Australia: Save Clouds Creek State Forest!
Clouds Creek State Forest residents are putting up a fight against
Forests NSW’s plans to log the area, but say so far no-one is
listening. Local woman Meredith Stanton said residents were first told
of plans to log the area back in March. However, they could not access
a harvest plan detailing exactly where logging would take place and
the expected environmental impact or told when the logging would begin
until December 23.
When she and other residents tried to contact
Forests NSW with their concerns on Christmas Eve, they were unable to
speak to anyone as the department had closed for the holidays until
January 12. With logging scheduled to begin on January 12, Ms Stanton
said she was concerned there was no real opportunity for community
consultation. “They just decided to lay this on us and go on
holidays,” she said. “There’s no-one to talk to about our latest
concerns; we have no idea how long this will last for.” Ms Stanton
said the area was logged in 1998. She was worried the 10-year cycle
was unsustainable. She said she had already seen one large blue gum
tree she believed was hundreds of years old, with a two-metre
diameter, marked to be felled. Fellow resident Michele Smith shared
concerns. She said logging the area would threaten wildlife and
destroy koala habitat. “There just isn’t enough concern for native
animals,” she said. Ms Smith said Clouds Creek State Forest was also
susceptible to Bell Miner dieback, which is a condition in which trees
progressively die from the top downwards. The condition is caused in
some instances when a canopy is thinned and the aggressive bell miner
bird moves in, scaring off other birds that eat sap-feeding insects
called psyllids. Ms Smith said excessive logging could cause more
dieback to the blue gums. The Daily Examiner contacted Forests NSW but
was unable to obtain a response before today. More information will be
published in tomorrow’s Examiner.
http://www.dailyexaminer.com.au/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3793285
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