ABC Sunshine Coast: Meg Bolton
bikers, residents, environmentalists in the Glass House Mountains
Anger is brewing about a Queensland government proposal to log native forest near the Glass House Mountains just two years before it becomes conservation land.
Save Ferny Forest group member Teena Chumbley said residents were working around the clock to ensure the logging did not go ahead.
“It really doesn’t make sense that in less than two years’ time this is going to be a conservation site,” Ms Chumbley said.
“I don’t know what will be left to conserve because there will be so much damage to it.”
All native, state-owned forestry in south-east Queensland will become conservation land by the end of 2024 under the Queensland government’s Native Timber Action Plan.
A petition with more than 2,000 signatures opposing the logging is before parliament, adding to a 22,000-person strong petition online.
ABC Sunshine Coast: Meg Bolton
Ferny Forest is 129 hectares of native woodland, part of the Beerwah State Forest.
Each month, an average of 1,200 people visit the forest and its mountain biking and hiking trails.
Logging would prohibit recreational use.
Key points:
- A report commissioned by the Queensland Conservation Council found 70,000 hectares of native woodland across the state’s south-east should be saved immediately
- Ferny Forest, which makes up 13 per cent of the Beerwah State Forest, was recommended for conservation in the report.
- The Queensland government has applied to selectively log the forest two years before it becomes conservation land
“Until the first tree falls we will be doing everything that we can to prevent that (important forest like Ferny Forest destroyed) from happening”
Source
Meg Bolton
ABC News
Have a story to tell or news to share
Let us know by submitting a news story, an article, a review, a white paper and more …
Submit
