BIODIVERSITY The native forests of NSW consist of layers of plant life, from tall canopies to lower understorey trees and shrubs, ground cover plants, and epiphytes, mosses and lichens. They form and support a complex and interdependent web of life. More than 1,000 species and ecological communities in New South Wales are known to be at risk of extinction. Clearing of native vegetation and the associated loss of habitat have been identified as the single greatest threat to our wildlife, affecting 87% of terrestrial threatened species in NSW. This is followed by invasive pest and weed species. Climate change is a major and escalating threat to biodiversity. A total of 303 species – or 15% of all Australian landdwelling vertebrate fauna – rely on tree hollows, which only form in trees of that have reached an age of at least 120 years. Logging of older forests and land clearing have meant that there now aren’t enough mature trees to form hollows, which is likely to have a disastrous impact on populations of hollowdependent fauna over the decades to come. Increasing habitat isolation, fragmentation and degradation in NSW forests has profoundly affected some species that have large home range requirements. As a result of this, apex predators such as the large forest owls and quolls have disappeared from extensive areas. The threats to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning could be avoided and remedied through the responsible alternative management of our forests. Photos (this page): David Milledge, Landmark Ecological Services.

GREATER GLIDER

FORESTS FOR ENDANGERED & THREATENED SPECIES NSW forests provide habitat for a huge array of native fauna, including a variety of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. This includes endangered species like the Giant Barred Frog (Mixophyes iteratus), Booroolong Frog (Litoria booroolongensis), Swift Parrot (Lathamus discolor), Rufous Scrub-bird (Atrichornis rufescens), Regent Honeyeater (Anthochaera phrygia), Spotted-tailed Quoll (Dasyurus maculatus) and Hastings River Mouse (Pseudomys oralis), and threatened species such as the Green and Gold Bell Frog (Litoria aurea), Broad-headed Snake (Hoplocephalus bungaroides), Greater Glider (Petauroides volans), Long-nosed Potoroo (Potorus tridactylus), Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata), Grey-headed Flying-fox (Pteroptus poliocephalus) and the iconic Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus).

The Greater Glider is one of the hollow dependent species listed as threatened throughout its range due mainly due to forest clearing and intensive logging.

KOALA Australia’s iconic Koalas have been declining, and most NSW populations now survive in fragmented, degraded and isolated habitat. Many of the areas in which Koalas remain abundant are subject to intense and ongoing pressures, particularly from intensive logging and the worsening impacts of climate change. SPOTTED-TAILED QUOLL A carnivorous marsupial that uses hollow-bearing trees and fallen logs for den sites and requires a home range of hundreds of hectares, the major threat facing the Spotted-tailed Quoll is habitat loss and fragmentation, along with competition from introduced predators.

The Sooty Owl is another hollow dependent species that is listed as threatened in NSW. 9

NATURAL VALUES OF FORESTS The forests of NSW provide a range of vital ecosystem services to the people of this state. Protecting forests directly and indirectly increases the health and wellbeing of all citizens. It is incumbent on government to assess and enhance the ecosystem values that forests provide, including water and soil quality, biodiversity and carbon capture.

Water

Water is stored and released by forests, trickling down into aquifers and replenishing groundwater supplies. It is released slowly into streams and rivers, which plays an important part in controlling erosion and flooding. Forests maintain water quality, help to suppress salinity and provide the most efficient water catchments for cities, towns and farms. Large tracts of forests can help stabilise local weather patterns and microclimates, and increase local rainfall by up to 15%. Logging and clearing of forests reduces the quantity and quality of water available for agriculture and domestic use.

Soil

Micro-organisms break down leaf matter on the forest floor, and together with fungi and bacteria play an essential role in the decomposer cycle and making nutrients available, contributing to productive and healthy soils. In contrast, soil compaction resulting from logging and clearing decreases water infiltration rates, increases runoff rates and erosion. Controlled burns after logging decrease the health of soils by destroying microorganisms and insects.

Fire

Fire has been a part of the Australian landscape for millions of years, but climate change is increasing the severity and frequency of fire events. Mature natural forests resist fire and recover quickly, whereas industrial logging is likely to make some kinds of forests more, not less, fire prone. Photo (right): Esaias Tan.

TOURISM AND RECREATION Not only do forests provide essential habitat for native species, they offer recreational opportunities for people of all ages. Bushwalking, photography, birdwatching, camping and bicycle riding are popular activities, and ecologically sensitive accommodation is now increasingly available in many areas of State Forests. Nature-based travellers represented 82.9% of visitors and 89.0% of nights by all international travellers to NSW. National and State parks were the second most popular class of destination (64.3%) after the state’s beaches. NSW received nearly 25.3 million international and domestic nature-based visitors in 2014, with these visitors spending nearly 115.9 million nights in the State - up by 8.6%. As demand for tourism rises, the demand for employees in the tourism, hospitality and related sectors increases as well. There were already 152,000 people directly employed in tourism in NSW during 2011-12. Protecting our forests and expanding the opportunities for recreational and educational experiences is an opportunity to be realised. The option for Aboriginal management of some of these forests would create the potential for expanded cultural tourism as well as ensuring that significant heritage sites are protected. Educational tourism is the fastest growing area in the tourism sector and includes school and university trips, study abroad trips and skills enhancement and citizen science. The educational tourism sector is the fastest growing international tourism sector, and is predicted to include a high demand for professionals. There are opportunities for increased employment in regional areas through demand for these kinds of tourist experiences, focused on education about the natural environment and experiencing the important role of our forests. Protecting nature is vital not only to biodiversity and the health of our forests and climate – it delivers a key opportunity for social and economic benefits across regional NSW. David Milledge, Landmark Ecological Services.

FORESTS AND ABORIGINAL HERITAGE Aboriginal peoples have managed native forests for tens of thousands of years, deriving their spiritual and cultural identity, life and livelihood from their lands and waters. Under traditional law and culture, it has been obligatory to conserve the environment and maintain ecosystems in their natural state. The Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) recognised a right or interest over land or waters that may be owned, according to traditional laws and customs, by Aboriginal peoples. Under the Native Title Act the NSW Government is able to negotiate Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUAs) to settle native title claims over public lands. There are nine ILUAs in place in NSW. It is also important to recognise that many areas of State Forest contain sites of cultural significance to Aboriginal people.

GITHABUL ILUA

A claim determination and the ILUA for the Githabul people covers over 112,000 hectares of national parks and state forests in the Kyogle, Woodenbong and Tenterfield areas in northeast NSW. In 2005 the NSW government developed a National Indigenous Forestry Strategy to identify and encourage ways Aboriginal people could become more involved in a range of activities, from timber growing, harvesting and processing to growing bush tucker. Indigenous people have been offered employment opportunities in roles such as field officers, timber harvesters and processers. The protection of NSW forests from logging would offer Aboriginal people many further opportunities for employment. Indigenous cultural education for instance is an expanding field that includes the teaching of languages, traditional skills and food gathering.

Blue Quondongs in Toonunbar National Park, traditional country of the Githabul People (Photo: J. Atkins/NSW Parks and Wildlife)

SE FORESTS OF NSW

The southeast forests of NSW have been a site of nonviolent direct action over the past 40 years. In 2010, more than 100 local people, led by three Aboriginal Traditional Owners, held a peaceful demonstration in the contested logging area of Mumbulla Mountain. The area is sacred to the Yuin people and stronghold of the last Koalas in the region between Bermagui and Bega. The Elders were not able to stop the logging and Forests NSW (now the Forestry Corporation) later admitted that logging should never have taken place on Mumbulla Mountain due to its cultural significance.

Mullumba Creek in Biamanga National Park, Yuin Country (Photo: National Parks and Wildlife)

FORESTRY CAMPAIGNS: ACTIVISM TO SAVE NSW FORESTS In 1968 the first woodchip mill and export facility opened near Eden on the NSW south coast and the campaign for the southeast forests began. By the late 1970s there was a campaign of nonviolent direct action against rainforest logging on the NSW north coast, including the widely publicised Terania Creek protest. At Terania Creek in 1979, around 100 protesters formed a human barricade to block bulldozers and police from entering the forest, sparking a protest that lasted for weeks, became nationally famous and brought government officials to inspect the site. The Wran government finally made the decision to gazette the remaining rainforest in NSW as National Park. Terania Creek became the Nightcap National Park in 1983, and a waterfall within the area was named Protesters Falls. Other campaigners saw that forests could be saved through nonviolent direct action and Terania Creek set the terms under which future protests would be conducted. By the late 1980s protests had begun over the logging of old-growth (eucalyptus) forests in NSW. During 1989, over 500 people were arrested in the southeast forests of NSW for protesting against the Eden Chipmill over the logging of native forests for woodchip exports. Hundreds of charges were dropped when it became obvious that people were prepared to defend their cases. On the other hand, police have been reluctant to bring charges of assault against forest workers despite strong evidence of incidents. In 1990, the North East Forest Alliance set up a blockade of 20-30 protesters at Chaelundi State forest, contending that Forests NSW had ignored their obligation to produce Environmental Impact Statements. The court found in favour of the protesters, on the grounds that removing the protesters had made it easier for the forestry agency to evade its responsibilities. Photo (right): David Milledge, Landmark Ecological Services.

SUCCESSES AND SETBACKS IN FOREST POLICY The first NSW forest reserves were proclaimed in 1871 with the aim of preserving the timber resources of the colony. Almost 1.5 million hectares were placed in reserve in 1882 for timber production, and by 1905, timber reserves covered more than 3 million hectares of land. The Forestry Commission of NSW, the predecessor to Forests NSW and the Forestry Corporation of NSW, was officially formed through the enactment of the Forestry Act 1916. World War II and the building boom that followed placed heavy demands on the state’s forests. By the 1970s there was community concern over the exploitation of NSW native forests. Terania Creek in 1979 was the first major forest protest that received widespread news coverage, and the first major victory for conservationists in NSW, which together with actions at Mt Nardi resulted in the Wran Government’s protection of rainforests and the creation of the rainforest National Parks. In 1983 the National Conservation Strategy was formed – a first step towards the recognition and protection of conservation interests by government. Despite this, during the mid to late 1980s forest ecosystems continued to be devastated. A number of high profile protests over logging practices raised community awareness of the value of public native forests, along with concerns over their management. By the beginning of the 1990s a concerted campaign of protest, political and legal action was building momentum in NSW and throughout Australia to ensure the longterm protection of our forests and an ecologically sustainable approach to forestry management.

NSW FORESTRY REFORM IN THE 1990s Between 1991 and 1995, the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) took the NSW Coalition Government to court over forestry licence and operational breaches in seven cases that were all successfully upheld by the court. Forest protection was a priority issue in the 1995 state election that resulted in the election of the first Green MP in the NSW Parliament, Ian Cohen. The Greens have a long history of campaigning for environmental protection and the sustainable management of our forests. The election saw a grassroots campaign that travelled the state and visited many local communities and inspected at-risk forests. The campaign attracted community and celebrity support to protect old growth forest, wilderness and biodiversity. Along with the entrance of The Greens into NSW Parliament in 1995, Bob Carr was elected on the promise of saving old growth forests and ending export woodchipping, commitments he had made to The Greens. The Forestry Restructuring and Nature Conservation Act in October 1995 was the first stage in implementing the Carr forest promise. It provided for restructuring of the forestry industry through the use of $120million of Environmental Trust Funds to facilitate industry buyouts and provide support for the required changes. The Federal Government matched the $60m dedicated to industry while the other $60m was used for national parks acquisition and management. At the time the majority of the conservation movement and The Greens –with an amendment to limit payments– supported this use of the environmental funds to achieve the intended outcome. In 1997, the Timber Plantation (Harvest Guarantee) Act was introduced to encourage the establishment of plantations and provide certainty regarding exemptions from environmental protection laws. The delivery of the Carr commitment continued with the Forestry and National Park Estate Act in 1998. This legislation facilitated the transfer of State Forests and Crown lands into the National Park estate and to Aboriginal ownership. It also provided for Ministerial forest agreements and reporting on a regional basis, including a system of regulatory regimes for assessment and protection of the environment. 18

REGIONAL FOREST AGREEMENTS: SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY FAILURE In 1991, the Commonwealth and states agreed to cooperate in the development of the new National Forest Policy (NFP), and in June 1992, the UN General Assembly at Rio, of which Australia was a member, signed a Statement of Principles for a global consensus on the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests. The Commonwealth and state governments produced the National Forest Policy Statement (NFPS) in December 1992. It outlined agreed objectives and policies for the future of Australia’s public and private native forests, including the objective that the community would participate in the decision making processes and the total area of protected forest would increase. One of the national goals identified was to expand Australia’s commercial plantations of both softwoods and hardwoods. Building on the NFPS, during the 1990s the federal and state governments initiated a Comprehensive Regional Assessment (CRA) process as the precursor to entering into Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs). The process identified the ecological values of areas of State Forests based on the principle of identifying a comprehensive, adequate and representative (CAR) reserve system. As a result, the Carr Labor government transferred significant areas of State Forests into National Parks across the state. The RFAs were 20 year agreements intended to provide resource security and long term stability for the timber industry through wood supply agreements. At the same time, they were designed to preserve natural values of public forests, including the protection of ecosystems and wildlife through the CAR reserve system. Relations between the Commonwealth and State began to sour in the lead up to the RFAs, and in the end the NSW Government of Premier Bob Carr announced its own NSW Forest Agreements in 1998. The first was the Eden Forest Agreement, followed by the Upper and Lower North East Forest Agreements. The Forest Agreements were soundly criticised by the conservation movement. While the Labor government protected substantial areas of native forests, incorporating a generous industry assistance package, Carr had reneged on a 1995 election promise to end woodchipping and save all old growth and wilderness. Subsequently, three RFAs were finalised by the NSW and Australian Governments between 1999 and 2001 for the North East, Southern, and Eden regions, and a NSW Forest Agreement for the Southern region was also made in 2002. 19

FOREST AGREEMENTS & NATIVE FORESTRY: A FAILED MODEL While some areas of rainforest were protected following the Carr Government’s election in 1995, not enough was placed in reserves, and woodchipping has continued unabated to the present day. For political reasons, adequate areas of other forest ecosystems also weren’t added to the reserve system, preventing the establishment of a complete CAR system. The RFAs included a requirement that their performance be reviewed every five years, and in 2012 the NSW Coalition Government introduced a new Forestry Act which enshrined requirements for five-yearly reviews of the NSW Forest Agreements and forestry operations approvals. However, to date the RFAs have only received their initial 5-year reviews and the NSW Forest Agreements had a combined 5- and 10-year review process. The Greens have questioned the NSW Government’s plans to meet its legal requirements under the Forestry Act in Parliament and there have been calls for the Auditor General to assess the past performance of the RFAs before the Government enters into new negotiations. In the absence of rigorous review and enforcement by governments, it has been left to conservationists to highlight the failures in the system. Since the RFAs were established there have been ongoing compliance checks of forestry practices by the conservation movement, which have repeatedly documented breaches of the codes that are meant to protect and preserve flora and fauna within State Forests. Unfortunately, the investigation of the breaches by the EPA have only rarely resulted in fines or a change of practice. Many of these issues have been raised by the Greens in Parliament and in writing to the government, but little action has been taken to ensure the appropriate management of forestry practices. Even worse, there have been proposals to instigate cable logging and little action on the threats that exist to native forests from Bell Miner Associated Dieback (BMAD). As we enter the final years of these agreements, federal and state governments have begun signalling their intention to extend or replace existing agreements in the absence of clear evaluations about how the agreements have served our forests. Photo (left): David Milledge, Landmark Ecological Services.

NATIVE FOREST LOGGING: FAILING THE ENVIRONMENT & ECONOMY The National Parks Association of NSW’s study, Regional Forests Agreements in NSW: Have they Achieved their Aims?, offered an independent evaluation based on the evidence available in 2016. It concluded that the development process and subsequent governance of the agreements was flawed and that they have failed substantially to meet all of their goals. Both public and private forests in NSW supply timber for the domestic and export markets. State Forests are managed by Forestry Corporation (FC), formerly Forests NSW. There are approximately 2 million hectares of public forests in NSW, including 200,000 hectares of plantations. Public native forests have been unsustainably logged for decades to meet unrealistic supply contracts. In 2014, the government ‘bought back’ 50,000m3 per year of contracted timber from Boral for nine years (a total of 450,000m3) at a cost of $8.55 million. The decline in jobs over time in native forest logging has frequently been portrayed as a ‘jobs versus environment’ conflict. However, although wood production increased markedly since the 1970s, employment has declined steadily. The major drivers of this decline have been technological innovation, structural changes in the timber industry and a lack of available native forest timber resulting from historic over-exploitation. Between 2009 and 2012 the Forestry Corporation lost $85 million in native forest logging operations. In 2007-08, the NSW Auditor General found a loss of $14.4 million. Forestry Corporation figures obtained by the Greens NSW in 2015 showed that NSW taxpayers had lost more than $40 million from logging State Native Forests over the previous 4 years. In 2014, NSW tax payers lost $12 million dollars in the process of logging 23,807 hectares of our precious State native forests. In 2011, the forestry industry in NSW employed a total of 2,126 workers, engaged either directly or through a support service. It is likely that not more than 600 people are directly employed in the native forestry industry in NSW, less than 0.1% of the total workforce. Now is the time to consider options for protecting the ecological values of forests, addressing climate change and potential new economic and employment opportunities through saving our forests.

PLANTATION TIMBER: THE SUSTAINABLE & PROFITABLE OPTION The timber industry has been an important employer in regional communities for more than a century, but in recent years native forest logging hasn’t delivered benefits to the economy or regional employment. While the native forest logging sector is in sharp decline, the plantation sector in NSW State Forests has continued to grow strongly. Forestry Corporation figures showed that on average, taxpayers received a benefit of $5,837 for every hectare of the plantation estate harvested in 2014, with publicly-owned plantations delivered $48 million in profit from harvesting 8,223 hectares of plantation timber. Moving the forestry industry completely into plantations would not only stop the destructive logging of native forests. It would energise the plantation sector, save the taxpayer money and create a more sustainable future for the industry. If native forest logging were to be discontinued in NSW, existing grants and avoided losses could provide funding for the ongoing management of forests by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. This would increase the opportunities for native forests to be enjoyed and used for purposes that contribute to local communities and the economy, including tourism and recreation. Expanding the plantation sector can deliver the hardwood and softwood timber materials we need, while ensuring sustainability and jobs in the forestry sector. At the same time, ending native forest logging ensures our forests play their vital role in storing carbon and promoting biodiversity, while the creation of new National Parks and recreational areas in State Forests would mean more rangers, managers, and guides would be needed. Advancing the plantation sector allows us to continue to meet the demand for wood products, provide employment and protect the values of our native forests. Governments must be responsible land managers and end the native forest logging industry, to ensure the best interests of the state and plan for a sustainable future.

PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY FOR PUBLIC FORESTS The “third party” rights of public citizens to enforce the law in NSW were taken away in 1998 on the promise that the Environmental Protection Authority would regulate and police the Forestry Corporation of NSW. The Greens opposed the removal of these rights but gained support for amendments that strengthened transparency. However, the removal of third party appeal rights has been a devastating failure, and the logging industry has been able to flout environmental laws with impunity. The Greens have continued to raise breaches of forestry protocols with the Government and in Parliament but little action has resulted. During her years as a Greens MP, Jan has inspected forests where the breaches have occurred and has been shocked at the poor management and lack of compliance. It shouldn’t be up to the conservation movement and the Greens to raise these concerns, but the inadequacy of forestry policy and practices has made it essential. Community and political action about the lack of proper management of our public forests highlights the failures of the current system and will create change in the way governments deal with the future of forests and the species that inhabit them, including options for climate change management. Photo (main on this page: David Milledge, Landmark Ecological Services.

FOREST CAMPAIGNING ACROSS NSW NORTHEAST FORESTS The Terania Creek rainforest protest in 1979 gained widespread news coverage throughout the country and inspired a people’s movement to take action and protect biodiversity. Terania Creek was one of the first protests to demonstrate that success is possible when alternative advocacy fails. The North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) was formed in 1989 and has been instrumental in getting the area of National Parks and other conservation reserves in the region increased from 968,335 hectares in 1989 to 2,033,227 hectares in 2011. This 110% increase in protected areas has included areas of old-growth, rainforest, wilderness and threatened species habitat. Protocols were developed to ensure the protection of endangered species and water quality in state forestry operations, as it was recognised that the Forestry Corporation had been logging unsustainably. Nonviolent direct action has been one component of NEFA’s campaigns. They have also conducted successful court cases after conducting ‘green policing’ that revealed breaches of legal requirements in State Forests operations, and NEFA has also made significant contributions through the media and political lobbying. Photos this page and next (except koalas): David Milledge, Landmark Ecological Services.

FORESTS FOREVER NEFA’s recent position statement identifies that the Forest Agreements for upper and lower north east New South Wales have not delivered a comprehensive, adequate and representative (CAR) reserve system or ecologically sustainable forest management, and calls for a rapid phase-out of the logging of public native forests in order to protect and restore: 1. threatened and other native species habitat, 2. water yields, water quality and stream health, 3. carbon take-up and storage, and 4. forest health and natural processes. www.nefa.org.au/policies

GREAT KOALA NATIONAL PARK In northern NSW Koala numbers are declining. One of the main reasons for this is that their forest habitat is being destroyed by logging. The National Parks Association has proposed the establishment of a Great Koala National Park to provide a large, integrated and wellmanaged protected area by combining 175,000 hectares of state forests near Coffs Harbour with an existing 140,000 hectares of existing reserves. www.koalapark.org.au

SOUTHEAST FORESTS The Eden Chipmill has been the centre of ongoing conflict since it opened in 1971. The chipmill has logged vast quantities of native forests in the southeast of NSW and East Gippsland. During the period 1980-2005 the chipmill exported over 500,000 tonnes of native forest woodchips to Japan annually for the pulp and paper industry, and even since the economic downturn in 2008 the chipmill continues to export around 250,000 tonnes annually. Since its opening there have been numerous protests of the Eden Chipmill, with hundreds of people arrested. The protest in the southeastern forests of New South Wales in 1989-1990 was even bigger than the Franklin blockade, running intermittently for eighteen months and resulting in 1,300 arrests. Many sections of the community also opposed a proposal by Australian Silicon Ltd in 2001 to develop a charcoal plant near Mogo, Mossy Point and Broulee on the Eurobodalla’s Nature Coast. The proposed plant was going to consume 200,000 tonnes a year of native forest from the South Coast to supply charcoal to a silicon plant at Lithgow. It was eventually defeated in 2002. Between 2010-2012, the Eden Chipmill applied to build both a wood-fired power plant and a pellet plant. These projects were strongly contested by conservationists and community groups. The power plant didn’t go ahead, and although it was constructed the unprofitable pellet plant was decommissioned in December 2012.

GREAT SOUTHERN FOREST The South East Region Conservation Alliance (SERCA), in conjunction with other groups including the National Parks Association, Nature Conservation Council and National Trust, have put forward a plan for the “Great Southern Forest: a new approach to native forest management for jobs, wildlife and carbon”. The Great Southern Forest proposal calls on the NSW and Australian Governments to work together to: 1. recognise that ceasing native forest logging is cost effective and environmentally valuable in reducing greenhouse emissions, 2. agree on protocols for logging cessation to be eligible for credits under the Emission Reduction Fund, 3. change the management focus of public native forests from logging to carbon capture before the expiry of the Southern region’s forest agreements, and 4. link the carbon credit revenue with investment in regional tourist infrastructure, wildlife protection and forest restoration to generate long term, sustainable jobs and protect forests and endangered wildlife. www.greatsouthernforest.org.au

WESTERN NSW FORESTS Western areas of the state are not covered by forest agreements and weren’t part of the Comprehensive Regional Assessment process. Beginning in 1999, some bioregions with large areas of public land for logging were subject to “Western Regional Assessment” and decisions that established some protections, but many community campaigns have been needed across the state’s inland regions to protect key areas of forest.

FOSSIL FUELS: THREATENING FORESTS & FARMING Northwest NSW is a significant food and fibreproducing region, and includes the fertile Liverpool Plains and the Golden Triangle south of Moree and the rich Western Plains - all accredited as some of the finest farmland in Australia. It also contains iconic natural areas, like the Pilliga Forest, Leard State Forest, Mt Kaputar National Park and Warrumbungle National Park. Some of these key areas of remnant woodland are now at risk from the expansion of fossil fuel extraction within the region. Front Line Action on Coal has warned that new coal mines threaten to destroy more than half of the Leard State Forest and fragment the remaining habitat, which is home to 34 threatened species. The Pilliga Woodland is the largest and most intact temperate eucalypt woodland in eastern Australia, and is a unique ecological refuge in a heavily cleared agricultural belt. It is home to many woodland species struggling to survive, including glossy-black cockatoos, barking owls, eastern pygmy possums, koalas, red-capped robins, regent honeyeaters and the unique Pilliga mouse. The area is also very significant for its Indigenous heritage and the local Gomilaroi have a strong connection to the Pilliga. People from across the region and further afield have been engaging in peaceful direct action, since the process has begun to turn the Pilliga forests into an industrial gasfield. Already, the impacts of the first 92 exploration gas wells have directly destroyed over 200 hectares of forest and have heavily fragmented 1,700 hectares. Groups such as the Friends of the Pilliga and the North West Alliance have brought state and national attention through their campaign about this project. 26

PROTECTING RIVER RED GUMS The Riverina region of southern NSW is home to river red gum forests that are already threatened by the environmental challenges in the Murray-Darling Basin. Forests NSW continued logging in these areas into the 2000s, despite not having legal approvals. A strong campaign of community action including blockades as well as court proceedings, involving groups that included RedGum Forest Action highlighted the need for protection in the area, and in 2010 the NSW Government established reserves to protect more than 100,000 hectares of river red gum forests. Main background photo: David Milledge, Landmark Ecological Services.

WHAT YOU CAN DO The next few years are a crucial time to establish a sustainable future for our forests. Campaigns and protests across the state have achieved results, all the way from Terania Creek to the present day. But now the future direction of forestry in NSW will depend on whether governments lock in new or extended agreements for native logging and unsustainable wood supply. We need communities across the state to send a strong message that it’s time for native forests to be off-limits to logging in the interests of biodiversity, climate, tourism and more. The future of forestry is in a strong plantation sector that delivers the timber resources we need, without the destruction of our precious natural environment.

GET INVOLVED • Contact your local conservation organisations and explore your local forests • Raise awareness about the opportunities to protect and preserve our forests and transition to a new sustainable economy based on valuing native forests and expanding plantation forestry • Write to politicians – ask them for a meeting and raise your concerns • Share your forest stories – visit our website and post your photos, videos and experiences about our forests and the campaigns to protect them onto our crowdsourced map • Sign the petition to Parliament calling for an end to logging in public native forests – available from the Saving Our Forests website.

FURTHER INFORMATION AND RESOURCES Some of the key organisations campaigning and providing information about protecting our environment, forests and wildlife: • Nature Conservation Council: www.nature.org.au • National Parks Association of NSW: www.npansw.org.au • South East Regional Conservation Alliance: serca.org.au • North East Forest Alliance: www.nefa.org.au • North Coast Environment Council: ncec.wordpress.com • Total Environment Centre: www.tec.org.au • The Wilderness Society: www.wilderness.org.au • Environmental Defenders Office NSW: www.edonsw.org.au Visit www.savingourforests.org.au for more details and links.

Produced by Greens MP Jan Barham, designed by Braenchild Media, printed by Breakout Media Communications, February 2017. Front cover photo: David Milledge, Landmark Ecological Services. Back cover photo: James Clark.