Phillip Coorey Chief Political Correspondent
The Age (article), July 20, 2010
The Gillard government is reluctant to produce a forestry jobs policy before the election because it fears getting its fingers burnt, as Labor did during the 2004 election campaign.
Talks between timber industry players are well advanced to end or reduce old-growth logging in Tasmania, and the big parties are under pressure to unveil a jobs-rescue policy to help the timber workers who will inevitably lose out.
But the government, while watching developments closely, is staying at arm's length from negotiations and will step in with a jobs package only when it is sure there will be no backlash.
At least two marginal seats - Bass and Braddon - are at risk.
''It's not going to happen unless everyone's in the boat this time,'' said a senior government source. ''We got burnt last time.''
In 2004, the Labor Party's then-leader, Mark Latham, had his campaign badly damaged when John Howard outflanked him on forestry policy. Mr Howard put more emphasis on jobs than trees, and wrested Bass and Braddon from Labor.
But since then the bottom has fallen out of the market for old-growth products such as wood chips and there is a growing consensus to start shutting the industry down.
A worldwide glut of wood and, more significantly, a public awareness campaign in key markets such as Japan, have significantly reduced demand.
Talks are well advanced between the industry, unions and conservation groups.
''Even the native-forest logging industry in this state and Victoria and NSW is in very hard times,'' the Greens leader, Bob Brown, said in Hobart yesterday.
''It requires government involvement at state and federal level. It's a key issue. It's a test of the government's and the opposition's recognition that biodiversity is a huge economic and environmental issue.''
Labor has already struck a preference deal with the Greens in key marginal seats, including Bass and Braddon.
The Labor source said there was a level of co-operation between interested parties ''that no one would have thought possible. There's a willingness to reach a settlement.''
However, he said Labor was in no rush to step in before the election and, at best, would release ''a statement of general principles'' before August 21.
He speculated that negotiations could take another three months because of the details that need to be sorted out.
These include what constitutes high-value forests which would warrant complete protection. There is disagreement over details such as whether a forest damaged by fire is still a natural forest or could be classified as regrowth and be logged.
''The Liberals are running around, they want a Latham deal, they want to say thousands of jobs will be lost,'' he said. ''It's not going to happen.''
Asked on Saturday whether she envisaged intervening before the election, the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, said she expected negotiations to continue for some time.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
20 July, 2010
15 July, 2010
Loggers lash out at claims
Bryony Triggs
Daily Examiner (article), 15th July 2010
TIMBER industry representatives have lashed out at Clarence Environment Centre conservationist John Edwards over allegations lowland rainforest and old growth was illegally logged at Grange State Forest.
Mr Edwards' claims, pub-lished in yesterday's Examiner, relate to a 15 hectare area, alleged to have been illegally logged in the forest 50km west of Grafton early this month.
The NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) is now investigating.
However NSW Forest Products Association executive director Russell Ainley said Mr Edwards was “unqualified” to make the allegations.
“John Edwards and the Clarence Environment Centre are running a campaign of unsubstantiated trivial allegations to attack the good work of well-qualified and highly experienced forest managers,” he said.
Mr Ainley said less than two per cent of the available area of State Forest was harvested each year. “That is after areas of old growth, rainforest, riparian zones and other special protection areas are excluded,” he said.
He said Mr Edwards' allegations of harvesting of rainforest and old growth in Grange State Forest were “wrong”.
“Such areas are carefully mapped, checked on the ground and excluded from all harvesting activity,” he said.
Mr Ainley said the definition of lowland rainforest was “complex”.
“It involves a full description, transitional forms, sub alliances and a great deal of scientific interpretation,” he said. “Contrary to John Edwards' assertion, you do have to be a botanist to even start to understand the definition.”
Spiro Notaras, owner of Notaras & Sons Timber Mill in South Grafton, backed Mr Ainley's comments, declaring he felt the public was being misled by an “instant expert”.
Mr Notaras said more than one million hectares of State Forest was put into National Parks in 1996/1997, as per the Regional Forest Agreement.
“The industry paid dearly for the lock-up of the forest and the government did too,” he said.
“We've spent millions to stay there and do the right thing.
“It doesn't matter what logging operation you look at, you could find little things you could pick on. Cutting trees down is emotional for anybody.”
Mr Notaras said the Forestry Commission only logged 30 per cent of the actual area they mapped to log each year, “because of all the restraints”.
He said there was a “plan of management” for every State Forest block, which had to have National Parks and Wildlife Service and DECCW approval before a contractor started logging.
Source: http://www.dailyexaminer.com.au/story/2010/07/15/loggers-conservationists-claims-grange-forest/
Daily Examiner (article), 15th July 2010
TIMBER industry representatives have lashed out at Clarence Environment Centre conservationist John Edwards over allegations lowland rainforest and old growth was illegally logged at Grange State Forest.
Mr Edwards' claims, pub-lished in yesterday's Examiner, relate to a 15 hectare area, alleged to have been illegally logged in the forest 50km west of Grafton early this month.
The NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) is now investigating.
However NSW Forest Products Association executive director Russell Ainley said Mr Edwards was “unqualified” to make the allegations.
“John Edwards and the Clarence Environment Centre are running a campaign of unsubstantiated trivial allegations to attack the good work of well-qualified and highly experienced forest managers,” he said.
Mr Ainley said less than two per cent of the available area of State Forest was harvested each year. “That is after areas of old growth, rainforest, riparian zones and other special protection areas are excluded,” he said.
He said Mr Edwards' allegations of harvesting of rainforest and old growth in Grange State Forest were “wrong”.
“Such areas are carefully mapped, checked on the ground and excluded from all harvesting activity,” he said.
Mr Ainley said the definition of lowland rainforest was “complex”.
“It involves a full description, transitional forms, sub alliances and a great deal of scientific interpretation,” he said. “Contrary to John Edwards' assertion, you do have to be a botanist to even start to understand the definition.”
Spiro Notaras, owner of Notaras & Sons Timber Mill in South Grafton, backed Mr Ainley's comments, declaring he felt the public was being misled by an “instant expert”.
Mr Notaras said more than one million hectares of State Forest was put into National Parks in 1996/1997, as per the Regional Forest Agreement.
“The industry paid dearly for the lock-up of the forest and the government did too,” he said.
“We've spent millions to stay there and do the right thing.
“It doesn't matter what logging operation you look at, you could find little things you could pick on. Cutting trees down is emotional for anybody.”
Mr Notaras said the Forestry Commission only logged 30 per cent of the actual area they mapped to log each year, “because of all the restraints”.
He said there was a “plan of management” for every State Forest block, which had to have National Parks and Wildlife Service and DECCW approval before a contractor started logging.
Source: http://www.dailyexaminer.com.au/story/2010/07/15/loggers-conservationists-claims-grange-forest/
PM's visit linked to forest deal
Sue Neales
The Mercury (article), July 15, 2010
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard is expected to fly into northern Tasmania tomorrow ahead of an expected announcement on Saturday of a late August election.
But it is not yet certain whether Ms Gillard will use her rushed visit to the marginal electorates of Bass and Braddon to announce a breakthrough in the decades-old and divisive Tasmanian forest conflict.
Last night forest industry insiders were denying a deal had been reached with environmentalists to end all logging of Tasmania's high-conservation native forests.
Federal Forestry Minister Tony Burke is in Tasmania and will address the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association national conference in Launceston today.
But a spokesman for Mr Burke denied the Gillard Government was ready to announce a peace pact or breakthrough affecting Tasmania's forests.
Before going to the polls the Prime Minister is keen to announce a sweeping "climate statement" addressing voter concerns about the Federal Government's commitment to tackle climate change.
Any deal to end all native forest logging in southern Australia, accompanied by an industry restructuring package and a switch to a plantation-only timber industry, would be part of the environmental or climate policy pitch.
The Federal Government has previously indicated to the stricken forest industry that Commonwealth funds are available to encourage some native forest loggers and contractors to leave the industry.
But talks appear to be stymied by debate between industry groups about how quickly and completely logging should cease in all state-owned native forests.
While an immediate end to felling high-conservation native forests appears certain, the speed with which a transition out of all native forests can be completed lies at the heart of last-minute negotiations.
It is understood the industry is also keen to get concessions from environmentalists to allow the $2.2 billion Gunns pulp mill in the Tamar Valley to proceed, but using only plantation timber.
Tasmanian Forestry Minister Bryan Green said he was not aware of any visit to northern Tasmania by the Prime Minister tomorrow.
Source
The Mercury (article), July 15, 2010
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard is expected to fly into northern Tasmania tomorrow ahead of an expected announcement on Saturday of a late August election.
But it is not yet certain whether Ms Gillard will use her rushed visit to the marginal electorates of Bass and Braddon to announce a breakthrough in the decades-old and divisive Tasmanian forest conflict.
Last night forest industry insiders were denying a deal had been reached with environmentalists to end all logging of Tasmania's high-conservation native forests.
Federal Forestry Minister Tony Burke is in Tasmania and will address the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association national conference in Launceston today.
But a spokesman for Mr Burke denied the Gillard Government was ready to announce a peace pact or breakthrough affecting Tasmania's forests.
Before going to the polls the Prime Minister is keen to announce a sweeping "climate statement" addressing voter concerns about the Federal Government's commitment to tackle climate change.
Any deal to end all native forest logging in southern Australia, accompanied by an industry restructuring package and a switch to a plantation-only timber industry, would be part of the environmental or climate policy pitch.
The Federal Government has previously indicated to the stricken forest industry that Commonwealth funds are available to encourage some native forest loggers and contractors to leave the industry.
But talks appear to be stymied by debate between industry groups about how quickly and completely logging should cease in all state-owned native forests.
While an immediate end to felling high-conservation native forests appears certain, the speed with which a transition out of all native forests can be completed lies at the heart of last-minute negotiations.
It is understood the industry is also keen to get concessions from environmentalists to allow the $2.2 billion Gunns pulp mill in the Tamar Valley to proceed, but using only plantation timber.
Tasmanian Forestry Minister Bryan Green said he was not aware of any visit to northern Tasmania by the Prime Minister tomorrow.
Source
14 July, 2010
Gillard paves way to end Tasmania logging conflict
Tom Arup
The Age (article), July 14, 2010
The Gillard government has offered to finance a potential breakthrough between environmentalists and forestry companies to end the decades-long conflict over native forest logging in Tasmania.
In meetings in Tasmania last week, Forestry Minister Tony Burke is understood to have told negotiating parties some federal money is available for an agreement and he has asked for a deal to be presented to him by early next week.
Over recent months, representatives of the timber industry and the environmental movement have been negotiating an agreement that could end much of the native forest logging in the state.
While any deal could still fall through, the parties are now understood to be getting close. The environment movement - represented in the negotiations by the Wilderness Society, the Australian Conservation Foundation and Environment Tasmania - is understood to want an almost immediate halt to logging of high-conservation-value forests and a phased end, over a number of years, to almost all native logging throughout the state except in rare circumstances.
In return, the struggling Tasmanian timber industry - represented by Timber Communities Australia, the National Association of Forest Industries, and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union - wants a restructuring package to help industry move towards certified plantation timber.
The industry is also understood to be asking for financial help for new infrastructure and roads to ensure its long-term survival. It also wants support for Gunns' stalled Bell Bay pulp mill.
Mr Burke is understood to have asked the parties to present a deal to the government by early next week and has told them that while there is not unlimited money to get an agreement, the government would step in if an appropriate agreement were presented.
While refusing to comment on any government offer, Mr Burke told The Age yesterday ''there are genuine efforts being made by people who have spent their lives arguing with each to see if they can reach a settlement''.
''We are not there yet, but it would be a massive change from the conflict that has plagued this issue for generations.''
National Association of Forest Industries chief executive Allan Hansard will meet his Tasmanian member companies today to discuss the agreement.
Green groups have also presented parts of the deal to many of the community-based environment bodies they are representing in the talks.
Logging in Tasmania has been a vexed issue for federal Labor for years. Labor leader Mark Latham's promise to protect large parts of Tasmania's forests during the 2004 election sparked an angry campaign by the CFMEU against the proposal, which is credited with losing Labor the Tasmanian seats of Braddon and Bass at that election.
The Tasmanian timber industry has suffered financially in recent years because of a global glut of wood chips and an increased demand for environmentally friendly plantation timber from key Asian customers.
Source
The Age (article), July 14, 2010
The Gillard government has offered to finance a potential breakthrough between environmentalists and forestry companies to end the decades-long conflict over native forest logging in Tasmania.
In meetings in Tasmania last week, Forestry Minister Tony Burke is understood to have told negotiating parties some federal money is available for an agreement and he has asked for a deal to be presented to him by early next week.
Over recent months, representatives of the timber industry and the environmental movement have been negotiating an agreement that could end much of the native forest logging in the state.
While any deal could still fall through, the parties are now understood to be getting close. The environment movement - represented in the negotiations by the Wilderness Society, the Australian Conservation Foundation and Environment Tasmania - is understood to want an almost immediate halt to logging of high-conservation-value forests and a phased end, over a number of years, to almost all native logging throughout the state except in rare circumstances.
In return, the struggling Tasmanian timber industry - represented by Timber Communities Australia, the National Association of Forest Industries, and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union - wants a restructuring package to help industry move towards certified plantation timber.
The industry is also understood to be asking for financial help for new infrastructure and roads to ensure its long-term survival. It also wants support for Gunns' stalled Bell Bay pulp mill.
Mr Burke is understood to have asked the parties to present a deal to the government by early next week and has told them that while there is not unlimited money to get an agreement, the government would step in if an appropriate agreement were presented.
While refusing to comment on any government offer, Mr Burke told The Age yesterday ''there are genuine efforts being made by people who have spent their lives arguing with each to see if they can reach a settlement''.
''We are not there yet, but it would be a massive change from the conflict that has plagued this issue for generations.''
National Association of Forest Industries chief executive Allan Hansard will meet his Tasmanian member companies today to discuss the agreement.
Green groups have also presented parts of the deal to many of the community-based environment bodies they are representing in the talks.
Logging in Tasmania has been a vexed issue for federal Labor for years. Labor leader Mark Latham's promise to protect large parts of Tasmania's forests during the 2004 election sparked an angry campaign by the CFMEU against the proposal, which is credited with losing Labor the Tasmanian seats of Braddon and Bass at that election.
The Tasmanian timber industry has suffered financially in recent years because of a global glut of wood chips and an increased demand for environmentally friendly plantation timber from key Asian customers.
Source
04 July, 2010
LETTER: The bones will tell the story
Sarah Rees, executive director, My Environment, Healesville
Letter, The Age, 3 July 2010
VICFOREST chief executive David Pollard claims ''all trees harvested in Toolangi had dated from 1939 bushfire regrowth and no possums had been affected'' - ''Green groups in logging case bid'' (The Age, 1/7).
We may have a different picture. Beneath a large, smashed tree in the logging zone lies the burnt remains of what looks to be a small marsupial. We exhumed some skeletal remains, bone-white against the charred soil, from the coupe burn. The skeleton is at a veterinary clinic, awaiting analysis. It may be an eastern pygmy possum, a bobuck possum, a ringtail possum or even a Leadbeater's possum.
This forest had many possums and as many gliders again - the Department of Sustainability and Environment's maps shows this. These bones may tell the story of the logging disaster that took place in this possum's home. But let us leave it for the judge to decide.
Letter, The Age, 3 July 2010
VICFOREST chief executive David Pollard claims ''all trees harvested in Toolangi had dated from 1939 bushfire regrowth and no possums had been affected'' - ''Green groups in logging case bid'' (The Age, 1/7).
We may have a different picture. Beneath a large, smashed tree in the logging zone lies the burnt remains of what looks to be a small marsupial. We exhumed some skeletal remains, bone-white against the charred soil, from the coupe burn. The skeleton is at a veterinary clinic, awaiting analysis. It may be an eastern pygmy possum, a bobuck possum, a ringtail possum or even a Leadbeater's possum.
This forest had many possums and as many gliders again - the Department of Sustainability and Environment's maps shows this. These bones may tell the story of the logging disaster that took place in this possum's home. But let us leave it for the judge to decide.
29 June, 2010
VicForests accused of felling old-growth mountain ash
ADAM MORTON
The Age (article) June 29, 2010
The Victorian government's forestry arm will face a legal challenge over claims it illegally logged old-growth forest and increased the risk to a threatened species.
Environmental groups accuse VicForests of felling dozens of pre-1900 ash eucalypts, breaching the Central Highlands Forest Management Plan.
An impending legal case will also claim the timber agency failed to protect habitats necessary for the survival of Victoria's threatened faunal emblem, Leadbeater's possum.
Ecologist Jacques Cop, from consultants Acacia Environmental Group, said a survey of just one coupe near Toolangi found 31 pre-1900 ash eucalypts had been logged. Five stumps were more three metres across.
''These are trees that are 200 or 300 years old,'' he said.
Mr Cop said the area should also have been protected as a Leadbeater's possum habitat as it met the threshold of having at least 12 hollowed trees within three hectares.
He said neither the state Department of Sustainability and Environment nor VicForests carried out ground surveys to check if ecological requirements were being met.
Sarah Rees, president of local group My Environment, said the situation was an emergency.
''If this doesn't stop we're going to lose the last viable habitat for a range of different species, but Leadbeater's possum carries the strongest case for legal protection,'' she said.
The state government said it took the allegations ''extremely seriously''.
Spokesman Michael Sinclair said VicForests would investigate the alleged breaches and report to the Department of Sustainability and Environment.
VicForests spokesman David Walsh said the agency carried out detail planning before harvesting to ensure it acted within the law and had offered to meet local residents to better understand their concerns.
''No old-growth forest is harvested by VicForests in Victoria's central highlands region,'' he said.
The legal case, being prepared on behalf of a group called the Flora and Fauna Research Collective, comes amid community concern about the scale of logging in the central highlands after the Black Saturday bushfires.
The Wilderness Society said that evidence supporting the latest claims showed illegal logging of native forests was rife under the state government's watch.
A separate allegation of illegal logging at Brown Mountain, in east Gippsland, is the subject of a pending Supreme Court judgment.
''Premier Brumby must act now to end VicForests' woodchip rampage in Victoria's magnificent native forests,'' said Wilderness Society spokesman Luke Chamberlain.
Article source
The Age (article) June 29, 2010
The Victorian government's forestry arm will face a legal challenge over claims it illegally logged old-growth forest and increased the risk to a threatened species.
Sarah Rees at the base of an ancient mountain ash spared the chainsaw but killed during a clean-up fire near Toolangi. She says the present situation is an emergency. Photo: John Woudstra
Environmental groups accuse VicForests of felling dozens of pre-1900 ash eucalypts, breaching the Central Highlands Forest Management Plan.
An impending legal case will also claim the timber agency failed to protect habitats necessary for the survival of Victoria's threatened faunal emblem, Leadbeater's possum.
Ecologist Jacques Cop, from consultants Acacia Environmental Group, said a survey of just one coupe near Toolangi found 31 pre-1900 ash eucalypts had been logged. Five stumps were more three metres across.
''These are trees that are 200 or 300 years old,'' he said.
Mr Cop said the area should also have been protected as a Leadbeater's possum habitat as it met the threshold of having at least 12 hollowed trees within three hectares.
He said neither the state Department of Sustainability and Environment nor VicForests carried out ground surveys to check if ecological requirements were being met.
Sarah Rees, president of local group My Environment, said the situation was an emergency.
''If this doesn't stop we're going to lose the last viable habitat for a range of different species, but Leadbeater's possum carries the strongest case for legal protection,'' she said.
The state government said it took the allegations ''extremely seriously''.
Spokesman Michael Sinclair said VicForests would investigate the alleged breaches and report to the Department of Sustainability and Environment.
VicForests spokesman David Walsh said the agency carried out detail planning before harvesting to ensure it acted within the law and had offered to meet local residents to better understand their concerns.
''No old-growth forest is harvested by VicForests in Victoria's central highlands region,'' he said.
The legal case, being prepared on behalf of a group called the Flora and Fauna Research Collective, comes amid community concern about the scale of logging in the central highlands after the Black Saturday bushfires.
The Wilderness Society said that evidence supporting the latest claims showed illegal logging of native forests was rife under the state government's watch.
A separate allegation of illegal logging at Brown Mountain, in east Gippsland, is the subject of a pending Supreme Court judgment.
''Premier Brumby must act now to end VicForests' woodchip rampage in Victoria's magnificent native forests,'' said Wilderness Society spokesman Luke Chamberlain.
Article source
28 June, 2010
Council calls for stop to native logging in Yarra Ranges
Emily Webb
Lilydale and Yarra Valley Leader (aricle), 28 Jun 2010
Yarra Ranges Council is putting its weight behind a community push to stop native forest logging within the shire.
At a packed meeting on June 23, residents from Toolangi and Healesville heard from council representatives and environmental lobby and conservation groups.
Lyster ward councillor Samantha Dunn told the audience of more than 300 at Healesville Memorial Hall that the forestry industry’s claim that it was a “significant driver of the Yarra Ranges economy” was a myth. She said the industry contributed $24 million annually - .02 per cent - to the local economy and accounted for 91 of the 35,000 jobs in the shire.
“Timber workers should have a job but it is time to (move) to plantation logging and get out of our native forests,” Cr Dunn said.
She was joined by councillors Tim Heenan, Jeanette McRae and Noel Cliff. Event organiser Steven Meacher said logging had already proceeded at sensitive sites that were approved after Black Saturday.
“The Department of Sustainability and Environment is considering VicForests’ application for 148 more coupes, with a decision expected soon,” Mr Meacher said.
Healesville resident Bernie Mace said he was concerned about an application for further logging coupes on Mt St Leonard.
“I want the profile of the mountain to be respected and retained by VicForests,” Mr Mace said.
He said the proposed logging was at the base of the mountain, which was at the start of the Bicentennial National Trail, a world-renowned 5330km trail.
“It would be a catastrophe if that was logged.”
Wilderness Society’s Victorian forests campaigner Luke Chamberlain said clear felling - the type of logging done in parts of Yarra Ranges - was akin to vandalism. Mr Chamberlain said native forest logging was an unsustainable industry both environmentally and economically and that it was time to look to plantation logging.
On June 8 councillors voted to write to politicians and call for an immediate halt to logging and future logging on the Bicentennial Trail and Mt St Leonard.
Article source
Lilydale and Yarra Valley Leader (aricle), 28 Jun 2010
Yarra Ranges Council is putting its weight behind a community push to stop native forest logging within the shire.
At a packed meeting on June 23, residents from Toolangi and Healesville heard from council representatives and environmental lobby and conservation groups.
Sarah Rees, Stephen Powell, Bernie Mace, Steven Meacher, Lorraine Leach, Adam Menary and Sera Blair
Lyster ward councillor Samantha Dunn told the audience of more than 300 at Healesville Memorial Hall that the forestry industry’s claim that it was a “significant driver of the Yarra Ranges economy” was a myth. She said the industry contributed $24 million annually - .02 per cent - to the local economy and accounted for 91 of the 35,000 jobs in the shire.
“Timber workers should have a job but it is time to (move) to plantation logging and get out of our native forests,” Cr Dunn said.
She was joined by councillors Tim Heenan, Jeanette McRae and Noel Cliff. Event organiser Steven Meacher said logging had already proceeded at sensitive sites that were approved after Black Saturday.
“The Department of Sustainability and Environment is considering VicForests’ application for 148 more coupes, with a decision expected soon,” Mr Meacher said.
Healesville resident Bernie Mace said he was concerned about an application for further logging coupes on Mt St Leonard.
“I want the profile of the mountain to be respected and retained by VicForests,” Mr Mace said.
He said the proposed logging was at the base of the mountain, which was at the start of the Bicentennial National Trail, a world-renowned 5330km trail.
“It would be a catastrophe if that was logged.”
Wilderness Society’s Victorian forests campaigner Luke Chamberlain said clear felling - the type of logging done in parts of Yarra Ranges - was akin to vandalism. Mr Chamberlain said native forest logging was an unsustainable industry both environmentally and economically and that it was time to look to plantation logging.
On June 8 councillors voted to write to politicians and call for an immediate halt to logging and future logging on the Bicentennial Trail and Mt St Leonard.
Article source
14 June, 2010
Something is knocking the state's owls off their perches
JOHN ELDER June 13, 2010
The Age, Article [link]
WHAT'S happened to Victoria's carnivorous owls? A significant number have vanished, and the Department of Sustainability and Environment isn't sure what's going on.
It's assumed the top end of the woodland food chain is either starving to death because its food source has been killed off by the drought and fires, or it is relocating to parts unknown, but it will take years to find an answer.
The DSE has been monitoring the owl populations - including that of the powerful owl, Australia's largest owl - since 2000. Since then, detection rates in South Gippsland and the Bunyip State Park have dropped by half.
In some areas of the Bunyip State Park - half of which was lost to the Black Saturday fires - detections of the sooty owl have dropped to a third.
DSE owl specialist Ed McNab says: ''We don't know what's happened to them. We can only assume that drought has played a major role. We noticed the downward trend before the fires. They're very mobile birds, but the fires would have had an impact on their prey.''
Powerful and sooty owls, both officially listed as vulnerable, mainly eat sugar gliders and ringtail possums. The possums in particular are known to have little resistance to chronic hot weather, and their failure to thrive in the drought is probably the main reason why owl numbers have dropped. While owls may have escaped the Black Saturday fires, many possums would have been incinerated.
Mr McNab says the smaller carnivorous birds, such as the barking owl, are able to sustain themselves on insects. Powerful and sooty owls can also eat rabbits and birds such as magpies and kookaburras, but they need to make the change in their diet before energy loss reduces their ability to effectively hunt.
''They'll either starve or take something else,'' said Mr McNab.
Equally disastrous for the owls was the loss of old trees with large hollows that they require for nesting. They might have shifted elsewhere to recolonise, but this would mean taking over an already occupied territory. ''And there tends to be a home-ground advantage in these battles,'' said Mr McNab.
The occupying bird has inside knowledge of the territory and a greater capacity to defend its patch, because it's energy store will be higher. Flying great distances in search of food saps the strength from large birds and even causes them to starve.
The DSE's biodiversity team leader for West Gippsland, Dr Rolf Willig, said the top order carnivores were ''an indicator species as to the well-being of the ecosystem. Theoretically, if they're happy, the rest are happy.''
For five years Dr Willig has been running a playback monitoring program in South Gippsland, where recordings of owl calls are played into the dark and answering calls are recorded. The number of birds answering calls have dropped significantly this year.
''The results indicate we may be having a delayed reaction from the fires,'' he said. ''The possums not actually killed in the fires might have been exposed afterward, and the owls picked them off, eating all the food that was left.''
It will take years to find out what's happened. ''And not just three or five years. We'll be out here for a long time,'' said Dr Willig.
The Age, Article [link]
It's assumed the top end of the woodland food chain is either starving to death because its food source has been killed off by the drought and fires, or it is relocating to parts unknown, but it will take years to find an answer.
The DSE has been monitoring the owl populations - including that of the powerful owl, Australia's largest owl - since 2000. Since then, detection rates in South Gippsland and the Bunyip State Park have dropped by half.
In some areas of the Bunyip State Park - half of which was lost to the Black Saturday fires - detections of the sooty owl have dropped to a third.
DSE owl specialist Ed McNab says: ''We don't know what's happened to them. We can only assume that drought has played a major role. We noticed the downward trend before the fires. They're very mobile birds, but the fires would have had an impact on their prey.''
Powerful and sooty owls, both officially listed as vulnerable, mainly eat sugar gliders and ringtail possums. The possums in particular are known to have little resistance to chronic hot weather, and their failure to thrive in the drought is probably the main reason why owl numbers have dropped. While owls may have escaped the Black Saturday fires, many possums would have been incinerated.
Mr McNab says the smaller carnivorous birds, such as the barking owl, are able to sustain themselves on insects. Powerful and sooty owls can also eat rabbits and birds such as magpies and kookaburras, but they need to make the change in their diet before energy loss reduces their ability to effectively hunt.
''They'll either starve or take something else,'' said Mr McNab.
Equally disastrous for the owls was the loss of old trees with large hollows that they require for nesting. They might have shifted elsewhere to recolonise, but this would mean taking over an already occupied territory. ''And there tends to be a home-ground advantage in these battles,'' said Mr McNab.
The occupying bird has inside knowledge of the territory and a greater capacity to defend its patch, because it's energy store will be higher. Flying great distances in search of food saps the strength from large birds and even causes them to starve.
The DSE's biodiversity team leader for West Gippsland, Dr Rolf Willig, said the top order carnivores were ''an indicator species as to the well-being of the ecosystem. Theoretically, if they're happy, the rest are happy.''
For five years Dr Willig has been running a playback monitoring program in South Gippsland, where recordings of owl calls are played into the dark and answering calls are recorded. The number of birds answering calls have dropped significantly this year.
''The results indicate we may be having a delayed reaction from the fires,'' he said. ''The possums not actually killed in the fires might have been exposed afterward, and the owls picked them off, eating all the food that was left.''
It will take years to find out what's happened. ''And not just three or five years. We'll be out here for a long time,'' said Dr Willig.
10 June, 2010
Australia accused of fudging emissions
JOHN VIDAL AND ADAM MORTON
June 10, 2010 AUSTRALIA has been accused of trying to cheat its way out of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by pushing for ''dishonest'' forestry accounting loopholes at the latest round of UN climate talks.
Along with Russia and the European Union, Australia is facing claims it is pushing to change rules so they could include offsets from planting trees but not count emissions created by land clearing.
Developing countries and environmental groups at the two-week meeting in Bonn, Germany, said rich nations were attempting to give the impression that they were tackling climate change when in reality they would be undermining genuine cuts.
The dispute centres on what year, or series of years, are chosen as a baseline to measure emissions from the land and forestry.
The Climate Action Network, a coalition of more than 500 environment and development groups, said a proposed revision of the land use, land use change and forestry rules would falsely exaggerate emission reductions. ''It's a disgraceful scandal. It would be disastrous for the climate,'' said Sean Cadman, an Australian spokesman for the climate network.
''This is a massive loophole. All rich countries except Switzerland are now trying to avoid the consequences of increasing the harvesting of forestry.''
The deputy chief executive of the Climate Institute, Erwin Jackson, said Australia's credibility was ''teetering on the edge of an abyss'' after the government's decision to delay emissions trading and the Coalition's outright opposition to a scheme.
''Obstinacy against reasonable calls for Australia to take responsibility for pollution from forestry is counterproductive and the government risks being perceived as trying to cook the books,'' he said.
A spokeswoman for the Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, said the government measured and reported emissions from forestry and the land in accordance with international rules and reported them clearly every year. ''Australia recognises that the world needs smarter treatment of human-caused emissions from the land sector,'' she said.
''We have been pursuing this internationally for a long time because an effective global agreement will need to include human-caused emissions from all sectors.''
The climate network claims that loopholes could account for nearly 400 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, or nearly 5 per cent of the global total. Forest management is seen as key to the climate talks because it is the biggest source of carbon credits and potential mitigation.
- with Guardian News & Media
Source [link]
Along with Russia and the European Union, Australia is facing claims it is pushing to change rules so they could include offsets from planting trees but not count emissions created by land clearing.
Developing countries and environmental groups at the two-week meeting in Bonn, Germany, said rich nations were attempting to give the impression that they were tackling climate change when in reality they would be undermining genuine cuts.
The dispute centres on what year, or series of years, are chosen as a baseline to measure emissions from the land and forestry.
The Climate Action Network, a coalition of more than 500 environment and development groups, said a proposed revision of the land use, land use change and forestry rules would falsely exaggerate emission reductions. ''It's a disgraceful scandal. It would be disastrous for the climate,'' said Sean Cadman, an Australian spokesman for the climate network.
''This is a massive loophole. All rich countries except Switzerland are now trying to avoid the consequences of increasing the harvesting of forestry.''
The deputy chief executive of the Climate Institute, Erwin Jackson, said Australia's credibility was ''teetering on the edge of an abyss'' after the government's decision to delay emissions trading and the Coalition's outright opposition to a scheme.
''Obstinacy against reasonable calls for Australia to take responsibility for pollution from forestry is counterproductive and the government risks being perceived as trying to cook the books,'' he said.
A spokeswoman for the Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, said the government measured and reported emissions from forestry and the land in accordance with international rules and reported them clearly every year. ''Australia recognises that the world needs smarter treatment of human-caused emissions from the land sector,'' she said.
''We have been pursuing this internationally for a long time because an effective global agreement will need to include human-caused emissions from all sectors.''
The climate network claims that loopholes could account for nearly 400 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, or nearly 5 per cent of the global total. Forest management is seen as key to the climate talks because it is the biggest source of carbon credits and potential mitigation.
- with Guardian News & Media
Source [link]
09 April, 2010
Motion sensing cameras are changing the fight over forests
Stateline Victoria
April 9, 2010
A five second film of an endangered potaroo could change the way environmental laws are applied to logging operations.
JOSEPHINE CAFAGNA, PRESENTER: The discovery of a Long-footed Potaroo in forest in East Gippsland has thrown Victoria's environmental laws into question and the future of logging operations into doubt.
Endangered species are given special protection whenever and wherever they're found, but angered by what they say is the Government's head-in-the-sand approach, environmental groups are using cameras to prove endangered animals like the Potaroo are living in forests that are due to be logged. Matthew Stanley reports.
MATTHEW STANLEY, REPORTER: These images are taken by a motion-sensing infrared camera. They capture the nocturnal comings and goings of Victoria's forests and are the latest weapon in the ongoing campaign by conservation groups to stop old growth logging.
ANDREW LINCOLN: We're parked here. We'll walk to this point here and then walk to the first camera there, then come over the ridgeline down to the gully there and then follow this old track down here to these two.
MATTHEW STANLEY: 24-year-old Andrew Lincoln's already an experienced hand in the art of the wildlife survey, techniques used to detect rare and endangered animals. Armed with a map and a GPS he spotlights for gliders and owls and searches creeks for native crayfish. But in East Gippsland, the main prize is the Long-footed Potaroo, an endangered species that triggers immediate protection of up to 150 hectares of forest, wherever one is found. The cameras are the perfect tool for finding the notoriously shy animals.
ANDREW LINCOLN: Most animals are nocturnal that we're looking for, so when an animal, we put out some bait and the animal comes to sniff it and sets off a motion sensor and then the infrared cameras so they can take night shots, and, yeah, hopefully we catch 'em on film.
MATTHEW STANLEY: The search focuses on areas due to be logged, in this case deep in thick bushland.
This camera's been in place for a month, silently recording any movement.
This is what they found: two long-footed potaroos, attracted by the smell of honey, oats and pistachio essence, hop in front of the camera. Their presence will throw plans to log this area in the Yalmi Forest into doubt and already has the government agency in charge of logging questioning the video's authenticity.
DAVID POLLARD, CEO, VICFORESTS: The only thing I could add to this dramatic nocturnal footage is that it has to be tested by independent third parties. I mean, if it's evidence, it has to be audited. And elements of the community that want to provide evidence, welcome as that is, need to consent to have their offerings interrogated by independent parties. Otherwise it's not evidence; it's mere assertion.
MATTHEW STANLEY: The latest film plays like a sequel to pictures at the centre of a court case that is testing the way Victoria's environmental protection laws are interpreted and enforced.
Last year a camera captured a Potaroo in the middle of one of the most hotly-contested forests in Victoria. Produced just days before logging was due to start in two stands of old growth forests at Brown Mountain, the five second film was also questioned by Vic Forests.
JILL REDWOOD, ENVIRONMENT EAST GIPPSLAND: The clock was certainly ticking, yes. So when we found the potaroo, we thought, "Right, this is it. They can't ignore this one." And sent the footage through and the report and they ignored it.
MATTHEW STANLEY: Environment East Gippsland then went to the Supreme Court and won a temporary injunction to stop the logging. After a four week hearing, the court's now deliberating on whether the area should be permanently protected.
JILL REDWOOD: The Government decided that it was fair game for logging. They hadn't done any surveys here of course because they didn't want to find the threatened species, which would then prevent them from logging if they'd abide by the law.
MATTHEW STANLEY: Ray Jamieson's both saw miller and logging contractor and was poised to begin logging Brown Mountain when the film of what became known in court as "Potaroo number one" forced a stop.
RAY JAMIESON, SAWMILLER: If the decision goes their way it will then just open up the floodgates, I'd say, and that'd just leave it open for all the other coops that we've got on the what's to do.
MATTHEW STANLEY: Mr Jamieson's had his fair of run-ins with environmental activists during forest blockades going back 20 years, but is scratching his head at the new tactics.
Are you surprised that one photo of one animal could do what it's done?
RAY JAMIESON: Yeah, I didn't realise it'd have such an impact, I s'pose. But - well, you know, see where it goes, I spose. See where it goes.
MATTHEW STANLEY: What started as an argument over evidence has snowballed into a test of how the law designed to protect endangered species, the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, is applied to logging operations. Vicforests says it follows the rules set down by the Department of Sustainability and Environment.
MIKE RYAN, FOREST SCIENTIST, VICFORESTS: Look, any of the threatened species are assessed on the basis of already pre-existing identification of where they are in the landscape and on the maps that are provided to us from Department of Sustainability and Environment.
MATTHEW STANLEY: Does Vicforests do any wildlife surveys, any assessments of pre-logging assessments of wildlife and so on?
MIKE RYAN: We don't currently do pre-logging surveys. Again, that falls under the responsibility of the Department of Sustainability and Environment.
MATTHEW STANLEY: The DSE stopped doing pre-logging wildlife surveys in the '90s. Their assessments are now based on what's referred to as desktop analysis, a review of forest types, preferred habitat and existing records.
DAVID POLLARD: They have a very big investment in resourcing field operations for the identification and protection of species. It's an enormous job. It's a very demanding job. I think they do it very professionally. I have enormous confidence in them.
MATTHEW STANLEY: The Department of Sustainability and Environment declined to be interviewed, but it says it's up to Vicforests to decide if pre-logging surveys are needed to comply with the law.
DAVID POLLARD: Only they would know the extent to which field operations would be necessary to establish that.
MATTHEW STANLEY: The DSE sought assurances from Vicforests that its staff would not be subpoenaed as expert witnesses in the Brown Mountain court case. But a DSE discussion paper tendered in evidence states, "The absence of pre-harvest survey process exposes DSE and Vicforests to the prospect of inadvertent damage or destruction of significant species sites, ... negative publicity and accusations of breaches of our own guidelines and possible legal challenges to timber harvesting."
In other words, according to Jill Redwood, you won't find what you don't look for.
JILL REDWOOD: The DSE have been pointing the finger at Vicforests. Vicforests have been pointing the finger back. We're doing work they should be doing.
MATTHEW STANLEY: The argument over just whose job it is has strained relations between DSE and Vicforests. David Pollard says he's hoping the court will decide.
DAVID POLLARD: We are all beginning to realise that the norms that have governed the identification and protection of wildlife could sustain greater clarity.
JILL REDWOOD: I think what's come up in evidence shows they have to do pre-logging surveys. And if nothing else, if that's the only thing that comes out of it, I think that'll be a huge win.
MATTHEW STANLEY: In the meantime activists like Andrew Lincoln continue to search the forests of East Gippsland for endangered animals that might otherwise go undetected and unprotected.
ANDREW LINCOLN: At least to know, let alone protect, what we're destroying.
Source
April 9, 2010
A five second film of an endangered potaroo could change the way environmental laws are applied to logging operations.
JOSEPHINE CAFAGNA, PRESENTER: The discovery of a Long-footed Potaroo in forest in East Gippsland has thrown Victoria's environmental laws into question and the future of logging operations into doubt.
Endangered species are given special protection whenever and wherever they're found, but angered by what they say is the Government's head-in-the-sand approach, environmental groups are using cameras to prove endangered animals like the Potaroo are living in forests that are due to be logged. Matthew Stanley reports.
MATTHEW STANLEY, REPORTER: These images are taken by a motion-sensing infrared camera. They capture the nocturnal comings and goings of Victoria's forests and are the latest weapon in the ongoing campaign by conservation groups to stop old growth logging.
ANDREW LINCOLN: We're parked here. We'll walk to this point here and then walk to the first camera there, then come over the ridgeline down to the gully there and then follow this old track down here to these two.
MATTHEW STANLEY: 24-year-old Andrew Lincoln's already an experienced hand in the art of the wildlife survey, techniques used to detect rare and endangered animals. Armed with a map and a GPS he spotlights for gliders and owls and searches creeks for native crayfish. But in East Gippsland, the main prize is the Long-footed Potaroo, an endangered species that triggers immediate protection of up to 150 hectares of forest, wherever one is found. The cameras are the perfect tool for finding the notoriously shy animals.
ANDREW LINCOLN: Most animals are nocturnal that we're looking for, so when an animal, we put out some bait and the animal comes to sniff it and sets off a motion sensor and then the infrared cameras so they can take night shots, and, yeah, hopefully we catch 'em on film.
MATTHEW STANLEY: The search focuses on areas due to be logged, in this case deep in thick bushland.
This camera's been in place for a month, silently recording any movement.
This is what they found: two long-footed potaroos, attracted by the smell of honey, oats and pistachio essence, hop in front of the camera. Their presence will throw plans to log this area in the Yalmi Forest into doubt and already has the government agency in charge of logging questioning the video's authenticity.
DAVID POLLARD, CEO, VICFORESTS: The only thing I could add to this dramatic nocturnal footage is that it has to be tested by independent third parties. I mean, if it's evidence, it has to be audited. And elements of the community that want to provide evidence, welcome as that is, need to consent to have their offerings interrogated by independent parties. Otherwise it's not evidence; it's mere assertion.
MATTHEW STANLEY: The latest film plays like a sequel to pictures at the centre of a court case that is testing the way Victoria's environmental protection laws are interpreted and enforced.
Last year a camera captured a Potaroo in the middle of one of the most hotly-contested forests in Victoria. Produced just days before logging was due to start in two stands of old growth forests at Brown Mountain, the five second film was also questioned by Vic Forests.
JILL REDWOOD, ENVIRONMENT EAST GIPPSLAND: The clock was certainly ticking, yes. So when we found the potaroo, we thought, "Right, this is it. They can't ignore this one." And sent the footage through and the report and they ignored it.
MATTHEW STANLEY: Environment East Gippsland then went to the Supreme Court and won a temporary injunction to stop the logging. After a four week hearing, the court's now deliberating on whether the area should be permanently protected.
JILL REDWOOD: The Government decided that it was fair game for logging. They hadn't done any surveys here of course because they didn't want to find the threatened species, which would then prevent them from logging if they'd abide by the law.
MATTHEW STANLEY: Ray Jamieson's both saw miller and logging contractor and was poised to begin logging Brown Mountain when the film of what became known in court as "Potaroo number one" forced a stop.
RAY JAMIESON, SAWMILLER: If the decision goes their way it will then just open up the floodgates, I'd say, and that'd just leave it open for all the other coops that we've got on the what's to do.
MATTHEW STANLEY: Mr Jamieson's had his fair of run-ins with environmental activists during forest blockades going back 20 years, but is scratching his head at the new tactics.
Are you surprised that one photo of one animal could do what it's done?
RAY JAMIESON: Yeah, I didn't realise it'd have such an impact, I s'pose. But - well, you know, see where it goes, I spose. See where it goes.
MATTHEW STANLEY: What started as an argument over evidence has snowballed into a test of how the law designed to protect endangered species, the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, is applied to logging operations. Vicforests says it follows the rules set down by the Department of Sustainability and Environment.
MIKE RYAN, FOREST SCIENTIST, VICFORESTS: Look, any of the threatened species are assessed on the basis of already pre-existing identification of where they are in the landscape and on the maps that are provided to us from Department of Sustainability and Environment.
MATTHEW STANLEY: Does Vicforests do any wildlife surveys, any assessments of pre-logging assessments of wildlife and so on?
MIKE RYAN: We don't currently do pre-logging surveys. Again, that falls under the responsibility of the Department of Sustainability and Environment.
MATTHEW STANLEY: The DSE stopped doing pre-logging wildlife surveys in the '90s. Their assessments are now based on what's referred to as desktop analysis, a review of forest types, preferred habitat and existing records.
DAVID POLLARD: They have a very big investment in resourcing field operations for the identification and protection of species. It's an enormous job. It's a very demanding job. I think they do it very professionally. I have enormous confidence in them.
MATTHEW STANLEY: The Department of Sustainability and Environment declined to be interviewed, but it says it's up to Vicforests to decide if pre-logging surveys are needed to comply with the law.
DAVID POLLARD: Only they would know the extent to which field operations would be necessary to establish that.
MATTHEW STANLEY: The DSE sought assurances from Vicforests that its staff would not be subpoenaed as expert witnesses in the Brown Mountain court case. But a DSE discussion paper tendered in evidence states, "The absence of pre-harvest survey process exposes DSE and Vicforests to the prospect of inadvertent damage or destruction of significant species sites, ... negative publicity and accusations of breaches of our own guidelines and possible legal challenges to timber harvesting."
In other words, according to Jill Redwood, you won't find what you don't look for.
JILL REDWOOD: The DSE have been pointing the finger at Vicforests. Vicforests have been pointing the finger back. We're doing work they should be doing.
MATTHEW STANLEY: The argument over just whose job it is has strained relations between DSE and Vicforests. David Pollard says he's hoping the court will decide.
DAVID POLLARD: We are all beginning to realise that the norms that have governed the identification and protection of wildlife could sustain greater clarity.
JILL REDWOOD: I think what's come up in evidence shows they have to do pre-logging surveys. And if nothing else, if that's the only thing that comes out of it, I think that'll be a huge win.
MATTHEW STANLEY: In the meantime activists like Andrew Lincoln continue to search the forests of East Gippsland for endangered animals that might otherwise go undetected and unprotected.
ANDREW LINCOLN: At least to know, let alone protect, what we're destroying.
Source
06 July, 2009
LETTER: Getting it all so wrong on water
Lyn Kennedy, Wesburn
Letter to the editor, The Age, 6/7/09
IT MUST be obvious to everyone that State Government water policy is an incoherent mess.
Continuing to allow logging in what remains of our forests has led to progressive drying out of the moisture-retaining regions in the wet forests. Our water catchments are drying out, which also makes them more vulnerable to fire.
Rejecting solutions such as subsidising tanks and recycling waste water looks like plain stupidity but may be no more than pandering to electoral fears of contamination.
Stealing (Goulburn) water from the Murray when that river is on the verge of collapse is irrational and wilfully irresponsible. Privatisation of our water delivery systems leads us further down a dangerous path towards lack of control over our most fundamental resource.
None of the Government's initiatives take appropriate account of the over-arching problem of climate change. Panicked by continuing drought, ministers have tried to take "strong" action to show they are "doing something".
Unfortunately, conflicting responsibilities between unco-ordinated bureaucracies, dominant unions and private lobby groups all reveal deficiencies in the Government's approach. In the end, it is lawyers who are left to argue over the allocation of costs for failed systems.
This Government may not like taking responsibility for the wellbeing of its citizens but that is what it was elected to do.
Letter to the editor, The Age, 6/7/09
IT MUST be obvious to everyone that State Government water policy is an incoherent mess.
Continuing to allow logging in what remains of our forests has led to progressive drying out of the moisture-retaining regions in the wet forests. Our water catchments are drying out, which also makes them more vulnerable to fire.
Rejecting solutions such as subsidising tanks and recycling waste water looks like plain stupidity but may be no more than pandering to electoral fears of contamination.
Stealing (Goulburn) water from the Murray when that river is on the verge of collapse is irrational and wilfully irresponsible. Privatisation of our water delivery systems leads us further down a dangerous path towards lack of control over our most fundamental resource.
None of the Government's initiatives take appropriate account of the over-arching problem of climate change. Panicked by continuing drought, ministers have tried to take "strong" action to show they are "doing something".
Unfortunately, conflicting responsibilities between unco-ordinated bureaucracies, dominant unions and private lobby groups all reveal deficiencies in the Government's approach. In the end, it is lawyers who are left to argue over the allocation of costs for failed systems.
This Government may not like taking responsibility for the wellbeing of its citizens but that is what it was elected to do.
24 June, 2009
LETTER: If a tree falls …
John Hayward, Weegena, Tasmania
Letter to the editor, The Age, 24 June 2009
WE WILL know the world is truly past the climate-change tipping point when we stop seeing letters from foresters claiming that their regrowth plantations are better carbon sinks than mountain ash forests (Letters, 23/6).
Also disappearing at that point will probably be their argument that old-growth forests need harvesting to save them from becoming merely ash, despite their obviously superior fire survival rates.
The last survivors will probably be ministers for forests, tucked safely down the deep pockets of the industry's lobbyists.
Letter to the editor, The Age, 24 June 2009
WE WILL know the world is truly past the climate-change tipping point when we stop seeing letters from foresters claiming that their regrowth plantations are better carbon sinks than mountain ash forests (Letters, 23/6).
Also disappearing at that point will probably be their argument that old-growth forests need harvesting to save them from becoming merely ash, despite their obviously superior fire survival rates.
The last survivors will probably be ministers for forests, tucked safely down the deep pockets of the industry's lobbyists.
23 June, 2009
LETTER: Mountain ash forests do their job well
Michael Ryan, forest scientist, VicForests Melbourne
Letter to the editor, The Age, 23 June 2009.
GAVAN McFadzean (Comment, 22/6) rightly points out that the old-growth mountain ash forests of the Central Highlands are important carbon stores. These are also relatively rare as much of this forest was killed during the 1939 fires. The old-growth forests remaining after 1939 were predominantly in Melbourne's water supply catchments. Unfortunately, they are far from fire resistant and many magnificent stands, including the state's top 10 tallest trees in the Wallaby Creek and O'Shannassy catchments, were killed in the February fires.
The small portion of the mountain ash forests that are harvested for timber production have, almost exclusively, originated from the wildfires of 1939. These regrowth forests form the basis of the Victorian hardwood sawmilling industry. Logs from the Central Highlands that are not suitable for sawing are predominantly used for paper production, creating value-added products and sustainable jobs in regional Victoria.
Sustainable timber production is greenhouse friendly, with harvested forests being regrown and becoming carbon sinks. As the trees grow they continue to take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere — at a greater rate than old-growth forests.
Letter to the editor, The Age, 23 June 2009.
GAVAN McFadzean (Comment, 22/6) rightly points out that the old-growth mountain ash forests of the Central Highlands are important carbon stores. These are also relatively rare as much of this forest was killed during the 1939 fires. The old-growth forests remaining after 1939 were predominantly in Melbourne's water supply catchments. Unfortunately, they are far from fire resistant and many magnificent stands, including the state's top 10 tallest trees in the Wallaby Creek and O'Shannassy catchments, were killed in the February fires.
The small portion of the mountain ash forests that are harvested for timber production have, almost exclusively, originated from the wildfires of 1939. These regrowth forests form the basis of the Victorian hardwood sawmilling industry. Logs from the Central Highlands that are not suitable for sawing are predominantly used for paper production, creating value-added products and sustainable jobs in regional Victoria.
Sustainable timber production is greenhouse friendly, with harvested forests being regrown and becoming carbon sinks. As the trees grow they continue to take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere — at a greater rate than old-growth forests.
22 June, 2009
THE AGE: Preserving old-growth forests is vital to saving the planet
Gavan McFadzean, The Wilderness Society
The Age, 22 June 2009
SO WHERE are the world's most carbon-rich forests? Not the tropical rainforests of the Amazon, Borneo or Africa's Congo Basin, according to research by the Australian National University. They are the tall, old-growth mountain ash forests of Victoria's Central Highlands — a 90-minute drive east of Melbourne.
The researchers studied 132 forests from around the world to discover the regions that stored the most carbon. Their findings, published in the US-based Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the world's most-cited scientific serials, is a surprise because conventional wisdom says that tropical forests store the most carbon.
So why our forests? The conditions are perfect. These forests occur at a confluence of environmental conditions that lead to high rates of plant growth and, because they are cooler, decay rates are slower. In short they grow fast but decay slowly. And they are very old — at least 350 years, growing dense heavy wood. That's important because the amount of carbon stored is due to volume and density. Also, these trees have not been subjected to logging.
The problem is, these very same forest types are being intensively logged for woodchips, mostly bound for Japan. These trees are not only the best at producing carbon; unfortunately for them, they are also some of the best for producing high-quality paper. To add insult to injury, several of Melbourne's water catchments are among those logged.
ANU science shows that for as long as these forests are logged, their carbon-carrying capacity is reduced by up to 60 per cent, not to mention the emissions from logging and post-logging regeneration burns. If we stopped logging all the forests of south-eastern Australia, and we now have enough wood in plantations to do that, we would avoid emissions equal to 24 per cent of the 2005 Australian net greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors.
Ironically, the plantation-based timber industry is under great economic stress, with several major wood plantation growers in receivership. This is the right time for Premier John Brumby to develop an integrated industry rescue and climate package, which creates green jobs in the plantation sector and focuses management of our native forests on emissions reduction.
Another reason why these forests are so carbon dense is because they evolved with fire.
Yes, the Black Saturday fires did pass through some of these forests, but most of the carbon remains in the forest. This is because it is in big old trees and dead trunks, and in the soil. Therefore, the proportion of total carbon lost in the fire is surprisingly small compared with logging. Also, many trees survive fire in less intensely burnt patches, facilitating regeneration. But logging these forests makes them more vulnerable to fire because it fragments and dries out the landscape, replacing fire-resistant tall forests and a wet rainforest understorey with young eucalypts and a much drier understorey.
This research (combined with research released by ANU last year) demonstrates how important it is for the Federal Government to assess how much carbon could be stored in Australia's native forests, how much greenhouse gas could be prevented from entering the atmosphere if we protect them from logging, and what their long-term ability to keep on pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere actually is.
It also suggests that there is a serious new option to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
The Federal Government has made provision for complementary measures to be developed to supplement the carbon pollution reduction scheme. Clearly there is scope to develop a package to reduce emissions and protect and restore the carbon stored in our native forests. Such a package could prevent millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide being released.
We need to start recognising the value of these forests to climate change mitigation. The Government should provide incentives so that state governments and private land owners are rewarded for protecting and restoring the carbon stocks found in natural forests under their control.
Everyone is concerned with emissions from logging and tree clearing in developing countries, but the Government needs to ensure that the Copenhagen agreement also provides policies that give incentives to protect and restore carbon stocks in developed nations.
We knew these forests should be protected because they are our water catchments and habitat for endangered species such as the Leadbeater's Possum, Victoria's faunal emblem. Now it turns out they are the world's largest carbon banks and their protection should be a critical part of any response to climate change by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Premier John Brumby.
Will the public interest finally take precedence over that of the woodchippers? Surely these forests have put an irrefutable case for their protection.
Gavan McFadzean is the Wilderness Society Victorian campaigns manager.
Source
The Age, 22 June 2009
SO WHERE are the world's most carbon-rich forests? Not the tropical rainforests of the Amazon, Borneo or Africa's Congo Basin, according to research by the Australian National University. They are the tall, old-growth mountain ash forests of Victoria's Central Highlands — a 90-minute drive east of Melbourne.
The researchers studied 132 forests from around the world to discover the regions that stored the most carbon. Their findings, published in the US-based Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the world's most-cited scientific serials, is a surprise because conventional wisdom says that tropical forests store the most carbon.
So why our forests? The conditions are perfect. These forests occur at a confluence of environmental conditions that lead to high rates of plant growth and, because they are cooler, decay rates are slower. In short they grow fast but decay slowly. And they are very old — at least 350 years, growing dense heavy wood. That's important because the amount of carbon stored is due to volume and density. Also, these trees have not been subjected to logging.
The problem is, these very same forest types are being intensively logged for woodchips, mostly bound for Japan. These trees are not only the best at producing carbon; unfortunately for them, they are also some of the best for producing high-quality paper. To add insult to injury, several of Melbourne's water catchments are among those logged.
ANU science shows that for as long as these forests are logged, their carbon-carrying capacity is reduced by up to 60 per cent, not to mention the emissions from logging and post-logging regeneration burns. If we stopped logging all the forests of south-eastern Australia, and we now have enough wood in plantations to do that, we would avoid emissions equal to 24 per cent of the 2005 Australian net greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors.
Ironically, the plantation-based timber industry is under great economic stress, with several major wood plantation growers in receivership. This is the right time for Premier John Brumby to develop an integrated industry rescue and climate package, which creates green jobs in the plantation sector and focuses management of our native forests on emissions reduction.
Another reason why these forests are so carbon dense is because they evolved with fire.
Yes, the Black Saturday fires did pass through some of these forests, but most of the carbon remains in the forest. This is because it is in big old trees and dead trunks, and in the soil. Therefore, the proportion of total carbon lost in the fire is surprisingly small compared with logging. Also, many trees survive fire in less intensely burnt patches, facilitating regeneration. But logging these forests makes them more vulnerable to fire because it fragments and dries out the landscape, replacing fire-resistant tall forests and a wet rainforest understorey with young eucalypts and a much drier understorey.
This research (combined with research released by ANU last year) demonstrates how important it is for the Federal Government to assess how much carbon could be stored in Australia's native forests, how much greenhouse gas could be prevented from entering the atmosphere if we protect them from logging, and what their long-term ability to keep on pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere actually is.
It also suggests that there is a serious new option to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
The Federal Government has made provision for complementary measures to be developed to supplement the carbon pollution reduction scheme. Clearly there is scope to develop a package to reduce emissions and protect and restore the carbon stored in our native forests. Such a package could prevent millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide being released.
We need to start recognising the value of these forests to climate change mitigation. The Government should provide incentives so that state governments and private land owners are rewarded for protecting and restoring the carbon stocks found in natural forests under their control.
Everyone is concerned with emissions from logging and tree clearing in developing countries, but the Government needs to ensure that the Copenhagen agreement also provides policies that give incentives to protect and restore carbon stocks in developed nations.
We knew these forests should be protected because they are our water catchments and habitat for endangered species such as the Leadbeater's Possum, Victoria's faunal emblem. Now it turns out they are the world's largest carbon banks and their protection should be a critical part of any response to climate change by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Premier John Brumby.
Will the public interest finally take precedence over that of the woodchippers? Surely these forests have put an irrefutable case for their protection.
Gavan McFadzean is the Wilderness Society Victorian campaigns manager.
Source
17 June, 2009
LETTER: Would you credit it?
Ken Browne, Wheelers Hill.
The Age, 17/6/09
IT'S good to know that Victoria's mountain ash forests are the best in the world for storing carbon. Does that mean that, sometime in the future, some industrial polluter will gain carbon credits for not chopping them down?
LETTER: Look at the evidence
Chris Clement, Carlton
The Age, 17/6/09
ISN'T it time evidence-based policy-making finally found its day in the Victorian Government and someone took note of our own scientists ("Mountain ash best for carbon", The Age, 16/6)?
The ANU is telling the world we have the best forests in the world for storing carbon, so why the heck are we chopping them down? Australia has been asking its neighbours to stop logging their "precious" forests"; well, let's get our own backyard in order before we rain down on those over the fence.
Seriously, we must be able to find alternative jobs among the mature plantations across Victoria to support the small groups that continue to log these essential ecosystems.
Everyone is entitled to a job but our drinking water supply, habitat for so many rare native animals and this vital system to reduce the causes of climate change are worth more than their small timber value. John Brumby, bump up your climate policy and get these forests off the loggers' radar.
16 June, 2009
CANBERRA TIMES: Massive carbon sink in Victoria
Rosslyn Beeby, The Canberra Times
16/06/2009
The world's most carbon-dense forests are not in the tropics, but in a protected mountain catchment that supplies Melbourne's drinking water, new research shows.
A five-year study by the Australian National University of more than 130 forest sites around the world found these wet mountain ash forests just over an hour's drive from the Melbourne Cricket Ground store twice the amount of carbon as a tropical rainforest.
The cool, moist temperate forests of the O'Shannassy catchment, which includes the headwaters of the Yarra River, store just under 2000 tonnes of carbon a hectare in their giant 300-year-old mountain ash eucalypts, lush understorey vegetation such as tree ferns, and in dead wood on the forest floor. But as the trees age, the figure rises, with trees more than 250 years old boosting the carbon sink capacity to just over 2800t a hectare.
The unexpected findings, published online today in a National Academy of Sciences journal in the United States, have critical implications for climate policy in the lead-up to the United Nations climate conference to be held in Copenhagen later this year.
The research paper, by ANU ecologists Heather Keith, Professor Brendan Mackey and Professor David Lindenmayer, over-turns conventional theories on the role of forests in carbon accounting.
Professor Mackey said, ''It identifies a gap in climate change policy that Australia needs to address.
''There has been a lot of talk about the need to address tropical deforestation in developing countries, but these results show we must start by recognising the carbon benefits to be gained from protecting our native forests,'' he said."
16/06/2009
The world's most carbon-dense forests are not in the tropics, but in a protected mountain catchment that supplies Melbourne's drinking water, new research shows.
A five-year study by the Australian National University of more than 130 forest sites around the world found these wet mountain ash forests just over an hour's drive from the Melbourne Cricket Ground store twice the amount of carbon as a tropical rainforest.
The cool, moist temperate forests of the O'Shannassy catchment, which includes the headwaters of the Yarra River, store just under 2000 tonnes of carbon a hectare in their giant 300-year-old mountain ash eucalypts, lush understorey vegetation such as tree ferns, and in dead wood on the forest floor. But as the trees age, the figure rises, with trees more than 250 years old boosting the carbon sink capacity to just over 2800t a hectare.
The unexpected findings, published online today in a National Academy of Sciences journal in the United States, have critical implications for climate policy in the lead-up to the United Nations climate conference to be held in Copenhagen later this year.
The research paper, by ANU ecologists Heather Keith, Professor Brendan Mackey and Professor David Lindenmayer, over-turns conventional theories on the role of forests in carbon accounting.
Professor Mackey said, ''It identifies a gap in climate change policy that Australia needs to address.
''There has been a lot of talk about the need to address tropical deforestation in developing countries, but these results show we must start by recognising the carbon benefits to be gained from protecting our native forests,'' he said."
ABC NEWS: Old growth forests store carbon best
Professor Mackey says the Government needs to provide incentives to stop logging. (ABC News: Fiona Breen)
There are renewed calls to stop logging in old growth forests after new research found they could be the most valuable source of carbon in the world.
Scientists at the Australian National University studied 132 forests around the globe and the surprising results show a forest in central Victoria was the most carbon dense of all.
It has been widely believed that rainforests around the world are the most effective at storing carbon.
But now scientists are questioning that belief after research has shown mountain ash forests in central Victoria hold the most carbon.
The study shows the Victorian forests hold 1,900 tonnes of carbon per hectare, which is up to four times higher than what is found in tropical forests.
Brendan Mackey, a professor of environment science at the Australian National University, says it is an important find.
"The trees in these forests can grow to a very old age - at least 350 years - and they can grow very large, very tall, and they grow very dense, heavy wood," he said.
"Most of the biomass carbon is in big, old trees, and these are large, old, dense trees. These particular stands have not been subject to intensive land use, such as logging, so ... they've been able to grow and reach their natural carbon-carrying capacity.
"And finally, it also reflects the way these forests have evolved and adapted in response to fire."
Some other scientists now say this is proof that logging should be stopped in mountain ash forests in Victoria.
Dr James Watson, from the University of Queensland, says this level of carbon is so significant that it could be a real help in fighting climate change.
"We know that logging actually really does impact the amount of carbon in a forest," he said.
"These forests are incredibly carbon dense. We're talking about 18 tonnes of carbon in a hectare of forest, which is extraordinary. When we log this forest, we lose up to two-thirds of the carbon."
Forest management
Around 9,000 hectares of forests are logged in Victoria each year. Dr Watson says given their significant carbon capacity, they should remain untouched.
But the National Association of Forest Industries chief executive, Allan Hansard, says logging is a tool in total forest management.
"One of the things that does come with the changing climate is the increasing risk of bushfires," he said.
"So if we have an approach where we lock up and leave these forests, what we're actually doing is increasing the risk that these forests will burn down.
"Now, this is important from a climate change perspective, because if you actually have a look at the amount of emissions that come from these fires, it's quite substantial."
Professor Mackey says the Federal Government needs to provide incentives to stop logging in these forests.
"Up until now we really haven't thought about the carbon value of these natural forests," he said.
"People have thought about their timber value, other people have thought about their habitat value for wildlife, but no-one has really given much attention to their carbon value."
Heraldsun: Aussie forests are top carbon hoarders
Herald Sun
June 16, 2009 07:08am
Australian forests are the world's best at storing carbon, a key weapon against climate change, researchers say.
All trees absorb carbon dioxide and store it as they grow, but some forests lock up more carbon than others.
The Australian National University scientists measured 132 forests around the planet and found that mountain ash forests in Victoria's central highlands were the most carbon-dense of all.
Carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere is one of the main causes of climate change.
Victoria's forests were so rich in carbon because they lived in a cool climate, which slowed down the decay of the trees, the researchers said.
The trees were very old - up to 350 years of age - which meant they grew heavy, dense wood, and the forests had not been logged.
Researcher Brendan Mackey said it had been thought that tropical forests were the richest in carbon.
"This is a real surprise ... instead its forests in the temperate region that have the most," Prof Mackey said.
The research is published this week in the US-based Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."
June 16, 2009 07:08am
Australian forests are the world's best at storing carbon, a key weapon against climate change, researchers say.
All trees absorb carbon dioxide and store it as they grow, but some forests lock up more carbon than others.
The Australian National University scientists measured 132 forests around the planet and found that mountain ash forests in Victoria's central highlands were the most carbon-dense of all.
Carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere is one of the main causes of climate change.
Victoria's forests were so rich in carbon because they lived in a cool climate, which slowed down the decay of the trees, the researchers said.
The trees were very old - up to 350 years of age - which meant they grew heavy, dense wood, and the forests had not been logged.
Researcher Brendan Mackey said it had been thought that tropical forests were the richest in carbon.
"This is a real surprise ... instead its forests in the temperate region that have the most," Prof Mackey said.
The research is published this week in the US-based Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."
26 May, 2009
LETTER: Better use for old trees
Peter Campbell, Surrey Hills
Letter, The Age, 26/5/09
The continuation of old-growth forest logging after the State Government's commitment to protect them is a worrying failure of government.
It is incredible that cow paddocks may be protected when 500-year-old forest giants such as those in Brown Mountain and Delegate forests are still being killed, mainly for woodchips that nobody now wants to buy.
These forests contain many threatened species such as owls, gliders, quolls and even crayfish. They also provide valuable water for our river systems and communities.
These forests can also provide green jobs for local communities into the future through ecotourism that would attract thousands of local and international visitors.
The time has come for the Brumby Government to protect them immediately.
Source
Letter, The Age, 26/5/09
The continuation of old-growth forest logging after the State Government's commitment to protect them is a worrying failure of government.
It is incredible that cow paddocks may be protected when 500-year-old forest giants such as those in Brown Mountain and Delegate forests are still being killed, mainly for woodchips that nobody now wants to buy.
These forests contain many threatened species such as owls, gliders, quolls and even crayfish. They also provide valuable water for our river systems and communities.
These forests can also provide green jobs for local communities into the future through ecotourism that would attract thousands of local and international visitors.
The time has come for the Brumby Government to protect them immediately.
Source
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