NSW WILDERNESS RED INDEX
Published by the Colong Foundation for Wilderness Ltd
(September 1999)
2/332 Pitt Street Sydney 2000 ph 02 9261 2400; fax 029 299 5713
email keith@colongwilderness.org.au web site colongwilderness.org.au
| NAME: | Mummel Gulf |
| NOMINATED BY: | Colong Foundation, Confederation of Bushwalking Clubs and The Wilderness Society 23/10/96. |
| LOCATION: | 180 km north of Newcastle and 140 km west of Taree. |
| SIZE: | 12,300 ha |
| TENURE: | Nominated Identified New NPWS estate (Oct. 1993 to Sept. 1999) Former State Forest 9,500 ha under assessment Other tenure State Forest 2,500 ha under assessment Freehold land 300 ha under assessment |
Wilderness Declared:
None
Wilderness Not Declared:
Mummel Gulf National Park;
| Size of nominated area: | 9,500 |
| Percentage of entire nomination: | 77% |
State Forest;
| Size of nominated area: | 2,500 ha |
| Percentage of entire nomination: | 20% |
Freehold land;
| Size of nominated area: | 300 ha |
| Percentage of entire nomination: | 2% |
DESCRIPTION:
The nominated area is on the south-eastern escarpment edge of the New England Tablelands, forming part of the greater Manning Catchment. Tertiary basalt flows cover the majority of ridges and valley rims in the area. These tertiary volcanics overlie an extensively folded basement of Devonian metasediments, such as slaty argillites, greywackes and pebbly mudstones.
The Mummel River has formed a deep ‘V shaped’ gorge between the high elevation basalt ridges, and relief exceeds 400m in Mummel Gulf at the head of this gorge.
The wilderness supports a great mosaic of high elevation wet forests and a diverse array of plant species. These communities include rainforest, wet sclerophyll forest, tall open forest, snow gum forest and woodland. Several plant species and communities are considered inadequately conserved and species of biogeographic importance are found in the nominated area.
Hardwood tableland forests dominated by E. obliqua and less commonly E. nobilis are well represented in this area. It is estimated that only 20% of this forest type remains from the time of European settlement. Most of the proposed wilderness is in old growth condition. The species Broad-leaved Pepperbush (Tasmannia purpurascenes) reaches its northern limit in the area.
Several threatened animal species are known to occur in the nominated wilderness area. These include the Tiger Quoll, Parma Wallaby, Sugar Glider, Yellow-bellied Glider, Sooty Owl and Powerful Owl.
LAND USE HISTORY:
| Aboriginal | The steep escarpment lands served as the boundary between the Nganyaywana people of the southern New England Tablelands and the Danggati who had the hinterland valleys leading up to the tableland. |
European Settlement
| Grazing | A convict built road from Port Macquarie to Walcha was completed in 1842 and opened up the area for grazing. By the turn of the century most tableland areas had been taken up for cattle and sheep grazing, with occasional usage of the adjacent gorge country for marginal grazing. |
Logging
| 1850s | First hardwood mills established in the Walcha area and selective logging commenced. |
| 1940s | Logging increases to meet timber needs during WWII. |
| 1960s | Clearing of much of the forests along the Great Dividing Range for establishment of exotic pine plantations. Hardwood quotas were increased to facilitate the clearing activity. The basalt soils subsequently prove unsuitable and most of these plantations on heavy clay basalt soils have failed to yield worthwhile timber supplies. Pines require well drained soils. |
| 1970s | Enfield and Riamukka State Forests are expanded over former Crown lands to include the steep areas of the Mummel, Walcrow and Rowleys River catchments. |
| 1979 | Pine plantations are expanded, involving further clearing of tableland forest. The Forestry Commission (FCNSW, now known as State Forests) does not prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for this activity. |
| 1983 | Forestry Commission assesses that the Walcha area’s old growth would be cut out by 1992. The Commission requests the largest miller, Fenning Timbers, to reduce their quota. The request is refused and unsustainable logging in the Walcha Management Area continues. |
| 1987 | Forestry calculates a sustainable annual yield for the Walcha Management Area at 12,300 cubic metres per annum, however annual quotas remained at 52,000. |
| 1990s | Logging encroaches into the wilderness in the north west (Mt Carrington) area. |
| 1995 | December: The EIS for proposed forestry operations in Walcha-Nundle, Styx River Management Area schedules logging for 1996-97 which encroaches on the Mummel gorge from the east and west. The proposed management operations are forestalled by the Government’s Forestry Interim Assessment Process (IAP) and subsequent interim protection areas. |
HISTORY OF CONSERVATION MEASURES:
| 1985 | Daisy Patch Flora Reserve of 522 ha is gazetted over rainforests in Burns Creek catchment east of Mummel Gulf. |
| 1990 | Premier Greiner announces moratorium areas of key old growth forest which will be set aside from logging pending EIS preparation. The Mummel Gulf area is included under this announcement. The Forestry Commission subsequently removes Mummel Gulf and other old growth areas in their detailed list. |
| 1992 | June: North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) holds
a blockade in Riammukka State Forest to obstruct logging of old growth areas at the head
of the gorge. The proposed logging has not been subject to an EIS and breaks an
understanding reached between NEFA and State Forests on 18 May 1992. The Prime Minister and the Premiers of all Australian states, except Tasmania, sign National Forest Policy Statement. This Statement declares "until the assessments (of forests for conservation values) are completed, forest management agencies will avoid activities that may significantly affect those areas of old growth forest or wilderness that are likely to have high conservation value". Special moratorium areas are finally established in the Mummel Gulf area. |
| 1993 | September : The North East Forest Alliance produce a proposal for a nomination to the IUCN for the listing of the Central Great Escarpment Forests of Australia on the World Heritage Register. This includes the Mummel Gulf area, with a linking corridor to Werrikimbe National Park |
| 1996 | May: The Forestry Interim Assessment Process
Report includes a rapid desktop assessment of potential wilderness in eastern NSW. Several
new areas and extensions are provisionally identified including the 12,300 Mummel Gulf
area. September: The Government announces the Dunphy Wilderness Fund of 1 million dollars per year over 5 years for the acquisition of leasehold and freehold wilderness lands. October: Nomination under section 7 of the Wilderness Act 1987 submitted by Colong Foundation, Confederation of Bushwalking Clubs and The Wilderness Society (TWS) for 18 wilderness additions or new areas, provisionally identified through the Forestry Interim Assessment Process, including the 12,300 ha Mummel Gulf area. |
| 1998 | June: The assessment of wilderness as a
component of the north-east Comprehensive Regional Assessment (CRA) identifies as
‘wilderness capable’ a 12,300 ha area centred on the Mummel River. The area is
subsequently deleted from the proposed wilderness layer due to a last minute change of
size criteria by Government bureaucrats, which automatically excludes areas less than
15,000 ha (the agreed Commonwealth-State size minimum criteria was 8,000 ha which had also
been agreed to at a stakeholder meeting during the forest assessment period). December: The Forestry and National Park Estate Act (F&NPE Act) 1998 is passed by State Parliament. The new Mummel Gulf National Park of 11,186 is created. A major 2,500 ha hole is left unreserved in the proposed wilderness due in part to the leasehold tenure underlying 1,800 ha and high sawlog yeilds in the remainding old growth areas of tableland forest. No wilderness additions are declared in this reservation process. The wilderness has not been assessed, despite the passage of over two years since the nomination was submitted. |
| 1999 | 19 March: The Carr Government presents its
wilderness policy to environment groups. The Government commits to complete the assessment
of Mummel Gulf by the end of 1999 and determine an area for declaration by the end of
2000. If Integrated Forestry Operation Approval (IFOA) has not been signed in advance of
identification, or if the wilderness assessment area is quarantined from the Approval
area, then the identification of nominated areas in remaining State Forest would not be
constrained by the F&NPE Act 1998. 20 March: The Carr Government commits to fund the Dunphy Wilderness Fund beyond its anticipated expiry in 2001 and maintains a logging moratorium over wilderness leasehold lands, including leasehold State Forest areas. 23 March: The office of Premier Bob Carr gives undertakings to the Total Environment Centre that leasehold state forest under further consideration for reservation as wilderness will not be logged. |
THREATS:
| Forestry | Most of the areas of remaining State Forest are presently excluded from logging only by Ministerial discretion (informal reserves) and Government commitments to not log leasehold State Forests. The Mount Carrington area in the north west of the wilderness is without any wilderness protection and these old growth habitat forests are likely to be targetted for logging in the short term. |
Recommendations: These areas of state forest should be placed under a full moratorium while the purchase of the 1,800 ha grazing lease is negotiated by the NPWS. The remaining 700 ha of state forest wilderness at risk of being logged should be immediately reserved as part of the Mummel Gulf National Park. Funding for purchase should be provided through the 1999 Occupational Permit Fund.
| Fire management | Over-burning causes severe damage to rugged wilderness catchments. The ground cover that binds the soil is burnt leading to massive sheet erosion, as the next rains will strip away the thin soils of these areas. Streams then fill with gravel and silt. Fires also wipe out fauna populations and destroy the old growth vegetation. Often it is these very oldest plants that provide most of the nesting and roosting places. The assertion that Australia’s forest land was once all some sort of grassland and that it should be burnt more often to mirror Aboriginal burning practices is incorrect. Dr John Benson is adamant that "most forests and woodlands of Australia would not have been subject to frequent (less than ten-year) burns". |
Recommendations: The protection of wilderness values in fire management plans needs to be a priority. During fire emergencies bulldozers should not be allowed to scar the scenery by cutting fire control lines on steep slopes. All too often these measures fail to contain a wildfire. Decisions on damaging suppression practices should be addressed during management planning, not in a fire crisis. Except for fire trails in perimeter areas, trails constructed during fire fighting operations should be closed and rehabilitated immediately following the operation.
Effective fire fighting in wilderness requires constant aerial or satellite surveillance in bushfire danger periods to enable rapid detection and response. Such an approach eliminates the need for fire towers in wilderness areas. To effectively tackle fires in remote areas while they are still small, more fire fighters need to be trained as ‘smoke jumpers’ and helicopter crews.
Fuel-reduction burns should be undertaken where they are most effective, that is close to the assets being protected (eg. towns and rural districts). Most wildfires burn into parks, not the other way around and broad-area control burns of wilderness are ineffective in controlling such external fires.
| Four Wheel Drive Vehicles | Forestry roads and fire trails have provided
access for 4WD vehicles into the nominated area for some years. The use of off road vehicles in wilderness areas is highly detrimental to the environment. Such vehicles introduce: weeds; can degrade walking tracks; damage fragile ecosystems; and leave trails that destroy the aesthetic qualities of wilderness, as well as taking years to overgrow to a state where they do not compromise wilderness qualities. These vehicles often carry generators, firearms and dogs, which are further incompatible to wilderness appreciation due to the level of noise created and the destruction of wildlife. |
CONTACT ORGANISATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS
Colong Foundation for Wilderness
2/332 Pitt Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000
Contact: Keith Muir (Director) Ph: (w) 02 9261 2400
FAX: 02 9261 2144
email keith@colongwilderness.org.auNorth East Forest Alliance
C/- Big Scrub Environment Centre
123 Keen Street
LISMORE NSW 2480
Contact: Susie Russel Ph: (W) 02 66 213 278
Mob: 018 672 044
Fax: 02 6550 4433The Wilderness Society
Newcastle Branch
Hunter Heritage Centre
90 Hunter Street
NEWCASTLE NSW 2300
Contact: Glen Klatovsky Ph: 02 4929 4395
Fax: 02 4929 5940
RELEVANT ARTICLES:
Colong Bulletin 156, May 1996 p8, "Wilderness Protection - Navigating the way forward".
Colong Bulletin 157, July 1996 p3, "Wilderness Protection Scheme".
Colong Bulletin 159, November 1996 p7, "Major advances in Wilderness and Forest Protection".