Identify a state forest for surveying

• Look at the Forestry Plan Portal 12 month plan of operations Map of NSW. Sign up and create a free account to navigate this website.
• Scan the NSW map to check the state forest compartments near you to survey, or that are likely to be logged soon. Compartments slated for logging will be colour coded as ‘Proposed (light blue), Planning (yellow), Approved (pink) or Active (green). There is also suspended, completed or unknown.
• You can click on a compartment on the map to get more info. Be sure to “Subscribe” to any compartments of interest to you - this way you will get an email alert as the status of that forest changes.
• Download the harvest plan for a compartment you are interested in surveying.  Only when the status is ‘Active’ or ‘Approved’ will the harvest plans be accessible. There will be a downloadable PDF of the harvesting plan with a map under the ‘Files’ subheading on the page.
• This plan will list conditions and buffer/exclusion zones applied to the logging of these compartments, and will provide a map detailing key features of the coup and protected areas. This map is essential and will provide a visualisation of the conditions applied to the harvesting plan, and will be important later on. Print in good quality in A4 or A3, and study it.
• Even if the state forest you wish to survey isn’t currently listed on the harvest portal, you can still undertake a survey to see what plants and animals are found there. This could potentially help stop logging further down the track. 

Important priority forests and compartments being logged

North Coast - State Forests

• Ourimbah
• Wild Cattle Creek
• Oakes

NEFA summary of Northern Rivers logging operations October 2021

South Coast - State Forests

Key logging operations in southern NSW 

• Currowan
  • iNaturalist project for Currowan
• Shallow Crossing
  • iNaturalist project for Shallow Crossing
• Mogo
  • Campaign pamphlet on Mogo 146
  • iNaturalist project for Mogo 146

Desktop Ecological Survey Data

Before you go into the field, or if you are unable to and still wish to take part in this work, you can undertake a desktop survey of the available data on species found in any forest threatened by logging.

• Look online for any existing threatened flora and fauna records in the survey area by consulting Bionet. (refer to Surveying section - hyperlink) 
• Compare online Bionet records with the list of threatened species on the Forestry harvest plan. If they have not listed a threatened species that is known or likely to occur in the area to be logged, you can report this to the EPA and FCNSW to trigger relevant protections. 
• Check the year that the compartment was previously logged in harvest plan. Previous harvest plans can also be found here. Check for exclusion zones or buffers for species and ecological communities in this coupe and compare to current plan. If there is discrepancy in what species they apply protections for, report this.