A NSW conservation group has gone to court in a bid to halt logging in two fire-ravaged forests, saying it could be the nail in the coffin for local koalas.
The North East Forest Alliance says the Black Summer bushfires took a heavy toll on koala populations in the Myrtle and Braemar state forests in 2019/20.
It is aghast at plans by the state-owned Forestry Corporation of NSW to resume logging in the area, and has gone to the state's Land and Environment Court seeking an urgent injunction.
The corporation voluntarily paused operations late last week, with the court to hear the group's application on Wednesday.
Forest alliance president Dailan Pugh says the koalas that survived the fires are only just starting to recover.
"Logging of most of their feed trees will be a nail in the coffin of this population," he said.
"It is very disappointing that we have to resort to legal action to protect these areas given the new government’s pledge to protect koalas."
Mr Pugh wants the NSW government to commission new, independent koala surveys before logging can resume, safeguard the areas where any are found and protect food trees.
The government is under pressure from environment groups to end logging in its promised Great Koala National Park, which will stretch from Kempsey to Coffs Harbour on the mid-north coast.
While the two state forests sit outside the proposed park, observers say it's absurd to allow logging in known koala habitat so recently affected by fires.
"NSW Premier Chris Minns stated recently that protecting koalas was non-negotiable. We agree," North Coast Environment Council vice-president Susie Russell said.
"Unfortunately, the NSW government has done nothing to protect koalas anywhere across the entire state forest estate.
"This is a spearhead legal action to try and make the government actually walk the talk."
Comment has been sought from NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe, who has warned there's a narrow window to save the species from extinction in NSW.
A Forestry Corporation spokesperson says the planned harvesting is "selective" and subject to strict environmental conditions required under NSW regulations, alongside extra measures applied to areas hit by the Black Summer fires.
"We look forward to swift resolution of the issue before the court," a spokesperson said.
The Environmental Defenders Office is representing the forest alliance in court.
"Our client will argue that Forestry Corporation’s decision to approve these operations in Braemar and Myrtle state forests was unlawful and should be set aside," special counsel Emily Long said.
