Logging in the old growth forest

The intensive logging practices used by CALM and the native timber industry have large impacts on the forest ecosystem, many of which are irreversible. Current logging practices require extensive road construction, which leads to permanent removal of forests and allows access for fire, feral animals and disease. An area equivalent to 23 Subiaco football ovals is logged every day. The forest ecosystems become fragmented and structural diversity and varied habitat, such as big old trees with hollows, are removed over large areas. Freshwater ecosystems may become polluted. The soil is disturbed by the heavy machinery and nutrients depleted.

Clearfelling

In the karri/marri forest the main method of logging used is called clearfelling. This is where the undergrowth is flattened and useable tree-trunks are removed. The remaining vegetation is bulldozed into piles for burning in a very hot fire called a regeneration burn. About two "habitat" trees are left standing per hectare. The native vegetation is left to regrow. In the karri forests CALM replants the area with karri seedlings.

The jarrah forest is logged using a smaller scale version of clearfelling followed by a hot regeneration burn. CALM leaves about four habitat trees per hectare.

CALM plans to clearfell karri regrowth in 100 years time and jarrah regrowth in 150 years time. This doesn't allow time for hollows to form so, as old growth forest is converted to regrowth forest, habitats are being lost. For example, it takes at least 168 years for hollows to form in karri trees; 300 years in jarrah trees and 200 years for hollows to form in marri trees. In our south west forests 51 species of mammals and birds depend on hollows in trees for habitat and nesting sites.

These massive disturbances to the forest have significantly reduced its ability to restore itself and outbreaks of diseases such as dieback, leaf miner and brown rot fungus in regrowth forests are very common.

Woodchipping

The great bulk of trees taken from the forest during logging end up as woodchips or low quality products. Since 1976, 16 million tonnes of karri-marri woodchips have been exported to Japan for paper pulp - almost all came from old growth forest. The logging industry argues that only forest residue is woodchipped but forest residue is a misleading term. The general public thinks of forest residue as the branches and rubbish left after logging but those bits are burnt in the regeneration fire. What is woodchipped is third grade karri sawlogs and 99% of all the marri trees felled in the clearfell process. Those forests, left standing, are worth far more to our tourist industry, beekeepers and fine woodcraft workers.

"The role of woodchipping in forest destruction in WA"- RTF file

Fire

Our native flora and fauna have evolved with fire and some species may need particular types of fire to continue existing. However, recent forest management practices have increased the frequency and intensity of burning. Fire can be damaging if it is not applied with sufficient knowledge of how and what type of fire should be used in a particular ecosystem.