Irene asks me:
1. Definition of "western NSW" (and perhaps even listed the forests)
* the Commonwealth Government established a Resource Assessment Process
over the native
forests of the Eastern seaboard and similar forests in other States in order to
resolve conflict
between conservationists and the timber industry. This process is getting close
to fruition but the
promised assessment of other "western" forests is about to start. There is no
definition. The best way
to state this is to say that all forests west of the Great Divide are to be
assessed to determine
which are needed for a "comprehensice, representative and adequate" reserve
system. This is not
strictly true as some of the Southern forests in the Tumut region were
assessed, kind of, in the first
round. However all forests West of the Divide is a good definition.
* We are not yet in a position to state what the NPWS and DLaWC intend
in the RACAC process in
this section. After numerous meetings we are still not clear if this process
will include all forests
or only those now managed by State Forests. Nor are we sure if the definition
of forests will include
all woody plants or a more formal definition of a "tree". For the purposes of
this exercise I am
asking for information on State Forests only. The list is irrelevant as in the
end all will need to be
assessed. Bird lists are only one type of information we will need.
2. What date you would like a response by?
* Again unclear. If we, as the ngo responsible for the environmental
movement, are to be in a
place to influence the direction of the debate we need to have good information
and the earlier the
better. We have a project officer collecting information on the West already
and have collected much
already but the more the better and even better if it is in electronic form as
we can then use it more
quickly.
3. If people "flooded you" with bird lists, is that really the point and could
you handle the volume
(presuming a good response!). Should people submitting the bird lists also
point out which birds on
the list are "special" or require protection in a reserve (and why).
* Yes! We can handle this information, especially in electronic form.
Apart from the person in
place for two days per week we are putting an extra person on board for a
further three days per week.
If any person who sends information in would like to suggest those forests
considered valuable and
have other information of value we would be more than willing to receive it.
Plant lists, animal
lists, etc. And we are already using a network of contacts in various Field
Naturalist Societies.
Thanks for your interest Irene and I look forward to the "flood" of
information. This round of debates
might be the best opportunity we will all have to ensure a good reserve system
in the west of NSW.
Brian Everingham
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