By Gus Gulson
In the past, forest reserves in NSW have mostly been created from land that no-one else wanted. Economically unviable areas or areas too steep for logging have made up most of the reserve system. The more productive areas have been largely given to the timber industry.
For years, conservationists have campaigned to change this situation. Over the last year, a process of data collection and negotiation between the state government, conservationists and the timber industry has attempted to resolve the long-running conflict.
Through the use of computer-generated maps, conservationists have been able to identify large areas of high conservation value forest that would require protection in a comprehensive reserve system. Using the same process, the timber industry has simultaneously identified the areas of timber that it wants access to for logging.
On June 6, and following the negotiations, the NSW government released its report outlining a series of options for protecting the state's forests. These range from better conservation options to preferred timber industry options. The state government has the final say on what options are chosen and is expected to announce its decision sometime in the next month.
The outcome for the forests is still not clear. Given its past record and the interests involved, the Carr government will choose conservation options only under significant public pressure to do so. For this reason, everyone is encouraged to come along to the Big Forest Rally on June 20 and help ensure that large areas of NSW forest are reserved.
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