Over millions of years, unique plants and animals have been quietly evolving in Australia’s eastern coastal and range forests. After the separation of Australia from the Gondwana supercontinent, these forests became the evolutionary birthplace of globally unique forms of eucalypts, rainforest trees and flowering plants. This created a global epicentre for gliding mammals and a critical refuge for the koala.

Here, there remain unbroken wilderness tracts that extend from alpine herbfields above the snow-line all the way down to subtropical rainforests at the sea level—providing a rare coast-to-summit arc that harbours a huge diversity of life within. 

Among the world’s most biologically rich—yet threatened—areas, it’s no wonder some of these forests are recognised as one of Australia’s two Global Biodiversity Hotspots.

This Country has been cared for by First Nations people for tens of thousands of years—a living legacy that continues to the present day. 

Communities worked tirelessly over decades to secure the protection of some forests within the eastern coastal & range forests, such as the World Heritage-listed Gondwana Rainforests of Australia in northern NSW. This region holds deep significance for many First Nations groups. However, other large areas of forest that are of World Heritage value are currently subject to industrial logging, despite increasing public opposition to the destruction of native forests.

Go wandering in Australia’s eastern coastal and range forests, and you’re likely to hear this iconic sound: the extraordinary mimicking calls of the lyrebird.

Both the superb lyrebird and the rarer Albert’s lyrebird call these ancient forests home, along with countless other unique and endemic animals—including brush-tailed rock wallabies, feathertail gliders, gang-gang cockatoos, regent honeyeaters, red goshawks, swift parrots, stuttering frogs, southern and central gliders, velvet worms, broad-headed snakes, and southern forest dragons. 

Endangered koalas also depend on these forests for their survival. Without urgent action to protect their habitat, koalas are expected to become extinct in the wild in NSW by 2050. 

But it’s not just the animal species that make these forests so special. This area is home to Gondwanan rainforests that have survived for millions of years. Quintessentially Australian plants like banksias and bottlebrushes evolved here, as well as ‘sclerophyllous vegetation’ such as eucalypts and acacias.

There’s also a high level of plant endemism at the family level. Doryanthaceae (a family of plants that grows in a rosette form and only flowers after 10 years) and Petermanniaceae (a family of prickly, wiry stemmed vines that grow to six metres in height) occur nowhere else in the world.

Because of these globally significant natural features, Australia’s eastern coastal and range forests have been put forward in a range of World Heritage proposals, historically and currently.

First Nations groups have a long connection with Australia’s eastern coastal and range forests, and this continues through to the present day. For tens of thousands of years, First Nations Peoples have lived on and cared for this Country.

Throughout these forests are many sites of significant cultural value, including rock carvings, grinding grooves and shell middens. There are also tool manufacturing sites and indications of specialised industries—for example, a place where bone points and fishing hooks were produced.

The Wilderness Society recognises that sovereignty over these lands was never ceded. The rights and aspirations of First Nations’ Peoples must be upheld in all aspects of land and water management, as well as decision-making in relation to their traditional lands, regardless of current land tenure.

As well as being key to the survival of native wildlife and a place rich in First Nations culture, these forests play a key role in our health and wellbeing, and  are essential in the fight against climate change.

Forests are one of the best carbon sinks on Earth, pulling huge amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. This not only leads to cleaner, healthier air for us to breathe, but is a key part of climate change mitigation. Australia’s eastern coastal and range forests also play an important role in delivering reliable, clean water supply to communities all along the eastern seaboard of NSW. 

Our native forests are also invaluable as a key defense against bushfires. Mature, intact forests have  higher moisture content than younger, more recently logged forests, and older trees have thicker bark, making these forests less susceptible to burn out of control. This resilience to fire makes native forests a key defence for communities living in regional areas of NSW in the event of a catastrophic bushfire. 

For a healthy future where people and wildlife thrive, this unique and remarkable region must be protected for good.

In NSW, native forest logging is widespread. Roughly 20,000 hectares of special forests are logged every year—an area about twice the size of the Royal National Park. 

These forests are home to towering eucalypts, some of which have stood for hundreds of years. Yet these forests are being  destroyed, and the majority of what’s logged is turned into low-value products—like woodchips that are then exported.

Other special forests across the state are being destroyed to make timber pallets. The big supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths, use pallets to transport goods across the country, and they’re major customers of Brambles—Australia’s biggest producer of pallets—which is still making pallets from NSW’s native forests. Brambles claims to only use responsibly-sourced wood, but they’re relying on PEFC—a certification that allows native forests to be logged by NSW Forestry Corporation, the state-owned logging agency that has a long history of illegally damaging the environment.

This destruction affects the habitat of at least 150 species considered at risk of extinction—like the koala, spotted-tailed quoll and greater glider. Thirteen of these are critically endangered, which means they have an extremely high risk of extinction.

Native forest logging is environmentally devastating, and is a decaying industry being propped up by tens of millions of dollars of government funding each year. It makes no sense to be using taxpayer funds to destroy these forests, especially when sustainable alternatives exist. 

A future that doesn't rely on the destruction of nature is possible. The Wilderness Society supports a transition to sustainable plantation-based industry as the path forward for the forestry industry.

Australia’s eastern coastal and range forests have a remarkable natural and cultural heritage that must be protected for the future.

Right now, the Wilderness Society is:

• Calling for the logging of special forests to stop, and supporting the transition to a plantation-based industry
• Pressuring the big supermarkets to stop using pallets sourced from NSW native forests
• Making sure the Great Koala National Park is delivered as promised by the NSW government!
• Discrediting the dodgy forest management certification PEFC, which markets the timber from highly destructive NSW logging operations as "responsible"—timber that is then purchased by major retailors like Bunnings
• Pushing for stronger federal nature laws that close deforestation loopholes in NSW and across the continent

What you can do

🏛️📩 Email Premier Minns, key ministers & your local MP to call for an end to industrial native forest logging.

💳🌱 Donate to protect special forests throughout Australia.

🙋🏽👋Volunteer with us on the campaign and meet like-minded people in your area!