Democracy at work: Hansard2

Thursday 10 July 2008 – Part 1 – Pages 1 – 28
Thursday 10 July 2008
The President, Mrs Smith, took the Chair at 11 a.m. and read Prayers.
SPECIAL INTEREST MATTERS
TASMANIAN FOREST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES – REPORT
[11.14 a.m.]
Mr WILKINSON (Nelson) – Madam President, I rise today to draw the
Chamber’s attention to the report of an international investigation into Tasmanian
forest management practices and their impact on the Tasmanian Wilderness World
Heritage Area. The report vindicates the forest management practices of the State’s
forest sector and highlights the professionalism of Forestry Tasmania foresters and
timber workers in managing Tasmanian forests.
At the invitation of the Australian Government, a joint World Heritage Centre,
the IUCN and the ICOMOS mission took place between 15 March and 20March 2008
to assess the state of conservation of the property, focusing on the appropriate
management of areas of heritage value which are currently outside the property, fire
risks and their management and the impacts of proposed forestry operations and roads
on the outstanding universal value of the property. The World Heritage Centre was
established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation-
UNESCO- to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and
natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature- the IUCN- is an
environmental umbrella group that supports projects all over the world and seeks to
advise governments, non-government organisations and United Nations agencies.
The IUCN claims to be the largest global environmental network. Its current
Australian Vice-President and Councillor is Tasmanian Senator, Christine Milne.
The International Council on Monuments and Sites – ICOMOS, if I can call it that
– is an international non-governmental organisation of professionals dedicated to the
conservation of the world’s historic monuments and sites. The international mission
and investigation followed last year’s meeting of the World Heritage Committee
meeting in New Zealand when the committee expressed concern about allegations
raised by environmental non-government organisations. These groups, the
Wilderness Society and the Huon Environment Centre, claimed adverse impacts of
logging adjacent to the World Heritage property. That was the claim and the people
in the organisations I mentioned earlier were the independent bodies set up to look at
the claim.
The report of the monitoring mission was tabled this week at the World Heritage
Committee in Quebec, Canada, and the report made the following recommendation on
the management of forests both inside and outside the World Heritage area, and I
quote:
‘The area managed under the TWWHA Management Plan provides
a good representation of well-managed tall Eucalyptus forests and
there is similar forest outside the property which is also well
managed, but for both conservation and development objectives.
The threats to these forests from production forestry activities are
well managed and there is no need for the boundary of the property
to be changed to deal with such threats.’
That was one of their findings.
The mission also considered old-growth forests, so often the subject of claims by
activists and then reported by the media, and the committee observed this:
‘Considering the representation of old-growth forest, including the
tall Eucalyptus forests within the area covered by the TWWHA and
its management plan as well as in the other reserves in Tasmania,
and the fact that potential threats from production forestry activities
are well managed, the mission does not recommend any change to
the boundaries of the property to deal with such threats.’
The mission noted that over 46.3 per cent of Tasmanian native forest
communities are protected by a system of formal and informal reserves, including
national parks and the TWWHA. These reserves include about 79.3 per cent of all
remaining old-growth forests of the State and they concluded that the balance between
forests assigned to reserves/conservation and for production was struck through the
Regional Forest Agreement process in 1997 and supplemented by the 2005
Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement.
The mission also was made aware of the outcomes of the second five-year review
of the Regional Forest Agreement and noted that many of its recommendations, when
implemented, would also enhance current management. A recommendation of the
team was for the 21 additional reserves already created under the RFA process that
are adjacent to the WHHA to be considered for inclusion by the Federal and State
governments. The mission’s major concern was not forestry but the management of
cultural heritage in relation to Aboriginal heritage and they have made a series of
recommendations in relation to enhancing this aspect of the area.
Already the Federal Environment minister has stated that the two governments
and I quote:
‘…would cooperate in carefully considering the implications of the
World Heritage Committee recommendations.’
As the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area covers over 20 per cent of
our State the report of this international group should be of major importance to the
Tasmanian people.
Mr Harriss – Who is on the group – Senator Milne, did you say?
Mr WILKINSON – She is a councillor and the Australian Vice-President of
IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature, the United Nations –
Mr Harriss – She will endorse all of this then. She will be smiling today.
Mr WILKINSON – As the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area covers
over 20 per cent, this should be of major importance to the interest of Tasmanian
people. All Tasmanians should be willing to congratulate all those responsible for
ensuring that our tall eucalypt forest is well managed and adequately reserved and that
our world heritage wilderness is not threatened by timber production, be it for
sawmills, export woodchip or for the value-adding pulp mill provided by this
Parliament.
Australia’s responsibilities are embodied in an international treaty, the convention
concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage, the convention
that was the centrepiece of the Tasmanian dams case 25 years ago. To ensure that
Tasmanians are represented in any decision flowing from this major report I
foreshadow a motion that this Council note the recommendations of this international
monitoring mission in relation to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. I
think that such a report should be noted by all Tasmanians and everybody should give
a pat on the back to the foresters out there and the Government for the work that they
are doing.