Conservationists fear new rules that regulate logging on private land in New South Wales will allow continued clearing of koala habitat in what an independent MP has described as a “win” for the National party.
The Perrottet government this week released a long-awaited new code for private native forestry (PNF) that sets out rules for private landowners who undertake logging operations on their properties.
The code formed part of negotiations within the Coalition following the near split of the government over koala protections in 2020.
The new rules increase the area of the state mapped as core and highly suitable koala habitat – which triggers certain protections and land management requirements – and this has been generally welcomed by conservationists, the NSW opposition and some crossbench MPs.
But there is concern that parts of the new provisions will lead to increased logging intensity and that the code still allows logging of core koala habitat in some circumstances.
Under the rules, logging is prohibited in areas mapped as core koala habitat but an exception is made for logging of habitat covered by private forestry plans that had already been approved.
The North East Forest Alliance said this exemption applied to hundreds of plans.
The prohibition also applies to land identified as core habitat by councils that established a koala plan of management before the Coalition dispute over koala policy.
But it will not apply to new core koala habitat identified by councils which develop a management plan in the future.
Dailan Pugh, the alliance’s spokesperson, said the exceptions were concerning.
“If we’re talking about doubling koala populations, you don’t do that by cutting down their feed trees,” he said.
“We are relieved they’ve retained protections for existing core koala habitat but we are concerned about the hundreds of approvals already given despite the (NSW parliamentary) koala inquiry identifying this as something that needed fixing.”
Pugh added that for other threatened plants and animals the new code offered “no real protection whatsoever”.
Justin Field, an independent MLC, said he was concerned other parts of the code that require landowners to take certain precautions for the environment, such as retaining trees of a particular size and habitat suitability, appeared to have been weakened.
He said the new rules would potentially increase the intensity of logging operations by reducing the number and size of trees that must to be retained.
“At a time when there are warnings that the koala faces extinction in NSW in the next few decades, the Liberal party has again caved to the Nationals on koala protections,” he said.
The opposition’s environment spokesperson, Penny Sharpe, said Labor would seek a briefing from the government about the code and its implications for landholders and koalas.
“On first read of the new code, koalas and the trees they live in will have less protection,” she said.
“This is not what the environment minister (James Griffin) committed to.”
Sue Higginson, the Greens environment spokesperson, said she feared the new rules would contribute to further degradation of landscapes and wildlife.
“This code, rather than grappling with leadership in land use management, entrenches the status quo,” she said.
“It will lead to net loss of biodiversity … and will ultimately continue the extinction crisis.”
The government defended the new code, which it said was based on expert advice from the Natural Resources Commission and the Office of the Chief Scientist.
It also said increased reporting requirements from landholders about their logging activities would improve enforcement and compliance.
“The new farm forestry codes provide increased protections for koalas, whilst also providing certainty and consistency for farmers after a difficult few years of drought, bushfires, a mouse plague, Covid-19 and floods dramatically impacting primary production,” the agriculture minister, Dugald Saunders, said.
Saunders said the codes increased tree retention in koala habitat, provided landholders with an updated list of primary and secondary koala feed trees, outlined harvest exclusion zones around trees used by koalas and prohibited harvesting in rainforest or old growth forest.
A spokesperson for the NSW Environment Protection Authority said the prohibition on logging would apply to more than 10,000 hectares of koala habitat and there were now protections for an additional 2.8 million hectares mapped as highly suitable koala habitat.
“Koalas will have more trees they prefer protected, with the PNF codes requiring that more koala feed trees are retained during forestry operations, increasing from 15 to 20 koala feed trees per hectare,” they said.
