Whether you're planning to explore the field or need to stay home, you can play a crucial role in safeguarding threatened forests with a simple online search.
You don't need to be an expert or scientist. Simply consult BioNet Atlas for any existing threatened flora and fauna records in forest currently marked 'Proposed', 'Approved' or 'Active' on the 12-month Native Forest Plan of Operations Map.
You can also consult iNaturalist for a more access to a comprehensive, citizen scientist build compendium of flavour and fauna sitings.
These resources are also important for those in Southern NSW:
- Fauna and Habitat Features that Trigger Exclusion Zones in Southern NSW State Forests
- Flora that trigger exclusion zones in Southern NSW forest
- Protocol 31 Flora that triggers a 20m exclusion zone (all plants in NSW)
The following inconsistencies can be immediately reported to the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
- Does the forestry harvest plan contain all records of threatened species available in Bionet? If there is a threatened species that is known or likely to occur in the area to be logged, that is not included in the harvest plan, you can report this breach to the EPA.
- Check the year that the compartment was previously logged in under 'previous harvest plans' here. Look at exclusion zones or buffers for species and ecological communities in previous plans. If there is a discrepancy between previous and current harvest plans, you can immediately report this inconsistency to the EPA for further review.
If there is inadequate information about a given forest, you can undertake your own survey to see what plants and animals are in a given forest. If you can identify and photograph endangered species, this can be used to trigger fines and stop current or future logging activities. See our Surveying from the field for more information.
Email [email protected] if you have any questions or comments.