Doug Ralph, Castlemaine
The Age (letter), 17 September 2011
THE introduction of a carbon tax may help reduce emissions in the long term but the other important cause of global warming is being ignored. Deforestation through land clearing and loss of biodiversity are a major contributor to climate change.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature states that loss of biodiversity - the variety of animals, plants, their habitats and their genes - on which so much of human life depends is one of the world's most pressing crises.
It is estimated that the extinction rate of species is between 1000 and 10,000 times higher than it would naturally be. The main drivers are caused by converting natural areas to farming and urban development, introducing invasive alien species, polluting or over-exploiting resources such as water and soils, and harvesting wild plants and animals at unsustainable levels.
Many scientists agree that restoring natural ecosystems could cool the earth and offset our present carbon emissions in the short term. Let's get our priorities right.
17 September, 2011
16 September, 2011
Conservation, recreation and carbon values of the Australian natural forest resource are worth more than its log value
"I will go out on a limb here and suggest that the conservation, recreation and carbon values of the Australian natural forest resource are worth more than its log value on net present value terms. Sustainable forest management projects should be evaluated with full incorporation of the resultant loss of non wood values; the formula should not be based merely on a technical estimate of maintaining log volume increment over the stand".
Australian Jim Douglas, who has spent the last eight years as the World Bank's Forests Adviser in Washington, writing a guest editorial in the latest "Australian Forestry" magazine.
Australian Jim Douglas, who has spent the last eight years as the World Bank's Forests Adviser in Washington, writing a guest editorial in the latest "Australian Forestry" magazine.
15 September, 2011
Species at risk 'need old growth forests'
Anna Salleh
ABC, Thursday, 15 September 2011
When it comes to protecting tropical species that are at risk from extinction there's no substitute for old growth forests, a new study has found.
The findings fly in the face of suggestions that loss of biodiversity can be tamed by the regrowth of forests in tropical areas.
Ecologist Professor William Laurance, of James Cook University in Cairns, and colleagues report their findings today in the journal Nature.
"This notion that we don't have to worry about the future of biodiversity in the tropics because there is forest regenerating in some areas is a very misleading argument," says Laurance.
"Most forms of forest degradation have an overwhelmingly detrimental effect on tropical biodiversity."
Old growth forests are those that have been undisturbed for centuries and contain enormous trees that in some cases are 1000 years old.
Laurance says about half of the world's old growth forest has been completely cleared, and much of the remaining forest is damaged.
"What we're witnessing in our lifetimes is a really massive transformation of the tropics," he says.
"An important question has been what the impacts are going to be on biodiversity."
Comparing habitats
Laurance and colleagues analysed 138 published studies that compared the abundance of species in old growth forests with that in other habitats, including areas given over to agriculture, regenerating forests, and selectively logged forests.
"When you compare these different types of habitat you find that the old growth forests are definitely the most important for sustaining biodiversity," says Laurance.
He says the findings feed into a recent debate about the importance of disturbed tropical forests in sustaining biodiversity.
Some biologists argue regenerating forests can sustain biodiversity. While this is true, says Laurance, they are no substitute for old growth forests.
He says old growth forests have 10 to 30 times more species of trees than other forests and have specialised habitats such as hollow trees.
Laurance and colleagues found that when it came to the species that are at greatest risk of extinction, old growth forests were the most important habitats.
"You tend to find the extinction-prone species almost exclusively in old growth rainforest," he says.
Laurance says a forest would need to be left undisturbed for around 300 years to qualify as old growth.
He says in the Brazilian Amazon, where an area the size of France has been cleared, a third of that is regrowth forest that is on average just six to seven years old.
Second best option
Laurance emphasises that while old growth forest is the most important habitat for at risk species, selectively logged forest may provide a second-best option.
In fact, Laurance and team found the least dramatic difference in species abundance between old growth and selectively logged forests, where only certain trees are cut out but much of the original habitat remains.
"That's important because it shows selectively logged forests should also be preserved as important habitat," says Laurance.
He says that Indonesia has 30,000 million hectares of selectively logged forests and most has been designated to be cleared on the basis it doesn't have any conservation value.
But, says Laurance, most of these forests are in areas where old growth has been completely removed and they represent the best hope for preserving biodiversity.
"To just write that stuff as being valueless is very bad policy."
ABC, Thursday, 15 September 2011
When it comes to protecting tropical species that are at risk from extinction there's no substitute for old growth forests, a new study has found.
The findings fly in the face of suggestions that loss of biodiversity can be tamed by the regrowth of forests in tropical areas.
Ecologist Professor William Laurance, of James Cook University in Cairns, and colleagues report their findings today in the journal Nature.
"This notion that we don't have to worry about the future of biodiversity in the tropics because there is forest regenerating in some areas is a very misleading argument," says Laurance.
"Most forms of forest degradation have an overwhelmingly detrimental effect on tropical biodiversity."
Old growth forests are those that have been undisturbed for centuries and contain enormous trees that in some cases are 1000 years old.
Laurance says about half of the world's old growth forest has been completely cleared, and much of the remaining forest is damaged.
"What we're witnessing in our lifetimes is a really massive transformation of the tropics," he says.
"An important question has been what the impacts are going to be on biodiversity."
Comparing habitats
Laurance and colleagues analysed 138 published studies that compared the abundance of species in old growth forests with that in other habitats, including areas given over to agriculture, regenerating forests, and selectively logged forests.
"When you compare these different types of habitat you find that the old growth forests are definitely the most important for sustaining biodiversity," says Laurance.
He says the findings feed into a recent debate about the importance of disturbed tropical forests in sustaining biodiversity.
Some biologists argue regenerating forests can sustain biodiversity. While this is true, says Laurance, they are no substitute for old growth forests.
He says old growth forests have 10 to 30 times more species of trees than other forests and have specialised habitats such as hollow trees.
Laurance and colleagues found that when it came to the species that are at greatest risk of extinction, old growth forests were the most important habitats.
"You tend to find the extinction-prone species almost exclusively in old growth rainforest," he says.
Laurance says a forest would need to be left undisturbed for around 300 years to qualify as old growth.
He says in the Brazilian Amazon, where an area the size of France has been cleared, a third of that is regrowth forest that is on average just six to seven years old.
Second best option
Laurance emphasises that while old growth forest is the most important habitat for at risk species, selectively logged forest may provide a second-best option.
In fact, Laurance and team found the least dramatic difference in species abundance between old growth and selectively logged forests, where only certain trees are cut out but much of the original habitat remains.
"That's important because it shows selectively logged forests should also be preserved as important habitat," says Laurance.
He says that Indonesia has 30,000 million hectares of selectively logged forests and most has been designated to be cleared on the basis it doesn't have any conservation value.
But, says Laurance, most of these forests are in areas where old growth has been completely removed and they represent the best hope for preserving biodiversity.
"To just write that stuff as being valueless is very bad policy."
No substitute for natural forests: study
AAP
Sydney Morning Herald, September 15, 2011 - 3:04AM
Natural forests undisturbed by humans are irreplaceable while degraded forests are a poor substitute, a new study has found.
The team of Australian and international scientists is strongly urging the protection of primary forests as a result of its findings.
The study, published in the scientific journal Nature, says most forms of forest degradation have an overwhelmingly detrimental effect on tropical biodiversity.
The report compared human impacts on biodiversity across key forested regions across the world.
"The conclusion is very clear," report co-author Professor Corey Bradshaw from the University of Adelaide said.
"Undisturbed primary forests are the only ones in which a full complement of species can thrive."
The team emphasised that until now some people believed that revegetation and other conservation programs in secondary forests would be enough to help preserve or return most species.
"It's not that secondary forests have no biodiversity value. They are just less valuable than primary forests. We should be focused on protecting primary forests as much as possible."
Professor Bradshaw's colleagues also emphasised that most forms of forest degradation have an overwhelmingly detrimental effect on biodiversity.
"The study shows that the impact of human interference in those forests is too strong. We're kidding ourselves if we think the damage can be reversed," Professor Barry Brook also from the University of Adelaide said.
South-East Asia is the worst affected area, suffering the greatest losses of biodiversity of any tropical region over the past 50 years.
The report's authors said that while South-East Asia must remain one of the top priority regions, that doesn't mean other areas can be ignored.
They suggest the expansion and greater enforcement of protected areas.
"We have already invested substantially in setting up parks. So expanding them and making them more effective might be practical," one of the study's leaders, PhD student Tien Ming Lee said.
AAP
Sydney Morning Herald, September 15, 2011 - 3:04AM
Natural forests undisturbed by humans are irreplaceable while degraded forests are a poor substitute, a new study has found.
The team of Australian and international scientists is strongly urging the protection of primary forests as a result of its findings.
The study, published in the scientific journal Nature, says most forms of forest degradation have an overwhelmingly detrimental effect on tropical biodiversity.
The report compared human impacts on biodiversity across key forested regions across the world.
"The conclusion is very clear," report co-author Professor Corey Bradshaw from the University of Adelaide said.
"Undisturbed primary forests are the only ones in which a full complement of species can thrive."
The team emphasised that until now some people believed that revegetation and other conservation programs in secondary forests would be enough to help preserve or return most species.
"It's not that secondary forests have no biodiversity value. They are just less valuable than primary forests. We should be focused on protecting primary forests as much as possible."
Professor Bradshaw's colleagues also emphasised that most forms of forest degradation have an overwhelmingly detrimental effect on biodiversity.
"The study shows that the impact of human interference in those forests is too strong. We're kidding ourselves if we think the damage can be reversed," Professor Barry Brook also from the University of Adelaide said.
South-East Asia is the worst affected area, suffering the greatest losses of biodiversity of any tropical region over the past 50 years.
The report's authors said that while South-East Asia must remain one of the top priority regions, that doesn't mean other areas can be ignored.
They suggest the expansion and greater enforcement of protected areas.
"We have already invested substantially in setting up parks. So expanding them and making them more effective might be practical," one of the study's leaders, PhD student Tien Ming Lee said.
AAP
Government's VicForests logs a profit, but only just
Ben Butler
The Age, September 15, 2011
THE state government's logging company, VicForests, burnt through more than $5 million in cash last year as its customers struggled to pay their bills, accounts tabled in Parliament yesterday reveal.
Thanks to a $5.8 million grant for bushfire recovery services from the government, the native forest logging monopoly declared a profit of $2.3 million for 2010-11.
But VicForests' operating cash flow was negative for the second year running and its borrowing from government again blew out, increasing from $19 million to $25 million - a tenfold increase since 2009, when it owed Treasury just $2.3 million. A dramatic surge in overdue customer accounts, which ballooned from about $6.9 million to about $16.4 million, was due to ''the difficulties the timber industry is currently experiencing'', the company said in notes to its accounts.
''A major customer incurred substantial debts amounting to $7.3 million and up to 60 days past due, which has resulted in VicForests suspending supply,'' the company said. The customer had resumed paying in July or August, ''with the account expected to be current by the end of August''.
''Without this delay VicForests would have returned to a positive operational cash-flow position in 2011,'' the company said. It said some customers were on payment plans and one big customer had quit the business, leaving behind a ''long-outstanding debt'' that was being repaid.
VicForests also wrote off $407,000 of trade debts it no longer believes will be collected.
Chief executive David Pollard said VicForests' financial results had improved ''even though the global markets for wood fibre of all types remains problematic''.
''We are optimistic about sustained performance in the year ahead, particularly if continuing pricing problems can be resolved with key customers,'' he said.
One customer has owed VicForests $3.5 million for more than a year, but is disputing the amount, the accounts show.
He said VicForests had been ''discussing strategies to revivify the industry in Victoria'' with the Baillieu government, elected in November. ''This has included a range of related activities that affect the commerciality of VicForests and necessary changes to law and regulation.''
Keep city liveable
Steven Katsineris, Hurstbridge
The Age (letter), 15 Sep 2011
MUCH of Melbourne's liveability status is intimately bound up with its bushland areas and green spaces. I hope the people of Melbourne can make the state government understand the importance of the woodland of the suburban fringe areas. The outer Melbourne region's dams and weirs provide the unpolluted water the people of Melbourne drink.
Trees and other vegetation act as a natural water purifier, with the forest floor filtering mountain water that runs into the dams, keeping our water clear and pure. The region's trees also give Melbourne its good air quality, inhaling carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. The region provides habitat for wildlife, places for rest and leisure activities. And most importantly its forests store carbon and reduce the effects of climate change. These are just some of the myriad valuable ways green wedges assist Melbourne, the nation and the planet. We need to treasure and protect these precious natural assets.
The Age (letter), 15 Sep 2011
MUCH of Melbourne's liveability status is intimately bound up with its bushland areas and green spaces. I hope the people of Melbourne can make the state government understand the importance of the woodland of the suburban fringe areas. The outer Melbourne region's dams and weirs provide the unpolluted water the people of Melbourne drink.
Trees and other vegetation act as a natural water purifier, with the forest floor filtering mountain water that runs into the dams, keeping our water clear and pure. The region's trees also give Melbourne its good air quality, inhaling carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. The region provides habitat for wildlife, places for rest and leisure activities. And most importantly its forests store carbon and reduce the effects of climate change. These are just some of the myriad valuable ways green wedges assist Melbourne, the nation and the planet. We need to treasure and protect these precious natural assets.
14 September, 2011
Primary forests are irreplaceable for sustaining tropical biodiversity
Luke Gibson, Tien Ming Lee, Lian Pin Koh, Barry W. Brook, Toby A. Gardner, Jos Barlow, Carlos A. Peres, Corey J. A. Bradshaw, William F. Laurance, Thomas E. Lovejoy & Navjot S. Sodhi
Nature, 14 September 2011
Received 13 May 2011 Accepted 08 August 2011 Published online 14 September 2011
Human-driven land-use changes increasingly threaten biodiversity, particularly in tropical forests where both species diversity and human pressures on natural environments are high1. The rapid conversion of tropical forests for agriculture, timber production and other uses has generated vast, human-dominated landscapes with potentially dire consequences for tropical biodiversity. Today, few truly undisturbed tropical forests exist, whereas those degraded by repeated logging and fires, as well as secondary and plantation forests, are rapidly expanding.
Here we provide a global assessment of the impact of disturbance and land conversion on biodiversity in tropical forests using a meta-analysis of 138 studies. We analysed 2,220 pairwise comparisons of biodiversity values in primary forests (with little or no human disturbance) and disturbed forests.
We found that biodiversity values were substantially lower in degraded forests, but that this varied considerably by geographic region, taxonomic group, ecological metric and disturbance type. Even after partly accounting for confounding colonization and succession effects due to the composition of surrounding habitats, isolation and time since disturbance, we find that most forms of forest degradation have an overwhelmingly detrimental effect on tropical biodiversity. Our results clearly indicate that when it comes to maintaining tropical biodiversity, there is no substitute for primary forests.
Nature, 14 September 2011
Received 13 May 2011 Accepted 08 August 2011 Published online 14 September 2011
Human-driven land-use changes increasingly threaten biodiversity, particularly in tropical forests where both species diversity and human pressures on natural environments are high1. The rapid conversion of tropical forests for agriculture, timber production and other uses has generated vast, human-dominated landscapes with potentially dire consequences for tropical biodiversity. Today, few truly undisturbed tropical forests exist, whereas those degraded by repeated logging and fires, as well as secondary and plantation forests, are rapidly expanding.
Here we provide a global assessment of the impact of disturbance and land conversion on biodiversity in tropical forests using a meta-analysis of 138 studies. We analysed 2,220 pairwise comparisons of biodiversity values in primary forests (with little or no human disturbance) and disturbed forests.
We found that biodiversity values were substantially lower in degraded forests, but that this varied considerably by geographic region, taxonomic group, ecological metric and disturbance type. Even after partly accounting for confounding colonization and succession effects due to the composition of surrounding habitats, isolation and time since disturbance, we find that most forms of forest degradation have an overwhelmingly detrimental effect on tropical biodiversity. Our results clearly indicate that when it comes to maintaining tropical biodiversity, there is no substitute for primary forests.
Gunns accepts $23m compo deal
ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), September 14, 2011
The Tasmanian timber company, Gunns, has reached an agreement with the State Government on compensation.
Gunns has formally accepted an offer of $23 million to abandon its residual native timber rights.
State-owned Forestry Tasmania will also be paid $11.5 million to ensure it does not on-sell the native forest contracts.
The Premier, Lara Giddings, says the payment is necessary as the Government is not able to direct FT to extinguish the contracts.
Ms Giddings says the payments will also settle the dispute between FT and Gunns over an alleged $25 million debt.
The Government's original offer rejected by Gunns was for $23 million to be split equally between Gunns and FT.
Gunns will update the stock exchange tomorrow on the details of the agreement and the implications for the company.
Its shares have been suspended from trading for more than a month, pending an outcome of negotiations.
Ms Giddings says the deal aims to avoid the possibility of lengthy court action.
"We have resolution of issues that must be resolved in order for the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) to progress."
"That of course is step one, that Gunns step out of the native forest industry and the $23 million enabled that to happen.
"They did have residual contractual rights that the Solicitor-General told us we needed to settle.
"Similarly, if we did not settle these issues with Forestry Tasmania, these contracts could otherwise have been on-sold and therefore wouldn't be available for verification of conservation outcomes.
"This resolution means that we have avoided the lengthy delays and costs that would inevitably be incurred if these issues were pursued through the courts," the Premier said.
The Forest Contractors Association has welcomed the agreement.
Spokesman Ed Vincent says he hopes it means contractors will soon be able to apply for grants from the $45-million industry exit assistance package.
"I think realistically it is going to take a few weeks before contractors actually receive any approvals."
"There'll need to be an application process gone through but hopefully that application process will be announced within the next few days.
"From our point of view, it's essential that that be reached to provide some surety for the contractors who are looking to progress the exit package under the IGA so that they can actually retire out of the industry with some dignity," he said.
13 September, 2011
Union chops link to forestry body
Ben Butler
The Age, September 13, 2011
GAPS have widened in the formerly close alliance between the CFMEU and the forestry industry with the resignation of a union official from a key industry body.
In a scathing letter to Australian Forestry Standard chairman Geoff Gorrie, Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union forestry and furnishings policy research officer Travis Wacey said he was resigning from the board of the environmental standards body because ''I do not want to be associated with a company which has such standards as I see it as detrimental to my professional reputation''.
The union's forestry and furnishings division has been a staunch friend to the forestry industry, even to the extent of supporting the timber policy of former prime minister John Howard during the 2004 election campaign.
But late last year the union signalled a move away from its support for logging in native forests, saying it would attempt to secure a plantation timber-based future for its members by talking to the green groups with which it had been locked in conflict.
In his letter to Mr Gorrie, sent on Thursday, Mr Wacey said the process used by the AFS to appoint Richard Stanton, formerly head of plantation timber lobby group A3P as chief executive, was ''potentially or actually compromised'' and said corporate governance at the organisation needed to be overhauled.
It is believed Mr Wacey's concerns about corporate governance relate in part to the dominant position state-owned native logging companies, including VicForests, enjoy on the AFS board.
AFS differs from its rival, the Forest Stewardship Council, by placing more emphasis on the views of industry than those of green and community groups.
Directors appointed by government-owned loggers hold four of nine board seats.
The private forestry sector has three seats, while community organisations and employees have one seat each. Mr Wacey represented employees as the representative of AFS's sole employee sector member, the CFMEU.
While Mr Wacey's letter to Mr Gorrie made it clear he regarded Mr Stanton as a ''quality appointment'', he raised concerns that the position was not advertised.
He said the appointment process ''lacked transparency'' and did not deal with ''serious conflict of interest issues''.
Mr Gorrie said he had received the letter but did not wish to comment
12 September, 2011
Timber auditor axes operations
Ben Butler
The Age, September 12, 2011
THE ORGANISATION that gives a green tick to some of Australia's biggest timber and paper companies has voluntarily suspended most of its operations after a bruising stoush with environment groups over its approval of paper brand Reflex.
SmartWood, a division of Rainforest Alliance, gave up its ability to give out chain of custody certifications following an investigation into its audit of Reflex maker Australian Paper by international governing body the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
In addition to Australian Paper, Smartwood certified Tasmanian forestry group Gunns, plantation owners Hancock, tissue company Kimberly Clark and Norwegian paper group Norske Skog, which supplies most newsprint used in Australia.
The voluntary suspension was accepted by Accreditation Services International (ASI), which was auditing SmartWood on behalf of the FSC, on September 1, and remains in force until lifted by ASI.
''This is the first time in the development of FSC Australia that this has occurred,'' local FSC head Michael Spencer said.
He said the suspension showed the FSC system worked. ''Integrity is really paramount to the system,'' he said. ''Businesses particularly need to know the rules are applied consistently.''
If SmartWood is not reinstated then once certificates held by the Australian companies it audited expire, those clients will have to find a new auditor to remain in the FSC program.
ASI's investigation of SmartWood was triggered by environment groups unhappy it had continued to certify Australian Paper's use of timber logged from native forests by the Victorian government's logging company, VicForests. Green groups say all native forests in Australia are classified ''high conservation value'' and cannot be logged for use in FSC-certified products.
Australian Paper withdrew from the FSC system last month so it could continue to use VicForests logs, approved by rival accreditation system the Australian Forestry Standard.
My Environment director Sarah Rees, whose complaint helped spark ASI's probe, said the result showed that the FSC ''is capable of responding to environmental and community change''.
''This is a fair and transparent audit and has put FSC leagues ahead of other timber standards in Australia.''
Wilderness Society forest campaigner Luke Chamberlain said ''by hitching their wagon to the unsustainable practices of VicForests and Australian Paper, Rainforest Alliance have taken themselves out in what is an international blight on forestry practices in Australia''.
SmartWood spokeswoman Anita Neville said the organisation would invest in auditor training and reviewing its performance against Australian FSC standards with a view to ''getting back to work in this area as soon as possible in 2012''.
The Age, September 12, 2011
THE ORGANISATION that gives a green tick to some of Australia's biggest timber and paper companies has voluntarily suspended most of its operations after a bruising stoush with environment groups over its approval of paper brand Reflex.
SmartWood, a division of Rainforest Alliance, gave up its ability to give out chain of custody certifications following an investigation into its audit of Reflex maker Australian Paper by international governing body the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
In addition to Australian Paper, Smartwood certified Tasmanian forestry group Gunns, plantation owners Hancock, tissue company Kimberly Clark and Norwegian paper group Norske Skog, which supplies most newsprint used in Australia.
The voluntary suspension was accepted by Accreditation Services International (ASI), which was auditing SmartWood on behalf of the FSC, on September 1, and remains in force until lifted by ASI.
''This is the first time in the development of FSC Australia that this has occurred,'' local FSC head Michael Spencer said.
He said the suspension showed the FSC system worked. ''Integrity is really paramount to the system,'' he said. ''Businesses particularly need to know the rules are applied consistently.''
If SmartWood is not reinstated then once certificates held by the Australian companies it audited expire, those clients will have to find a new auditor to remain in the FSC program.
ASI's investigation of SmartWood was triggered by environment groups unhappy it had continued to certify Australian Paper's use of timber logged from native forests by the Victorian government's logging company, VicForests. Green groups say all native forests in Australia are classified ''high conservation value'' and cannot be logged for use in FSC-certified products.
Australian Paper withdrew from the FSC system last month so it could continue to use VicForests logs, approved by rival accreditation system the Australian Forestry Standard.
My Environment director Sarah Rees, whose complaint helped spark ASI's probe, said the result showed that the FSC ''is capable of responding to environmental and community change''.
''This is a fair and transparent audit and has put FSC leagues ahead of other timber standards in Australia.''
Wilderness Society forest campaigner Luke Chamberlain said ''by hitching their wagon to the unsustainable practices of VicForests and Australian Paper, Rainforest Alliance have taken themselves out in what is an international blight on forestry practices in Australia''.
SmartWood spokeswoman Anita Neville said the organisation would invest in auditor training and reviewing its performance against Australian FSC standards with a view to ''getting back to work in this area as soon as possible in 2012''.
Just 1% of central highlands old growth survives
Adam Morton
The Age, 12 Sep 2011
BEFORE European settlement up to 80 per cent of the wet eucalyptus forest of Victoria's central highlands was old-growth mountain ash, with trees taller than 90 metres towering above the landscape.
According to research published in US journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the old-growth is nearly gone and on the verge of being unrecoverable.
The paper says decades of logging and frequent bushfire have reduced the area of old-growth to about 2000 hectares - 1.2 per cent of the forest area north-east of Healesville.
Lead researcher David Lindenmayer, from Australian National University's Fenner School of Environment and Society, said if the current combination of clearfelling and fire continued the mountain ash could be lost and replaced by wattle, or ''acacia scrub''.
''This forest is one of the saddest things I've ever seen in 30 years of ecological science. What we are seeing is a truly iconic forest evaporating before our eyes and it will never be the same again,'' Professor
Lindenmayer said.
''If it collapses into acacia scrub, it is impossible to get out again. It really is a catastrophe in the true sense of the word.''
The paper says Victoria's central highlands forest is an example of a ''landscape trap'' - a new label for an ecosystem that is fundamentally changed through human action and natural disturbance.
More than 150 years ago the central highlands were dominated by forests aged 200 to 450 years, and regulated by infrequent late summer wildfires that released seedlings from burnt trees to produce new stands.
According to the paper, in the past century the natural cycle has been disturbed by more frequent bushfires - there have been at least five, including Black Saturday in 2009 - and clearfell logging for pulp and timber.
It says the frequency and severity of fires has been exacerbated by the reduction in rainfall and overall forest age in recent decades - young mountain ash saplings are densely packed and more likely to burn.
When the time between regenerating events is less than 20-30 years, mountain ash is at risk by being replaced by other species.
Professor Lindenmayer said the loss of mountain ash had a huge impact on biodiversity, water supply for Melbourne's catchments and carbon dioxide emissions.
A 2009 paper found the central highlands' forest was the most carbon-dense in the world.
About 40 local vertebrate species rely on old-growth tree hollows for habitat.
Trees older than 100 years are no longer logged, but Professor Lindenmayer said fixing the landscape trap would require ending clearfell logging and trying to limit future fires through prescribed burning in some areas to reduce the risk to surviving old-growth.
''What is really needed now is restorative forestry, not industrial forestry, which is what we've got now,'' he said.
State government-owned timber agency VicForests says it operates sustainably.
Last week it released a consultant's report that found claims that plantation timber could completely replace native forest wood in Victoria were unrealistic.
The paper comes as conservation group My Environment is applying for a court injunction to stop logging in three forest coupes near Toolangi on the grounds they could be home to the endangered Leadbeater's possum.
The case is scheduled to be heard in the Supreme Court next week.
amorton@theage.com.au
The Age, 12 Sep 2011
BEFORE European settlement up to 80 per cent of the wet eucalyptus forest of Victoria's central highlands was old-growth mountain ash, with trees taller than 90 metres towering above the landscape.
According to research published in US journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the old-growth is nearly gone and on the verge of being unrecoverable.
The paper says decades of logging and frequent bushfire have reduced the area of old-growth to about 2000 hectares - 1.2 per cent of the forest area north-east of Healesville.
Lead researcher David Lindenmayer, from Australian National University's Fenner School of Environment and Society, said if the current combination of clearfelling and fire continued the mountain ash could be lost and replaced by wattle, or ''acacia scrub''.
''This forest is one of the saddest things I've ever seen in 30 years of ecological science. What we are seeing is a truly iconic forest evaporating before our eyes and it will never be the same again,'' Professor
Lindenmayer said.
''If it collapses into acacia scrub, it is impossible to get out again. It really is a catastrophe in the true sense of the word.''
The paper says Victoria's central highlands forest is an example of a ''landscape trap'' - a new label for an ecosystem that is fundamentally changed through human action and natural disturbance.
More than 150 years ago the central highlands were dominated by forests aged 200 to 450 years, and regulated by infrequent late summer wildfires that released seedlings from burnt trees to produce new stands.
According to the paper, in the past century the natural cycle has been disturbed by more frequent bushfires - there have been at least five, including Black Saturday in 2009 - and clearfell logging for pulp and timber.
It says the frequency and severity of fires has been exacerbated by the reduction in rainfall and overall forest age in recent decades - young mountain ash saplings are densely packed and more likely to burn.
When the time between regenerating events is less than 20-30 years, mountain ash is at risk by being replaced by other species.
Professor Lindenmayer said the loss of mountain ash had a huge impact on biodiversity, water supply for Melbourne's catchments and carbon dioxide emissions.
A 2009 paper found the central highlands' forest was the most carbon-dense in the world.
About 40 local vertebrate species rely on old-growth tree hollows for habitat.
Trees older than 100 years are no longer logged, but Professor Lindenmayer said fixing the landscape trap would require ending clearfell logging and trying to limit future fires through prescribed burning in some areas to reduce the risk to surviving old-growth.
''What is really needed now is restorative forestry, not industrial forestry, which is what we've got now,'' he said.
State government-owned timber agency VicForests says it operates sustainably.
Last week it released a consultant's report that found claims that plantation timber could completely replace native forest wood in Victoria were unrealistic.
The paper comes as conservation group My Environment is applying for a court injunction to stop logging in three forest coupes near Toolangi on the grounds they could be home to the endangered Leadbeater's possum.
The case is scheduled to be heard in the Supreme Court next week.
amorton@theage.com.au
11 September, 2011
Compo decision within days
Blair Richards
The Mercury, 11 September 2011
GUNNS Limited is expected to decide within days if it will accept a second and potentially much larger offer from the State Government to exit native forests.
Late last week the company rejected an initial offer of a maximum of $23 million.
A Gunns spokesman yesterday said the company would respond to the latest offer this week.
The Government has said the new offer would remain confidential until it got a response from Gunns.
The Federal Government has provided funding for a deal under the $276 million Intergovernmental Agreement.
On Friday, Premier Lara Giddings said the new offer included a proposed resolution of disputed debts of up to $25 million between Forestry Tasmania and Gunns.
Ms Giddings has confirmed there is now $43 million available if necessary to pay Gunns in return for the company giving up its native-forest contracts.
Ms Giddings said the Government would provide details on both the original and follow up offers made to Gunns, once the company agreed to a deal.
Yesterday the State Opposition seized on comments by former state Labor minister Julian Amos that the State Government should walk away from the Intergovernmental Agreement.
In a column published in yesterday's Mercury, Dr Amos said Gunns had made the decision to exit native forest logging long before any Government compensation was put on the table.
Yet the company had put its hand out for money and, rejecting an initial offer, had asked for more in what he described "an extraordinary exhibition of arrogance".
"To destroy an entire industry, to ruin the livelihoods of so many people, to place so many rural communities in jeopardy and then seek compensation for doing so, quite takes my breath away," Dr Amos wrote.
Opposition forestry spokesman Peter Gutwein said he agreed with Dr Amos' suggestion that the State Government drop the Intergovernmental Agreement and revert to the Regional Forests Agreement.
"Given Gunns voluntarily gave up its native forest contracts, compensation should not be paid to them at all -- end of story," he said.
04 September, 2011
Old-growth forests won't save planet
Martin Moroni and Ian Ferguson
WA Today, September 4, 2011
Managing regrowth may help us turn green, write Martin Moroni and Ian Ferguson.
IN AUSTRALIA, too often we're told the solution to all environmental problems is locking all native forests in unmanaged reserves, where they'll be immortal, grow forever and continuously suck large amounts of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
We're led to believe all forested landscapes can become old growth, and that forest management destroys forests. This is simplistic, flawed and represents missed opportunities for the environment, society and the economy.
Most of Australia's forests aren't full of enormous old trees and most of our old-growth is already in reserves. Just 6 per cent of Australia's forests are managed for wood production.
Managed forests maintain biodiversity, water quantity and quality and produce a variety of other goods and services, including carbon sequestration, employment, income and other opportunities to society.
Sure, photosynthesis takes carbon from carbon dioxide, an atmospheric gas, to form wood. Dry wood is half carbon by weight and each tonne of carbon absorbed from the atmosphere into wood came from about four tonnes of carbon dioxide.
So wood products store carbon in them and trees can absorb some carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels. But trees can't absorb all the carbon released from the burning of fossil fuels. To do so would require us to produce enough wood to form a 30-cubic-kilometre block of wood almost four times the height of Mount Everest, from forests each year. This is impossible. We must focus on reducing the burning of fossil fuels.
Growing forests absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but as they die they emit it. Wildfires frequently burn our forests releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxide back to the atmosphere and preventing many forests from becoming old-growth.
Since 2003, 3.5 million hectares have burnt in Victoria. Many of our prime forests require high-intensity wildfires to regenerate - they cannot remain as old-growth indefinitely. Valuable as it may be, storing carbon in forests doesn't change our use of fossil fuels.
Cutting trees down is the only way forests can reduce our use of fossil fuels. This is done by using wood instead of fossil fuels for heat or electricity and, most effectively, using wood instead of products associated with large emissions.
For example, the use of metal, concrete and plastic in construction produces more greenhouse gasses than when wood is used in their place.
Ideally, we should substitute fossil fuels and emission-intensive materials with renewable alternatives like wood.
Globally, wood products store an additional 150 million tonnes of carbon annually and landfill another 44 million tonnes, equivalent to removing 700 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Wood use in residential house construction instead of non-wood alternatives prevented 483 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted in 2007. By 2030 the global use of forest bio-energy will prevent 1000 million tonnes of fossil fuel carbon emissions annually.
These initiatives lack support in Australia where we are missing easy, proven opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with forests, unlike their rapid uptake in Europe and North America.
Wood products are traded on the global market. Australia has an annual $2 billion deficit in wood products, annually importing 600,000 to 900,000 cubic metres of sawn wood extracted from thousands of hectares of international forests each year, much of which are managed to lesser standards than Australia's forests.
Withdrawal of more Australian native forests from management can be expected to increase greenhouse gas emissions from more intensive harvesting elsewhere, and from increased transportation of imports. That is not a green outcome. Sustainable management of Australia's native regrowth forests is.
Dr Martin Moroni is senior research scientist, forest carbon, at Forestry Tasmania, and Ian Ferguson is professor emeritus of forest science, University of Melbourne.
FOOTNOTES:
- The authors of the above article clearly have a vested interest in the continued logging of Australia native forests.
- Bushfires do not prevent native forests "becoming old growth", nor do they destroy forests to the same extent that clear fell logging and burning them does.
- The authors neglect to mention that about 80% of the logs extracted from native forests ends up was woodchips, the vast majority of which are exported to Japan.
- Old growth forests don't "emit carbon", they continue to store it
- The authors neglect to mention that logging native forests, particularly old growth ones, put very significant net carbon emissions into the atmosphere, that are are not offset by regrowth forests within a 200 year period
29 August, 2011
Forestry Tasmania posts $12m loss
ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), August 29, 2011
Forestry Tasmania has blamed a raft of issues on an operating loss of over $12 million last financial year.
The state-owned company says it has faced a long list of problems, including the decision of its largest customer, Gunns, to get out of native forest harvesting and close woodchip mills.
Chairman Adrian Kloeden has described last financial year as a tough one, both financially and politically.
"The Statement of Principles negotiations, the ongoing effects of the global financial crisis, the high Australian dollar and the Japanese earthquake and tsunami of March this year; of these issues the closure of the Triabunna woodchip mill had one of the most detrimental effects on our year end trading results."
The company has moved to significantly reduce operating costs, including reducing its workforce from 400 to 350 full-time equivalents.
Uncertainty caused by the forests peace deal has forced a write down in the value of its forests.
Mr Kloeden says the forests are now worth $90 million less than the previous financial year.
"[It's a] 30 per cent reduction in the value of the forest estate," he said.
FT says it holds out little hope of Gunns' Triabunna mill reopening.
This year's result was a slight improvement on its previous result which has been revised to a $12.2 million deficit due to a change in the way the company must report.
FT will not be able to return a dividend to the Government this year.
Resources Minister Bryan Green says the Government is not surprised.
"Contractors have been going broke through that period, that's why the governments have had to step in and assist the industry and this is a further reflection," he said.
"That's why the Government has embarked on a process of restructuring the forest industry so as to ensure that we put it on a sustainable footing going forward."
25 August, 2011
Federal Environment Act Reform fails Forests and Climate Change
Media Release
Australian Forests and Climate Alliance (AFCA), - Thursday 25 August 2011
Forest conservation and climate action groups across Australia today condemned the Gillard Government's failure to end years of forest destruction by leaving Regional Forest Agreements in place and exempt from Federal Environmental protection laws.
"The Gillard Government's changes to national environment legislation ignore the most critical conservation issue in Australia - that intensive industrial logging and woodchipping of native forests has unacceptable impacts on wildlife and climate change", said Peter Campbell, spokesperson for the Australian Forests and Conservation Alliance (AFCA).
“How can anyone take seriously a Government that reviews the national environment protection law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC), and deliberately excludes protection of native forests?” said Peter Campbell
“The Gillard Government is determined to continue with the fiction that various Regional Forest Agreements, which overrule both the EPBC Act and corresponding State laws to enable resource security legislation for the logging industry, provide credible environmental protection for forests. It is quite clear that RFAs have failed to do this." said Peter Campbell.
"There is overwhelming evidence that RFA’s are failing to protect wildlife, water resources or account for climate change impacts of the industrial logging and associated burning.” said Prue Acton, from the South East Region Conservation Alliance.
“The Government has refused yet again to bring forests back under the protection of the EPBC Act despite widespread breaches across the country of so-called environmental protections for forests." said Noel Plumb, from Chipbusters.
There is now clear scientific evidence that industrial logging and woodchipping of native forests is destroying their capacity to absorb ever rising C02 emissions, and also releases enormous amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere.” said Peter Campbell
Mike Kelly MP, the Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, recently told the national Forest and Climate Forum in Canberra that the Government intended to review the RFA’s next year, prior to their renewal.
“This ‘head in the sand’ position is not acceptable as the world spirals towards a biodiversity loss and climate change disasters. The RFA’s must be consigned to the rubbish bin of history.” said Noel Plumb.
“We need a new approach right now to rapidly move the logging industry out of native forests and into existing plantations that now dominate the market. This approach could more than double Australia’s present efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions and protect biodiversity.” said Peter Campbell.
For further comment: -
Peter Campbell (AFCA) 0409 417 504
Prue Acton (SERCA) 02 6494 5144
Noel Plumb (Chipbusters) 0425 23 83 03
Court orders temporary logging injunction
Margaret Paul
ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), August 25, 2011
The Victorian Supreme Court has ordered the state-owned timber company, VicForests, to temporarily stop logging in the Sylvia Creek Forest, north-east of Melbourne.
Environmentalists were seeking an injunction to stop what they describe as accelerated logging in the forest.
They say the area is an important habitat for the threatened Leadbeater's possum.
The court granted an injunction until 4:15pm (AEST).
My Environment spokeswoman, Sarah Rees, says she hopes the court will extend the injunction.
"Through the tears, I think this is the first step towards a hopeful future for the Leadbeater's possum," she said.
"We're confident the judge is receptive to the concerns the community share about the Leadbeaters possum and its future, which at the moment is in question."
Ms Rees says she has spoken to Toolangi locals, who are relieved.
She says around 20 protesters are at the forest today.
"Naturally, you can imagine that for the moment they're quite jubilant that they're going to see that the trees are no longer coming down," she said.
Lawyers acting for My Environment told the court, logging activity had escalated in the past few days.
They told the court, 20 per cent of the Gun Barrel coupe had been felled within the past two days.
The court heard the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires damaged much of the area
The judge ordered VicForests to stop felling trees in the area until this afternoon, but said they could continue to remove any trees that had already been chopped down.
In a statement, VicForests says it will comply with the court order.
It says it has assessed the area, in conjunction with the Department of Sustainability and Environment and found it is not an accepted habitat for the possum.
Court orders Sylvia Creek logging halt
Weekly Times Now, August 25, 2011
AAP
AN ENVIRONMENT group has won a temporary injunction to stop logging in a Victorian forest that may contain endangered possums.
MyEnvironment applied to the Victorian Supreme Court today for an urgent injunction to stop VicForests logging trees in the Sylvia Creek Forest near Toolangi, northeast of Melbourne.
A barrister for the group, Kristen Walker, told the court the area provided a habitat for the endangered Leadbeater's Possum.
She said logging activity in the area had increased in the past few days and unless an injunction were granted soon, irreversible damage would be caused to the forest.
There are believed to be fewer than 1000 possums remaining but that number may have diminished even further since the February 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, the court heard.
Justice Robert Osborn granted a temporary injunction stopping logging until 4.15pm (AEST) today.
Lawyers for VicForests are expected to make further submissions when the matter returns to court at 2.15pm (AEST) today.
Court orders logging halt in Vic forest
Sydney Morning Herald, August 25, 2011
AAP
An environment group has won a temporary injunction to stop logging in a Victorian forest that is said to contain endangered possums.
MyEnvironment applied to the Victorian Supreme Court on Thursday for an urgent injunction to stop VicForests logging trees in the Sylvia Creek Forest near Toolangi north-east of Melbourne.
A barrister for the group, Kristen Walker, told the court the area provided a habitat for the endangered Leadbeater's Possum.
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She said logging activity in the area had increased in the past few days and unless an injunction were granted soon, irreversible damage would be caused to the forest.
There are believed to be fewer than 1000 possums remaining but that number may have diminished even further since the February 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, the court heard.
Justice Robert Osborn granted a temporary injunction stopping logging until 4.15pm (AEST) on Thursday.
Lawyers for VicForests are expected to make further submissions when the matter returns to court at 2.15pm (AEST) on Thursday.
2011 AAP
Court Orders Temporary Logging Injunction
Margaret Paul
ABC, AustraliaNews.com.au, Thu 25 August 2011
The Victorian Supreme Court has ordered the state-owned timber company, VicForests, to temporarily stop logging in the Sylvia Creek Forest, north-east of Melbourne. Environmentalists were seeking an injunction to stop what they describe as accelerated logging in the forest. They say the area is an important habitat for the threatened Leadbeater's possum.
The court granted an injunction until 4:15pm (AEST). My Environment spokeswoman, Sarah Rees, says she hopes the court will extend the injunction. "Through the tears, I think this is the first step towards a hopeful future for the Leadbeater's possum," she said. "We're confident the judge is receptive to the concerns the community share about the Leadbeaters possum and its future, which at the moment is in question." Ms Rees says she has spoken to Toolangi locals, who are relieved.
She says around 20 protesters are at the forest today. "Naturally, you can imagine that for the moment they're quite jubilant that they're going to see that the trees are no longer coming down," she said. Lawyers acting for My Environment told the court, logging activity had escalated in the past few days.
They told the court, 20 per cent of the Gun Barrel coupe had been felled within the past two days. The court heard the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires damaged much of the area The judge ordered VicForests to stop felling trees in the area until this afternoon, but said they could continue to remove any trees that had already been chopped down.
In a statement, VicForests says it will comply with the court order. It says it has assessed the area, in conjunction with the Department of Sustainability and Environment and found it is not an accepted habitat for the possum.
24 August, 2011
Court bid to halt logging at Sylvia Creek
ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), August 24, 2011
Environment groups are seeking a Supreme Court injunction against the logging of bushland near Sylvia Creek, near Toolangi.
The State Government-owned timber company, VicForests, has begun logging parts of the forest.
Opponents claim the area is home to the endangered Leadbeater's possum and must be protected.
VicForests disputes this.
Conservation lawyer Vanessa Blyer says her client's case is clear.
"The writ alleges that Leadbeaters possum habitat is being logged right now," she said.
"As a result, the logging is unlawful.
"And as a result, the court is asked to permanently restrain VicForests from logging near Leadbeaters possum habitat."
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