Bob Davey SaveYourLeatherwoodHoney Press Release
We may all be able to live without our honey, but not without our fruit and vegetables.
Too much is at stake for both the beekeepers and the fruit, vegetable and seed growers, and Tasmanians as a whole, to allow this matter to continue unchallenged.
The solution is not too difficult to achieve, avoid the leatherwood rich coupes until alternative resource is identified and accessed. If no such resource is found then leave the leatherwood rich coupes untouched. This sounds a lot like multiple use Forest practise, stated by Forestry Tasmania to be its aim.
The recent statement on ABC radio by Mr Graham Sargison on behalf of Forestry Tasmania that;
1. there are thousands of hectares of leatherwood trees available to the beekeepers
2. there are guidelines in place for the retention of leatherwood trees in State Forest and
3. the beekeeping industry in the South of Tasmania is not in decline,
4. the beekeepers cannot hold the whole timber industry to ransom,
5. the beekeeping industry is only small,
is by no means the whole story.
All the known areas of leatherwood rich forest are being utilised by the beekeepers, the guidelines are in the process of being negotiated and there is no process whereby they can be enforced, and last year the beekeepers lost areas of leatherwood reducing their hive capacity by 200+ hives ( out of an approximate total of 3000+ hives in the South ).
The beekeepers are about to request additional leatherwood sites to replace those lost, and it was recently acknowledged at a meeting between Forestry Tasmania and the beekeepers, that there was no certainty that any such areas of leatherwood existed.
In these circumstances all the beekeepers are asking for is for the harvesting of timber in the Southern Forests be carried out avoiding all coupes containing leatherwood rich stands, until alternative resource has been located and made accessable to beekeepers.
How is that request “ HOLDING FORESTRY TO RANSOM “?
As for the guidelines, if it is claimed that they are being followed voluntarily then we invite the media to inspect coupe AR034C in the Arve Valley, where the leatherwood rich content has been or is being clearfelled, with only a small change to the coupe boundaries resulting from discussions between Forestry Tasmania and the beekeepers.
20+ hives alone have been lost through the harvesting in that coupe. Forestry Tasmania claims that some of the leatherwood inside the coupe may be retained but a recent inspection by community activists from the Huon district reveals that clearfelling by the cable harvesting method is proceeding unabated. This process destroys all trees in its path. If there is any other process being planned by Forestry Tasmania then why won`t they be clear about that and announce what is intended.
As for the suggestion that the beekeeping industry is “ this small industry”, just ask the horticulturalists how they will fare when pollination services collapse. The Department of Primary Industry Water and the Environment has estimated that the pollination services delivered by the beekeepers are worth in excess of $200 million annually to that industry. Seed growers , for example, predict that they could survive only one year of reduced pollination, before ceasing business.
We may all be able to live without our honey, but not without our fruit and vegetables.
Too much is at stake for both the beekeepers and the fruit, vegetable and seed growers, and Tasmanians as a whole, to allow this matter to continue unchallenged.
The solution is not too difficult to achieve, avoid the leatherwood rich coupes until alternative resource is identified and accessed. If no such resource is found then leave the leatherwood rich coupes untouched. This sounds a lot like multiple use Forest practise, stated by Forestry Tasmania to be its aim.
Bob Davey
(President, SaveYourLeatherwoodHoneyAssociation ).
