Members of the community respectfully met with local State Member for Bega, Andrew Constance, at the Tilba Cheese factory Monday 30th July presenting him with hard copies of all the Corunna Forest Protection Group's petitions both online and handwritten.
Above: Mal Dibden has lived in TIlba all his life. Today he showed Andrew Constance MP a map which identifies areas that have been identified as important native flora and fauna habitat : Photos Elizabeth Walton
The community meeting with Minister Constance was to talk about the urgent call for action to protect the forests of Corunna Lake which are scheduled for logging. Mr Constance was officially handed a petition with over 2,000 signatures from community members asking for the Corunna Forest to be exempted from logging because of its significance as a wildlife habitat. The community appreciated the opportunity to meet the Minister and offer their concerns, both at a local level and for wood chipping in general across the state. Elizabeth Walton wrote in her report of the meeting "Sadly, many trees in the compartment are very small and likely to be sold for wood chip to supply the government's quota to supply export markets at $6.00 a tonne.
Above: Profoundly beautiful - Corunna Forest - Zoe Burke is a small figure at the foot of the magnificent spotted gum forest which is due for logging "The community has offered to pay the money and keep the trees. The forest between Mystery Bay and TIlba is scheduled for clearing on both sides of the highway, right down to the edge of the Batemans Bay Marine Park foreshore of Corunna Lake." A film night is being held this Thursday August 2nd at 6pm at Narooma Kinema to raise awareness of the importance of Corunna Lake and the history of forestry protection on the South Coast of New South Wales. Tickets are $12.00/$10.00 concession at the door.
