Have your say on how WA’s unique native vegetation should be managed into the future. Deadline for comment: Mon 25th October.

WA Minister for Environment, Amber-Jade Sanderson, has released a draft Native Vegetation Policy for WA and is seeking public comment through a survey, which is open until Next Monday the 25th of October, 2021.

While the intention of this draft policy is welcomed, it lacks the necessary ambition to address the major issues facing WA’s native vegetation and the biodiversity it supports. The WA Forest Alliance encourages West Australians to respond strongly to the survey.

Our colleagues at The Wilderness Society have put together a helpful survey guide for supporters.

If you would like to advocate for the forests and woodlands in the survey, be sure to include these five points in the section where you can add your own submission.

1. The WA native vegetation policy should confirm and reflect the recent announcement that there will be no logging of native forests after January 2024 by stating that all native forests and woodlands will be protected in the conservation reserve system and managed under a forest conservation plan.

2. Forest and woodland ecosystems should be managed for protection and restoration of their biodiversity values and functions including by creating and reestablishing linkages and corridors.

3. The policy should explicitly prohibit the use of any material, including thinnings, from native forests and woodlands for biomass.

4. The policy should ensure that the current practice of prescribed burning be subject to urgent independent scientific review to assess the impact on forest ecology and biodiversity.

5. There should be no expansion of bauxite mining rather there should be an independent scientific review to assess the cumulative impacts of the clear-felling for mining in the jarrah forest.

Find the guide and survey here: https://www.wilderness.org.au/wa-native-vegetation-policy-survey-guide