The facts speak for themselves – Abbott’s World Heritage rollback doesn’t stack up

The Wilderness Society today distributed a joint eNGO submission to the Senate Inquiry into the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area that shows that 90% of the Abbott Government’s proposed revocation consists of ecologically intact country.

The Abbott Government is thumbing its nose at industry, conservation and community groups who support the World Heritage Listing by proposing to axe 74,000ha, claiming it’s been logged before. But rigorous analysis demonstrates that only about 10% of this area has been logged before, while it contains extensive tracts of oldgrowth eucalypts, rainforest and other natural vegetation.

‘Mr Abbott’s proposal to delist these areas and open them up for logging is an insult to the World Heritage Committee and its experts. The government’s proposal is an international embarrassment and based on arguments that are demonstrably false,’ said Vica Bayley, spokesperson for the Wilderness Society.

‘While only 10% of the excision has been logged before, over 40% is intact oldgrowth. The balance consists of other forms of intact natural vegetation such as heathland.

Some regions, like the upper Florentine, proposed for delisting for logging in its entirety, have even less logged areas. The upper Florentine excision contains 100ha of logged areas, or 1.5%, yet oldgrowth eucalypts and rainforest represent 53% of the excision.

‘The Federal Government’s proposal lacks credibility and its claims about the extent of logging are misleading and dishonest.

‘Areas recovering from logging are deliberately included in the extension to achieve long-term reserve design for management and boundary integrity reasons.

‘Under the World Heritage Convention, there is a responsibility to rehabilitate degraded areas and that’s what Australia should be doing, not using them as a flimsy excuse to drive a political and ideological agenda to tear up the Tasmanian Forest Agreement.

“We call on Mr Abbott to withdraw this application and get on with the job of protecting these areas the global community has listed as of outstanding value.

Download eNGO Senate submission: (Couldn’t upload, too big for technol) but you can read it with all submissions here:

http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Environment_and_Communications/Tasmanian_Wilderness_World_Heritage_Area/Submissions
Vica Bayley, The Wilderness Society