The proposed harvesting of hardwood at Beerwah State Forest will not be proceeding after the State Government decided not to go ahead with plans first mooted 12 months ago.
The State Government was proposing to log about 50 per cent of high value hardwood trees from Ferny Forest, a 129-hectare site at Landsborough, ahead of the forest’s transfer to National Park status in 2024.
Member for Caloundra Jason Hunt said it was “great news” after a year of grassroots campaigning by groups concerned about the loss of the forest, which was a natural koala habitat.
The area is a significant cultural site for the Kabi Kabi people and an important link from Ewen Maddock Dam to Mooloolah River National Park with vegetation that prevents soil erosion and therefore improves the water quality of the dam and surrounding waterways and rivers, the petition states.
Advocates for the forest said logging of any scale would have had a devastating impact on the site with fungi, invasive weeds and climate change adversely affecting native forests.
“This is a fantastic outcome that is a great win for our community,” Mr Hunt said.
The State Government was under pressure to relent on plans to log forest that it had already deemed a core koala habitat, with over 2800 people signing a Queensland Parliamentary petition and dozens staging a regular Friday afternoon protest at the site of the proposed logging.
Over 20,000 people signed a change.org petition.
But today the Department released a short statement saying it would not proceed with the logging. There was no explanation as to its decision.
Beerwah State Forest was originally established in 1874 as a Reserve for State Forest purposes, including selective native timber harvesting.
The section of forest near the Ewen Maddock Dam was last selectively harvested in the mid-1990s. Since then, it has continued to provide a range of community, ecological and recreational functions.
The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries allocates and sells state-owned native timber through sales permits issued under the authority of the Forestry Act 1959.
