Arguments over the best way to protect Australia's tallest spotted gum, known as Big Spotty, have continued this week with Greens environment spokesperson Sue Higginson criticising the Forestry Corporation.
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Last week environmental activists protested outside Shoalhaven Council's chambers, calling on council to lobby for Big Spotty to be better protected in the wake of plans to harvest wood from within its parcel of the North Brooman State Forest.
Council supported the call, but the NSW Forestry Corporation hit back by saying Big Spotty was already "well protected".
"I want to reassure the community that the tree known as Big Spotty is well protected within an area of forest that will never be harvested," said the corporation's southern regional manager, Lee Blessington.
He said more than half of the State Forest estate was protected for conservation, including a protection zone specifically set aside for Big Spotty.
"There are strict environmental rules regulating forestry operations in NSW that were developed by expert scientific panels to protect wildlife, waterways and biodiversity," Mr Blessington said.
Ms Higginson said while the tree was protected, "Forestry Corporation have identified just a 60 metre radius exclusion zone around the tree - protecting just 1.1 hectares of the forest".
She said that exclusion zone was "nowhere near sufficient to protect this giant and magnificent tree".
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"Forest science shows that when we over harvest and destroy the canopy in forest ecosystems, the increased exposure to wind and drying conditions increases the risk of harm to giant trees," Ms Higginson said.
"We have seen in areas that have been impacted by logging and fire, giant trees collapsing as a result of increased exposure to wind.
"We cannot risk this happening to Big Spotty - the best case for Big Spotty is to remove the compartment from the logging schedule."
At 72 metres tall and more than 500 years of age, "Big Spotty is a natural wonder that we must be doing everything we can to protect," Ms Higginson said.
And she backed up earlier claims that Big Spotty offered "a unique tourist opportunity on the South Coast", but said that would be greatly diminished if people had to travel through heavily logged areas to reach the tree.
