Our remaining old growth forests - just ten percent of Australia's
original old growth forests remain today.. Half are unprotected and targeted
for intensive logging and woodchipping
Total remaining forest - Since European settlement half Australia's
forests have been cleared, so that now only five percent of the country
has any forest cover at all
We don't get to vote on forests - Australians do not get to vote
on forests, or for major parties that have differing policies on forests
Clearing - Australia's woodlands are being cleared at the rate of
five thousand square kilometres per year, and our forests logged at the
rate of two thousand square kilometres per year.
Burning forests for power - The Howard Government has enacted legislation
(Commonwealth Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000) to allow the burning
of forests for power generation - as part of Australia's greenhouse gas
abatement program! This was supported by both Federal Labor as well.
RFAs are a failure - the Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) process
has seen a dramatic increase in the volume of native forest woodchip exports,
particularly in Tasmania and Victoria
Woodchip export volumes - current annual native forest woodchip
exports are: NSW 500,000 tonnes, VIC 2 million tonnes, TAS 4 million
tonnes
Clearing native forests for plantations - In Tasmania, forests are
being cleared at the rate of 15,000ha a year for plantation establishment,
using Commonwealth Government funds. Proportionally, Tasmania has the highest
rate of land clearing in Australia. It is the only state that still allows
rainforest logging and clearing.
Species extinctions - "There are localised extinctions occurring
due to current forestry practices and there is a significant risk of future
global extinctions." * Professor Tony Norton, RMIT; Professor Hugh Possingham,
University of Adelaide; Professor Harry F. Recher, Edith Cowan University
Species threatened by logging include the Koala, Sooty Owl, Glossy
Black Cockatoo, Yellow-bellied Glider, Chuditch, Numbat, Leadbeater's Possum,
Mount Baw Baw Frog, Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle and Spotted-tailed Quoll
Hollows don't start to form in trees until they are between 100
and 150 years old. These hollows are essential for the survival of
many animal species, including birds and marsupials
Wildlife is often poisoned with 1080 to stop them eating seedlings
Fires in forests - Clearfelling a forest does not mimic the impact
of natural fires. Logging coops are burnt with very hot fires, sometimes
started with napalm, to prepare a "seed back" for growth of commercial
timber species. Rainforest species are destroyed and eliminated in
the process.
Plantation resource is available - we already have enough softwood
and hardwood plantations to meet all our domestic timber needs; to immediately
stop logging our old growth forests
Bad plantation management - there are many examples of poor, environmentally
destructive plantation establishment and management practices. These include
clearing native forests and woodlands; use of pesticides and fertilisers;
failure to protect streams and water catchments; soil erosion on steep
slopes; and genetically modified trees are among the many issues of concern.
East Gippsland
In 1994 only 20% of East Gippsland old growth forest remained. Half
of it was protected in National Parks A study of the old growth
forests of East Gippsland , 1994, Woodgate, Peel et al
There are many spurious DNRE definitions about what is old growth and what
is protected (strips)
11,500HA on 2003 schedule for East Gippsland (up from 5,700HA per annum
pre RFA)
Woodchipping up from 1.1m to 1.7m3 (2003) from East Gippsland AFTER Bracks
'cutbacks'
90% of timber allocated for 2003 is mature and old-growth
Cable logging is being considered for Victoria
Logging is entering end-game; nearly all remaining HCV forest is gone or
is targeted.
Water catchments are now being logged (Armstrongs Ck, Otways, Marysville)
Logging in water catchments reduces quantity and quality of water (requires
chlorine treatement)
The recent so called “reduction in logging” by the Bracks Government is
not saving a single tree as woodchipping continue to increase (by 40%)
Tasmania
Tasmania in 2002, an estimated 6.5 million tonnes of woodchips was produced
here, with 88% coming from the destruction of native forest. This is more
than 80% of Australia's total woodchip exports and about 95% of the hardwood
chips.