Branchline 8th July 2008

UNESCO releases report on Forestry Management Practices

By Penny Thow, Communications Officer

FORESTRY Tasmania’s management of production forests next to the World Heritage Area (WHA) has been more than vindicated by the report released by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee.

The review, which was undertaken by expert scientists, looked at the WHA and management of surrounding areas and was largely in response to calls by forest activists for increased buffer zones around the WHA.

The debate about World Heritage boundaries has polarised the State for many years and the findings of the committee should put an end to that division once and for all.

Forest activists pushed for this review. It was carried out at their instigation so I would now hope they would accept the outcome.

The report clearly shows the activists’ fears were unfounded and their rhetoric has no scientific basis.

The report concludes there is no need to change the boundaries in relation to forest production, which is what we have been saying for years.

These findings are reassuring for FT's staff, who work hard to ensure WHA values are protected.

We are always happy to have our practices assessed on scientific grounds and this report is not only comforting for our staff, but it should also reassure all Australians our forests are being well managed.

The report found there was an appropriate balance between conservation and timber production and concluded that: “The threats to these forests from production forestry activities are well managed and there is no need for the boundary of the property to be changed.”

Much of the debate about the clash of land management objectives arose from the relocation of the eastern and northern boundaries which were set after extensive consultation when the World Heritage Area was expanded in 1989. The balance between reserves/conservation and production forests was established as part of the 1997 Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) and the 2005 Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement (TCFA).

The report clearly states that since the WHA was expanded: “ the logging practices in the adjoining areas of the TWWHA have gone through extensive reviews, accreditations and are assessed as meeting international standards. The logging practices emulate, up to a point, these natural processes.”

The report also endorses our forest management regeneration burns and says: “Regeneration of Eucalyptus forests through regeneration burns and seeding is an acceptable silvicultural treatment for regenerating Eucalyptus, a fire dependant species.

It points out that in the past 10 years in Forestry Tasmania has conducted a total of 521 silvicultural regeneration burns within five kilometres of the TWWHA boundary and none of these fires burnt into the TWWHA.

We have also received endorsement for our road building which the report says meets high environmental standards and that that Forestry Tasmania has taken steps to overcome inappropriate access to the WHA.

Forestry Tasmania endorses all of the recommendations in the report. We particularly support enhanced protection measures for archaeological and Aboriginal sites within and adjacent to the WHA, and the suggestion that parks and forest managers work more closely together.

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