Victory! North East Forest Icons to be Protected

• Victory! North East Forest Icons to be Protected
• Forests to be protected
  • Whian Whian and Wollumbin
  • Chaelundi
  • Jilliby
  • and more

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Victory! North East Forest Icons to be Protected

In early March, Bob Carr announced that 65,000 hectares of the best forests remaining in northeast NSW would be protected should Labor win the March 22 State Election.

These include the wet subtropical areas of Whian Whian and Wollumbin, which form part of the Mt Warning caldera, Chaelundi, the site of one of NSW's most famous blockades in 1991 and Jilliby, a vital source of water for the Central Coast. The largest koala population in coastal NSW will also be saved through the protection of Pine Creek near Coffs Harbour.

Conservation groups have been fighting for these areas for over ten years. Should the legislation be passed upon the return of a new Carr Government, the full protection of old growth forests on public land in NE NSW will have finally been achieved.

This is a landmark conservation decision and the Premier has repeated the promise on television numerous times in the days since. The decision has been achieved without any adverse impact on timber supplies, with additional timber found to make up quota allocations.

Congratulations to everybody who has fought for the North East Forests!

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Forests to be protected

Whian Whian and Wollumbin

near Byron Bay, are recognised as one of the most exceptional and outstanding biodiversity hotspots in Australia. They contain remnants of ecosystems which have been cleared almost to extinction. Whian Whian is water catchment for six major regional centres including Byron Bay and Ballina.

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Chaelundi

near Grafto, is part of one of the largest areas of tall oldgrowth forest left in north-east NSW, has outstanding conservation and wilderness values, some of the highest densities of arboreal mammals in the world, and has been the subject of two successful legal challenges and a now legendary forest blockade which led to the Greiner Government protecting it in a moratoria from logging in 1991.

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Jilliby

near Wyong is the water catchment for the rapidly growing urban centres of the Central Coast. Government conservation data identifies it as the principal centre of unreserved biodiversity in lower north-east NSW. It contains 8 poorly reserved coastal forest ecosystems and 40 threatened and significant fauna species.

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Black Bulga Range

near Dungog, contains magnificent oldgrowth forests in a mosaic of rainforest, tall moist eucalypt forests and dry spotted gum forests. It is an outstanding catchment area of high importance to many species including the koala and several glider species.

Bungawalbyn

near Casino, is widely recognised as the centre of the most important habitat for species of the drier forest types in north-east New South Wales. It is known habitat for the nationally endangered Regent Honeyeater and nationally vulnerable Bush Stone Curlew. It contains one vulnerable ecosystem and three poorly reserved ecosystems that are a high priority for reservation.

Butterleaf

near Glen Innes, is entirely oldgrowth forest and is partly comprised of remnant ecosystems of the New England Tablelands which have been extensively cleared, including two vulnerable ecosystems. It contains a significant disjunct population of the Common Wombat.

Copeland Tops

near Gloucester, is a biodiversity hotspot of outstanding regional significance. It provides known or predicted habitat for more than 40 threatened and significant fauna species and includes a centre of endemism for high elevation vertebrate fauna. It is a mosaic of oldgrowth forests and rainforest.

Little Wonder

near Nambucca, is recognised as a critical elevational gradient and corridor running from the escarpment to the coastal foothill forests. It is notable for the diverse mosaic of oldgrowth forests, rainforests, rare rainforest suballiances and threatened fauna and flora which it contains.

Myall River

near Bulahdelah, contains four poorly reserved forest ecosystems, a predicted 53 threatened and significant fauna species and rainforest and oldgrowth forest remnants in a mosaic which joins Myall Lakes National Park to Ghin-doo-ee National Park to the north.

Pine Creek

near Coffs Harbour, is the largest known koala population on the NSW coast and is uniquely situated to develop into a major tourist attraction between the two growth centres of Bellingen and Coffs Harbour. It contains five poorly reserved coastal forest types.

Queens Lake

near Port Macquarie, will provide a critical forested core to the reserve network in the region by forming a link between Lake Innes Nature Reserve and Queens Lake Nature Reserve. It is a diverse area which is notable for the variety of ecosystems, species and poorly reserved coastal habitats which it contains

Sheas Nob

near Grafton, is an important link in the Great Escarpment corridor from Guy Fawkes River Wilderness to Nymboi-Binderay National Park. It contains a mosaic of rainforest, oldgrowth forest and other growth stages and provides a critical refuge from the heavy and concentrated logging disturbance which has taken place all around it.

Sherwood

near Coffs Harbour, is one of the best remaining examples of oldgrowth blackbutt left in north-east NSW and is vital for hollow dependent fauna in the region and a major potential asset to tourism around Coffs Harbour.

Tuggolo

near Walcha, is a critical oldgrowth and rainforest addition to the existing reserve and includes large areas of poorly reserved ecosystems which have been heavily cleared throughout the region. It provides habitat for a large number of poorly reserved, oldgrowth dependent fauna species.