This outcome was a centrepiece of the historic Tasmanian Forest Agreement, with forestry unions and the Tasmanian timber industry jointly supporting World Heritage listing of Tasmania’s forests for the first time.
It was an incredible win - for nature, for people, and for our economy.
But despite this unprecedented support, the Federal Government is now seeking to remove these forests from Tassie’s World Heritage Area.
On the 31st January, Minister Hunt applied to the World Heritage Committee to cut large tracts of wild, old growth forest from the new World Heritage Area. This will allow logging in places like the Upper Florentine, Weld and Great Western Tiers; some of the most loved and beautiful forests in the world.
Bizarrely, the Coalition’s forestry spokesman, Senator Richard Colbeck, claims that this will strengthen, not weaken, the protection of Tasmania’s wilderness.
But the Australian people know better. These forests belong to all of us - that’s what World Heritage means. And if we all speak together, we can get Minister Hunt to come to his senses and drop this application.
The Coalition has no support for this move - instead, they are allowing political operatives to push ideology before common sense.
The forestry industry and unions continue to actively support the World Heritage listing of forests, because they know it’s important to the Tasmanian Forest Agreement, to their markets, and to Tasmania’s economy.
Polling shows that the Tasmanian community is well and truly behind the Forest Agreement, with World Heritage protection at its centre. The Tasmanian Government, the independent Tasmanian Upper House, and the former ALP Federal Government supported World Heritage protection. And the highly respected World Heritage Committee, supported by 190 nations, listed these forests through a rigorous process and vote.
It seems that the Australian Environment Minister is the only one who thinks that axing old growth forests is a good idea.
Wilderness Society
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