Debunking false claims about bushfire risk and native forest logging in Australia

Written by Robert Onfray 2025

Recently, a troubling narrative has emerged that native forest logging in Australia contributes significantly to increased bushfire risk. Some academics championed this idea, purporting to follow the scientific method, but often their work lacks scientific rigour. These claims have misled the public, skewing the debate around forest management, fire prevention, and the ecological role of logging. In reality, the area logged annually in Australia is so small that attributing the increased bushfire risk solely to this practice is scientifically flawed and dangerously misleading.

According to the Australian Forest Products Association, the proposition that timber harvesting is to blame for catastrophic bushfires is no more than anti-forest activism by academics masquerading as science.

The origins of the myth

To understand how these claims have taken root, we must look at Australia’s broader context of forest management. Native forest logging, for some, has been a contentious issue for decades, with environmentalists often positioning it as destructive and unnecessary. However, the shift towards the argument that logging increases bushfire risk has gained traction in the wake of catastrophic fire seasons such as those witnessed this century. The tragic loss of lives, property, and biodiversity during these fire events provided fertile ground for anti-logging activists to further their cause by linking it to fire danger.

Some academics have contributed to this narrative by producing studies that suggest logged forests are more susceptible to bushfires due to changes in fuel load, canopy structure, and microclimates. These studies often receive media attention, with sensational headlines that galvanise public opinion against the logging industry………………..                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Click here or on the photo below to read the rest of this very well researched article (written by Robert Onfray 2025) into the relationship and false claims of native forest harvesting and increased fire risk.