A motion passed at the NSW National Party conference to create ‘koala sanctuaries’ won’t save the species from the problems the Nationals have created via their enthusiasm for land clearing and native forest logging says the National Parks Association of NSW (NPA).
I was very interested in the article in “Nature NSW” Spring Edition 2016 by Barry Tomkinson which promotes the concept of “Walking Tourism”. The concept is not new and it is not without a number of concerns. There is today a clear push from Government to expand tourism into our reserves and national parks estate wherever possible. The National Parks and Wildlife Act was established for the protection of nature. With the objective to make the reserve system “commercially” self-sufficient the value of nature protection has the potential to be downgraded, if not forgotten.
Article from the Victorian National Parks Association ’Victoria’s forests are not magic puddings’ March 2017.
Matt Ruchel, member of the Forest Industry Task Force and executive director of the Victorian National Parks Association, explains why sawmills and the pulp and paper industry don’t understand how forests work.
Forests are living ecosystems, not magic puddings, and cannot supply something that doesn’t exist.
The recent declaration by VicForests, the state government’s logging agency, that there is insufficient wood to supply Gippsland sawmills, is hardly surprising – the writing has been on the wall for decades, made worse by the Black Saturday fires.
Robert Griffiths, Walks Coordinator, National Parks Association of NSW Mid North Coast Branch
If you have driven on the Pacific Highway between Taree and Port Macquarie you may have noticed the Brothers (“North”, South” and “Middle”) – massive intrusions of microgranite named by James Cook as he sailed northwards. This is the heartland of the Mid North Coast and the setting for many NPA activities.
Dr Oisín Sweeney, Senior Ecologist, National Parks Association of NSW
This is an amended article from one that first appeared on the Independent Australia website on 27 March 2017
On the morning of March 21st I got a call from a journalist in response to a media release NPA had put out for International Day of Forests. She wanted me to discuss forests – after she spoke to Planet Ark, who were celebrating World Wood Day!
