Independent assessment of Tasmanian forests releasedFriday 30 Mar 2012 The Australian and Tasmanian governments last Friday welcomed the release of the Independent Verification Group assessment of the forestry industry’s timber supply requirements and the conservation values of nominated areas of Tasmania’s native forests.Professor Jonathan West led an independent process with forestry and conservation groups to verify the high conservation value of native forests nominated under the IGA, and the timber supplies needed to meet industry needs. The independent verification process was agreed by groups involved in the IGA. Under the Intergovernmental Agreement, the Tasmanian Government has committed to introducing legislation by 30 June 2012 to implement an agreed solution. An expert team is helping signatories work through this over the coming weeks while the governments also work together to review Professor West’s report. Professor West’s independent 2000 page verification report can be viewed here. Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke says the independent process was not intended to define a single solution. He says the report aims to give all parties information so they can reach the best possible results for forestry stakeholders as the industry restructures. The response to the report’s release is that the agreement will be difficult to achieve. Conservationists say the report shows they have a strong claim to have 572,000 hectares of native forest protected but the report also says that current wood supply contracts cannot be met, even if no new reserves are established. If agreement is to be reached by mid-year, there’s going to have to be a significant compromise. For further details on the agreement process and background, a new website has been created by the Department of Infrastructure Energy and Resource. Click here to check it out. Forestry Tasmania also welcomed the release of Professor Jonathon West's report( see media release). |
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