| SYDNEY'S FIREWOOD LINKED TO QLD LAND CLEARING | |
See NPA media release below.
SMH Story Sat 28/4/01 on Page 3 with prominent NPA comment.
Coverage on Saturday on ABC Radio News, ABC ACT interview, 2WS
and 2UE news.
National Parks Association of NSW Media
Release
28 April 2001
SYDNEY'S FIREWOOD LINKED TO QLD LAND CLEARING
The National Parks Association of NSW calls on the NSW Government
to limit the State's use of firewood following revelations in
today's Sydney Morning Herald that most of the wood sold by
Sydney's big firewood companies comes from clearing of
Queenslands threatened ironbark and box woodlands.
"The firewood industry is large, but mostly unknown",
said Andrew Cox, NPA Executive Officer. "About 1.5M tonnes
of firewood are used by NSW each year, exceeding the State's
yearly combined production of sawlogs and woodchips."
"Firewood collecting is the second largest threat to
Australia's temperate woodlands after land clearing. Now its
being linked to landclearing!"
"We know little about the impacts of firewood collecting and
governments have been slow to take an interest. Most firewood
consumers are unaware of where their wood comes from or the huge
impact it has on threatened animals, birds and reptiles."
"There needs to be a national approach to a national issue.
NSW is now implicated in the tragedy of woodland loss in
Queensland. But its also a serious problem for the declining NSW
woodlands", said Mr Cox.
"Firewood collecting targets slow-growing ecosystems and
some of their most important components. Eucalypt species such as
ironbark, box and red gum are the most favoured firewood
sources."
"We need to move away from the need to 'clean-up' a forest
or woodland and instead look at dead wood as an important
ecological component - just as important as the living
trees."
"Its because we're not properly managing the woodlands that
a wave of bird extinctions is underway in central NSW. More than
20 woodland dependent birds are declining from their former range
and may become extinct in NSW."
"NPA calls on the NSW Government to urgently develop its own
firewood strategy. As a start it should support a strong ANZECC
firewood strategy and introduce measures modelled on the
successful ACT firewood strategy."
NPA is holding a Firewood Conference in Armidale on 25 and 26 May
to discuss the issues and explore options for reducing the
environmental impact of firewood collection. A similar conference
will also be held in Launceston on 18 and 19 June.
Contact: Andrew Cox 9299 0000 or 0438 588 040
ABC Radio
Sat, 28 Apr 2001 9:39 AEST
LOCAL NEWS : New South Wales
Firewood from endangered Qld woodlands used in NSW
The National Parks Association says firewood from endangered
Queensland woodlands is being used in homes across New South
Wales.
The association's Andrew Cox says the New South Wales Government
should tighten the industry's regulations and encourage consumers
to find alternative heating methods.
He says land clearing is having a devastating impact on the
environment.
"It's not ecologically sound, it's not sustainable and there
are serious impacts on birds, on animals that depend on the
hollows," he said.
"Reptiles, snakes and it's just not these animals that are
going into extinction and this is part of the cause."
SMH P3
Up in smoke: bulldozed in Queensland, burnt in Sydney
Date: 28/04/2001
By James Woodford, environment writer
Landclearing in Queensland is becoming the major supplier of
Sydney's quality firewood.
Most of Sydney's big firewood companies now rely on the Sunshine
State for a significant proportion of ironbark and box logs -
highly sought-after timbers because of their density.
But no-one knows for sure how much timber salvaged from the
bulldozed woodlands of Queensland is making its way south of the
border in convoys of semi-trailers. Firewood collection operates
in a legal vacuum - especially on private land - and virtually no
figures are kept for where wood is sourced or how it is
collected. The Australian and New Zealand Environment and
Conservation Council is now finalising a strategy that will
detail the Federal Government's attempts to curb the
environmental impacts of firewood.
The draft report, A National Approach to Firewood Collection and
Use in Australia, proposes accreditation for firewood collectors,
listing critical areas where firewood harvesting would be banned
and an education campaign highlighting the importance of dead
trees for biodiversity. According to the draft report, the
national consumption of firewood is 6 million tonnes a year.
But conservationists, including executive officer at the National
Parks Association, Mr Andrew Cox, fear the draft will be watered
down and that unchecked timber harvesting from private and public
lands will continue.
The association is organising a firewood conference at the end of
next month in Armidale, which will bring together scientists,
bureaucrats, industry and political leaders.
Mr Charlie Spiteri, the owner of Betta Burn Firewood, one of the
biggest suppliers in Sydney, refused to reveal how much firewood
he supplies each year but estimates that the Sydney region,
including Katoomba, consumes about 100,000 tonnes.
He said about a third of his supply was sourced from Queensland,
where the wood is worth between $40 and $50 a cubic metre. By the
time the freight reaches Sydney, it is worth up to $125 and is
being snapped up. "People are choosing ironbark and box and
we have to go where the timber is," Mr Spiteri said.
He said his contractors sourced wood from Queensland farms that
were mopping up their paddocks rather than clearing virgin
woodlands. "Firewood is only a byproduct of
landclearing," Mr Spiteri said. "If we don't take it,
it is pushed into piles and burnt. It's taking a resource that is
going to be squandered anyway."
Other major sources of hardwoods for Betta Burn include Pilliga
State Forest in north-west NSW and private properties in the
Nyngan area.
Mr Spiteri said he had mixed feelings about the new report. While
he would welcome a standard for firewood, he warned that if the
rules were too strict they could harm small operators who were
already struggling.
Armidale firewood collector Mr Peter Howarth, 57, has harvested
timber most of his life. He said more controls over the industry
were needed and that the price of firewood should increase
"to eliminate a lot of people who don't need to use
it".
But if firewood collection was done properly it prevented waste,
he said. "Otherwise what are the landholders going to do
with the wood - push it up and burn it?"
Story Picture: Mr Charlie Spiteri, of Betta
Burn Firewood, Kellyville, with some of his timber. Photo: Rick
Stevens
Andrew Cox
Executive Officer
National Parks Association of NSW
PO Box A96, Sydney South NSW 1235
Tel: 02 9299 0000; Fax: 02 9290 2525
Email: execofficer@npansw.org.au
Website: http://www.npansw.org.au
30 March 2001