Woodbank proposed as ban on logging World Heritage welcomed

Establishment of a woodbank facility to enable long term storage of specialty species timbers in a temperature controlled environment as they arise in the conduct of ordinary industrial logging activities, has been put forward as a constructive suggestion by Markets For Change.

Markets For Change welcomed UNESCO advice that proposed logging of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area for rainforest species be unambiguously ruled out and is pleased that both Tasmanian and Australian governments have accepted this advice.

“The answer to claimed shortages of rainforest timbers known as special species is not to log forests of outstanding natural value to the entire world, but instead stop the waste and more carefully collect and store in a purpose built woodbank those logs that arise in the course of industrial logging for eucalypts,” said Peg Putt, CEO of Markets For Change.

“We are making this constructive suggestion to try and break through the ideological mania to crank up rainforest logging and instead find ways to more productively utilize timbers that have historically gone to waste when they arise from industrial logging of native forests.”

“A half-hearted effort has been made with an open air storage yard, but that has left these logs exposed to the elements where they have frequently deteriorated and been sold off for lower value uses, only making the process of wastage more drawn out.”

“Few Tasmanians are aware that the government also opened up around another 1 million hectares of existing and proposed future reserves to rainforest logging for specialty species when they repealed the Tasmanian Forest Agreement, undermining the conservation commitments of the Regional Forest Agreement and making an enormous amount potentially available outside the World Heritage area and existing logging production zones. The greedy grab for World Heritage logging was always over the top.”

Markets For Change also welcomed other UNESCO recommendations that tourism be constrained such that it does not undermine wilderness values, and that the current Wilderness Zone be retained whilst explicitly providing for Aboriginal access for cultural practices.
Peg Putt, Markets for Change