The so-called waste was actually made up of pure rainforest

Pete Godfrey
LAST week at the Climate Change Forum in Lauceston we were told that Forestry in Tasmania is only responsible for 2% of the carbon pollution in our fine state.
Some very creative accountants must have been at work as strangely enough Hans Drielsma cant even say how much carbon the industry emits.

If we take the absolute minimalist stance then we can say that at least 5.7 million tonnes of forest waste is created every year in Tasmania.

This is based on Forestry Tasmania’s average for the state of 180 tonnes per ha of pulpwood and 30 tonnes per ha of sawlog. The 2006 to 2008 three year plan.

So taking their figures and extending that statewide to a minimum of 30 thousand ha of forestry each year we have 6.3million tonnes of wood being chopped down each year and carted out of the forests.

But the biomass is actually at least 400 tonnes per ha so that makes 190 tonnes per ha of waste matter which adds up to 5.7 million tonnes.

That means that we are emitting at least 5.7 million tonnes more carbon than we need to.

If we selectively logged and left the non commercial trees there to grow on we could cut Tasmania’s emissions by a huge amount.

In Golden Valley on Wednesday and Thursday we had a coupe burn, the so called waste was actually made up of pure rainforest and very very tall eucalypt and wattle forest.

The coupe is a conversion coupe that was logged in December 2008 to Feb 2009.

Yep we have all been told that conversions are not happening but the the smoke is not bad for our health either.

You decide what you want, I am just giving the figures and photos.