The Nature Conservation Council urges Bunnings to put a blanket ban on selling timber from Australian public native forests after it announced it would no longer supply wood products from Vic Forests.
The company decided to stop selling timber products from VicForests after a court found the state government-owned forestry agency breached conservation laws.
“This is great leadership from Bunnings as one of the largest resellers of native forest timber products,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said.
“While the laws that applied in the VicForests court case do not apply in NSW, there are compelling ecological and moral reasons why Bunnings should stop using timber from NSW native forests.
“Native forest logging is destroying ecosystems and driving the koala and other species to extinction.
“We have a moral responsibility to ensure the survival of this iconic species and the only way we can do that is by stopping the logging of native forests in this state.
“A NSW Parliamentary inquiry tabled a report yesterday that warned that koalas would become extinct in NSW if urgent action was not taken to protect and enhance its habitat.
“Ending native forest logging is a key action required to ensure the species’ survival.”
Mr Gambian warned that Bunnings moving away from Vic Forest could spell trouble for NSW, where more than five million hectares burned in the 2019-2020 bushfires and where NSW Forestry Corporation continues to log koala habitat right now.
“Without timber products from Victoria, Bunnings will likely look to NSW forests which could result in Forestry Corporation ramping up logging in areas where 80% of forests burnt in 2019-20 bushfires, such as the blackbutt forests on the South Coast,” he said.
“Bunnings can stand on the right side of history and protect threatened species habitat by committing to stopping the sale of timber from NSW public native forests.
“Koalas are on the brink of extinction and need urgent action from the government, industry and companies profiting from this destruction.”