Queensland Residents draws to the attention of the House: the strong objection to the proposed harvesting of Beerwah State Forest Lot 1 AP 22457. Thousands of local residents have actively rallied against the logging operation as Ferny Forest has significant ecological, cultural, recreational and tourism values. Ferny Forest is visited by more than 1,000 people a month according to QPWS numbers. Ferny Forest Mountain Biking Trail is in the top 5 most used MTB trails on the Sunshine Coast according to the Strava heat map. Ferny Forest is located only a few kilometres north of the proposed Beerwah East Major Development Area of 3,180 hectares with the capacity of 20,000 dwellings. In future all those people will need to play somewhere so why not in a beautiful intact Ferny Forest which for them will be just around the corner. Ferny Forest is Core Koala Habitat and research has shown the koala can contribute up to $3.2 billion to the Australian Economy and near 30,000 jobs, and this is expected to increase in the coming years (Hundloe and Hamilton 1997). Ferny Forest is located a mere 5 kilometres north of Australia Zoo, a major drawcard to the region. Ferny Forest is due to transfer into Conservation Estate by 31 December 2024.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to do all within its power to block the imminent logging from going ahead.