SEFR Media Release July 26th In Buckenbowra State Forest on the south coast of NSW a person is atop a structure 20 metres in the tree top canopy. There are four logging machines attached by cable to the structure. The conservation group South East Forest Rescue today confirmed that the illegal cutting of native forests continues. The state run agency Forests NSW have not ensured that their authorised contractors obey the law.
The site, Compartments 533 and 534, are regulated under the Integrated Forestry Operations Approvals, which states that rainforest and rocky outcrops must not be logged.
The logging has encroached on the mapped Rocky Outcrop. An unmapped rocky outcrop has been logged. There has been damage to mapped and unmapped rainforest communities. These rainforest elements such as tree ferns, cabbage tree palms, sassafras should have been protected from disturbance. There is logging debris pushed against marked habitat trees.
During SEFRs inspection a possible Spotted-tailed Quoll scat was located. The harvest plan notes records nearby but not within the compartments. SEFR contend that FNSW surveying is inadequate.
"This area of native forest should have been included in the CAR reserve areas," said Ms Lisa Stone spokesperson for SEFR. "The rainforest aspects of this logged zone give all the more reason for concern that this area of nationally significant high conservation value forest ecosystem has been severely damaged for many years to come."
There is a direct line of sight to Batemans Bay and the Clyde River. Snig tracks on recently logged sites generate seven times as much surface flow and 20 times more sediment. There are a number of studies that have found increased suspended sediment loads in rivers and creeks immediately after logging.
SEFR have called in the State authorities who are investigating.