Woodchipping – the new way to save koalas

The opportunity for the loss-making industry to reposition itself as the clean green fuel of the future via biomass represents a new source of revenue in lean times. The need for fresh green spin is far greater given the rejection by the federal government of native forest biomass as a basis for renewable energy certificates.

The loggers have good reason to hope that NSW might prove a happier hunting ground. The anti-environment lobby has recently won access to National Parks for hunting, horse riding and grazing and put the pro-gun Game Council in charge of duck hunting. They now say they need more access to national parks for logging. And that's why we're seeing a change in the language around forest management.

The recent failure by Eden-based woodchipper, South East Fibre Exports, to get its proposed 5.5 megawatt biomass-fired base-load power station using woodchip waste from the south coast and Victorian Gippsland region up is no indication of a lack of will on the behalf of the loggers. Instead we are seeing them turn their attention directly to the State government which they see as a far easier target.

The submission by the peak body for Australia's forestry and paper products industry, the Forest Products Association, to the NSW Government's Renewable Energy Action Plan argues vigorously that the existing ban on the use of biomass sourced from native forests for the production of bioenergy should be overturned. The ban, it argues, is contrary to 'the principles of sustainable forest management'.

The potential for forests to be logged for their biomass is now very real in NSW. With the industry under increasing financial pressure, the threat to native forests, be they in national parks or state forests, is acute.

The message that logging is good for koalas and that the environment benefits from having native forests burnt for electricity is no longer a slip of the tongue. It's the new state of play in NSW.