In a turnaround and seeming victory for the local community, Bungabbee State Forest has been delisted from the planned schedule of logging on NSW Foresty Corporation’s website.

Read more: Community mobilises to stop logging in Bungabbee State Forest

After intense campaigning to see the planned logging halted, Rock Valley resident and wildlife carer Renata Phelps said it was good news that the April logging date had been removed - but that it was only a temporary cause for celebration.

“We haven’t had any official notice that it was delisted, but they could at any point again list the forest for logging - and they only ever need to give the community three or four days’ notice before logging operations start.

“It would appear that NSW Forestry have noticed our community mobilised and they responded by pulling it off the books, along with Myrtle State Forest which was also planned for imminent logging.

“It shows that if a community is cohesive and collaborative and shows it doesn’t want something, it can make a big effect.”

Reclassification

Renata said the campaign to see all logging plans scrapped for Bungabbee would continue and the next step was to see the forest reclassified so it couldn’t be logged in future.

“There are a number of different possible zonings it could be reclassified to,” Renata said.

“It could be a nature reserve – at the moment, Bungabbee is sandwiched between two smaller nature reserves and it would be great in terms of biodiversity to link them all up.”

Renata said the type of reclassification would need to be carefully considered because some zonings would limit the current recreational uses allowed in the area – like dog walking or horse riding.

“It could be a national park or a regional park or state conservation area, or a community conservation area – or a flora reserve,” she said. “All have varying degrees of opportunity for recreation.

“We are also exploring the queen’s canopy project option. It’s a Commonwealth scheme to help protect forest.

“At least the immediate logging is off the radar and now need to start talking with National Parks staff and community to see what status we can achieve for the area,” Renata said.

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MP Saffin visits Bungabbee Forest

Lismore MP Janelle Saffin visited Bungabbee State Forest yesterday and met with Renata and other community members.

Ms Saffin was presented with a petition of 8,000 signatures, all requesting that the forest be reclassified and exempt from logging.

MP Saffin said she had already been lobbying government at the State level and intended to present the petition in State Parliament.

“I’ll make sure it gets on official public record in Hansard," Ms Saffin said. “Last year, I sought advice from the minister to see if Bungabbee was on the logging schedule and he said it might be up in April, but it wasn’t clear and I thought ‘that’s good – it’s not definite'.

“I recently wrote to the deputy premier John Barilaro and asked him to consider not logging Bungabbee for its inherent conservation value and the 27 endangered species there.

"I said it’s like a little beautiful oasis in the middle of cleared farmland and people use it for lots of activities.”

Childrens’ book

Renata said she had already had an amazing response to the call out for local art to be included in a new digital childrens’ book about the forest.

“We’ve already had 30 artists donating time and art to the book – and the story will always be relevant because it applies to all forests,” she said.

“We are still looking for children’s art to be included, so if you have any some, send them to us."

To find out where to send the artwork, read: Local children's book needs artwork to help save Bungabbee