Vica Bayley
But then logging in Tasmania has always been about a land grab. Pushing ahead with these roads is more about staking a claim to highly contentious forests, before policy makers see the light, listen to the people and move to have them protected. This is another example of Forestry Tasmania managing the forests, not for the people, but for Gunns.
Taxpayer funded road construction has recommenced in the Upper Florentine after police and forestry workers moved in to disband the protest camp of community forest campaigners. Meanwhile, logging continues in threatened species habitat in another part of the Upper Florentine and in two coupes in the Weld Valley.
This is happening despite the fact that Forestry Tasmania and the Forest Practices Authority are still unsure about whether this logging is legal. Letters from both of these organisations to The Wilderness Society reveal that they are still seeking legal advice on this matter.
Many believe logging and road construction in places like the Upper Florentine and Weld Valleys to be illegal as they jeopardise the survival of nationally listed threatened species, do not comply with the Regional Forest Agreement and are therefore not exempt from Federal threatened species laws (as previously believed).
In a legal statement made by the Forest Practices Officer who certified the plan to log coupe 42F in the Upper Florentine, the admission is made that logging “may cause short term changes in factors such as forest structure and species diversity’.
He goes on to reassure that all is ok because “the combination of forest reserves complemented by management by prescription provides a framework for the conservation of non-wood values over time and at the landscape level. This approach has been endorsed by the State and Federal Governments under the Regional forest Agreement.”
In fact, these are the aspects of the Regional Forest Agreement that the Federal Court judge ruled were failing to protect threatened species in Wielangta. The prescriptions and approach described here are not working.
The presence of threatened species habitat within these areas is undeniable. Forestry Tasmania’s planning documents for the coupe currently being logged in the Upper Florentine identifies the fact that suitable nesting trees for wedge-tailed eagles and grey goshawks are located within the logging area. Many of these have already been cut down.
If the legality of logging is unclear, why push ahead with new logging operations and new roads that pave the way for more logging?
The government and Forestry Tasmania seem to be setting themselves up for a repeat of the Recherche Bay road debacle. There, a road was pushed into an area that should have been properly preserved, only to be deemed unnecessary and committed to expensive rehabilitation at taxpayer expense.
If community hopes are heeded and our forests are protected, that same outcome will arise in the Upper Florentine and Weld. The roads there will be ultimately useless and need to be rehabilitated and Tasmanian taxpayers will be hit with a double whammy. Using state money given to the logging industry under the so-called Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement, these roads are being pushed into pristine oldgrowth forests in the Upper Florentine, the Weld and the Tarkine.
Bulldozing ahead with these roads is an arrogant and provocative approach by Forestry Tasmania that flouts the law and is in no way in the public interest. Surely the precautionary principle should apply in cases such as these.
But then logging in Tasmania has always been about a land grab. Pushing ahead with these roads is more about staking a claim to highly contentious forests, before policy makers see the light, listen to the people and move to have them protected. This is another example of Forestry Tasmania managing the forests, not for the people, but for Gunns.
There are so many reasons why these forest areas should be protected from destruction. They are globally important carbon banks, critical in the fight to combat climate change; they are important habitat for unique plants and animals; they have recognised World Heritage values; they were promised protection by the Prime Minister at the last election; they are important for Aboriginal and European cultural heritage; and they are worth much in tourism value. Tasmanian’s currently pay to have them logged, yet love them dearly. Add to all this fact that their destruction at the hands of the logging industry is currently illegal and it adds insult to injury.
How many more reasons are needed to justify an end the destruction of Tasmania’s forests?
We have asked in person. We have asked on the phone. We have asked in writing and we have asked via the media. Again, we call on Forestry Tasmania to stop logging these areas of precious oldgrowth forests.
Vica Bayley, The Wilderness Society
