NFPs Celebrate Tasmanian Forests Agreement
2 May 2013 at 10:48 am
Tasmania’s Parliament has passed the Tasmanian Forests Agreement into law in what is seen as a major victory for community and environmental groups.
 Photo: epidemiks/Flickr |
Australian Conservation Foundation says that after decades of conflict, environmental groups, the timber industry and unions negotiated a forestry peace agreement.
"The passage of the law around Tasmania’s forests is the result of three years of honest, difficult work between the environment movement, workers, industry, and timber communities to find a way, together," the Chief Executive Officer of Australian Conservation Foundation, Don Henry said.
"Today’s result delivers major outcomes for the environment, industry and workers. We didn’t get everything we hoped for and Tasmanian Parliament added amendments that are weaker than we would like.
"After a difficult two weeks of further negotiations, ACF and our joint environmental signatories judged it better to proceed than to walk away. The commitment to a 170,000 hectare World Heritage nomination is safe."
The reserves include the Styx, Upper Florentine and Weld valleys; the cool temperate rainforests of the Tarkine; West Wellington and the Blue Tier.
“They’re home to the world’s largest marsupial carnivores, the endangered Tasmanian devil, the vulnerable spotted-tailed quoll and the near-threatened eastern quoll.
"Our community speaks up when it counts and this agreement is the legacy of our combined voices. For nearly 50 years, the ACF community has helped to protect Australia's special places: like the Kimberley, Kakadu, the Daintree, and the Great Barrier Reef. And now we add an extra 504,000 hectares of ancient Tasmanian forests to this list."
