• Senate inquiry confirms Tasmania’s new World Heritage forests are world class.
• Axing new World Heritage forest would make Australia an international laughing stock.
• The logging industry and the markets do not want wood from these forests.
Yet another report confirms expert advice that Tasmania’s new World Heritage forests are indeed world class and worthy of their status. This time the Senate Environment and Communications Committee’s report into the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area has debunked the Coalition’s misleading trash-talking of these majestic forests such as the Weld and the Upper Florentine.
“The Abbott Government must drop its irresponsible request to axe the new Tasmanian World Heritage forests before it makes Australia an international laughing stock,” said Wilderness Society Tasmania Campaign Manager Vica Bayley. “This is the first time a government has asked the World Heritage Committee to delist a property whose heritage values are well and truly still intact.
“The Abbott Government must stop misleading the Australian public about Tasmania’s new World Heritage forests. This report highlights expert advice that its claims that much of the forest is degraded are wrong. The logging industry and the markets do not want wood from these forests and the move to delist these forests is unwarranted, embarrassing and sets an appalling example to the rest of the world. Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Environment Minister Greg Hunt must step back from the brink and withdraw the request to delist the forest.
“The Coalition’s action is directly counter to the Tasmanian Forest Agreement, the landmark peace deal struck between conservationists, unions and the timber industry, which delivered forest protection, including World Heritage, renewed certainty for the timber industry and offered an end to decades of conflict.”
Wilderness Society National Director Lyndon Schneiders said: “Logging World Heritage forests is as absurd as destroying any other World Heritage site, like knocking down the Opera House for harbourside apartments, dismantling the Great Wall of China for paving stones, or selling the Eiffel Tower for scrap.
“If Tasmania’s World Heritage forests aren’t safe, neither are Australia’s other iconic World Heritage sites, such as the Great Barrier Reef, the Daintree rainforest, Kakadu and the Blue Mountains.
“The Abbott Government’s action threatens Australia’s billion-dollar tourism industry that relies on our international reputation for amazing unspoilt landscapes, clear skies, fresh air and clean waters.
“Tasmania’s World Heritage forests are some of the most spectacular on Earth, home to the tallest hardwood trees on the planet, centuries-old trees almost 100-metres high, and many endangered species such as the Tasmanian Devil.
“The vast majority of the new Tasmanian World Heritage extension – 90 per cent has never been logged, and the World Heritage Committee recognised that the recovering forest is integral to the property’s integrity, connectivity and management.”
Wilderness Society National Director Lyndon Schneiders
