More threat to leatherwood honey

Bob Davey SaveYourLeatherwoodHoney Press Release

The clearfelling of the AR034C coupe is evidence of the clear preference of Forestry Tasmania to favour the timber producers over the beekeepers whenever a conflict over the use of the forest occurs. This makes a mockery of the claim that the forest is being managed for multiple use.

The beekeepers believe that the timber resource when compared to the leatherwood resource is so vast and diverse, that to avoid harvesting leatherwood for the time being would be well within the ability of the forest harvesting planners without greatly affecting the cost effective harvesting of the timber resource.

MEDIA RELEASE

Since our last release much has happened.

Notwithstanding the announcement by the chairperson of the Forests & Forest Industry Council that it had been agreed with Forestry Tasmania to defer all leatherwood rich coupes, clearfelling of such coupes continues.

The beekeepers took the announcement at face value but Forestry Tasmania claim that it only referred to coupes they nominated.

The latest coupe to be clearfelled was AR34C in the Arve Valley. Some discussion took place between Forestry officers and the beekeepers affected to see if the leatherwood content could be retained. As a result there was some adjustment to coupe boundaries but none of the leatherwood contained inside the coupe was retained. The harvesting plan provided for cable logging.

Forestry Tasmania advised that the method of harvesting could not be changed. The coupe was very rich in leatherwood and typical of coupes in the Southern forest which have already been clearfelled and are scheduled for clearfell. The loss in hive carrying capacity at this site alone is estimated to be 20 hives. The new 1 year harvesting plan published in March 2006 included most of the coupes previously announced as deferred. It also contained 17 coupes in the Huon district assessed as leatherwood rich and 28 coupes in the Derwent district assessed as leatherwood rich. A further 7 coupes in the Derwent district are still being evaluated.

The 1 year plan has just been replaced with a new 3 year plan which excludes the previously deferred coupes but includes 17 coupes shown on the 1 year plan and being leatherwood rich.

Clearly there is some progress being made in negotiations with Forestry Tasmania and this was evident during a recent annual briefing given by Forestry to the beekeepers in Hobart.

There was a further commitment to meet annually with the beekeepers to review the coupes scheduled for harvesting in the following 12 months and an indication that flyovers of the Southern forest to identify leatherwood rich coupes will be carried out in mid January to ensure this coincides with the main flowering period of the tree.

However there was also an acknowledgement that there was no certainty that leatherwood would be found to replace the resource destroyed by the past and current harvesting. This acknowledgement was not matched with an agreement to defer the harvesting of leatherwood rich coupes until the full picture was known. It is this issue that is the focus of the beekeepers` campaign both during the past few years and currently.

The clearfelling of the AR034C coupe is evidence of the clear preference of Forestry Tasmania to favour the timber producers over the beekeepers whenever a conflict over the use of the forest occurs. This makes a mockery of the claim that the forest is being managed for multiple use.

The beekeepers believe that the timber resource when compared to the leatherwood resource is so vast and diverse, that to avoid harvesting leatherwood for the time being would be well within the ability of the forest harvesting planners without greatly affecting the cost effective harvesting of the timber resource.

The beekeepers stated publicly 12 months ago that the resource was now in serious decline and that a further 18 months of unabated clearfelling would lead to the collapse of the pollination industry, which the beekeepers operate with their hives. Whilst the process has slowed there has still been a loss of the resource leading to a loss of about 200 hives out of the 1600 + hives currently in use in the South of Tasmania. There are no known leatherwood sites available at present to replace those lost during last years harvesting season.

SO THE DECLINE OF THE BEEKEEPING INDUSTRY IS NOW IN FULL SWING. THE POLLINATION INDUSTRY WILL FOLLOW SHORTLY.
A further urgent submission has been made to Forestry Tasmania and the Premier and Resource Minister, Paul Lennon MHA identifying the leatherwood rich coupes under threat and requesting a moratorium from harvesting while search continues for new stands of the resource. Only the Government can make it possible for Forestry Tasmania to give substantial recognition to a non timber industry in the forest. That is by ensuring that the Forest Practices Code is amended to include a protocol for the retention of leatherwood in any harvesting plan.

Negotiations are taking place to have a more prescriptive and precise harvesting regime included in the Forest Practises Code for coupes containing leatherwood. The Government must ensure that this change takes place thus ensuring a realistic regime is in place to give the beekeepers and the horticultural industry certainty.

To the beekeepers and most others it makes no sense to continue clearfelling coupes containing leatherwood while an investigation takes place to identify if any replacement stands of the resource exist. By the time any alternative stands of the resource are found and access to them constructed, the resource will be seriously eroded if not reduced to a level where it will not support the beekeepers in their pollination services.

The issues remain complex but the problem remains simple: NO LEATHERWOOD = NO BEEKEEPERS = NO POLLINATION.
A $200 m. INDUSTRY CONTINUES TO BE AT RISK. IT WOULD TAKE ONLY A SMALL ADJUSTMENT TO THE CURRENT HARVESTING PLAN TO REMOVE THAT RISK AT LEAST FOR THE NEXT 3 YEARS.

NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROMISING DISCUSSIONS THE BEEKEEPERS IN THE SOUTH OF TASMANIA ARE STILL SHOUTING FOR HELP.

Bob Davey ( President ).
2nd October 2006
SaveYourLeatherwoodHoney inc
GPO Box 1981 Hobart 7001 Tasmania.
www.saveyourleatherwoodhoney.com/