Furphy: Only a small proportion of the total forest estate is logged each year, so the impacts are small.

Fact: The impacts of logging are significant, cumulative and extend beyond logged areas.

Logging occurs against a backdrop where more than half of the forests and woodlands in NSW that existed prior to European invasion have been destroyed (Ward et al. 2024a) and where the Black Summer bushfires burned 42 per cent of the state forest estate (DPIE 2020). The habitat of at least 150 threatened species is threatened by logging (Ward et al. 2024a).

Each year, Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCNSW) logs about 1 per cent of the 2 million hectares of native forests that it manages (FCNSW n.d.a). This is about 2 per cent of the “net harvestable area” available for logging, which excludes reserved areas, prohibited areas under the rules that regulate logging (e.g. riparian zones), forests with operational constraints (e.g. safety risks), and forests considered to be unmerchantable (MIG & NFISC 2024a, Table 2.1a-3). From 2011-2012 to 2020-2021, around 22 thousand hectares was logged per year on average (MIG & NFISC 2024a, Table 2.1a-4). In the decade prior, the area (and percentage of net harvestable area) logged was significantly higher.

Logging is not targetted uniformly across the landscape. It tends to be concentrated in the more productive forests with bigger trees and higher biodiversity values (Lindenmayer 2024 pp.31). An example of this is logging inside the Great Koala National Park assessment area, which impacted endangered species including the koala and southern greater glider. In the last few years prior to the declaration of the Park, the area was logged at a much higher intensity than the remaining area of state forests in northeast NSW (Pugh 2025; Wilderness Australia & NPA NSW 2024).

When a forest is repeatedly logged, its structure is simplified and biodiversity values degraded (Lindenmayer 2024 pp.53). Logged areas can remain unsuitable as habitat for many species for decades (or centuries for those which need very large hollows), which can be multiple times longer than the time between logging (Lindenmayer 2024 pp.34, 46). Bushfire risk is also heightened in logged forests for up to 70 years (Wilson et al. 2022).

As an example of the logging rotation time, Compartment 50A of North Brooman State Forest, where the world’s largest spotted gum (Big Spotty) lives, was last logged in 2005 and is due to be logged again in 2027 (22 years apart) (FCNSW n.d.b).

The impacts of logging extend well beyond the area directly logged. Over years, many coupes across a forest are typically logged, which fragments the remaining forest into smaller intact patches that are more vulnerable to wind, fire and the localised extinction of animals that cannot move between patches. Access roads for logging fragment the forests further and aid the spread of weeds and feral predators (Lindenmayer 2024 pp.35-36).

Further reading

Lindenmayer, D. (2024). The forest wars. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, pp.30-36, 44-54.