Wilderness Society opposes bid to burn native forests for power

Forestry Tasmania's proposal for wood-fired power generation is a disgraceful attempt to deal with a massive oversupply of logged and chipped native forest.

"Forestry is getting desperate" says Wilderness Society campaigner Tim Graham. "They persist in clearfelling vast areas of Tasmanian native forest - 16000ha last year - and yet nobody wants to buy it. 75% of this is old growth forest."

"International markets favour high quality, high yield plantation woodchips. Yet Forestry continues to log low yield old growth forest which it now sells at rock bottom prices."

"No one takes seriously Forestry's claims that wood chips for the power station are waste from the forest floor. Over 90% of logs from Tasmania's native forests are woodchipped."

"This proposal is an admission of guilt over their wasteful and irresponsible destruction of our native forests. The obvious and responsible solution is to stop this unnecessary logging."

"This proposal is a slap in the face to Tasmania's clean and green image. Forestry is proposing a return to the old-fashioned technology of household chip-heaters: inefficient and polluting technology. The Government is canvassing a range of other energy options including wind power, yet Forestry persists with its business as usual mentality."

"At a time when old growth forests are increasingly recognised for their role in storing global carbon, Forestry continues to log and burn them."