To mark World Environment Day the North East Forest Alliance is calling upon people to raise their voices to demand that State and Federal Governments take urgent action to avoid climate chaos by hastening the transition to genuine renewable energy, while at the same time increasing the removal of atmospheric carbon by protecting existing forests and increasing regeneration.

Knitting Nannas Join NEFA on World Environment to Stand Up For Forests.  Photo: Jimmy Malecki

This year World Environment Day 2020 is focused on biodiversity with the theme "Time for Nature",  stating:

The foods we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink and the climate that makes our planet habitable all come from nature.

Yet, these are exceptional times in which nature is sending us a message:

To care for ourselves we must care for nature.

It’s time to wake up. To take notice. To raise our voices.

It’s time to build back better for People and Planet.

Our country is already being ravished by droughts, heatwaves and bushfires fed by climate heating, said NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh.

"With many populations of Australia's unique species crashing, the Great Barrier Reef dying before our eyes, and rainforests burning, we need to raise our voices now and demand action.

"If we heat the planet by just another degree over 99% of the world's coral reefs will be gone and the mass die off of trees in tropical rainforests will make 75% of them into carbon sources rather than sinks.   

"We can't afford to lose our forests as we rely upon them to absorb one-third of the CO2 released from burning fossil fuels. Without forests to mop up our mess we have no chance of avoiding the worst.

"Halting the loss and degradation of forest ecosystems and promoting their restoration have the potential to contribute over one-third of the total climate change mitigation that scientists say is required by 2030

"Logging has more than halved the carbon stored in north-east NSW's State forests, and now the Forestry Corporation want to reduce it further by burning 400,000 tonnes of trees every year for electricity. This is to displace genuine renewable energy

"If logging of north-east NSW's native forests were stopped tomorrow they would begin sequestering in the order of 26% of NSW annual carbon emissions as they regain their lost carbon.

"We need to urgently stop logging of public native forests and offer private owners financial incentives to protect their forests.

"In 2018/19 land clearing in NSW increased from a long-term average of 2,700 hectares per year to 45,553 hectares. Increasing land-clearing in a climate emergency is akin to pouring petrol onto the flames. It has to stop.

"As last year's fires showed time is fast running out. People must now raise their voices to stop our descent into climate chaos" Mr. Pugh said.