During last week's National Tree Week the Friends of the Forest Mogo group hosted NSW Greens spokesperson for the Forests, David Shoebridge MLC
“An industry that causes this much damage and views nature as waste is an industry that has no social license to operate.” said NSW Greens spokesperson for the Forests, David Shoebridge MLC as he viewed recently logged native forests just outside Mogo.
Around 20 people gathered to mark National Tree Day which was was co-founded in 1996 by Planet Ark and Olivia Newton-John. It has now grown in to Australia's largest community tree planting and nature protection event.
“There’s so much more gain from keeping our forests than destroying them” said Mr Shoebridge.
“Logging state forests close to settlements like Mogo is totally a lost opportunity for recreational trail building, and a town like Mogo could gain such a financial benefit from being a mountain biking centre in the same way that Scottsdale in Tasmania and Woolgoolga in Nthn NSW have become.
It would be an economic boost for the area, growing businesses and jobs, but the forests have to be maintained as they are - beautiful and natural - they can’t be chopped down.”
“ There’s simply no justification for this sort of destruction of native forests. We know the future of forestry in NSW and Aust is a future based upon plantations. That’s where the jobs are. That how we can sustainability harvest timber, and that’s how we can protect these beautiful native forests and the animals and plants that rely on them for survival.”
“We also need to expand the hemp industry. The fibre from hemp can replace
much of the timber that’s currently being taken from native forests. Too many of our trees are being wasted, turned into pulp for disposable packaging and paper.”
Above: L to R Foreground: Mitch Vella, David Shoebridge Greens MLC, Derek Anderson of Coast Watchers with supporters of Friends of the Forests, Mogo in the background, surrounded by the “waste” left behind by Forestry NSW. Photo: Gillianne Tedder
Above: NSW Greens spokesperson for the Forests, David Shoebridge MLC and supporters of Friends of the Forests, Mogo gather around a tree top approximately 60cm in diameter. This tree top is regarded as “waste” and left behind by Forestry NSW. Photo: Gillianne Tedder
