Yurangalo Calendar 2010

Western Yurammie 2010

As we go to press for our fifth edition of the Yurangalo calendar, Western Yurammie needs your support more than ever. Looking northeast from the village of Wyndham you’ll see the Chalkhills… from the high point of the range, follow the forested skyline to the gap that leads to the ocean. This forest is the watershed for two rivers, the Pambula River to the east and the Towamba River in the west. It consists of five forestry compartments (963 - 967) in Yurammie State Forest; three compartments are on the Wyndham side and two adjoin Goodenia Rainforest in the east. This is Western Yurammie. Recently Yurangalo Inc. discovered that Forests NSW intend, in 2010, to log three of the five compartments that make up the Special Prescription Zone (SPZ) that is Western Yurammie. Compartment 966, Compartment 967 that adjoins Goodenia Rainforest and forms part of its catchment, and Compartment 963 that has the Fern Fire Trail running through it to the top of the Chalk Hills, have been mentioned. Thus, once again, Forests NSW has acted without notifying the community whose lobbying created the SPZ. When questioned regarding their intentions, Forests NSW indicated that they will only undertake surveys that are mandatory for targeted areas. So what? A Special Prescription Zone needs special surveys to map all species, including threatened ones. It requires special prescriptions to address the concerns for which it was made an SPZ in the first place. Forests NSW have stated that when their logging schedule is confirmed they will come up with a consultation process with which Yurangalo Inc will be ‘comfortable’. Given past history, Yurangalo Inc. and the broader Wyndham community will not be ‘comfortable’ about having Western Yuram-mie logged in any way. It will be essential that our local community, and others that appreciate the values that Western Yurammie represents, demonstrate to the NSW Government their support for this forest. These five compartments are more valuable as they are on the basis of their forest structure, water, soil, biodiversity and carbon sequestra-tion values than degraded by logging. The reasons for protecting Western Yurammie have not changed. In the face of climate change, the survival of this forest is critical. We have re-stated the values of Western Yurammie for your information and with the hope that you will act to protect this forest by explaining to the NSW Government why the Western Yurammie SPZ is so valued. Western Yurammie and its future is significant to Wyndham and the surrounding area for a number of important reasons. Firstly, this forest and its rainforest gullies form a significant part of Wyndham’s water catchments. They feed directly into the Myrtle Creek. It is noteworthy that in the summer of 2002 – 2003, when trees were dying elsewhere, there was no sign of tree death in this forest. As the district grows, as the demand for water in-creases, it is vital that the Wyndham community permanently protects its water catchments. Secondly, as appreciation of the area increases, Western Yurammie offers easy visitor access to mature forest and rainforest gullies along the Kingfisher and Goodenia Roads. This place is a tourist asset. The superb panoramic view from the top of the Chalkhills in Western Yurammie stretches down to the coast in the east, across to the rocky faces of Jingera Rock and the forested hills of the Coolangubra in the south, over the village and the cleared lands of the Wyndham valley in the west, and to the Tantawangalo in the north. Thirdly, the biodiversity of Western Yurammie is invaluable. Its diverse flora includes temperate rainforest and tall, moist forest eucalypts including species usually found on the escarpment to the west, such as the brown barrel (Eucalyptus fastigata). Western Yurammie is home to a wide variety of fauna, including at least ten threatened species – giant burrowing frogs, potoroos, yellow-bellied gliders, powerful owls, barking owls, sooty owls, koalas, glossy black-cockatoos, gang-gang cockatoos, tiger quolls and little bentwing bats. The lack of tree death in the 2002 -2003 drought highlights this forest’s importance as a refuge for both flora and fauna. Because of its significance, community members have been lobbying the NSW Government to protect Western Yurammie since the early ‘90s. As a result of com-munity pressure, these five compartments were designated a Special Prescription Zone during the 1998 Regional Forest Agreement. The NSW Government has received two community petitions requesting the permanent protection of this forest in 1998 and 2001. It has also received thousands of letters asking it to protect the community’s interests. In recent years, koalas have been a focus in forests of the South East where their presence has been previously recorded. In 2006, our focus was participation in a community consultative process to help protect koalas. In the first half of 2008, the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change held community meetings in Wyndham and Bermagui to release the report from this process and request submissions from the community. To date there has been no response from the De-partment regarding these submissions and the management framework for koa-las in the region is still not in place. However, in 2009, community surveys took place in the Bermagui forests. Similar surveys have been scheduled for the Yurammie and Tantawangalo forests in 2010. The focus of Yurangalo Inc. continues to be the Western Yurammie SPZ’s pro-tection. With plantation wood supplies flooding the market and the Nippon Pa-per woodchip mill at Eden looking for ways to use surplus woodchips by burning our forests for electricity, it is vital that we halt the degradation that is native for-est logging. It has been clearly indicated that it is not economically viable. West-ern Yurammie is more valuable locally and nationally intact than as a pile of woodchips and a few sawlogs. To help protect Western Yurammie: 1. Contact Yurangalo Inc. PO Box 9121 Wyndham, NSW 2550 or email [email protected] 2. Contact the NSW Minister for Primary Industries and the Minister for Climate Change and the Environment requesting permanent protection for Western Yurammie (the Yurammie Special Prescription Zone Compartments 963 – 967).

Front Cover - Wet gully Photographer - Carolyn Griffiths

Design & artwork - Dovewood Design Printing - Carbon Copy Pambula

Printed on Envirocare 100% Recycled Paper Western Yurammie - South East NSW

Funds raised from sales of this calendar will go towards the campaign to protect Western Yurammie.

Western Yurammie from Myrtle Mountain Road Note logging scar in nearby Gnupa Forest

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January

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Forest trees - Yellow stringybark (E.muellerana) and Mountain grey gum (E.cypellocarpa) Photo—Paul Callaghan


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Forest floor fungi (Boletus and allies group) Photo—Bob Harris


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Hibbertia dentata buds Photo—Paul Callaghan


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Red passionflower (Passiflora cinnabarina) Photo—Amber Callaghan


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Wedge-tailed Eagle nest in Mountain grey gum (E.cypellocarpa) Photo—Paul Callaghan


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Twining guinea flower (Hibbertia dentata) Photo—Bob Harris


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July

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Tree fern gully Photo—Sean Yeo


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Forest floor fungi (Agaricus and allies group) Photo—Bob Harris


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September

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New growth Gristle fern (Blechnum cartilagineum) Photo—Paul Callaghan


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October

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Imperial Jezabel butterfly feeding on Sweet pittosporum (Pittosporum undulatum) Photo—Bob Harris


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Forest floor fungi (Agaricus and allies group) Photo—Bob Harris


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December

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Rainforest gully with Sassafrass (Doryphora sassafrass) Photo—Bob Harris

Yurangalo Calendar 2010

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Transcript of Yurangalo Calendar 2010