SAVE  DEONGWAR  STATE  FOREST

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(Insert title and name of recipient eg politician/influencer) 

RE: Save Deongwar State Forest - Protect our large old habitat trees and wildlife.

Dear .........................................

(Insert title and name of recipient),

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I am asking the state government to immediately transition Deongwar State Forest to a conservation estate now that logging has ceased.

This will align with the Queensland State Government's 2019 commitment to transition 20,000 hectares of State Forest prior to 31 December 2024.

After a long history of logging and bush fires, Deongwar State Forest needs to be protected so it can grow back to maturity and regain its forest structure and achieve its full potential to provide the abundant and diverse ecological resources to support the native species that have traditionally called it home.

 

Deongwar Forest contains live large old hollow bearing trees essential for powerful owls, glossy black-cockatoos, greater gliders, squirrel gliders and yellow bellied gliders. These species are vulnerable to local extinction due to the loss of essential habitat present in this forest.

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Deongwar Forest is a large intact remnant forest with good connectivity to adjoining nature reserves and nearby national parks.
 

All 4871 hectares of Deongwar State Forest need to be dedicated to a conservation state immediately.

 

This forest will also ultimately contribute to the Commonwealth Government's International commitment to protect 30% of our lands by 2030.

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​This high value conservation forest contains:

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• 4871 hectares of intact native forest including extensive scenic rocky creek systems and associated rainforest

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• habitat for at least 146 protected native animals including the long-nosed potoroo, powerful owl, black-breasted button-quail, white-throated needletail, glossy-black cockatoo, koala and greater glider​​

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• 2661 hectares of koala habitat which represents 55% for its total area 

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• 311 hectares of endangered blackbutt woodland

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• 4700 hectares of greater glider habitat which represents 100% of its total area

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• at least 94 native plant species

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• a critical wildlife corridor connecting adjacent National Parks and other State Forests

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• ecological resilience within the broader landscape offering refuge to wildlife when conditions in other areas may be less desirable, for example during and after bushfire

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• culturally significant areas for the First Nations people

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• an important central node of high elevation climate change refugia within the South East Queensland Biodiversity corridor

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• a young forest that will sequester carbon at a linear rate for hundreds of years

 

 

Now is the time to protect this forest forever and let it recover. 

Kind Regards,

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Decision Makers Contact List

(Current as of 16th December 2023)

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Contact those listed below to express you concerns and ask for an immediate end to the ecologically unsustainable logging of Deongwar State Forest.

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COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT
Currently logging within Queensland State forest is technically exempt under the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, 1999. (EPBC). 

The Hon Anthony Albanese MP (ALP)
Prime Minister
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Tel: 02 6277 7700

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The Hon Tanya Plibersek MP (ALP)
Suite M1 48
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Minister.Plibersek@dcceew.gov.au
Tel: (02) 6277 7920

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The Hon. Shayne Neumann (ALP)
Member for Blair (Elected to the House of Representatives for Blair, Queensland)
PO Box 2579 North Ipswich LPO, QLD, 4305
shayne.neumann.mp@aph.gov.au
(07) 3201 5311
Toll free: 1300 792714
Canberra phone number (02) 62774755

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QUEENSLAND PARLIAMENTARY MINISTERS
As part of the 1999 South East Queensland Forest Agreement the Queensland State Government committed to transferring up to 20,000 hectares of State forest into the conservation estate prior to 31st December 2024. The Queensland State Government must be held to account to ensure they fulfill that commitment.

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Open letter to the Queensland Premier, members of the Legislative Assembly, Minister for the
Department of Primary Industries, Minister for the Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and
Innovation and their respective appointed Director-Generals.
Feel free to use the text below to draft you own personal letter and send it by email, or preferably, print,
sign and send using Australia Post’s Registered Mail. Sending your letter by Registered Mail will ensure it
is acknowledged and by default more likely to require a written response.

RE: DEONGWAR NEEDS RESTORATION NOT FURTHER EXPLOITATION.
The woodlands, riparian zones and aquatic ecosystems of Deongwar have been adversely impacted by both historical and more recent ecologically unsustainable logging and rapacious salvage logging. And sever canopy burning, stand replacing wildfire has further depleted it’s stock of ecological resources reducing the abundance and distribution of protected native flora and fauna.
We have know for 25 years that our State forests are incapable of meeting the minimum requirements of the timber industry Code of Practice with regard to the retention of hollow bearing trees and that the logged areas can only support arboreal hollow obligate species at below natural population densities making them increasingly vulnerable to decline and localised extinction.
The Australian Threatened Species Index 2023 demonstrates that over the last 25 years Queensland's threatened terrestrial native birds and terrestrial mammals have declined by 70% and 60% respectively with many trending towards extinction. This reliable and robust scientific data is an urgent call to action and it requires a proactive response from the State that puts Nature first.
Deongwar is a critically important area of high elevation climate change refugia within South East Queensland’s biodiversity corridor. It provides habitat and landscape connectivity for 146 known native animals including forest owls, large parrots, macropods, gliding marsupials, migratory species such as the Critically Endangered Swift Parrot and notably a significant colony of Endangered Koalas.
Permanently protecting Deongwar and growing it back to maturity over time will allow it to achieve it’s full potential to provide the abundance and diversity of ecological resources necessary to support viable, genetically diverse and resilient meta-populations of native species that are not just ‘hanging on’ but able to survive, thrive and disperse at the landscape scale.
25 years ago the State committed to end the logging of State forest in the South East Queensland Regional Plan area by 31 December 2024 and later set a target to increase Queensland's conservation estate from 8.6% to 17%. It also promised to dedicate up to 20,000 hectares of State forest to conservation before 31 December 2024. A further 7,776 hectares is required to met that commitment.
We ask that all of Deongwar’s 4751 hectares be permanently protected as a valuable contribution to Queensland’s conservation estate to help the State honour these long standing commitments. Failing to do so would demonstrate either ignorance or disregard for the scientific evidence and a willingness to throw our threatened native species ‘under the bus’ in the pursuit of unsustainable lifestyle aspirations and temporal economic and political gains. Extinction is permanent.
“Deongwar – It’s Worth Protecting”

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LIST OF DECISION MAKERS AND INFLUENCERS CONTACT DETAILS

Commonwealth Government.
Logging of Queensland’s publicly owned State forest is currently technically exempt under the
Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, 1999. Whilst the
Commonwealth has abducted responsibility for the health and protection of Queensland State Forest
Estate to the Queensland State Government the issues needs to bought to their attention. However, writing
to the Federal member for Ipswich Hon. Shayne Neumann MP would probably be the best use of our
time. His contact details are included in the Queensland State Government list.
Queensland State Government.
Currently the future of publicly owned Sate forest in the South East Queensland Regional Plan area is
uncertain. However Timber Industry Newsletters suggest that the incumbent government will abandon
Labor’s ‘Queensland Sustainable Timber Industry Framework’ and revisit the ‘Native Timber Action
Plan’ from 2019.
It’s important to note that both the Labor and Liberal National Party have indicated that there should be
no overall reduction in the volume of forest products extracted from Queensland State forest. As such, it is
reasonable to assume that any State forests, including Deongwar, that have not yet been formally
transitioned to the conservation estate may exploited for native forest logwood products going forward.

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Hon. Shayne Neumann MP
Member for Blair (Elected to the House of Representatives for Blair, Queensland)
Electorate Office (Principal Office)
PO Box 2579 North Ipswich LPO, QLD, 4305
shayne.neumann.mp@aph.gov.au
(07) 3201 5300

Hon David Chrisafulli
Premier and Minister for Veterans
Shop 20
Hope Island Central
340 Hope Island Road
HOPE ISLAND QLD 4212
premier@ministerial.qld.gov.au
(07) 5560 6100
Note - Premier Chrisafulli may also be contacted directly online via the following link.
https://cabinet.qld.gov.au/ministers-portfolios/david-crisafulli.aspx

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Hon Deb Frecklington MP
Shop 2
34AAlford Street
KINGAROY QLD 4610
Nanango@parliament.qld.gov.au
(07) 4190 7100

 

Hon Andrew Powell MP

Minister for Environment and Tourism and Minister for Science and Innovation
PO Box 727
Maleny QLD 4552
glass.house@parliamentt.qld.gov.au
Ph: 07 5318 8100
M: 0475 508 570

Hon Andrew (Tony) Perrett MP
Minister for Primary Industries
GPO Box 46
Brisbane QLD 4001
primaryindustries@minister.qld.dov.au
(07) 3719 7530

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Appointed Director-Generals and Deputy Director-Generals.
Note: Following the State election some departments have been renamed and some new Director-Generals
have been appointed. As such the email addresses below may have changed. However the your
correspondence should be redirected within the department. SDSF will update contacts when available.

Graeme Bolton
Director-General
Department of Primary Industries
GPO Box 46
Brisbane QLD 4001
dafdg.corro@dpi.qld.gov.au

Pauline Jacob
Deputy Director-General of Fisheries and Forestry
Department of Primary Industries
GPO Box 46
Brisbane 4001
pauline.jacob@dpi.qld.gov.au

Patricia O’Callaghan
Director-General (Acting)
Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation.
GPO Box 2454
BRISBANE QLD 4001
patricia.ocallaghan@des.qld.gov.au

Jamie Merrick
Deputy Director-General
Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation.
GPO Box 2454
BRISBANE QLD 4001
jamie.merrick@des.qld.gov.au

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Assistant Ministers to the Premier.
Mr Sean Dillon
Assistant Minister for Primary Industry Development, Water and Western Queensland

Shop 2, Studio Exclusive Arcade
120A Eagle Street
LONGREACH QLD 4730
gregory@parliament.qld.gov.au
(07) 4521 5700

Mr Trevor Watts
Assistant Minister to the Premier for Cabinet and South West Queensland
182 Ruthven Street
NORTH TOOWOOMBA QLD 4350
Toowoomba.North@parliament.qld.gov.au
(07) 4602 2100

Dr Christian Rowan
Assistant Minister to the Premier on Matters of State and New Citizens
Shop 58
Kenmore Village
9 Brookfield Road
KENMORE QLD 4069
Moggill@parliament.qld.gov.au
(07) 37374220

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Somerset Regional Council.
Whilst native hardwood logging of Deongwar is primarily a matter of State Government legislature and
policy the Somerset Regional Council Mayor and councillors need to consider the benefits Deongwar has
for the regions biodiversity, Eco-tourism opportunities and the general well being of local residence.

Mayor Jason Wendt
JWendt@somerset.qld.gov.au
0498 020 428
Deputy Mayor Helen Brieschke
HBrieschke@somerset.qld.gov.au
0438 149 954

Kylee Isidro
KIsidro@somerset.qld.gov.au
0477 037 462

Brett Freese
BFreese@somerset.qld.gov.au
0407 656 608

Tiara Hurley
THurley@somerset.qld.gov.au
0415 441 064

Michael Bishop
MBishop@somerset.qld.gov.au
Sally Jess
SJess@somerset.qld.gov.au
0408 769 445

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Regional Newspapers.
Constituents of the Somerset and Toowoomba Regional Council areas are encouraged to submit letters
and/or stories about Deongwar to help raise community awareness whist also expressing your concerns to
the editors of the local newspapers for publication.

The Somerset News
news@thesomerset.com.au
0411 896 004

The Somerset Sentinel
admin@sentinelmews.com.au
(07) 54387445

The Lockyer & Somerset Independent
admin@tlsindependent.com.au
letters@tlsindependent.com.au
editotial@tlsindependant.com.au
(07) 4574 5200

High Country Herald
herald@highcountrynews.net.au
(07) 96154416
0409890081

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BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTE (BSI)

The British Standards Institution is the national standards body of the United Kingdom. BSI produces
technical standards on a wide range of products and services and also supplies certification and
standards-related services to businesses.

‘If there is anyway we can help please let us know’

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Sabah Dunkley
British Standards Institute
Head Office- Sydney
Suite 1, Level 1/54 Waterloo Rd, Macquarie Park NSW 2113
Tel: 1300 730 134
sabah.dunkley@bsigroup.com

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British Standards Institute
Brisbane Office
Level 6, 200 Adelaide Street, Brisbane City, QLD 4000
info.aus@bsigroup.com
Tel: 1300 730 134

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QUEENSLAND PARKS AND WILDLIFE SERVICE AND PARTNERSHIPS (QPWS)

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service are responsible for the as a decision of the Department of
Environment and Science, (DES).

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Damien Head 
Executive Director – Southern Parks and Forests
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Partnerships
damien.head@des.qld.gov.au
0407 154 235

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Rachel Chesher
Executive Director – Acting – Southern Parks and Forests
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Partnerships
qpwssouthernfwr.corro@des.qld.gov.au

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