End Native Forest Logging by 2020

Australia is facing an extinction crisis. The rapid race towards species extinction is escalating exponentially, because of the removal of native forests on an industrial scale.

This country can no longer support industrialised logging practices that remove habitat at such a pace that the Swift Parrot, the Leadbeater's Possum, the Spotted Quoll and even the Koala will soon be extinct unless we stop native forest logging by 2020. Many other species throughout the country are rapidly joining the extinction queue.

A transition to sustainably managed plantation can support our needs for timber and protect forestry worker's jobs. There is more employment in keeping our forests standing than cutting them down.

The chip mills which export 40 million tonnes of Australian native forest for as little as $4.60 per tonne must cease. A substantial amount of each tree cut down is dumped on the forest floor, leaving hillside after hillside virtually bare of vegetation, out of the public eye, as a tremendous fire risk and a horrifying waste that is a national disgrace.

Forests must remain standing as carbon sinks to offset climate change; and to provide wilderness for future generations of humans and wildlife.

We must meet our international obligations to protect our threatened species - one step further is EXTINCTION.