YOUR TAXES AT WORK!

NEFA are taking action today to bring to public attention the destruction of koala homes by the Government-owned logging corporation. NEFA has obtained satellite imagery showing the destruction of an Area of Local Koala Significance, known as a Koala Hub, in Wang Wauk State Forest on the mid-north coast.

NEFA spokesperson Susie Russell called it a crime against the future.

Koala protectors at Wang Wauk State Forest in February 2019

“This is not an isolated example, another image shows logging in a Koala Hub at Ingalba State Forest near Kempsey. No doubt we will find other examples now the technology is becoming more accessible. Logging of koala home ranges has been going on for years across the region, probably across the State.

“ It is no surprise that koala numbers are in free-fall. The satellite images we've made public today show what the NSW Government is really doing when it comes to Koalas. The Government logging agency is overseeing the destruction of koala homes.

“ For the NSW government to permit logging in areas where its own scientists have identified koala populations is tantamount to deliberate extermination.

“ If Indonesia did this to orangutans, or the Chinese to giant pandas it would be an international scandal,” Ms Russell said.

“This exposes the Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) as the fig leaf they have always been: their function is to allow logging to occur regardless of the destruction. Their role is to dupe the public into believing that logging is harmless, that it is somehow 'agreed' and that protections are in place for wildlife and that 'our forests are in safe hands'.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” she said.

“We call on the NSW Government to protect the Koala Hubs and the forest surrounding them. They need to do this as a matter of urgency.

“We call on the NSW Labor Party to also make its position clear on this issue. Will voters get a choice at the next election that offers protection for Koalas like those at Wang Wauk State Forest or not?” Ms Russell asked.

Click here to see the Before and After images
Click here to see images of the destruction in progress.

For images of the Koala Hub overlaid on the logging area see accompanying background paper.

All images courtesy of Planet.com