Steve Whiteley
Assistant General Manager, Operations and Special Timbers
The draft Special Timbers Strategy marks a significant milestone towards meeting the aims of Forestry Tasmania’s Sustainability Charter.
One of the key aims of the Sustainability Charter is to ensure that the supply of special species timbers, such as blackwood, myrtle, celery top pine and Huon pine, are maintained over the long term.
The draft strategy released today has been developed to manage the supply of this special resource.
We are now welcoming public submissions on the draft prior to developing the final strategy, which is due for release in December this year.
The draft Special Timbers Strategy details a number of objectives under three broad aims: sustaining the resource, maximising value recovery, and promoting special timbers to the world.
These aims and objectives will set the framework for the management of special timbers for the next decade.
It’s therefore vital that stakeholders wishing to provide their input into the way in which the resource will be managed during this period take the opportunity provided by the public consultation period to make a formal submission.
The draft strategy recognises that special timbers are an integral part of the Tasmanian brand.
There is a significant degree of downstream processing in Tasmania for special timbers, which are used for such diverse purposes as fine furniture making, joinery, boat building and musical instrument making, to name a few.
The resource supports employment for around 2,000 people and generates around $70 million each year for the State’s economy.
In addition, special timbers support a significant craft sector, with 8,500 people participating in woodcraft either as a hobby or on a limited commercial basis.
Public submissions on the draft Special Timbers Strategy may be made until close of business, 31 August 2009.
Branchline July 31, 2009
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