Clear-felling WA's forests.
PERTH — Western Australia has only about 125,000 hectares of old growth Karri/Marri forest left. Most of it is currently available for clear-felling. Clear-felling is a logging procedure which fells every tree; it is the fastest way to satisfy the demand of the woodchip industry. Between 1500 to 2000 hectares of Karri/Marri forest is clear-felled in WA each year.
Clear-felling kills up to 90% of the native birds and animals that live in an area; it destroys their habitat and food supply. The destruction of ancient trees with hollows, which take up to 300 years to develop, will put at least 51 species at risk of extinction.
There are currently at least 25 species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians facing extinction as a result of logging, burning and other forestry-related processes in the south west. No-one knows how many insect species or species of vascular and non-vascular flora are similarly threatened.
Woodchipping does not bring employment. Although more than 50% of all logs taken from clear-felled forests end up as woodchip, woodchipping only employs 2.5% of the forest-based work force. Further, it competes with saw-mills by taking logs they could use. Woodchipping also destroys the natural resources upon which industries such as tourism and bee-keeping depend.
Under the present program of the Conservation and Land Management (CALM) department, all unprotected native forests will be logged out within a few years. A transition to tree crops and agroforests is inevitable — it's only a question of whether this is done before or after we have destroyed our forests.