Queensland residents draws to the attention of the House our objection to the proposed selective native timber harvesting of 129 hectares of core and priority koala habitat at Beerwah State Forest Lot 1 AP 22457. This imminent harvesting operation is planned only 2 years before the area is due to transition into protected area / national park due to its significant conservation values which includes 53 threatened species including the koala, now classified as endangered, and at least 190 different native plant species including large and old habitat trees with hollows. The area is a significant cultural site for the Kabi Kabi people and an important link from Ewen Maddock Dam to Mooloolah River National Park with vegetation that is preventing soil erosion and therefore improving the water quality of the dam and surrounding waterways and rivers. The area has great recreational value for walking, cycling, swimming and kayaking. Recovery from logging may be impossible due to exotic fungi (phytophthora and myrtle rust), invasive weeds and climate change now adversely affecting our native forests. We fear logging of any scale in this forest will have a devastating impact. 

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to do all within its power to block the imminent logging from going ahead or at least provide us with a report weighing up the economic value of the harvested logs against the area's ecological, cultural, and recreational value (in dollar terms) that will endure for generations to come.