Chips are down for loggers

WOODCHIPPING on the North Coast will need to become a lot more sustainable and ecologically responsible if it wants to stay a viable industry, according to a local conservation group.

David Nielsen

WOODCHIPPING on the North Coast will need to become a lot more sustainable and ecologically responsible if it wants to stay a viable industry, according to a local conservation group.

An agreement reached this week between conservationists, unions and the logging industry will see an end to woodchipping of native forests in Tasmania and, according to the North East Forest Alliance, this could have huge economic effects on the industry on the North Coast.

NEFA spokesperson Susie Russell said Boral currently exported about 350,000 tonnes of the region’s native forests as low-value woodchips each year.

“We have seen in recent months from our forest audits examples of protected areas still being logged, such as rainforests, old-growth forests and ecological communities, where loggers often don’t leave the required number of trees,” she said.

“They frequently and systematically break the rules and governments are failing to do anything meaningful to stop them.

“We have proven that old-growth, rainforest, wetlands, endangered ecological communities and threatened species habitat, even when required to be protected, are still being trashed.”

Ms Russell said even when fines were finally issued by government, they were usually much less than the value of the timber taken out of the protected area.

“The message from Tasmania is that overseas markets, particularly Japan, are concerned about the damage logging is doing to Australia’s native forests,” she said.

“Companies want to be able to say their products are clean and green, and products made from native forest woodchips do not meet that criteria.

“I think Boral will have trouble selling their woodchips if they can’t demonstrate their logging isn’t hurting old forests.

“The North East Forest Alliance will willingly engage with the unions and industry in this region to ensure the protection of high conservation value public forests and a transition the industry to a sustainable footing.”

Boral Timber was unavailable for comment.

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