Plans by the NSW Government to strip protection from old-growth forests in the state’s north-east will cause the loss of as many as 70,000 key habitat trees, the independent Natural Resources Commission estimates. The expected tree loss follows a decision last year to overhaul rules for coastal forestry that increased loggers’ access to timber previously off limits. The remapping and rezoning affects 14,600 hectares in the north-east alone in the initial phase and potentially five times eventually. The threat to native forests comes as Planning Minister Rob Stokes revealed the Berejiklian government had planted 154,000 trees since April 2018 when it announced its “stretch goal” of planting 5 million trees in greater Sydney by 2030. …But the initiative comes amid threats to trees elsewhere in the state.