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Redgum forests need ugent protectionLogging to be assessed in Redgum forests -- but new parks are urgently needed
Following court action taken by the National Parks Association of NSW and a four-day blockade by NSW Red Gum Forest Action the NSW Government has agreed to prepare an environmental impact assessment for all red gum forestry in the Riverina (State Forests, TSRs and Crown leases). This is a step forward for the foersts, particularly since FNSW have also agreed to negitatie and order of works during the preparation of the EIS to avoid high conservation value compartments, but it is not enough to safeguard the vulnerable environmental values of river redgum forests: National Parks are urgently needed to protect habitats into the future. Letters are needed now in to the State Governmen, demanding that a rapid review be immediately begun with a view to creating National Parks in river redgum forests, following thorough consultation with Traditional Owners. Take five minutes to e-lobby the NSW Government
See below for older updates about the redgum campaign.
Update for those who took part in the e-lobby on the National Parks Association webpage, NPA sent out the media release below on 18th May. More info: http://www.redgum.org.au VICTORIA EXPLOITS NSW LOGGING LOOPHOLE FOR RED GUM RAILWAY SLEEPERS "Logging on private land in NSW is still the biggest loophole in the native vegetation laws," said Andrew Cox, Executive Officer of National Parks Association of NSW. "If a landholder wants to clear land they have to go through a stringent assessment process. If they want to log it they can just go right ahead and fire up the chainsaws. "This week we believe the Victorian Government approved a contract with loggers to supply 300,000 red gum logs, mainly from private land in NSW. This will destroy 100,000 Red Gums covering a total area of 20,000 ha. It proves that this loophole leads to intensive logging of Red Gum across the region without any meaningful environment constraints or rules. "It is an appalling outcome for the region and its internationally significant Red Gum forests, which are home to a number of iconic and threatened species such as the Barking Owl and Superb Parrot," said Mr Cox. "The NSW Government has promised many times to introduce effective controls on logging on private land, but it has repeatedly failed to deliver. It made an election promise that there would be new rules by 1st July, but that date is fast approaching without any action. "Now that failure will continue to be exploited by a Victorian Government that is determined to use Red Gum timber sleepers on the Mildura rail line. "This month hundreds of NPA members wrote to the Victorian Premier asking him to reconsider and to the NSW Premier asking him to block the sale. These pleas have been ignored. "Timber sleepers are a dinosaur technology that has been shown to be more expensive, have a much shorter life span and generate higher greenhouse gas emissions than alternatives such as concrete and recycled plastic. NSW railways use concrete sleepers, even for maintenance operations. "The NSW Government must now act immediately to close the logging loophole and provide protection for Red Gum forests from the ill-considered policies of the Victorian Government. "Strong rules to exclude logging from streamside vegetation must be one of the core elements of any new system. Streamside vegetation acts as a buffer and filter to protect creeks and rivers and must be protected to improve water quality. "Streamside vegetation in south-western NSW also provides the last remaining corridors of vegetation in a heavily cleared landscape. It must be properly protected so that it can provide habitat that allows animals to move to adapt to climate change." More info: http://www.redgum.org.au ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND RED GUM AT RISK Send an email using the National Parks Association of NSW elobby page or see below on how to write your own letter... More than one hundred thousand NSW Red Gum trees along the Murray River are at risk of being destroyed and turned into railway-line sleepers to upgrade the Mildura railway line in Victoria. Precious, fragile River Red Gum wetlands covering an area greater than the entire Royal National Park will be destroyed in the process, some 20,000 hectares in total. It is a tragic, unnecessary and ill-considered waste – evidence shows that concrete sleepers have a much lower greenhouse impact, last three times as long, and cost much less. The Victorian Premier Steve Bracks' Government is set to sign contracts by mid April 2007 for the supply of the Red Gum sleepers (some 300,000 sleepers in total) to upgrade the Mildura railway corridor in Victoria. However, most of the sleepers will come from irreplaceable Red Gum wetlands on both public and private lands in NSW. Key Points * Urge Premier Iemma to do whatever he can to persuade the Victorian Premier, Steve Bracks, not to sign contracts that will use 300,000 red gum sleepers from NSW forests to repair the Mildura rail line. * Ask him to stop the use of any Red Gum sleepers to upgrade the Mildura rail line, or any future rail lines. * Concrete sleepers can be used instead because they have a much lesser environmental impact, lower greenhouse emissions, longer life-span and lower cost. * River Red Gum wetlands are an ecosystem now threatened with total and irreversible collapse as a result of man-made changes in river flows that have caused widespread death and decline of trees. * Logging of River Red Gum in NSW has a massive environmental impact, with industrial patch-clearfelling still allowed in internationally significant Ramsar wetlands and riverine forest along the mighty Murray River. * Timber sleepers cause five times more carbon emissions then concrete sleepers because they decompose rapidly and have to be replaced three times as often as concrete sleepers, according to a recent report by Energy Strategies for the Australian Rail Track Corporation. * As a result of their much longer life-span, concrete sleepers are also a far more cost effective option than timber sleepers for rail upgrades according to a report by the Victorian Auditor General in 2006. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE, SO PLEASE ACT NOW! Write urgently to Victorian Premier Steve Bracks and NSW Premier Morris Iemma and ask them to stop the use of any Red Gum sleepers to upgrade the Mildura rail-line, or any future rail lines. Ask that concrete sleepers are used instead because they have a much lesser environmental impact, lower greenhouse emissions, longer life-span and lower cost. Contacts: More information: |
SearchRandom image Upcoming eventsPopular contentRandom QuoteSince 1998 I have had a deepening sense that climate change was something really bad. I joined Friends of the Earth and did all the conventional campaigning like writing to MPs, and I still do. I think that's important. But it does not feel enough. Climate change is not just another environmental issue like GM crops. It's a life and death issue. This direct action is necessary because we've got to get the urgency across. What we're doing [against Drax] is symbolic of what everyone should be doing. |
