Mountain biking mecca not wood chips
- The Beagle
- Jul 9, 2021
- 3 min read
The Beagle Editor,
While many in our region are outraged by the brazen and careless land clearing taking place in our backyards as new developments forge ahead, behind the scenes, far more surreptitious activities are taking place. They are occurring away from our daily commute, but should enrage us just the same. Our Mogo state forest is being logged. The very forest that just 18 months ago was consumed by the ferocious and unprecedented fires of 2019/20.
Talk about kicking a dog while it's down.
Talk about ignoring what our scientists are telling us.
A team of researchers from ANU, have diligently dissected research regarding fires and forests and have found that not only does logging set back the recovery of these forests by about 100-200 years, it also comes at a huge risk to us. Researchers have determined that forest fires burn hotter and stronger in logged forests saying that there are many obvious reasons for this citing that logging opens up the canopy, changes the microclimate, dries up the soils, and leaves piles of debris (as much as 80% of the tree is discarded) serving as flash fuel in the event of a fire. This is not ‘cleaning up’ of our forests - it's setting up the perfect conditions for the next bushfire event. Which with global heating, will be likely worse the next time. This is occurring in the backyard of our villages. There is just one compartment that has not been logged in Mogo State Forest - compartment 146 - and forestry commission NSW has it in its sights. Directly competing with logging, is the plans for Mogo state forest to be developed into one of the most extensive mountain biking trails in NSW. Ecotourism, a major sector of our region, directly competes with forestry, which provides only a handful of jobs and is massively subsidised by our tax dollars.
Looking at the bigger global picture, land clearing is responsible for 15-20% of carbon emissions. Science tells us we are in the critical decade - tipping points are being reached, and we have just a few years left before global heating exceeds our control.
What does this mean? As our planet heats up, we will have more extreme weather events - heatwaves, droughts, floods, bushfires will all get worse. The seasons will become more erratic, food will be difficult to grow and will become far more costly, and all this will have direct and indirect effects on human health. Like the planet, we humans have a narrow temperature range in which our bodies can survive and thrive. The predictions for our future, with unabated climate heating, are a direct threat to our very survival. Our planet has a fever, but we have a remedy. We must urgently stop burning fossil fuels. We also need to keep our climate cooling, carbon retaining trees in the ground.
So let's all transform our rage into meaningful action. Please help SAVE OUR TREES!
Join Friends of the Forest tomorrow Sat 10 July from 10am - 12pm corner Dog Trap Road and Princes Highway for a Covid safe protest followed by a picnic.
Can’t attend or want to do more?
Then sign this petition…
And also send your emails to Minister for Tourism and Jobs - Stuart Ayres on penrith@parliament.nsw.gov.au
And Minister for Forests - John Barilaro on monaro@parliament.nsw.gov.au
And our state member for Bega - Andrew Constance on bega@parliment.nsw.gov.au
And Environment minister Matt Kean on hornsby@parliament.nsw.gov.au
If you want to know more about the research please check out: https://www.bushfirefacts.org
And read the summary of the research here:
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/logging-increases-bush-flammability-for-30-years-research-shows-20210210-p5719c.html
Michelle Hamrosi
