25.01.12 Protests commence in Prime Ministers promised conservation areas

Today in two locations in Tasmania, forest conservationists have commenced protests in high conservation value forests that were left out from the conservation agreement. In Southern and North West Tasmania, activists have set up two protests where logging machinery has been tied to tree-sits. Members of Code Green and Huon Valley Environment Centre are conducting peaceful occupations of the threatened forests to protest about the ongoing devastation of globally unique forests. Both forests have been targeted by Forestry Tasmania to feed Ta Ann’s wood supply.

'Last week, the State and Federal Government gave the go ahead to log in part of the 430,000ha area that was supposed to be under moratorium. The Prime Minister promised these old growth and high conservation value (HCV) areas should be protected but because of pressure from Ta Ann and Forestry Tasmania, these forests will be lost,' Huon Valley Environment Centre’s spokeswoman Jenny Weber said.

'The forests we are protesting in today are key targets for Ta Ann’s wood supply. Ta Ann is misleading Japanese customers and the public by peddling misinformation that they receive timber from regrowth and plantation areas in Tasmania only. The Southern protest in the Picton Valley forest is within 2km of a cave system that has indigenous and environmental values of international significance. These forests have never been logged before and conservationists have identified celery top pines that were 150 years old that have been felled,’ Jenny Weber said.

‘The conservation agreement signed on the 13th of January by the State and Federal governments does absolutely nothing to protect Tasmania's globally unique forests including areas such as these in the North West of the state. It is still business as usual in the forests, with old growth and high conservation value forests tracts still being lost despite being promised protection by the Federal Government in August last year.’ Said spokesperson for Code Green Jared Irwin. ‘Code Green are committed to ongoing action until Tasmania's irreplaceable wild forests receive true protection.’

‘It is completely unacceptable that Forestry Tasmania claims it needs to log within the 430,000ha, when they are leaving logs to rot. To find stock piles of logs is really disappointing, while logging continues in Devil Facial Tumor Disease free area,’ Jared Irwin said.