Various Signatories to the forest talks have absented themselves at various times for various reasons in the last two years; once it was The Wilderness Society and a couple of times the Forest Industries Association of Tasmania [FIAT] walked out.
The latest walk out by FIAT was declared in the wake of a confusing Ministerial Statement by Bryan Green over the restructure of Forestry Tasmania.
Tasmania’s peak forest industry group is yet to declare if it willre-join the fragile peace talks. Members of the Forest Industries Association locked themselves in an all-day meeting on Friday [7 September] to discuss whether to re-join the talks, aimed at ending Tasmania’s decades-long forest wars.
FIAT suspended its participation last week for the second time when the State Government unveiled plans to split Forestry Tasmania into commercial and non-commercial operations.
FIAT said it had been assured the state-owned company’s responsibility for managing reserves would not be handed to a government department but it now appears that will happen.
Representatives met the Resources Minister Bryan Green on Thursday to discuss their concerns. Doubtless FIAT CEO, Terry Edwards and particularly Chairman, Glenn Britton followed through the association’s public displeasure expressed last week.
FIAT was expected to announce its intentions on Friday, but that will now happen on Monday.
Forests Minister, Bryan Green said the entire forest industry would suffer if the association refused to re-join the peace talks.
“I believe that that would be a disastrous situation for the industry overall. What we need to see is those people who have worked so hard to get it to this point to continue and finalise those discussions to the point whether there is an agreement and then we’ll be able to move on based on a volume that the industry’s put forward themselves.”
The list of sticking points is lengthening –
• Ta Ann Tasmania’s long term wood supply contract potentially available to 2027
• Exit offers to local smaller saw millers – any accepted?
• Timelines for a transition to a predominantly plantation-based forestry industry
• Durability guarantees compelling conservationists from protesting against export markets and protesting in the forest
• ENGO’s ambit for over 500,000 hectares of high conservation value forests to be protected
• Forest Stewardship Council certification for wood supplied from native production forests and existing plantations.
• Usefulness for 300,000 hectares of poorly growing E. nitens pulpwood cultivar plantations throughout Tasmania
• Wood waste (residues) from harvesting and sawmills needs to be capped
• Plantation management after the collapse of the MIS corporations and their responsible entities
• Fire management across the forest and forestry estate in Tasmania
Even the State Liberals have accepted the need for conservation protection for intact high conservation value forests in contested areas of Tasmania. It comes down to the size of the area – is it “up to 150,000 hectares” as the Liberals and forestry industry shave suggested or is it 475,000 hectares of intact forest that the ENGOs want?
These negotiationsare likely on drag on for a few more months yet. If the industry rejects the ENGOs forest transition strategy based on the utility of the existing plantations then the quantum of conservation reserves could be cut back.
Maybe we’ll see a moratorium imposed on part of this larger HCV forests area to test the resolve of the conservationists to cease protesting [b]and[/b] to test Forestry Tasmania’s willingness to become responsible managers of the production forest areas.
Both sides will be playing their trump cards in these coming weeks and months.
Reference: ABC Hobart – New & Current Affairs
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-08/fiat-urged-to-stick-with-talks/4250224?section=tas
