Support NEFA's Work

The North East Forest Alliance is a volunteer organisation, none of us get paid. We have been working since 1989 to protect rainforest, oldgrowth forest, wilderness and threatened species in north-east NSW, Australia. Donations we receive go directly to cover costs, such as employing experts to undertake surveys for threatened species and legal challenges. Our goal is to stop the logging of public native forests. Recently we have been focusing on legal action to create change for the multitude of increasingly threatened species. It is clear the State and Commonwealth ALP Governments will not undertake needed reform unless forced to.

Use the DONATE button if you can help NEFA continue our work undertaking surveys, pursuing State and Federal governments through the courts, and achieving meaningful protection for threatened species.

NEFA LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN FOR RICHMOND RIVER KOALA PARKS

NEFA have started a campaign for 56,200 hectares of public native forests in the southern Richmond River valley and on Richmond Range (south of the Bruxner Highway) to be created as the Richmond River Koala Reserves. This is largest stronghold of koalas in the Richmond catchment, a genetically different population from that found in the Great Koala National Park (see below). Protecting these forests will also help over 130 other threatened species and improve the health of the Richmond River.

For a summary of the proposal see Richmond River Koala Parks

To join the campaign contact [email protected]

For a full environmental assessment see Protecting the Southern Richmond

NOW IS YOUR CHANCE TO CONVINCE THE NSW GOVERNMENT TO

STOP LOGGING PUBLIC NATIVE FORESTS

The NSW Government has established an Independent Forestry Panel (IFP) to make recommendations on the future of forestry sometime this year. This is the only chance we will have in this term of the Minns Government to get a commitment to end logging of public native forests. Public submissions have now closed, with over 1,600 submissions, most calling for an end to public native forest logging. The IFP have submitted their summary of submissions and presentations to a government steering committee who will consider this along with other inputs, it will then be up to the Government to make a decision, so it is important that we take the opportunity to make representations to the Premier and key ministers, and it is also worth lobbying your local member.

So please take the time to add your voice to ours. A quick email will do. See: Why logging of public native forests needs to stop.  

In 2015 the NSW ALP committed to creating the Great Koala National Park, including 176,000 ha of State forests. Since the Minns Government was elected in 2023 they have allowed logging to continue while they assessed the environmental and economic values. Their assessment was completed last year and a decision was promised by the end of the year. Regrettably we are still waiting for the decision to be announced while the logging continues. Please keep the pressure on Environment Minister Penny Sharpe, and Premier Chris Minns, to give Koalas, and the other 108 threatened species that inhabit these forests, a future.

A new assessment by NEFA ‘Accelerating Logging Within the Great Koala National Park’ identifies the net areas of native forest in the Great Koala National Park logged as:

• 20,630 ha logged in 98 months since ALP’s 2015 commitment to protect the Great Koala National Park up until the March 2023 election
• 7,185 ha logged in 21 months since the election of the Minns Government in 2023

Please take the time to add your voice to ours. A briefing note is  Why we need a Great Koala National Park . See NEFA's more detailed November presentation to the NSW Government here.

In an effort to scare the government, the loggers are claiming grossly inflated impacts if the park is declared. In 2022/23 the Forestry Corporation lost $3.4 million logging koala's homes in the park, all to support some 180 jobs, yet the loggers are claiming 2,200 jobs are at stake and demanding $1,356 million over 5years. See Industry's Structural Adjustment Claims Unsupported.

In response to unfounded claims by the Australian Workers Union that creation of the park would cost 9000 jobs, NEFA undertook a detailed assessment, identifying that the full park could result in the loss of 118-218 jobs. See The Impact of the Great Koala National Park on Logging Industry Employment in North East NSW.

Briefing Note: Save Koalas' Homes               Briefing Note: Save Gliders' Homes

Please send an email to:

Premier Chris Minns: [email protected]

Environment Minister Penny Sharpe: [email protected]

Forestry Minister Tara Moriarty: [email protected]

Also see: NEFA Submission to the Independent Forestry Panel.

For detailed information of the travesty of Kola conservation in NSW see: NEFA's submission to NSW Koala Strategy

A victim of the 2019/20 wildfires, they are now logging the homes of the survivors

We have a hard fight ahead of us to stop logging of public native forests, though we now have hope that with your help we can get there.

Here are some resources you can use:

We have edited the fantastic, and sadly still relevant Endangered Species Roadshow film - On the Brink, with cameos from world-renowned scientists David Attenborough, David Suzuki and David Bellamy and voice overs by Jack Thompson and Olivia Newton-John. You can watch it here.

Award-winning filmmaker David Bradbury has made this moving film, Gondwana, Going, Going...Gone? Featuring clips and interviews from some of the recent forest actions from across our region. You can watch it here.

Politicians and industry often make extraordinary claims about the significance and impact of logging. We have prepared responses to Frequently Asked Questions you can read here.