Australia has new laws to protect nature. Do they signal an end to native forest logging?

"There is a straightforward way to avoid the ecological, administrative, and financial problems created by native forest logging – stop it altogether. The evidence shows ending native forest logging would deliver significant benefits for biodiversity, forest ecosystems, and reduce fire risks."
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https://theconversation.com/australia-has-new-laws-to-protect-nature-do-they-signal-an-end-to-native-forest-logging-271203
#NativeForests #LoggingImpacts #BAU #EPBCact #Biodiversity #conservation #governance #PoliticsOfUnsustainability #harm #thinning #LoggingIndustry #bushfires #risks

An intact Great Koala National Park reduces fire risks

Some mainstream media, politicians and the logging industry see Australian flora and fauna as one big ' firebomb' that needs logging urgently.

"...A logged forest is at much greater risk of burning at higher severity than intact forests that have not been logged. Logged forests are at significantly greater risk of high-severity wildfire than intact (unlogged) forests." David Lindenmayer, Ecologist
>> (paywall)
https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-great-national-koala-park-is-not-a-firebomb-it-s-the-opposite-20251113-p5nf1u.html
#BushFires #deforestation #landclearing #biodiversity #ThegreatKoalaNationalPark #NSWLogging #LoggingImpacts #fires #VestedInterests #LoggingIndustry #BellingenLogging #BellingenShire #risks

NSW Forestry born-again as eco-forestry looking for new markets

"The forestry industry in northern NSW is considering new financial opportunities in eco-forestry and environmental markets."
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-16/great-koala-national-park-forestry-future-carbon-market/105954932
#Biodiversity #wildlife #NSWLogging #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #LoggingIndustry #MidNorthCoast #GKNP #KoalaTouristPark #firebreaks #LoggingAndLandclearing #extractivism #MinisterialDiscretion #EPBCAct

Image: The Bongil Bongil National Park has been included in the new Great Koala National Park, but the logging monster is always lurking... (Art by 'Danka')

Deforestation and no regeneration

"If you go down to the forests today, you’re in for a big surprise (mass deforestation) .
The forest has failed to regenerate after being logged. More and more logged areas no longer support trees where they once did."

"Forests that have not regenerated after logging represent a clear form of deforestation. Deforestation is a major global issue driving both escalating climate change and biodiversity loss. This is why Australia signed international agreements to both halt deforestation and to prevent biodiversity loss. And yet, this problem is evident in our own backyard."
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https://johnmenadue.com/post/2025/10/if-you-go-down-to-the-forests-today-youre-in-for-a-big-surprise-mass-deforestation/

Deforestation harms profits

"Global investors managing over $3 trillion in assets called on governments on Monday to stop and reverse deforestation and ecosystem degradation by 2030, in a statement signed ahead of a U.N. climate conference. As investors, we are increasingly concerned about the material financial risks that tropical deforestation and nature loss pose to our portfolios. Deforestation undermines the natural systems that global markets rely on - from climate regulation to food and water security."
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https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/investors-managing-3-trillion-assets-urge-countries-stop-deforestation-2025-10-20/
#biodiversity #deforestation #LoggingImpacts #NSWLogging #loggingIndustry #BellingenLogging #climate #NativeForests #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #degradation #ClimateBreakdown #Australia #governance #EcosystemDegradation #extractivism

Forests, roads and mega fires
"More roads are associated with more fires"

"A problem arises when forest managers look at forests exclusively “through the lens of timber and dollar signs on trees."
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https://grist.org/wildfires/wildfire-prevention-roads-trump-repeal-roadless-rule-usda-forest-service/

Char Miller, "Burn Scars: A Documentary History of Fire Suppression, from Colonial Origins to the Resurgence of Cultural Burning" (Oregon State UP, 2024)
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https://osupress.oregonstate.edu/book/burn-scars
#LoggingImpacts #LoggingIndustry #NSWLogging #roads #bushfires #timber #extractivism #thinning #PrescribedBurns #FireSuppression #megafires #colonialism #CounterNarratives #IndigenousPeoples #CulturalBurning #ecology

Degraded: Victoria's alpine and mountain ash forests

"Devastating fires, not logging as some claim, are to blame."

"'Woefully low' action from government."
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-22/alpine-forests-in-victoria-in-serious-trouble-scientists-warn/105432774
#forests #LoggingImpacts #fires #degradation #biodiversity #governance #LoggingIndustry

Fixing outdated environmental laws (the EPBC Act)
Destruction as usual ?

“Australians are tired of the bush being bulldozed and burnt and elected a government that will act on nature and on climate." They expect "sweeping changes to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) in the next 18 months."

"The past failures, combined with the approval of major fossil fuel projects and the rushed passage of laws to protect Tasmania’s salmon industry, have environmentalists worried about Labor’s second term."

"Environmental organisations also want an end to the “climate blindness” of Australia’s environmental laws, an end to loopholes such as the effective exemption granted to logging under regional forest agreements, and a clearer focus on what’s needed for the recovery of threatened species."

"Corporate Australia needed to “leave its bludgeons at the door” as the process started afresh."

"Ending habitat loss was the “bottom line outcome”, ...meaning that native forest logging and agricultural land clearing must be addressed in some form."
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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/14/environmentalists-worry-as-labor-seeks-consensus-on-federal-nature-laws-epbc-act-epa
#EPBCAct #BiodiversityCrisis #biodiversity #ClimateBreakdown #GHG #FastTrackApprovals #extractivism #destruction #SamuelReview #LoggingIndustry #landclearing #FossilFuels #CorporateAustralia

Australia is a global deforestation hotspot,
ranked second in the world for biodiversity loss due to forest and bushland destruction
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https://www.greenpeace.org.au/our-work/forests/australian-deforestation/

"Deforestation in Colombia fell 33%
year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025 to 27,052 hectares due to agreements with communities and a greater presence of the state and the Armed Forces, the environment ministry said"
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https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/deforestation-colombia-falls-33-first-quarter-2025-06-05/
#deforestation #destruction #LoggingIndustry #biodiversity #NSW #Australia #extractivism #governance

"The native forest logging division of the New South Wales government’s forestry agency has posted a half-yearly loss of almost $15m, prompting renewed questions about the industry’s economic viability."

“It makes no sense that taxpayers are subsidising a loss-making business that destroys precious habitat when we should be supporting local communities and viable industries that do have a future.”"
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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/may/16/nsw-native-forest-logging-division-half-year-report-2024-2025-losses
#LoggingImpacts #LoggingIndustry #FCNSW #NSWLogging #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #biodiversity #wildlife #destruction