We must trust the science on Koalas and thousands of other threatened forest species. That is, according to 40-year respected forester and conservationist Rob de Fégely, who has voiced concern over the debate around the future of native forest management in New South Wales.
Speaking to Breakfasts on ABC South East NSW radio, Mr de Fégely was responding to comments by influential Greens crossbencher Sue Higginson – who last year introduced a bill to parliament that would stop forestry operations from occurring in areas that are koala habitat.
Ms Higginson has questioned research provided by Dr Brad Law around koala populations in logged forests. “That research has been, I don’t want to say discredited,” Ms Higginson told the ABC. “We have more research that has shown that the intensity or the continuation of logging is impacting koala populations, and they are decareasing.”
“Look, I’m really concerned,” Mr de Fégely said in response to Ms Higginson’s comments. I think she’s completely missing the point.”
“Dr Brad Law is an eminent researcher. He works for the NSW government. His work over seven years has shown that koalas are indifferent to the type of forests they live in, whether national or state forest, or whether it’s harvested or not.”
“We also know that the CSIRO has completed some research that shows that the number of koalas is increasing. They’re larger than people think – so we’ve got Australia’s preeminent research body saying that.”
According to Mr de Fégely, the best way to care for Koalas (and other threatened species) is to ensure that management is there to protect them: “And so creating a healthy forest is what we want to do. Being hands-off and not looking is not a solution, and we don’t know enough about whether our national parks are helping threatened species or not.”
“This seems to be the critical difference in the argument. Speaking to people with different perspectives, the argument is whether a national park offers better protection for the environment and those species and fire management than a state forest,” Mr de Fégely said. “It’s a big challenge. People find harvesting difficult. They love wood, trees, forests, and nature. But the harvesting of trees is a difficult concept for many people to understand.”
“Anyone who knows me well would know that I’m not a big fan of clear-fell harvesting, and we were doing some work last week with NSW and Tasmanian foresters looking at very light thinning of regrowth to see different techniques that we can undertake in terms of silviculture, how we manage these younger regrowth forests to produce forests that can maintain health forests and monitor what is happening over time.”
“It’s exciting research.”
The challenge, according to Mr de Fégely, is “meeting society’s demand for wood-based products. And there is no more renewable, environmentally friendly product I know of than wood. There’s nothing that can compare with it.
“All the substitutes for wood either have higher carbon emissions, higher energy requirements, or dubious problems with recycling.”
“Take new composite power poles. We don’t know how we can recycle fibreglass properly. How do we recycle those composite products, or will they end up in landfill?”
As for the future. Mr de Fégely is convinced that the industry has a future over the next 10, 20 and 30 years. “Oh, it’s sustainable. There is no doubt in my mind that we can do it. It’s my concern with people who wish to comment on it but don’t understand what they’re thinking about. They’re fixating on a particular point, whether koalas, greater gliders or a glossy black cockatoo.”
“All those are important to preserve, but there are different ways of doing it. We need professional, trained foresters in our forests looking out for these species to work out the best way to ensure their survival.”
- Rob de Fégely AM is a Registered Forestry Professional Chair of Sustainable Timber Tasmania and a Director of the Forestry Corporation of NSW. The comments are his personal comments and do not reflect the opinion of the entities he works for.
