An independent, NSW Government-commissioned study has confirmed there is no evidence that selective timber harvesting harms koala populations in NSW's North Coast forests.
The study, led by scientists from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, found no significant change in koala density three years after harvesting. This is consistent with results recorded immediately after harvesting in 2020.
Yet despite funding this very research, the Minns Labor Government has chosen to ignore this high-quality evidence. Their choice to shut down the highly regulated forestry operations across the Mid North Coast to make way for the GKNP, shows poor environmental management based on this research.
"Penny Sharpe and Chris Minns have got it wrong. They've not only shut down an industry that has sustainably managed our forests for generations, but they have also refused to listen to the highest quality scientific evidence we have available," Nationals Member for Oxley Michael Kemp said.
"Politics has been prioritised as they forge ahead with plans to shut down the forests - all to appease a handful of city-based activists for an election promise.
"Governments commission the experts, spend taxpayer money on a study, they get the evidence, and now the Minns Labor Government is pretending it doesn't exist because it didn't fit their political agenda."
The Natural Resources Commission report analysed six study sites, three in State Forests and three in National Parks, using acoustic monitoring to estimate koala density based on bellowing activity.
Key findings include:
• Significant declines in koala density in National Parks sites were attributed largely to fire, not harvesting.
• No significant change in koala density three years after selective harvesting in State Forests when compared to numbers prior to harvesting.
• Resilience of koalas in managed forestry landscapes improved, where GPS-tracked individuals maintained stable home ranges, bred successfully, and showed no preference for exclusion areas over harvested ones.
"It is well known that koalas prefer multi-stage canopies, which reduces susceptibility to catastrophic fire by managing the understory of growth, providing fresh shoots, and a variety of habitats," Mr Kemp said.
"How can locking up 176,000 hectares of productive forest, which will undoubtedly increase the fire risk, possibly protect koala numbers? The government's own study shows koalas are not just surviving, but they are thriving in managed forests!"
"How can they kill towns, local economies, and significant employment on the Mid North Coast to pretend to save the koala?"
"We have high-quality environmental evidence that the Minns Labor Government is ignoring for votes. Managed forests have better-maintained road networks and regulated selective clearing practices, which result in a healthier canopy foliage that koalas love.
"Hundreds of hardworking families' livelihoods have been destroyed because this government cares more about election promises and city votes, than protecting the koala and our environment."
"It's research conducted by your own Department, Mr Minns, and it just goes to show politics doesn't care about the truth."
