25/08/2026
Logging vs thinning in the news:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1752557820207930&set=a.745646880899034&type=3
The scientific rationale behind eco-thinning is that trees are increasingly competing for water in the South West region's drying climate, causing stress and, in some places, collapse of karri, jarrah, and marri regrowth forests.
These forests, globally recognised biodiversity hotspots, were clear-felled by loggers for almost 200 years, until native logging was banned entirely in 2024.
Since then, 146,000 hectares of state forests and timber reserves have been earmarked as potentially suitable for ecological thinning.
Australian National University professor David Lindenmayer has been doing extensive research on thinning practices internationally, including in Western Australia.
A globally acknowledged expert in conservation biology and landscape ecology, Professor Lindenmayer said there was limited scientific evidence to support ecological thinning.
"I think there's a psyche that humans need to intervene in forests to somehow make them better," he said.
"The reality is that forests have been in Australia for about 180 million years and that means that people haven't been messing with them for 179,930 years, and they've survived very well … without those kinds of interventions."
Professor Lindenmayer disputed the claims the practice could correct the history of logging and dense forest regrowth.
"That's rubbish, that is not consistent with the science on thinning," he said.
"Forests will naturally self-thin as they grow older — that is a dynamic that we see in every kind of forest all over the world."
Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis, who oversees the FPC as part of her portfolio responsibilities, declined the ABC's request for an interview.
In a statement to the ABC, Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn said ecological thinning would help make the South West's forests more resilient.
“Research has shown that thinning forests can improve groundwater recharge and streamflow," Mr Swinbourn said.
"It can also reduce the vulnerability of forests to drought and heatwaves over the medium to long term."
He said the practice would be reviewed over the next two years to determine the program's effectiveness.
Read more:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-25/ecological-thinning-experiment-wa-native-logging/107071374
