The Spotted Gums in Corunna State Forest, or Corymbia Maculata as the genus is known, are highly sought after by the construction and paper industries. But the people of Corunna value their forest so much they asked the politicians of Parliament House in Macquarie Street, Sydney, to protect these trees from logging. Their pleas, petitions and civil protests fell on deaf ears and the logging went ahead. Dawn Walker MP wrote to the Minister for Lands and Forestry asking him to reconsider the harvesting in the Corunna Forest. It took until the last day of the harvesting for Ms Walker to receive a reply (below). A Corruna Forest protester told the Beagle "Before letting him sign this letter his staff or advisors should really ought have told Paul Toole MP that the 100 year plus trees harvested at Corunna Forest pre dates the NSW State Government purchase of this good stand of forest from a farmer.
"Mr Toole appears to believe the land was empty paddocks that had been "cleared for farmland" which is not the case at all when you age the trees in the Corunna Forest, the scene of the last months harvesting. "Forestry advised on the site that the trees they were harvesting were 100 years old. "They should have also told him that the logging which occurred here 30 years ago also predated the government's purchase of this good stand of timber. The land was acquired in 1955 as per the gazettal. "Or is he suggesting the logging that occurred here 30 years ago, prior to which koalas were still here, was a logging of little trees for the chip mill? "All I can say is 'Nice try sir, but I don't think Dawn Walker, MP was fooled, and I don't think the electorate will be either!'" "How fascinating that he waited until the day after logging stopped to respond!" This week saw an excellent, though disturbing article, by Nicole Hasham in the Sydney Morning Herald that said "Australia has the world’s worst record of mammal extinction – about one in 10 have disappeared since European settlement. Almost 500 animals and 1300 plants are deemed at risk of annihilation. The problem is only worsening as threats such as climate change, feral animals and land clearing, including timber harvesting, push threatened species to the brink.In a submission to a Senate inquiry into the animal extinction crisis, a team of ANU experts led by Lindenmayer said regional forest agreements had “potentially locked in the extinction” of some species." Name and address supplied
