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Derwent District Forest Manager, Steve Whiteley, today reiterated that 90 percent of the Upper Florentine catchment is not available for forest harvesting.

“The vast majority of the Upper Florentine catchment is either protected in formal reserves, or is otherwise unavailable for harvesting. Just ten percent of the catchment is designated as production forest.

“Forestry Tasmania has no dispute with the environmental movement about the many special values in Upper Florentine. We recognise that there are caves, giant trees, and Aboriginal and European cultural heritage sites.

“However, these special values are all protected within the 90 percent of the Upper Florentine that is unavailable for harvesting. We believe that the balance between conservation and sustainable timber production has been met in this region."

Mr Whiteley said that Forestry Tasmania had taken a reasonable approach towards negotiating with the activists, who had illegally occupied state forest for over two years.

“However, we requested that Tasmania Police direct activists to vacate the camp yesterday, as it had the potential to become a dangerous flashpoint over the summer.

“We are tired of illegal protests being portrayed as moderate. These activists are extremists who cause conflict. We wish to negotiate with reasonable segments of the environmental movement, but not with extremists.”

Mr Whiteley said that the activists had overlooked the facts about forest harvesting in the Upper Florentine.

“No clearfelling will take place in the Upper Florentine. Under new methods developed by Forestry Tasmania, production forests in this area will be harvested using non-clearfell methods such as variable retention.

“Coupe FO044A is approximately 50 hectares in size. This year, we plan to harvest around 25 hectares, which will allow us to provide timber to meet market conditions. We also plan to construct around four kilometres of road.”

Mr Whiteley said that the harvested are will be regrown as native forest using local seed, without the use of chemical fertilisers or pesticides.

“This area will maintain biodiversity, provide habitat and store carbon as it continues to be managed as production forest.

“The production forests of the Upper Florentine are important sources of high quality eucalypt sawlogs and special species timbers, which support jobs in Tasmanian regional communities.

“A recent report by the CRC Forestry found that the forest industry directly employs more than 6,000 people. The harvesting and regeneration of native forests is the biggest contributor to these jobs.”

Mr Whiteley said that Forestry Tasmania had stationed its Community Access Bus on the Gordon River Road to provide the public with information about its management of the Upper Florentine while the camp was being dismantled.

“The facts about the Upper Florentine are also available on our website: www.forestrytas.com.au”

ENDS

More information:

Forestry Tasmania
Corporate Relations
TEL: (03) 6233 8249