Forest Practices: Failure 2

The Honourable Bryan Green MHA
Minister for Infrastructure Energy & Resources
Parliament House
Hobart Tasmania 7000

8/3/06

Dear Minister,
Following the publicity and correspondence recently concerning the Leatherwood resource crisis in the Southern Forests and in particular your replies to letters from the Southern Beekeepers and the SaveYourLeatherwoodHoney Association, there have been further developments.

Forestry Tasmania, with beekeeper representatives, have commenced flyovers of the Southern Forests in order to identify any unutilised Leatherwood resource.

Whilst the preliminary results of the flyovers suggest there are substantial stands of Leatherwood rich coupes in parts of the Southern Forests, these are mostly at altitudes which will not be of benefit to the Beekeepers.

Lower altitude Leatherwood flowers earlier in the season when the weather is more reliable, and grows in areas where the daytime temperature is high enough on a regular basis to enable the bees to access the nectar over long enough periods to produce sufficient honey to give the Beekeeper an adequate return, the hives sufficient storage for the Winter, and healthy bees for the Spring pollination.

Pollination services are contingent upon a viable honey industry. It is imperative that the honey industry is maintained and expanded in order to develop Tasmania’s fruit and seed growing capacities.

As high altitude Leatherwood is variable in its flowering patterns, and is much more susceptible to changing weather conditions, the retention of the present Leatherwood resource at lower altitudes, eg in the Wedge, is vital to both the honey and fruit growing industries.

Beekeepers therefore are greatly concerned at the continuance of the clearfelling of Leatherwood rich coupes in the Wedge and Southern Forests notwithstanding the formal request to you Minister, for a moratorium on that process.

Despite your comments and the statement in the Mercury Newspaper by Mr Rob Woolley Chairman of the Forests and Forest Industry Council that the Council had reached agreement with Forestry Tasmania to defer clearfelling of all Leatherwood rich coupes in the Southern Forests, clearfelling continues.

The Forests & Forest Industries Council has recently informed the President of the Tasmanian Beekeepers Association, Mr Julian Wolfhagen, in writing, that it intends to “give special consideration to Leatherwood rich coupes during the transition” ( to the reduction in tall wet forest clearfelling ), “ so that as much Leatherwood as possible is retained”.

Ignored by Forestry Tasmania

When will you advise that this process of ‘special consideration’ is likely to commence?

As clearfelling in and around coupes WE044A and WE044D affecting sites C14, C15 and C16 has begun and threatens the viability of 37 hives, it could be inferred that the statements of intent that the Leatherwood rich coupes will be deferred from clearfelling are merely words.

We are at a loss to understand how the problem can both be acknowledged by the Government, Forestry Tasmania and the Council Chairman, and then ignored by Forestry Tasmania.

Beekeepers ask that you revisit the moratorium request and ensure that the positive statement by Rob Woolley, your own reassuring comments along with the statement by Forestry Tasmania are matched with action on the Forest floor.

We enclose a copy of photographs taken recently of Leatherwood rich coupes in the Wedge Valley where clearfelling has been completed with the total destruction of the Leatherwood resource in those coupes. An audit of the coupes carried out by the Beekeepers last year indicated that 50% of their content was rich, almost solid stands of the resource.

As mentioned in previous correspondence, a motion to withdraw pollination services this season was narrowly lost, at a meeting of the pollinators in 2005. Depending on the outcome of the flyovers and the actual deferral of leatherwood rich coupes from the current 3 year harvesting plan, the Beekeepers are now reconsidering the matter for the 2006 season, and there is no guarantee that the result will be the same. The Beekeepers draw no comfort from the clearfelling referred to above.

We are advising members of the horticultural industry of these developments, they being the involved parties most affected by the loss of the resource in the long run.

We are aware of other Forest coupes being prepared for clearfelling, and we will advise you and all other interested parties, of the continuation or cessation of that process as it occurs.

A copy of this letter has been handed to the SaveYourLeatherwoodHoney Association with a view to it publicising the continuing development of the Leatherwood crisis, and with a view to gaining more public support for the Beekeepers.

Yours faithfully,

Hedley Hoskinson
Bob Davey
Eric Cave
(Executive of the Southern Branch of the Tasmanian Beekeepers Association).
Benjafield Tce,
Mt Stuart

First published Saturday, March 11, 2006 as Leatherwood crisis ignored republished today.

Earlier: The beekeeping crisis