South East Timber Association (SETA) president Stephen Pope spoke out in response to the state government’s decision to turn the Mumbulla, Murrah, Tanja and the southern half of Bermagui state forests into a flora reserve to be managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, partly in an attempt to protect koalas in these areas. 

“The flora reserve should be brought back to state forests as there is more koala activity in state forests than in national parks,” Mr Pope said. 

“Harvesting can still be done there, it’s not as if all areas would be harvested anyway. 

“If it can’t be brought back to state forests it should be managed properly.” 

An example, he said, was the old state forest at Tantawangalo, which used to be inhabited by koalas before it became part of the South East Forests National Park.

Now he thought there were “probably none” there.  

“Nobody seems to know why koalas are dying off in national parks,” Mr Pope said. 

“We are all for saving the koalas and protecting them, but we don’t want everything to be locked up and for them to be left where they can’t survive.”

He referred to a report on surveys conducted by the NSW government’s Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water from 2007-09.

The report stated the majority of sites where koala pellets were found were in the Mumbulla State Forest, with evidence of the animal also in Murrah and Bermagui state forests.

But the Mumbulla State Forest was also the most heavily surveyed area, and evidence of koalas was also found in Biamanga National Park. 

Mr Pope said one of the reasons there is more koala activity in state forests was because there was greater controlled burning than in national parks. This led to regrowth forest which he said koalas liked. 

Also, he said there was better weed and pest control to get rid of predators.