2025-02-26
Devastating images released today by renowned wilderness photographer Rob Blakers confirm that ancient Huon Pines on the lower Harman River were burned by the recent wilderness fires.
“This is evidence that we are simply not doing enough to protect these ancient ecological communities from fires, which tragically will become all too common as the planet heats,” said Senator McKim, who chaired the Senate Inquiry into the response to the 2016 wilderness fires which saw the loss of irreplaceable Pencil Pine forests at Lake Mackenzie.
“Some trees have collapsed, others have been heavily scorched and will probably not survive. These are ancient paleo-endemic ecosystems that exist nowhere else in the world and we need to work much harder and smarter to protect them.”
“The Senate Inquiry established by the Greens in 2016 made a series of recommendations to improve resources and better protect wilderness from fire, but it has been left to gather dust by Liberal and Labor governments.”
“We found that remote area fires need to be hit hard and early with aerial resources, before they can become established. This was not done when the recent fires started and we need to know why.”
““Fires like these are Tasmania’s version of melting polar ice caps and the loss of the Great Barrier Reef. We are global custodians of these wondrous places, yet we are failing in our responsibility to protect and nurture them.”
“Labor and the Liberals continue to make the problem worse by approving new coal and gas mines, and logging and burning native forests.
"They need to swiftly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and they need to ensure fire responders have the resources they need to protect these irreplaceable ecological communities.”