Conservationists fear new rules that regulate logging on private land in New South Wales will allow continued clearing of koala habitat in what an independent MP has described as a “win” for the National party.

The Perrottet government this week released a long-awaited new code for private native forestry (PNF) that sets out rules for private landowners who undertake logging operations on their properties.

The code formed part of negotiations within the Coalition following the near split of the government over koala protections in 2020.
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The new rules increase the area of the state mapped as core and highly suitable koala habitat – which triggers certain protections and land management requirements – and this has been generally welcomed by conservationists, the NSW opposition and some crossbench MPs.
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But there is concern that parts of the new provisions will lead to increased logging intensity and that the code still allows logging of core koala habitat in some circumstances.

Under the rules, logging is prohibited in areas mapped as core koala habitat but an exception is made for logging of habitat covered by private forestry plans that had already been approved.

The North East Forest Alliance said this exemption applied to hundreds of plans.

The prohibition also applies to land identified as core habitat by councils that established a koala plan of management before the Coalition dispute over koala policy.

But it will not apply to new core koala habitat identified by councils which develop a management plan in the future.

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Dailan Pugh, the alliance’s spokesperson, said the exceptions were concerning.

“If we’re talking about doubling koala populations, you don’t do that by cutting down their feed trees,” he said.

“We are relieved they’ve retained protections for existing core koala habitat but we are concerned about the hundreds of approvals already given despite the (NSW parliamentary) koala inquiry identifying this as something that needed fixing.”
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Pugh added that for other threatened plants and animals the new code offered “no real protection whatsoever”.

Justin Field, an independent MLC, said he was concerned other parts of the code that require landowners to take certain precautions for the environment, such as retaining trees of a particular size and habitat suitability, appeared to have been weakened.

He said the new rules would potentially increase the intensity of logging operations by reducing the number and size of trees that must to be retained.

“At a time when there are warnings that the koala faces extinction in NSW in the next few decades, the Liberal party has again caved to the Nationals on koala protections,” he said.

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