The Nature Conservation Council calls on the NSW Government to scrap planned logging operations near towns and settlements after new research found logging significantly increases the risks of catastrophic fires.
Australian National University researchers found regrowth forests were at much higher risks of catastrophic, crowning bushfires than older stands for 10 to 40 years after logging. [1]
Lead author on the paper, Professor David Lindenmayer, said:
“Our findings show there should be no logging near rural towns and other communities.
“At a time when the risk of extreme fire weather has risen 10 times since the 1960s, we must do everything possible to keep country people safe. Reducing the flammability of forests is crucial.”
“This new research supports a ban on native forest logging near rural towns and settlements to minimise the risks of catastrophic bushfires like those that ripped through eastern NSW in 2019-20,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said.
“Right now, Forests NSW is preparing to log forests very near several towns on the South Coast, including Mogo, which was almost wiped off the map by the Black Summer fires.
“Mogo is not the only settlement in NSW that is being put at risk by logging – there are many others.
“The NSW Government has a clear responsibility to protect communities from catastrophic fires by banning logging close to these vulnerable settlements. \
“Under modern logging practice, most forests are logged on 50-year cycles.
"This means most of these production forests are ticking time bombs that could go off at any time, potentially wiping our whole communities.
"These forests should be left to grow old, with appropriate fuel management, so to minimise the risk they pose to people.”
Settlements at risk right now from logging operations
SOUTH COAST
- Mogo: Loggingis active in Mogo State Forest 180A. There are plans to log Mogo State Forest 146A, which is only just over a kilometer from the town of Mogo itself. In the past few years, logging was completed in Mogo State Forest 144, 145 and 159 which directly border the town. The town was decimated during the Black Summer fires, and they have returned to logging surrounding forests.
- Brooman:Active logging is occurring in Shallow Crossing State Forest 212A and is proposed logging in South Brooman State Forest puts settlements in the Brooman area under threat.
- Eden:There are countless logging operations active or planned for forests south of Eden. During Black Summer bushfires, the fire burnt the Eden Chipmill and threatened the town. The intensity of these fires was extreme fire due to decades of logging.
NORTH COAST
- Nana Glen:This settlement was hard hit by the Black Summer fires. Logging is active nearby in Wedding Bells State Forest and Orara State Forest as well as Conglomerate State Forest. Logging has recently concluded in nearby Lower Bucca State Forest.
- Nambucca Heads:Compartments 12, 13 and 14 of Nambucca State Forest were logged last year, very close to the town.
REFERENCES
[1] Empirical analyses of the factors influencing fire severity in southeastern Australia, Ecosphere, August 2021, Volume 12(8), Article e03721Z. See ANU media release attached.