Tasmanian Conservation Agreement signedFriday 20 Jan 2012 The Gillard government has announced interim legal protection for 428,000 ha of Tasmania's forests, but has been accused of reneging on a deal to deliver a larger logging ban.Federal and state governments said the conservation agreement which was signed on Friday last week, for 428,000 hectares of public forests, was a landmark on the way to final settlement. However, the Wilderness Society, the Australian Conservation Foundation and Environment Tasmania strongly criticised the deal, which leaves about 2000 hectares of forests, still hotly disputed for their high conservation values, open to logging in coming weeks. Under the intergovernmental agreement (IGA), existing contracts must be honoured and while an independent investigation was held to see whether they could be rescheduled, it ultimately found they could not. The Conservation Agreement confirms that harvesting in a number of coupes within the 430,000 hectares will be required during the independent verification process, if Forestry Tasmania is to continue to honour its legally enforceable wood supply agreements. Acting Premier Bryan Green said the Government does not want to shut the industry down. The conservation agreement will provide interim protection for the forests until the areas designated for permanent protection are determined. Professor Jonathan West and the independent verification group are expected to complete their work next month and legislation is due before Parliament by the end of June. The interim Conservation Agreement and the reports of the independent expert forestry schedulers are available: here |
Copyright 2004-2026 © Innovatek Ltd. All rights reserved. |