ENVI1003 – Global challenges: food, water, climate
Instructions for an Opinion piece on banning logging of native forests in NSW
Due to Turnitin on the ENVI1003 Canvas site at 11:59 pm on Friday, October 20th, 2023
This report is worth 5% of the unit mark for ENVI1003
TASK OVERVIEW – Write an opinion piece, using between 400 and 600 words, on the topic;
Should the NSW State Government proceed with its ban on all logging of native forests in NSW
from January 1st, 2024, in order to support the koala population?
DETAILED EXPLANATION AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR THIS TASK
WHAT IS AN OPINION PIECE? –as defined in Wikipedia, an Opinion piece (OP) is “an article, published in a
newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject.” In The Sydney
Morning Herald and New York Times newspapers, opinion pieces are normally located on the pages
which follow the Letters to the Editor page. There are no figures, tables, images or references given in
an Opinion piece – just words.
THE SUBJECT OF YOUR OPINION PIECE – Across the states and territories of Australia, debate is ongoing about
the merits of banning the logging of native forests - already bans on logging have been announced for
Victoria and Western Australia. Conservationists are applauding such decisions as 'a win' for
endangered wildlife habitat and mitigating against climate change, but critics have asserted that
forestry workers and communities will be devastated by the closing of their industry. In this Opinion
Piece exercise, we are considering the hypothetical scenario that the NSW State Government has
decided to ban all logging of native forests in the state of NSW from January 1st, 2024, in order to let
koala populations stabilise and increase in size. Climate change abatement is not considered to be a
driving force behind this decision and no details have yet been released about whether or not affected
workers and communities will be compensated in any way. Do you think there is there a better way for
the government to manage this? Are the areas of native forest logging in NSW where koalas currently
live? Will the cessation of logging actually help the koala populations and what will be the likely
economic and social effects on forestry workers and communities?
In your Opinion Piece, you need to present your well-researched opinion on whether the government is
doing the right thing in shutting down a substantial industry in NSW in order to safeguard the koala
communities in the state.
The entire OP should contain between 400 and 600 words (between one and two A4 pages).
LAYOUT OF YOUR OPINION PIECE – see the example OP from The Sydney Morning Herald.
(i) An imaginative title that captures the reader’s attention (15 words maximum) (10% of OP mark)
(ii) The body of your opinion piece, written as a series of short paragraphs (2-4 sentences for each
paragraph). The first paragraph of an opinion piece should catch the reader’s attention. You must
signal what your topic is, that your topic is an interesting one, and that you have something
interesting to say about it. In the main part of the opinion piece, you should lay out your opinions
giving reasons for why you think the way you do. You can quote or paraphrase people or
organisations, but there is no need for citations or references. For example, “Prof David
Lindenmayer, an Australian National University ecologist who has worked Victoria’s forests for
decades, said the decision would be good for the economy and the climate.”
The final paragraph should be a brief summary of your opinion(s).
Marks will be allocated for; (i) providing your opinion on the ban and implications/alternatives (60% of mark)
(ii) an engaging style of writing, with good grammar and syntax (30% of mark)
(iii) A byline that says who you are and what you do (e.g. Professor Stephen Cattle is a soil scientist at the
School of Life and Environmental Sciences in The University of Sydney) (no mark allocation)
This is an individual piece of work – NOT GROUP WORK – each student must write their own opinion
piece and Generative AI programs (e.g. ChatGPT) should not be used to compose these pieces.