Expert to examine Tasmania’s future forestry

AN independent forestry expert has been appointed to oversee assessment of future forestry resource availability and industry requirements in Tasmania.
Signatories to the forest peace talks requested an independent verification team, which led to the appointment of Professor Jerry Vanclay, the head of the School of Environmental Science & Management at Southern Cross University.
It is understood the team will oversee work by Forestry Tasmania and the timber industry on the quantity of native forest timber the sawmilling industry needs in the future, which in turn would affect the area able to be put into any new reserves.
The statement of principles has examined the placing of up to 570,000ha in new forest reserves.
The negotiations, convened by independent forest facilitator Bill Kelty, have been based on a belief among signatories that Federal Government compensation would be paid to timber firms which handed back licences to use native forest timber.
Professor Vanclay’s salary is being paid by the Department of Fisheries and Forests.
Kelty said the modelling work would be completed by June, when he has pledged to tell the Federal Government whether he believes an agreement is possible.
He said that signatories to the negotiations had met in Hobart last week and reaffirmed their commitment.
“There were full and frank discussions regarding all the issues with a view to continue the process and meet with Government in the near future,” he said.
Kelty’s statement came as the Tasmanian Conservation Trust and other groups outside the negotiations rejected any deal that linked the conservation of forests with the Gunns Limited pulp mill.
“We all support forest protection and oppose the Gunns proposed pulp mill and could never sign up to any agreement which supported the pulp mill in exchange for forest protection or any thing else,” TCT director Peter McGlone said.
Kelty said in March that an agreement was reliant on environmental, non-Government organisations embracing the Gunns pulp mill.
Premier Lara Giddings has also said for agreement on putting any further trees into high-conservation value reserves the pulp mill had to be part of the equation.