The Tasmanian Greens today welcomed the passage through both Houses of the Tasmanian Parliament the Tasmanian Forest Agreement Act Initial Proposed Reserve Order, which covers the first tranche of 392,237 hectares of forests to be protected as formal reserves.
Greens Leader Nick McKim MP described today as a major milestone towards the formal reservation of some of Tasmania’s most iconic forests.
“This is vindication for the many Tasmanians who have stood up over decades to defend forest areas in the Tarkine, Reedy Marsh, Eastern Tiers, NE Highlands including the Blue Tier, Mt Arthur, Great Western Tiers, Upper Florentine, the Styx, West Wellington, Weld, Picton, Middle Huon, Wedge, Counsel, Butlers Gorge, Catamaran, Esperence, Bruny Island, Wielangta, and the Tasman Peninsula, all of which were in the hands of the Parliament today.”
“Parliament’s vote is not only a vote for forest protection, but is a crucial step on the journey towards a diversified, resilient and jobs rich economic future for Tasmania.”
“And it is also another significant step towards healing the divisions in the community inflicted by decades of forestry conflict.”
• The vote was 9-5. It means $97 million in federal funds will now flow to the Tasmanian forestry industry.
• Lara Giddings: Environmental groups to join trade mission forestry talks
• Jenny Weber, in Comments: Phill Pullinger from Environment Tasmania and Lyndon Schneiders from The Wilderness Society are accompanying Ta Ann and Lara Giddings to Japan. They visit Japan in two weeks, at the end of the trade mission. They have a TFA information session in Tokyo that more than 80 Japanese pulp, paper and forestry customers are registered to attend.
• Ross Gittins, Fairfax: Native forest sector hiding from the truth The way the industry likes to tell it, it was hit by the banning of logging in certain forest areas and the tightening up of forest management practices. But while it was recovering from this blow, it was hit first by the global financial crisis and then by the high dollar (which has reduced earnings from exports and reduced the price of the imported forest products it competes against). Talk about bad luck. Clearly, the industry just needs a bit of government help to keep it on track until things get back to normal. And, indeed, all of the parties to the latest Tasmanian forestry agreement believe it will deliver ”an ongoing, vibrant forestry industry in Tasmania based on native forests and, increasingly in the future, plantation”. There’s just one problem: this is wishful thinking. The industry’s story uses the environment as a convenient whipping-boy to draw attention away from its long-term structural decline – and probably demise. The chequered story of the native forest industry and the way it has sucked ever-growing subsidies from governments can be deduced (as I have done) from a report prepared earlier this year by Andrew Macintosh, of the Australian National University, for the Australia Institute, The Australian Native Forest Sector: Causes of the decline and prospects for the future Download here • Read the full article, here
• 9NEWS: Tas timber industry figure warns Abbott, here A key timber industry figure who has signed up to Tasmania’s forest peace deal has warned coalition leader Tony Abbott against any plan to win back World Heritage listings in the state. … Chief executive of the Forest Industries Association of Tasmania (FIAT), Terry Edwards, says an attempt at downsizing World Heritage listed-forests would threaten the historic agreement between the industry and environmentalists. The coalition’s recently released economic plan for the state says it will seek to remove a 170,000-hectare extension granted in June. Chief executive of the Forest Industries Association of Tasmania (FIAT), Terry Edwards, says an attempt at downsizing World Heritage listed-forests would threaten the historic agreement between the industry and environmentalists. The coalition’s recently released economic plan for the state says it will seek to remove a 170,000-hectare extension granted in June. • Here
