Dr Phill Pullinger: Government agency reforms reflect forests agreement

Environment Tasmania today welcomed the reforms announced by the Tasmanian government to re-structure Tasmania’s Parks & Forestry agencies in line with the Tasmanian Forests Agreement 2012.

“We welcome the announcement today from the Tasmanian government to separate the commercial and non-commercial functions of Forestry Tasmania, and establish a Parks & reserves authority,” said Dr Phill Pullinger spokesperson for Environment Tasmania,

“This announcement reflects the compromise struck via the Tasmanian Forests Agreement between industry, environment and union signatories to deliver strengthened and durable outcomes for the forestry industry and nature conservation,”

“We particularly welcome the strengthening of Parks as an independent statutory authority. The Parks & Wildlife Service has for too long been poorly funded and undervalued in the Tasmanian bureaucracy, but these reforms strengthen our Parks agency, give it greater independence, better funding, and full responsibility for the management of Tasmania’s reserves system,” said Dr Pullinger,

“This gives our Parks agency the status that Parks agencies have in places such as New Zealand and the U.S, and will help to put Tasmania in a position where we can genuinely play a leadership role globally in nature conservation and reserves management,”
Dr Phill Pullinger, Environment Tasmania