Landowners and native loggers are turning to 'ecological thinning' to try to save WA's native southern forests from fire and collapse due to climate change.
Landowners and native loggers are turning to "ecological thinning" to try to save Western Australia's southern native forests from fire and collapse due to climate change.Conservationists say the practice has been successful in the past, but is still controversialThe native forests of WA's South West are under increasing pressure, and risk of bushfire and ecological collapse, because the region's rainfall has fallen by 20 per cent since the 1970s.
"Now we have very dense areas of young trees that are very flammable and very thirsty, using up to twice the amount of water that old, well-spaced forests do," she said.Tell us your location and find more local ABC News and informationDr Sharp said the widespread death of native trees in WA's South West in 2011 — after the region experienced record-low rainfall the previous year — was an example of the consequences of climate change and poor regrowth forest management.
"In that structure, the forest is going to have a much better outlook in dealing with much drier, hotter, and flammable conditions," she said.Dr Sharp said the practice of ecological thinning was contentious within the Greens movement. Since then, Mr Walker has seen "outstanding" outcomes in forest health and low fuel loads on his property."It costs a lot of money to run the machines and, at the end of the day, you can't be green if you're in the red," Mr Walker said.
However Mr Walker said there needed to be access to bigger markets, such as export, to be able to practice eco-thinning on a larger scale. Mr Telfer said the industry would have to shift its focus and adapt to the eco-thinning model of forest management.
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