Urgent: Send an email submission to the Draft Forestry Code of Conduct.   Address your submission to pnf(at)dnr.nsw.gov.au,

CC: the Premier Morris Iemma: thepremier@www.nsw.gov.au.

 And get it in as soon as possible.   The closing date is Tuesday 22 August 2006.

Dear Premier

Draft Code of conduct for Private Native Forestry

We do not believe that the Draft Code of conduct for Private Native Forestry will maintain or improve biodiversity and urge you to ensure that the loopholes and gaps in the Code are amended.

This is a particular concern in this region where increasing volumes of timber from private land are ending up as woodchips at the Eden woodchip mill.

The draft Code does introduce some long overdue conditions on private logging, but unfortunately, it contains a large number of glaring failures which means that it requires major and drastic changes before it can deliver good environmental outcomes. The riparian buffer conditions and tree retention in coastal forests are the best elements contained in the Code and these must be retained. Specifically, the Code must be amended so that it:

 ·         Requires threatened species surveys or habitat assessments of all areas prior to logging

·         Includes measures to address commercial firewood collection.

·         Strictly protects mapped oldgrowth and rainforest, and not allow a discretionary field test.

·         Prohibits patch-clearfelling, which is just land-clearing by stealth, and ensures that areas approved for private native forestry become ineligible for any future land-clearing approvals.

·         Strictly protects all rare and severely depleted ecosystems, and habitat corridors.

·         Includes strict limits on the size of trees that can be logged, especially for ironbark, cypress and river redgum and improve habitat tree retention rules.  Ensure no wind backs in coastal tree retention rates.

·         Drastically improves protection for iconic River Red Gum forests, including protection of wetlands, increased riparian protection and protection for habitat corridors.

·         Markedly improves the conditions of Forest Management Plans, ensuring that all logging requires an FMP and requiring that an FMP must be submitted as part of a PVP and cannot be amended thereafter

·         Makes all logging immediately subject to the improved Code of Practice, and do not allow any further time for a transition when it has already been more than 3 years in preparation.

·         Ensures that there is a public register of PVPs and Development Approvals, and these must be available (along with FMPs) for inspection by the public at DNR offices

·         Areas that are excluded from logging must be protected in perpetuity from other damaging uses, and no other clearing of any form should be allowed in them.

         Ensures that strong protection of creek banks and gullies is not compromised in anyway, and that improvements are made to increase buffers in River Red Gum and protect unmapped drainage lines.

         That South East Fibre Exports be required to make public details of all private logging operations conducted to suppy its Eden woodchip mill.

Sincerely,