Ministers in last-ditch effort for forest peace dealFriday 10 Aug 2012  Timber and green groups have failed to strike a deal to end Tasmania's forest wars, prompting the Gillard and Giddings governments to intervene in a last-ditch attempt to rescue the process reports the Australian. Despite more than two years of negotiations and an interim AU$276 million forest restructure package, timber and conservation groups on Monday announced they had failed to reach agreement. The breakdown in the talks came after revised data and modeling on wood supply showed it wasn’t possible to deliver the bottom lines of both sides. It had been hoped the modeling would show it was possible to protect about 525,000ha of native forests while still delivering an annual sawlog harvest of more than 140,000 cubic metres. For the second time in the negotiations, this means one or both sides will have to dramatically scale down their already modified expectations because of revised wood supply data. Negotiators have been discussing the impasse this week. Mr Burke and Mr Green join the talks today, with the expectation of a decision early next week on whether a conciliated deal was possible. |
Copyright 2004-2026 © Innovatek Ltd. All rights reserved. |