In our opinion this argument by NAFI itself creates a false impression. While it is technically correct to say that 'no species is know to have become extinct as a result of forestry activities in Australia', it is incorrect to imply that there is no threat of extinction from current forestry practices.. While it is technically correct to say that 'no species is known to have become extinct as a result of forestry activities in Australia', it is incorrect to imply that there is no threat of extinction from current forestry practices.
Both in Australia and throughout the world, logging has significant adverse effects on forest biota. The failure of biologists to document extinctions is more likely a consequence of our limited knowledge of most forest organisms - most of which are insects and lesser plants, and most of which are undescribed - than it is evidence that logging does not lead to extinctions.
Current intensive clearfelling operations in Australia are a relatively new practice, having only commenced in the 1960’s. They have only become widespread and intensive in most regions in more recent years. In such circumstances the lack of any recorded global extinctions (complete loss of the species from the planet) cannot be used to argue the lack of any threat of such extinctions. Extinctions rarely occur rapidly or as a result of one single event- they are a cumulation of events. For species that depend on mature native forests we believe that the continuing loss of habitat will threaten some species.
Both theoretical and on-ground studies have indicated the existence
of an ‘extinction debt’ where a species may eventually be lost well after
the initial disturbance took place. This process is now well documented
in the continuing loss of species in districts throughout Australia which
were
largely cleared for agriculture in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Importantly
for the debate over native forest logging, there is now evidence of localised
extinctions of species from extensive areas of timber production forests.
For example, populations of the Yellow-bellied Glider are now virtually
absent from mountain ash forests used for timber production in central
Victoria and the distribution of the species in this forest type appears
to be virtually confined to water catchment forests where intensive timber
harvesting operations have not occurred. Populations of some animals requiring
tree hollows are now locally extinct in some Box-Ironbark forests in northern
Victoria due to forestry practices.
In addition some species which are poorly known, such as the Tiger Quoll, are undergoing major declines which may be related to habitat changes caused by current forestry practices. Such declines are of major concern. They contravene existing State and Federal forest policies on the maintenance of species throughout their known distributions. In addition such localised extinctions are themselves a cause of major concern as the continued loss of local populations can ultimately lead to the global extinction of a species. Such losses can also affect the normal ecological functions and health of a forest.
These recorded changes indicate that current forestry practices in Australian native forests are not ecologically sustainable. There are localised extinctions occurring due to current forestry practices and there is a significant risk of future global extinctions.
Professor Tony Norton
NRS Professor of Spatial Information Science
RMIT University
Victoria
Professor Hugh Possingham
Foundation Chair of Environmental Science
University of Adelaide
South Australia
(currently on sabbatical leave in U.S.A.)
Professor Harry F. Recher
Foundation Professor
Environmental Management
Edith Cowan University
Western Australia