MEDIA RELEASE 
17^th December 2024  

The Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales (NCC), the state’s leading environmental advocacy organisation, welcomes the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal’s (IPART) recommendation that the Biodiversity Conservation Fund needs to be reined in.  

A key issue with the NSW Biodiversity Offsets Scheme (BOS) is that developers can simply make a payment into the Fund in lieu of their offset obligations. Endangered species offsets are obviously difficult to source, and this means the Trust administering the Fund is often left with inadequate funds to deliver a ‘like-for-like' offset.  

IPART has previously recommended that the Fund be phased out entirely. 

IPART has today proposed that whilst the Fund still exists, the Government must adopt a precautionary approach by ensuring that prices are high enough to provide the Trust with confidence that it can purchase sufficient offsets. 

Statements attributable to Jacqui Mumford, Chief Executive Officer of Nature Conservation Council NSW: 

“Allowing developers to avoid genuine offsets and simply ‘pay to destroy’ is driving our previous biodiversity to extinction.   

“Developers are getting away with inadequate payments we know aren't enough to secure genuine like for like offsets.  

“IPART and the environment movement are in clear agreement - these loopholes must be phased out. 

“IPART has confirmed that recent reforms passed by Parliament are ‘useful interim measures’ but that more ambitious reform is needed to properly fix the scheme and protect biodiversity. 

"We urge the NSW government to adopt IPART’s recommendations as part of its nature reforms in 2025.

“The last Biodiversity Outlook Report found that NSW will lose half of the over 1000 threatened species in the next 100 years if we continue business as usual. NSW habitat is so degraded it can only support 29% of the plants and animals it once did. 

“It is clear the system is failing nature and is in urgent need of reform.” 

Statement ends   

Media contact: Anna Greer  
E: [email protected] M: 0493 733 529 PH: (02) 7208 9482   

Note: Spokesperson is available for comment on request.

MEDIA RELEASE
17 December 2024

The Forest Alliance NSW has responded to the release of a three year review by the NSW Independent pricing regulator raising doubts of the economic viability of native forest logging in NSW. The report was released under freedom of information laws to the ABC.

The release of the IPART Report follows the publication of Forestry Corporation’s latest Annual Report showing its native forest logging division posted a $29 million dollar loss in 2023/24 bringing total losses over the last four years to over $70 million.

Justin Field from the Forest Alliance NSW said, “Native forest logging is a bad deal for taxpayers.

“In the last four years the NSW Government owned logging company has lost over $70 million dollars logging NSW native forests, has been prosecuted multiple times, and fined over $1.5 million for breaking environmental laws. This report now shows for the last decade it has not even been recovering the costs of logging and transporting timber under existing contracts.

“The NSW Government is currently considering the future of the timber industry in NSW. This is the opportunity to allow native forest logging to end and shift the industry to a sustainable plantation based future. For every year native forest logging is allowed to continue taxpayers will continue to foot the bill.

Dailan Pugh from the North East Forest Alliance said, “The NSW Government needs to heed the advice of IPART that there are concerns about native forestry in NSW due to impacts on the environment and threatened species, climate change impacts and its economic viability, necessitating that they review the long-term feasibility of native timber harvesting.

“NSW needs to stop paying to degrade public native forests and instead profit from them being managed for wildlife habitat, recreation, tourism, water and their essential service of carbon capture and storage” 

Susie Russel from the North Coast Environment Council said, “This reports confirm what the greater gliders and koalas already know. The logging needs to stop immediately if they are to have any chance of surviving in the wild for another generation.

“This report from IPART is quite astonishing in that not only does it show what an economic basket case native forest logging is but also highlights impacts on the environment and threatened species like Koalas and Greater Gliders along with increasing the severity of bushfires which is of great concern as the effects of climate change increase” said Scott Daines of South East Forest Rescue.

“Clearly, logging doesn't stack up economically and the cost to the species that depend on healthy native forests has been far too high for many years. We're calling on Forestry Minister Tara Moriarty to recognise this reality and decisively move to a sustainable plantation-based timber industry,” said Steve Ryan of the Nature Conservation Council of NSW.

“These reports are the iceberg off the Titanic’s bow. No industry can survive so many years of decline, financial loss, criminal prosecution and broad public disapproval. We’ve already seen that same inevitable conclusion in the collapse of the native logging industry in Western Australia and Victoria last year. For the Minns government, this will be hard to ignore” said Andrew Wong of Wilderness Australia.

For further comment contact:

Susie Russell: 0429 655 044

Dailan Pugh: 0400 711 054

Justin Field: 0439 205 835

Steve Ryan 0488 401 542

MEDIA RELEASE
22^nd November 2024 

The Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales (NCC), the state’s leading environmental advocacy organisation has today welcomed passage of the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Biodiversity Offsets Scheme) Bill 2024 as an important first step in reforming NSW nature laws. 

“We have been calling for reform of the broken scheme for many years, and today we finally have an important first step to deliver better protections for nature.” said NCC Policy and Advocacy Director, Dr Brad Smith.

Statements attributable to NCC Policy and Advocacy Director, Dr Brad Smith:  

“This Bill will finally create legal standards to make it clear that offsets should only be used as a genuine last resort, through the avoid and mitigate hierarchy - this is long overdue.”  

“It will also transition the scheme to achieving ‘net positive’ outcomes for biodiversity, something we urge the government to deliver as soon as possible.” 

“It is very encouraging to see the Government also recognise the need to consider ‘Part 5’ government development under the scheme, as the Minister said: “If the government expects the private sector to abide by biodiversity rules, we should do the same.” 

“We also welcome recognition of the need to reform the ‘serious and irreversible impacts’ provisions as part of the next tranche of work. This must be strengthened to prevent the destruction of irreplicable, high conservation value land. This is a crucial piece of puzzle to achieve nature positive outcomes in NSW.”  

“Despite today's progress, the biodiversity offsets scheme is still deeply flawed. We welcome the Minister’s comments that “There is a lot more work to be done do to get the scheme right. This is just the beginning”.  

“We look forward to working with the government and all sides of politics to rein in habitat clearing and strengthen protections for biodiversity.” 

ENDS 

MEDIA RELEASE
November 11th, 2024

The lack of action on logging in the proposed Great Koala National Park has received international spotlight with a scathing article in the Washington Post.

The Forest Alliance of NSW is calling for an immediate moratorium on logging in the proposed Great Koala National Park and in other identified endangered species hotspots throughout the state's public native forests.

Jacqui Mumford from the Nature Conservation Council NSW said:

”This is an international embarrassment and highlights the urgency of the problem. 

“The NSW Government has been dragging out the process for establishing the Great Koala National Park for over 18 months now.

“While this slow bureaucratic process of gazetting the park has been underway, logging in the park boundaries has continued and even increased in pace. 

“Premier Minns needs to use his power to stop logging in the proposed park immediately.

Justin Field from the Forest Alliance NSW said:

“Yesterday's Washington Post article, together with the SMH article have thrown a much needed spotlight on the continued intensive logging in the proposed Great Koala National Park.” 

"The message is clear, we must stop logging in the proposed park immediately. 

“The longer the Minns' Government delays, the further we push Koalas to extinction.” 

Every day the Forestry Corporation is targeting key habitat areas. Forestry Corporation claims they are targeting this area because it contains "the most productive forests". 

These are also the areas that tend to have the highest biodiversity, habitat and the remaining big, old trees.

ENDS

 Spokespeople available on request 

"James Jooste, NSW chief executive for the industry lobby group Australian Forest Products Association, said there was more logging within the assessment area because it contained the most productive forests." SMH Article

Help end the destruction - This your chance to make your voice heard

Right now we have a chance to end native forest logging for good as the NSW Government is reviewing the forestry industry and deciding on a plan for the transition from native forest logging. What happens next will decide whether native forest logging continues decades into the future or is phased out immediately. The Forestry Industry Action Panel (FIAP) wants to hear from you to inform the next steps. Let’s make it clear that we demand change now.

Please help us build the momentum by engaging directly with the Forestry Industry Action Panel. Making a submission to the Panel is an action you can take so we can see an end to the wholesale destruction of our forests. Read on below for our step-by-step guide.

Take the time to make a submission to the Panel so they know that the public overwhelmingly wants to see an end to native forest logging in NSW. Below are step-by-step instructions and a handy guide for making your submission.

This is your chance to demand change.

Our new forest campaigner Steve has already been out to survey for endangered Greater Gliders in a forest slated for logging. Forest campaignersaround the state are having a direct impact on logging operations in NSW through their forest surveying. Read on for the whole story>>

I have just come back from a mission to find as many endangered Southern Greater Gliders and their den trees as possible in an area of the Styx state forest, which is slated for logging.  

These surveys are supposed to be done by Forestry Corporation NSW but their goal is logging habitat and our goal is saving it. Unsurprisingly, the different intents have vastly different outcomes. The way FCNSW does forestry surveys has more holes than a 200-year-old habitat tree. 

All around the state, citizen scientists are pulling up their hiking boots and heading out into the forests to ensure that as much habitat as possible gets protected in forests on the chopping block. 

Each den tree identified results in a 50-metre logging exclusion zone and buys some time for this precious species and many others like it.  

This critical work is about protecting as much habitat as possible, whilst we simultaneously push those in power to end native forest logging once and for all.

Did you know the native forestry industry is uneconomic and runs at a loss? That means your taxes are being used to prop up the decimation of our native forests, mostly for low grade products like woodchips. 

The pressure is mounting for a transition for the industry, with the government starting consultations as part of their Forestry Industry Action Plan. This is a huge opportunity to chart a new way forward to a 100% plantation-based industry, but it means our movement needs to be at full power to see it through.

It can take over a century for tree hollows to form and these hollows provide shelter for many forest animals. Logging removes old, large trees with hollows and removes the trees that will provide the next generation of hollows. Over time logging degrades forests like the Styx, until it can’t support healthy populations of hollow-dwelling marsupials. 

Our weekend survey identified 12 den trees and 92 Greater Glider sightings, adding to other recent surveys finding an additional 10 den trees. That’s 17.3 hectares of logging exclusion of key habitat. Not bad for a weekend’s work. 

The Minns Government faces a stark choice: to end native forest logging or send species to extinction. It's that simple. We have an historic opportunity, but we need to work hard to make it a reality. The next six months are critical for the future of species that depend on healthy, mature forests for their continued existence.

Steve Ryan
Forests Campaigner
Nature Conservation Council NSW

Forest Alliance NSW
MEDIA RELEASE
26 August 2024

The Forest Alliance NSW is calling on a newly announced expert panel, set up by the Minns Labor Government to advise it on the future of forestry, to put ending native forest logging front and centre of their investigation. 

Justin Field from the Forest Alliance NSW said: “The Alliance welcomes the process and will work constructively with the panel but it must fully investigate ending native forest logging to shift to a sustainable plantation based timber industry and to protect the state’s most iconic species like the Koala and Greater Glider.’ 

Stuart Blanch from the World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia (WWF-Australia) said: “Forests need protection, timber workers need jobs, home buyers need more sustainable timber. A fair and just transition from native forest logging to plantations will deliver these.”

Andrew Wong from Wilderness Australia said: “This process is likely to result in the most significant changes to the native forest logging in NSW in more than twenty years. It means the Minns Government accepts that business as usual isn’t working. We’re supportive of the government’s desire to do better in our forests. 

“A critical early recommendation for the panel must be that logging is halted immediately in areas containing high numbers of koalas, greater gliders and other endangered species. We can’t discuss how to protect something while it is being destroyed in front of our eyes,” Andrew Wong said.  

Susie Russel from the North Coast Environment Council said: “We do not want to see this process delay action to protect the koala and greater glider. The NSW Government is currently logging parts of the proposed Great Koala National Park and the state owned logging company has been reported for repeated illegal logging in glider habitat. 

“The Government can and should act now to stop logging in these critical areas. They don’t need an expert panel to tell us logging shouldn’t be occurring in National Parks or be allowed to destroy the homes of threatened species,” Susie said.  

Jacqui Mumford from the Nature Conservation Council NSW said: “The balance to be struck is to meet our timber needs from plantations while allowing our native forests to sequester carbon, be a refuge for our koalas, gliders and cockatoos and clean our air and water. Victoria and Western Australia have recently ended native forest logging and now it’s time for NSW to do the same.” 

Justin Field said, “The Alliance wrote to Premier Minns last week outlining our expectations for this process and we reiterate calls for this panel to be informed by an independent expert in forest ecology and that any data provided by Forestry Corporation about wood supply and forest yields be subject to peer review and be made public. 

For this process to be credible it needs to be open and transparent and the information the panel relies on needs to be public and subject to independent analysis,” Justin Field said. 

For further comment contact:
Anna Greer 0493 733 529 [email protected]

MEDIA RELEASE
17 July 2024 

The Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales (NCC), the state’s leading environmental advocacy organisation, has today cautiously welcomed the ambitious reform plan set out by the NSW Government in its response to the Henry Review of the Biodiversity Conservation Act. However, the peak group has also expressed frustration at the drawn-out process of fixing NSW’s habitat clearing laws. 

“Right now, biodiversity laws in NSW are incapable of protecting nature, let alone restoring it,” said NCC Chief Executive Officer, Jacqui Mumford. 

“The government’s response indicates openness to heading in the right direction, and some important policy shifts.  

“What we have seen today is a partial win for the environment movement with several reforms we have been asking for secured for implementation. However, the lack of urgency is a real problem.  

“Real reform for runaway habitat clearing is set for beyond 2025. 

“In the past year while the government response has been stuck somewhere in the halls of parliament, NSW will have lost another 95,000 hectares of habitat to runaway habitat clearing*. And now we are being asked to accept another year of delay?” 

All statements attributable to NCC Chief Executive Officer Jacqui Mumford:

Habitat Clearing 

“It is unequivocal that habitat clearing is the greatest threat to species in NSW, and that it also has a significant impact on our emissions.**  

“We know that Australia’s East Coast is a deforestation hotspot of global proportions. Our existing laws are failing to protect nature or support landholders wishing to protect the important habitat on their property.  

“Whilst we cautiously welcome the NSW Government demonstrating openness to going back to the drawing board on the deeply problematic land management framework, it’s disappointing that this crucial work won't even begin until 2025.   

“We know the loopholes that are causing the problems. Every day we wait, up to 260 hectares of habitat are lost. That’s more than 360 soccer fields cleared every day.*  

“Whilst we are frustrated at the long, drawn-out process, there is potential for real change if the NRC review is consultative, solutions focused, engages communities with opportunities in natural capital and biodiversity stewardship, and puts nature first. 

“We are excited to see support for landholders to access emerging natural capital markets, and incentives for sustainable farming, protection and restoration practices for environmental assets.” 

Biodiversity Offsetting  

“We can see there are positive changes to the scheme overall, but we can also see some serious gaps in this response.   

“It is good to see genuine steps to limit offset use, to avoid and minimise impacts, a reduction in harmful practices like discounting and exemptions, a transition to ‘net positive’ offsets and better data and transparency. But we haven’t made it to best practice yet.  

“We want to see indirect offsets totally ruled out, and we want to see offsets absolutely required to be like for like. 

“We need a working offsets scheme that actually prevents unsustainable development from going ahead.”  

Other Biodiversity Conservation Act Reforms 

“It’s very pleasing to see the government commit to developing a Nature Strategy which will set legal targets for conservation and restoration.  

“We welcome that the Biodiversity Conservation Act will be brought into the modern day with new objectives that incorporate international commitments and consider Aboriginal cultural values and traditional knowledge, climate change and cumulative impacts.  

“Better data, transparency and reporting across the board is something we have been calling for.  

“We hope that the acknowledgment in the government response of the intrinsic relationship between biodiversity and Aboriginal culture and the benefits that flow from traditional care for Country, are actualised meaningfully in a reformed Biodiversity Conservation Act. 

“It is essential that the practice of free, prior and informed consent is incorporated across all relevant legislation where there are biodiversity impacts.” 

Statement ends 

Media contact: Anna Greer 

E: [email protected] M: 0493 733 529 PH: (02) 7208 9482  

Note: NCC CEO Jacqui Mumford is available for comment on request  

References 

* An average of ~95 000 ha statewide total per year (2018 – 2021 SLATS data)/ 365 for the hectares per day figure. 

** Habitat clearing is a key threatening process listed in the Biodiversity Conservation Act. The 2021 State of the Environment Report recorded it as the single greatest threat to biodiversity in NSW. The 2023 Independent Review of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (the Ken Henry review) identified land clearing as a primary risk to biodiversity. Clearing accounts for about 10% of Australia’s emissions.  

MEDIA RELEASE
10^th July 2024  

The Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales (NCC), the state’s leading environmental advocacy organisation, has welcomed the establishment of the NSW Net Zero Commission and appointment of inaugural Commissioners.   

The independent, expert commission has been established to provide expert advice on the steps we must take to achieve our legislated climate goals.  

NSW has legislated targets to reduce emissions by at least 50% by 2030, 70% by 2035 and reach net zero emissions by 2050. Recent government modelling has shown the state is currently tracking to undershoot these targets: -44% by 2030 and -65% by 2035.   

“We welcome the establishment of the Net Zero Commission and the independent expertise it will bring to climate policy in NSW,” said Nature Conservation Council NSW chief executive officer Jacqui Mumford. 

“This commission is an excellent framework to accelerate climate action and it is an opportunity to address some of the barriers to achieving our emissions reduction targets. 

“A sure-fire way to help get the state back on track to achieving our emissions reduction targets is to phase out destructive native forest logging and tackle runaway habitat clearing.” 

Quotes attributable to NCC CEO Jacqui Mumford:   

“NSW needs to urgently redouble emissions reduction efforts considering recent projections and the catastrophic impacts we continue to witness around the world. 

“Phasing out native forest logging and reining in habitat clearing would make immediate and significant contributions to our emissions efforts.  

“Land clearing is responsible for approximately 10% of Australia’s emissions, whilst ending native forest logging in NSW would prevent an estimated 2.4 million tons of greenhouse emissions every year.  

“Protecting and restoring forests and habitat is a crucial mitigation action if NSW is to meet our targets. 

“We will be writing to the commission to encourage their consideration of these nature-based solutions.  

“NCC also welcomes the recent parliamentary appointments to the Joint Standing Committee on Net Zero Future, which will have oversight of the Commission.  

“We look forward to working with all members to accelerate climate action.” 

Statement ends 

Sources for emissions data:  

Land clearing - Quarterly Update of Australia’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory: June 2022, Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/nggi-quarterly-update-june-2022.pdf   

Native Forestry - Sanger J, The Carbon Benefit from Protecting Australia’s Public Native Forests, sourced at https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7031078401469800448/

Media contact: Anna Greer  
E: [email protected] M: 0493 733 529 PH: (02) 7208 9482   

Note: NCC CEO Jacqui Mumford is available for comment on request