United Nations Youth Conference Delegates to visit Forestry Tasmania

DELEGATES attending the United Nations Youth Conference, which opens in Hobart today, will discover more about the role of Forestry Tasmania when they visit the organisation’s headquarters in Melville St this afternoon.

The delegates will be given a brief overview of Forestry Tasmania by chief financial officer Penny Egan and will then go on a guided tour of the building.

Following the tour the delegates will have the opportunity to meet with Forestry staff and ask questions at an informal afternoon tea.

Next Tuesday the delegates will experience Tasmania’s forests first hand when they walk among the treetops 40 metres above the ground along the 627-metre Tahune Airwalk in Tasmania’s Southern Forests.

While there they will see some of Tasmania’s iconic timber species including celery top pine , sassafrass, King Billy pine, leatherwood, myrtle, blackwood and stringybarks, as well as having an eagle-eye view of the Picton and Huon Rivers.They will also spend an hour walking the trails of the Southern Forests.

Ms Egan said participants at the conference were among some of the brightest students from throughout Australia, New Zealand and Korea and the theme of Building a Sustainable Future was bound to generate intelligent and sometimes heated debate

“Building a sustainable future is a hot topic worldwide at the moment, particularly in the light of soaring petrol prices, worldwide climate change predictions and the ongoing drought in Australia,” she said.

“While in Tasmania delegates will have the opportunity to discuss in detail issues such as climate change, environmental degradation and the effects populations have on the environment.

“We also hope the delegates will be better informed about Forestry Tasmania’s role in managing state forests for optimum community benefit, using environmental best practice to create long term wealth and employment for Tasmanians.”

Media are welcome to attend the delegates’ visit to Forestry Tasmania at 79 Melville St at 2.30pm today.

ENDS

July 10, 2008

Information:

Claire Bennett

Senior Communications Consultant

(03) 6233 8249