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| Labor fails our forests too. |
NSW Greens Forest Policy
(Ratified)
Ratified at SDC Feb 23, 2019
Principles
The Greens believe:
1. Australia is globally
significant for its biodiversity and forests are a key element in this
biodiversity.
2.Wild forests, native forests,
rainforests and multi-aged and old growth forests are significant in
maintaining water quality and quantity, protecting threatened species and their
habitat.
3.It is incumbent on government
to assess and enhance the ecosystem values that forests provide, including water
and soil quality, biodiversity and carbon capture
4. Forests maintain water
quality, help to suppress salinity and provide the most efficient water
catchments for cities, towns and farms. Large tracts of forests can help
stabilise local weather patterns and microclimates, and increase local rainfall
by up to 15%.
5. Logging old trees increases transpiration when new trees grow as
replacements.
6. Soil compaction resulting from
logging and clearing decreases water infiltration rates and increases runoff
rates and erosion
7. Logging often increases the risk of fire in mature
natural forests, creating a situation where fire could destroy the entire
forest.
8. Controlled burns after logging expose soil to
dessication and erosion, decreasing the health of soils by destroying
microorganisms and insects and results in increased carbon dioxide, methane and
black carbon emissions that increases global warming.
9.Burning forests for power is
not renewable energy. It creates more greenhouse gases than burning coal,
creates pollutants that are injurious to human health, and destroys vast
quantities of trees.
10.Cessation of logging on public
native forests will protect their unique biodiversity, essential ecosystems
services, human health, cultural and spiritual significance.
11. Disturbing the forest floor through logging results in weed invasion
that increases the probability of Bell Miner Associated Dieback, infestations
such phytophthora, drying out and degradation of soil and increased fire risk.
12.Protecting native forests,
restoring degraded native forests and re-establishing forests on cleared land
is important for wildlife habitat, wildlife corridors, ecosystems and catchment
protection.
13.All mining, gas extraction,
pumped hydro and other damaging industries should be banned from state forests
and other high-conservation-value forests.
14.Establishing an
environmentally sustainable plantation industry will replace the logging of
native forests.
15.Promoting and fostering the
development of alternative fibre sources and their associated industries will
reduce the need for logging and woodchipping.
16. Protecting native forests is an essential and efficient way
to deliver reductions in global warming and should be part of the
government’s efforts to tackle climate change in line with the Paris Climate
Agreement.
17.All native State forests
should be reclassified as reserves under the National Parks and Wildlife Act or
as Indigenous Protected areas. Wilderness, Wild Rivers and World Heritage
assessments and nominations should be undertaken on all forested lands.
18.The forests of NSW provide a
range of vital ecosystem services to the people of this state, as well as a
wide range of healthcare and wellbeing benefits. Protecting forests directly
and indirectly increases the health and wellbeing of all citizens.
19.Sustainable, nature-based and
educational tourism and recreation activities in our forests are to be
encouraged and supported.
20.The establishment of an
effective regulatory system for all timber products on all land tenures is
essential to protect biodiversity, ecosystem services, landscape and cultural
values and promote carbon sequestration.
21.Aboriginal peoples have
managed native forests for tens of thousands of years, deriving their spiritual
and cultural identity, life and livelihood from their lands and waters.
Respectful engagement with Indigenous communities will enhance understandings
of cultural heritage and best practice for continuing custodial action for forests.
22.Aboriginal people have a vital
role in managing forests and should be able to derive economic, social and
cultural benefit from future uses of forests (excluding logging).
23.The principle of
intergenerational equity must be incorporated into decision making on forest
management.
Aims/Actions:
The Greens will:
1. Protect Native Forests:
1a
Implement a prohibition on the
logging and clearing of all native forests, rainforest, multi-aged and old
growth forest, high conservation value areas and timbered crown lands.
1b That given 97% of native forests logged in South East
NSW are wood-chipped that all native forestry logging in South East NSW cease
1c
Integrate forest management and repair into catchment and
healthy river management.
1d
End destructive logging laws and enhance state and
federal environmental protection laws.
1e
Oppose payment of further taxpayer subsidies to the
logging industry.
1f
Cease log, wood pellet and woodchip exports from NSW
forests.
1g
Revise and regulate all operating procedures for logging
across all land tenures as part of a transition to end logging.
1h
Resist the influence of corporations and lobbyists from
the biomass and woodchips industry that allows export of unsustainable New
South Wales wood products.
1i
Introduce legislation to ban all
industrial activities which will impact native State forests and other
high-conservation-value forests. These industries include, but are not
restricted to: mining, gas extraction, quarries, biomass burning for
electricity generation, firewood and pumped hydro.
1j
Ban the conversion of native
forests into quasi-plantations and plantations.
1k
End Wood Supply Agreements,
pertaining to native forests, entered into with Forestry Corporation.
1l
Legislate quality, genuine forest
certification systems.
1m
Ensure third party appeal rights,
to enforce environmental legislation for forests, are reinstated in full as
soon as possible.
1n
Fund councils to protect their
forest assets and resources through zoning and development control.
1o
Reverse the 2013 amendment to the
Protection of the Environment Operations (General) (Native Forest Bio-material)
Regulation by the NSW government. This will then prohibit native forest biomass, including whole trees,
to be used in electricity generation.
2. Ensure Best Practice Management of Plantation and
Private Forests. Many of these points
apply in a transition scenario.
2a.
Mandate minimum standards of
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for all forestry operations.
2b.
Ensure strict supervision of
logging on private land.
2c.
Demand effective implementation
and enforcement of vegetation clearance controls and environmental protection
measures, on public and private lands.
2d.
Ensure that there is no exemption
for private land logging in any legislation.
2e.
Revise, regulate and monitor all
operating procedures for logging across all land tenures
2f.
Provide assistance to private
land holders to protect threatened species habitat, wilderness, rainforest,
town water catchments and high conservation value or ‘old growth’ forests.
2g.
Ban all logging in water
catchment headwaters.
2h.
Where logging is still occurring, ensure that only quality and
sustainable logging practices are used.
Ban clear-felling, forest burning, chemical weeding with sprays and other
destructive practices.
2i.
Require low impact logging
machinery across all land tenures.
2j.
Prohibit logging and logging
tracks on steep slopes which causes environmental damage, including erosion and
silting of rivers.
2k.
Require the consideration of
local factors, such as required buffer zones and high rainfall zones, when
planning the harvesting of plantations.
2l.
Amend legislation to apply strong
environmental controls for older plantations in environmentally sensitive
areas.
2m.
Include the consideration of the
cumulative impacts of logging operations in any harvest plans, particularly
where there is a short time frame for numerous harvest plans in different
forests/plantations in a geographical area (eg a Local Government area) and/or
repeated logging over a period of time in any forest/plantation.
2n.
Develop an environmentally
sustainable and profitable plantation industry that can replace the logging of
native forests for timber production and jobs.
2o.
Encourage the purchase of lands
for mixed species woodlots and hardwood timber plantations on appropriate
sites, to preserve native forests.
2p.
Develop and implement a set
criteria for the establishment and maintenance of sustainable plantations, such
as: riparian zone management, species selection, weed control, chemical usage,
local water demands and possible sensitivities of the area to traditional owners.
2q.
Empower and ensure a publicly
accountable agency is adequately resourced to review and monitor forest
management practices.
3. Ethically Manage and Protect Forests for Our Future
3a.
Legislate to prohibit any new
intensive logging proposals, such as wood for biomass or charcoal production.
3b.
Create opportunities to link
infrastructure needs, for ecologically sustainable tourism and recreation with
new national park proposals such as the Great Koala National Park (GKP).
3c.
Protect a significant portion of
the Koala population of the Mid North Coast of New South Wales through the
establishment of the Great Koala National Park, including the possibility of
extending the GKP as the need for protection of additional koala populations is
identified.
3d.
Enhance forest based tourism and
recreational opportunities by restoring public forests and adding to the
National Parks estate, particularly the Great Koala Park.
3e.
Provide transition plans for
people, industry and communities impacted by the phase out of native forest
logging.
3f.
Create jobs in forest
eco-tourism, eg: tree-top walks, bird-watching, maintenance work etc, instead
of destructive industries.
3g.
Promote the development of
sustainable wood and fibre industries in NSW, such as hemp and other
alternatives (e.g. banana leaves, bamboo, agricultural waste fibres) consistent
with Ecologically Sustainable Development principles.
3h.
Promote and secure laws to
facilitate the development of hemp-based and blended, fibre products.
3i.
Invest in the restoration of
degraded forests and promote the creation of an environmental restoration and
repair industry as a major new regional employment initiative.
3j.
Support a just transition of
Forestry Workers into other opportunities, including future plans for forests
in New South Wales. For example, all aspects of establishment and ongoing
operation of the Great Koala National Park.
3k.
Work with local, state and
federal governments to produce timely, high value outcomes for forests.
3l.
Educate the community about the
values of forests and forest biodiversity..
4. Integrate Aboriginal Heritage and Practice with Forest
Practice and Protection
4a.
Recognise
and acknowledge Indigenous Australians' prior and continuing custodianship of
land, much of which is now NSW Wilderness, State Forest and National Park.
4b.
Consult with
Indigenous Australians on forest ownership and management recognising that many
areas of State Forest contain sites of cultural significance to Aboriginal
people.
4c.
Engage the
local Indigenous community, including bodies like Local Aboriginal Land
Council, to ensure consultation with correctly identified traditional owners
and custodians.
4d.
Employ more
forest workers who are Indigenous.
4e.
Ensure that
any new Laws or Regulations take into account Indigenous Australians'
obligations under traditional law and culture, to conserve the environment and
maintain ecosystems in their natural state.
4f.
Ensure that
any future Forest Laws must comply with The Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) which
recognises a right or interest over land or waters that may be owned, according
to traditional laws and customs, by Aboriginal peoples. Under the Native Title
Act the NSW Government is able to negotiate Indigenous Land Use Agreements
(ILUAs) to settle native title claims over public lands. There are nine ILUAs
in place in NSW.
5. Restore Ecological Balance and Protect Biodiversity
5a.
Encourage
public recognition that water is one of the highest value resources that can be
obtained from the forest estate: that regrowth forests should be managed
towards their old growth state for both biodiversity and water conservation.
5b.
Implement
major re afforestation schemes to establish wildlife corridors linking
remaining forests and woodlands, to allow movement of fauna.
5c.
Re-establish
riparian vegetation for the health of our waterways and re-establish native
vegetation in cleared and degraded areas.
5d.
Promote conservation
approaches that assist koalas, gliders and other hollow dependent forest
species.
5e.
Prohibit
logging or clearing of all hollow-bearing trees across all tenures, with the
retention of an adequate number of recruitment trees across all size classes.
5f.
Revise and
enhance current reserve system criteria.
5g.
Create
secure reserves, linked by corridors, across all bioregions and land tenures,
including the estuarine and marine environments. Secure reserves provide
habitat to:
-
protect the nation’s biological
diversity, and
-
Permit the ongoing biological
functioning of viable populations, including their evolution and adaptation
during a period of rapid climate change
5h.
Develop an Integrated Firewood Replacement Strategy to end firewood collection
from native and other forests, that recognises the substantial adverse health
and impacts including global warming from wood heating, and that provides
education programs and subsidies for low-income households to switch to
low-cost, non-polluting alternatives.
5i.
Pursue
threatened species protection on private property by:
-
Instigating an ongoing biological survey and research program for natural
ecosystems
- Ensuring
an independent scientific review of the conservation protocols applied to forestry
operations and implementing the recommendations of such a review.
5j.
Promote and
ensure funding for the implementation of Voluntary Conservation Agreements over
private properties with nature conservation values.
6. Address the Climate Crisis
6a.
Include
recognition of carbon-sequestration value of standing forests in any new Forest
Laws and Regulations.
6b.
Maintaining
carbon stores in landscapes (including forests) through avoiding emissions from
deforestation will help us reach our greenhouse gas emissions targets.
6c.
Increase percentage of durable timber products from any timber harvest
to further reduce global warming.
6d.
Incentivise
private landholders to use land use practices that preserve biodiversity and
forests as carbon stores.
6e.
Develop methodology for calculating avoided global warming as a result
of forest protection.
Ratified February 23, 2019 at SDC
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