In the first instance, I want to make it very clear that clear-felling is not allowed in native forestry operations on either public or private land in NSW.

Clear-felling is undertaken only in plantations and there are no plans to introduce this practice in native forests.

It is unfortunate that a photograph of clear-fell harvesting in a plantation was used to illustrate the story, which patently misrepresented harvesting practice in our native forests.

The article incorrectly refers to the silvicultural practice of intensive harvesting as ‘clear-felling’.

This is an existing harvesting strategy currently carried out in patches in some particular north coast forest types in order to promote the establishment and growth of tree regeneration.

The new Coastal IFOA for the first time identifies and limits where intensive harvesting can be practised, and introduces constraints on the size of the patches and their distribution across the landscape.

I would also like to make it clear that even in areas of intensive harvesting, environmental protections such as habitat tree retention, stream buffer requirements and threatened species provisions, still apply. 

The statement that “logging is given the green light even when threatened species occur” is also incorrect.

Threatened species protections apply across the board in all circumstances as do blanket prohibitions on harvesting in old growth forest and rainforest areas.

The new Coastal IFOA was developed in the context of overarching Government commitments that the new prescriptions will not adversely impact on environmental values or timber supply.

This Government is determined to get the right balance between the environment and industry, and the new IFOA demonstrates that environmental standards can be strengthened at the same time as providing long term security of wood supply and certainty to investors and the industry.