Tasmania's newest World Heritage protection ripped up and
ancient forests re-opened for logging?
It’s unprecedented. No government has
ever tried to overturn a decision of the World Heritage
Committee for political reasons. But, right now Environment
Minister Greg Hunt and Prime Minister Tony Abbott are asking the
UNESCO World Heritage Committee to reject some of Tasmania’s old
growth forests that were approved for the world’s highest
protection less than a year ago.
Sign
the petition to keep World Heritage Listing.
The government is trying to
enable logging in protected old growth Tasmanian forests like the
Upper Florentine, Styx and Weld Valleys. This would mean the
end of the Tasmanian Forest Agreement – a peace deal
brokered between conservationists and the timber industry after
decades of conflict.
Some people say we have to choose
between jobs and the environment. But we don't. Industry,
timber workers and green groups signed this historic agreement, and
an extension of the World Heritage boundary was a direct outcome. We
all agreed. That was important. We sat in meetings
working through negotiations on forest types, maps, a sustainable
wood supply, and industry structural assistance – for over
three years.
Greg Hunt would have Australians and
the World Heritage Committee believe that much of the heritage area
is already logged and not worth conserving. This isn't true!
Less than 7 per cent of the 74,000 hectares, that they want
to reject, has ever been logged, and an even smaller percentage of
that has been clear-felled. This seven per cent was included in the
World Heritage area because, once regenerated, it provides critical
connections between logged and unlogged areas of habitat.
Will you tell the World Heritage Committee to stand by
their decision?
Thanks for being part of this,
Paul
Paul Sinclair
Director of Environmental
Campaigns
Australian Conservation Foundation