While agreeing that a rational and sustainable approach to keeping koalas from extinction is preferred (BDN 27/7), koalas are an environmental issue and unless the community forces them to do otherwise, governments are more likely to be swayed by economic and social considerations.
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The letters from Mr Law - South East Fibre Exports (SEFE) and Ms Swift - South East Region Conservation Alliance (SERCA) are typical examples of how environmental issues can be misconstrued to fit in with an economic or social agenda.
Mr Law refers to the NSW Koala Recovery Plan (2008) that regrettably employs administrative boundaries (LGAs) to define Koala Management Areas.
When an environmental approach is taken bio-regions are employed and the primary koala feed tree species referred in the Recovery Plan become irrelevant as the forests koalas occupy in the South East Corner Bioregion (SECB) can only be categorised as ‘Secondary habitat (Class C)’.
Mr Law also refers to spotted gum as not being on the preferred feed tree list but the koala ‘Allen’, that Forests NSW radiocollared and tracked for sometime in Bermagui State Forest, was frequently located in spotted gums. Regrettably, Allen’s home range was logged in 2008 and the area remains unoccupied by koalas.
Ms Swift expresses her concerns about the fate of remaining native species and soil loss, but the evidence suggests that the historic decline and loss of the particular fauna that, as indicated in the National Forestry Policy Statement, are essential for forest health and maintaining soil fertility, is the biggest factor in koalas’ long term decline. Ms Swift calls for independent scientific input although the State Government did engage consultants to ‘deal’ with the koala issue and they proposed the use of ‘koala habitat classes’, an approach that is not supported by the NSW Government or their supporters in SEFE and SERCA.
The few remaining koalas are constrained to an area representing less than two per cent of the SECB and with the exception of a small area in Murrah State Forest, all koalas, apparently including the most recent find in Tanja State Forest, have been located in forests growing on the Murrah Soil Landscape.
Regrettably the allocation of $5.47million to the Southern River Catchment Management Authority and $1.9million to Forests NSW and the Office of Environment and Heritage from the biodiversity fund is not based on an understanding of soil science and while the logging threat gets some consideration the uncontrollable threat, extensive canopy die-back, continues to be ignored.
Ultimately it is the responsibility of the whole community to protect and help these last koalas, forests between the Bega River and Dignams Creek should be classified as ‘Category A’ koala habitat, not to be logged and addressing forest die-back must be the management priority.
Robert Bertram, Bermagui
