ON THE CURRENT TRAJECTORY THE KOALA WILL BE EXTINCT IN THE WILD IN 27 YEARS

Is that ok? I don’t think so. Wildlife extinction is a choice, it’s not something that is happening, and we can’t stop it. We know how we can save our Koala and many other wildlife species but we’re just not doing enough of the right things. And too many people haven’t used their voice yet to tell our government: ‘This is not ok with me’.

Peachester State Forest is on the list to be logged by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries between now and the 31st December 2024 even though Peachester State Forest is identified by the Department of Environment and Science as Core Koala Habitat. Koalas are classified as endangered and on the current trajectory of declining numbers, they will be extinct in the wild by 2050.

Peachester State Forest and Luttons State Forest also contain many valuable hollow bearing trees. Threatened species like Greater Gliders and Black Glossy Cockatoos rely on these hollows to nest, breed, shelter and feed. Outside the direct loss of habitat hollows is the loss of younger and developing trees that will soon develop hollows. This future generation of hollows is needed to secure the survival of many hollow dependant species.

You may think ‘Peachester State Forest has been logged before, why can’t it be logged again?’  Because all that logging in the past has resulted in the fact that many of our wildlife species are now on the brink of extinction and climate change is a massive game changer. Invasive plants have taken over and the undergrowth prevents future hardwood saplings to grow and survive as well as increasing the risk of forest fires.

You may think ‘This logging is not clear felling but selective harvesting, so it’s ok’. No, it’s not ok. The speed in which our native forest trees are disappearing is much higher than their ability to regrow. In fact, Eastern Australia is now a recognised global deforestation hotspot, alongside places including the Amazon, the Congo and Borneo. And the state leading this destructive charge is Queensland. https://www.wilderness.org.au/protecting-nature/deforestation/qlddeforestation

Selective harvesting is a fancy marketing term used to make us feel ok with the destruction of forests but it is no better than logging. The damage is irreversible and causes mass undergrowth of invasive plants making it impossible for the regeneration of hardwood saplings to break through.

You may think ‘Then where is the wood people need going to come from?’ All the wood we need is available from our existing plantation estate of which there is already half a million hectares found in Queensland alone. Pine is the preferred timber for housing construction and most forestry jobs are within the plantation sector. There is zero need to log native forest core Koala habitat in 2023 and beyond.

The Sunshine Coast is experiencing an unprecedent rate of urbanization and development. This means Peachester State Forest and Lutton State Forest will be of increasing value to the Peachester community for recreation, amenity, biodiversity and cultural values in the future. If Peachester State Forest is transferred into National or Conservation Park this would be huge asset for the local community.

Who will protect Peachester State Forest and Lutton State Forest from logging? Many people involved in the direct action to successfully Save Ferny Forest from logging were locals. Peachester State Forest can be saved too. It can be saved by you!

What can you do? Many things. And it doesn’t matter if you work full time or not as saving a forest means you do what you can, whenever you can. Signing this petition is a start and join our Facebook community for more ways to help https://www.facebook.com/groups/157447293798933/?ref=share_group_link