2016-03-01
Logging native of forests fails the test, time to end RFA destruction
Tasmania’s failure to get obtain Forest Stewardship Council certification should signal the end of Tasmania’s Regional Forest Agreements, say the Greens.
“Forestry Tasmania are kidding themselves if they think they currently deserve Forest Stewardship Council certification,” said the Australian Greens forests spokesperson Senator Janet Rice.
“The industry continues to operate in the 19th and 20th Centuries by destroying our native forests.
“Forestry Tasmania can bring the industry into this century by shifting logging as quickly as possible to plantations which are already certified by FSC.
“Tasmania’s Regional Forest Agreement, which expires next year, has overseen the decimation of Tasmania’s native forests and put animals like the Tasmanian Devil and the Swift Parrot at risk of extinction.
“The failure to achieve FSC certification is a clear signal to the federal and Tasmanian governments to abandon negotiations over the Regional Forest Agreement.
“VicForests has suspended their attempt to get FSC and this finding shows why. The Victorian government too should see the writing on the wall and rule out renewing the Victorian Regional Forest Agreements.
“The roll-over of Regional Forest Agreements would allow the destruction of our native forests to continue for another 20 years.
“Allowing our native forests to grow old will keep our water clean, provide safe homes for our threatened wildlife, build our carbon stores and create tourism jobs for our local communities.”
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