Tasmania Added Nest Setbacks and Habitat Buffers Before Logging 49-Hectare Coupe in Lonnavale

Logging of a 49-hectare coupe in Lonnavale, Tasmania, proceeded after the Forest Practices Authority added limited protections following more than 100 swift parrot sightings and new nests in late 2021, Abc reported. The critically endangered species, whose population stands at an estimated 500 birds, requires flowering blue gum, black gum and Brookers gum near old-growth trees with hollows for nesting.

The FPA directed officers to assess every native forest logging coupe at Lonnavale in greater detail.

It later wrote that the workload was not sustainable and had caused decision fatigue among biodiversity staff. The agency mapped a wildlife habitat clump along one boundary of coupe DN023H, imposed 50-metre setbacks around two nests outside the coupe, and established streamside buffers.

Sustainable Timber Tasmania agreed to the changes but noted that retained trees would be affected by the regeneration burn.

Logging of DN023H began by 2024. A stump estimated at more than four metres in diameter was removed, along with other large trees near recognised habitat areas. FPA chief officer Anne Chuter told parliament last month that the agency is investigating complaints and that preliminary information indicates some large trees were felled for safety reasons.

An FPA email stated that in almost all cases timber processing continued while sightings were investigated, resulting in no or low lost time. Tasmania's Environment Department reported that logging caused the loss of 23 per cent of potential nesting habitat over 20 years in one southern breeding area. Over the same period the swift parrot population fell from 2,100 to 500.