Australia's forests
Protecting our climate, and protecting our wildlife. Australia has some of the most magnificent and biodiverse forests in the world. New science also shows they are some of the largest carbon banks on Earth, helping to reduce climate change as well as maintain our water supplies. Yet many of these ancient forests, particularly in Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales, are clearfelled, burnt, and turned into millions of tonnes of woodchips for paper and cardboard every year.
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| Tasmania's forests |
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More native forest is logged in Tasmania than the rest of Australia combined - including some of the tallest old growth forests in the world. Find out about the threat from the Gunns pulp mill and other issues. |
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| Victoria's forests |
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Victoria's forests are some of the most effective carbon stores in the world, and provide crucial water supply areas. Find out about more about climate change, water, wildlife and logging. |
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| Save NSW's River Red Gums |
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Along the Murray River are the largest remaining red gum forests on Earth. With 75% stressed, dead or dying, these Australian icons urgently need to be protected. |
Forests Updates
- Burning native forests for power - a lifeline to the woodchippers - July 16, 2008
- Red Gum Kids Colouring Competition - July 25, 2008
- The 'next Kyoto' – unprecedented forest destruction or protection? - June 03, 2008
Native forest bioenergy: bad for climate change and bad for our forests. In response to diminishing global demand for native forest woodchips, Australia’s native forest logging industry is pushing a particularly destructive power generation option.
Calling all children, Years K to 6 - Did you know that Snugglepot and Cuddlepie are in danger of losing their home? And YOU can help save them. Find out about the Red Gum Kids Colouring Competition here.
At the end of next year, world leaders will meet to decide the framework of the next international climate agreement, and with it, the future of our planet. But there’s a real risk the ‘next Kyoto’ could actually drive the unprecedented destruction of the world’s carbon-storing forests.
Forests Events
- Public Meeting at Mount Waverley
- Forest Tour - Melbourne to Central Highlands
- Tasmania’s pulp mill rally and march - Start: 15/06/08
Forests: The Forgotten Solution to Climate Change. Come along to a Public Meeting about Forests and Climate - Wednesday 6 August, 7:30pm
Come with The Wilderness Society forest campaigners and volunteers to see the magnificent Central Highlands. The next upcoming day-trips are Sunday 20 July and Sunday 17 August, 2008.
The No ANZ Pulp Mill rally planned for Melbourne on June 15 has been cancelled following a number of reports that the ANZ will not fund Gunns’ proposed pulp mill in Tasmania.
Forests Media Releases
- World Heritage Committee calls for increased protection of Tasmania's World Class Forests - July 07, 2008
- Will Gay bail on Gunns before pulp mill operational? - July 01, 2008
- Garnaut Response: Natural forests' carbon value must be resolved before emissions trading - July 04, 2008
Pressure is growing on the Federal and Tasmanian Governments to protect world-class forests threatened by logging on the edge of Tasmania’s World Heritage Area (WHA), following a meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Quebec, Canada, yesterday.
In a frank interview with Tasmanian daily newspaper The Examiner, Gunns CEO and Chairman John Gay has revealed his retirement is imminent and could potentially occur prior to the pulp mill becoming operational, should it manage to be financed and ever be built.
The deep cuts necessary to address climate change can only be achieved if the role of forests is properly measured and the value of native forests recognized, The Wilderness Society said today.
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