A forest industry expert says there will be major ramifications if the State Government’s forest management plan further limits areas which can be logged. Source: ABC News
Submissions closed last week for the Government’s draft forest management plan, which will determine what happens with forests in the state’s south from 2014 until 2023.
Plantall Forestry consultant David Wettenhall says there is already an excessive amount of forest area that is protected by conservation reserves and there would be no environmental benefit in further restrictions.
He says forests can be protected without being in reserves and the Conservation Commission needs to recognise that in the plan.
“The forests that are available for harvesting actually are very important conservation areas in their own right,” he said. “They contribute a lot to the wildlife and flora.
“The real threat to the ecosystems is when we clear forests, not when we manage them on a sustainable management basis.”
Mr Wettenhall said additional limits would severely hurt an already struggling industry.
“Western Australia has got over 50% of the forests in formal conservation reserves and only about 35% of the forests are available for logging,” he said. “A lot less than half of our forests are available for logging so the balance of them are effectively conservation reserves.”
But, conservationists say WA could be cashing in on carbon credits from next year if it bans the logging of native forests in the South West.
Last week, the Commonwealth Government announced Australia would sign up to the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol. The decision means Australia will be able to trade in carbon credits generated by the protection of forests that would otherwise be logged.
The Conservation Council’s Piers Verstegen said that is good news for the South West.
“The logging industry is clear felling and wood chipping giant 600 year old Karri trees in our South West for next to no economic return,” he said. “But the decision to allow forest carbon credits means the forest will be worth much more economically if we protect them from logging and instead manage them to preserve their capacity to take carbon pollution out of the atmosphere.”
