DEAR News Of The Area,
HOW many of the Knitting Nannas really understand how forests grow?
Looking at a forest is a snapshot of the life cycle of that forest stand just as a snapshot of your family shows what the family looked like at a point in time.
Forests change over time, some trees get bigger, others die.
Fire can kill the whole stand but regeneration starts the cycle again.
Animal numbers also change as the forest changes.
Some animal numbers reach a maximum at certain stages of the stand’s life and then can decrease to almost zero.
Animals like the koala prefer fresh growth and are common in areas logged some months earlier thriving on the new shoots.
Glossy black cockatoos are very specific on individual feed trees and if those trees are left undisturbed they will continue to come back even if harvesting has occurred in the surrounding area.
How many Nannas have native hardwood timber in their homes such as frames, mouldings or furniture?
If they were so anti-native species harvesting, they should get rid of all this material as a real protest instead of trying to stop the next generation from appreciating the beauty of this timber.
If native species harvesting is stopped we will just import more hardwood timbers from countries where harvesting controls are non-existent or not effectively enforced.
All it will do is move the issue off-shore.
Nannas go and talk to your local foresters and ask to be shown different areas that have been harvested over time and the impact of that harvesting on animal populations.
Regards,
Peter PAUNOVIC,
Boambee East.