A new research report which says logging forests does not harm koalas has been met with disbelief from environment protection group, the North East Forest Alliance.

The research from the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) claims that the timber industry’s forest protection practices are working well. It also claims that koalas are “safe and sound living and traversing the hardwood forests where highly regulated harvesting occurs”.

The three year research has been welcomed by Timber NSW.

NRC commissioner Professor Hugh Durrant-Whyte released the research saying, “koala density was higher than anticipated in the surveyed forests and was not reduced by selective harvesting.”

Timber NSW chief executive Maree McCaskill said “this very significant finding totally vindicates the skilful ability of the forest managers to care for the land under their responsibility and protect koalas”.

“Not only do koalas successfully coexist with selective forest harvesting, but the research found no difference in koala density between National Parks and the state forest harvest areas on the North Coast,” she said.

“That finding will upset the eco-warriors but will not surprise the forest industry.”

Ludricrous

North East Forest Alliance campaigner Sean O’Shannessy said the findings were “ludicrous”.

“It’s absurd to say that chainsawing down trees and removing koala homes is not bad for them,” he said. “It’s the latest in a long line of Forestry’s claims that they don’t have to care for native forests.

“What we need is an end to logging native forests and moving the timber industry into a sustainable plantation basis as soon as possible.

Extinction

“The NSW parliamentary enquiry last year found koala populations in NSW are on a trajectory to extinction by 2052.

“Before that, we already knew koala populations have slumped by 50% in the last 20 years.

“There’s no doubt this research report has faulty methodology. For them to say there’s no impact flies in the face of evidence we have.

Quantum koala conundrum

“I call it the quantum koala conundrum.

“The koalas are found when loggers want to say logging has no impact, but they don’t find them when they go out to do pre logging surveys.

“How can we believe what they say is credible?

“Our public native forests need to be protected for koala habits. They are also valuable carbon sinks and water catchments.

“The economic value of forests for eco tourism is more value than all the others combined.”

Research methodology

The report claims the research included tracking GPS-collared koalas.  

“Even at old intensively harvested sites (which pre-dated modern selective harvesting practices) koalas were present,” the report said.

“Koalas were found to be using the full range of the available habitats five to 10 years post-harvest, including regenerating forest.

“As the NRC pointed out regulation mandates the retention of priority koala browse trees as well as other habitat protection within working forests.

“There is of course disruption in the short term after harvest and that is why feed species trees are retained on the harvest sites to support koalas along with substantial areas of conservation reserves inside these working forest areas.

Criticism

NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh said using koala recordings that indicate the presence of a koala somewhere in the vicinity is not appropriate for detecting the impact of logging on koalas.

“It’s a fundamentally flawed study,” he said.

“This is contrary to the EPA’s 2016 study that found “areas of higher activity positively correlated with greater abundance and diversity of local koala feed trees, trees and forest structure of a more mature size class, and areas of least disturbance”.

“The NRC’s pretence that the Forestry Corporation can log the large trees that koala’s are preferentially feeding on and have no impact on koalas maintains a dangerous fallacy that is one of the reasons why koala populations on the north coast had declined by 50% in the 20 years before the 2019/20 fires.

“The NRC confirms that the 2019/20 fires had a significant impact of Koalas, yet it proposes nothing to mitigate impacts.

“Surely there should at least be a moratorium on logging in or near burnt high quality koala habitat until Koala populations have been assessed as recovered from the fires.

“The NRC are playing ‘Russian Roulette’ with koalas as many of the minimal trees retained may not be suitable for feeding.”