Loss of swift parrot habitat refocuses call for an end to logging in critical forests

Logging in known swift parrot habitat and the loss of mature nesting trees, recently discovered by scientists who have been working to safeguard the survival of the species, highlights ongoing failures of the forest practices system in Tasmania and has prompted new calls on government to immediately end all logging in swift parrot habitat.

With just 2000 parrots left in the wild and the insidious problem of predation on nesting parrots by introduced sugar gliders, continued habitat loss is compounding the pressure facing the species, which cannot afford the loss of a single nesting or foraging tree.

“This is a species that has captured the hearts of people all over the world and great efforts are being made to protect it from sugar gliders through innovative thinking, hard work and public generosity,” said Vica Bayley, spokesperson for the Wilderness Society.

“But government continues to undermine that good work by allowing logging in critical habitat areas.

In 2015, RTI revelations and a detailed report (here), highlighted the systemic failure of the forest practices system, where the Hodgman government approved logging operations against explicit scientific advice. Logging swift parrot habitat was identified as a ‘critical non-compliance’ in Forestry Tasmania’s failed Forest Stewardship Certification audit in 2016.

“The granting of logging approvals against the best scientific advice was exposed as a systemic forestry regulation failure in Tasmania and something that urgently needed fixing to achieve a credible level of global certification.

“But this new discovery of logged nesting trees demonstrates ongoing failures that continue to hurt the species.

“The swift parrot cannot afford the loss of more key nesting habitat and Government must urgently step in.

A welcome moratorium on logging on the glider-free Bruny Island was implemented by hard-core forestry minister Paul Harris in late 2015, pending the finalisation of an ‘evidence based swift parrot management plan’.[i] This management plan is yet to be finalised.

“The loss of these nesting trees prompts an emphatic call on new Environment Minister Elise Archer to immediately halt any further logging in this coupe and rule out logging in all known swift parrot habitat, before it is too late.”
Vica Bayley, Tasmanian Campaign Manager, The Wilderness Society (Tasmania) Inc.