The Tasmanian Government’s plan to log converted nature reserves

The Basics 

What: The policy of the Tasmanian Liberal Government is to hand over hundreds of thousands of hectares of public, scientifically verified High Conservation Value (HCV) forested nature reserves, converting them to a logging tenure for the logging industry.¹

How: The Rebuilding the Forestry Act 2014 changed the tenure of 356,000 hectares of forested nature reserves called Future Reserve Land to a logging tenure (technical name: Future Potential Production Forest (FPPF)). The Act provides the deadline from which the logging industry can start logging these converted reserves, which was 8 April 2020. The logging minister, Guy Barnett, decides which areas to carve-up for the private sector.

The backstory: These converted reserves were originally classified in a tenure called Future Reserve Land and were agreed to be protected as part of the Tasmanian Forest Agreement (TFA). In 2014, the Liberal State Government tore-up the agreement and decided to convert these reserves to a logging tenure instead.²

Where: There are 226 individual converted reserves spread across the state, clustered mainly in the north-west and north-east. These include a huge 100,000 hectares in takayna / Tarkine and important forest areas in Break O'Day, around Ben Lomond, Douglas-Aspley and Tasman Peninsula national parks, as well as at Wielangta and on Bruny Island.³

The scale: The 356,000 hectares of converted nature reserves that can now be logged is the same area as 180,000 Melbourne Cricket Grounds of forest. For Tasmanians, that’s the equivalent of logging 10 Bruny Islands. Indeed, the converted reserves that could be logged includes a swathe on Bruny Island itself!

What are HCVs? The Independent Verification Group (IVG) assessed these now-converted reserves as part of the Tasmanian Forest Agreement provided these qualities as High Conservation Values: 1) Forest biodiversity; 2) Threatened species habitat; 3) Refugia (special locations or species, for example that have survived since the last glacial period); 4) Old-growth forests; 5) Wilderness; 6) World Heritage values; 7) Connectivity (eg wildlife habitat corridors); 8) Restoration; 9) Ecosystem services; and 10) Unique conservation features. The IVG produced more than 60 reports confirming the HCVs of these forests — now under threat. 

Climate change: If Tasmania’s ‘Premier for climate change’ Peter Gutwein is sincere about reducing carbon emissions, the first thing he must do is to protect these forests. Logging these converted reserves will make a mockery of his climate change credentials. If all these converted reserves are logged it would release the equivalent amount of carbon into the atmosphere as increasing Australia’s car fleet by 25% or putting 5 million more cars on the roads. That’s the same as Australia’s entire aviation CO2 emissions for a year (pre-economic downturn).⁴ 

Biodiversity: Scientists and policy makers recognise that we could see two-thirds of all species go extinct unless there is immediate intervention to protect and restore ecosystems that support life on Earth. The UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030 is the result. Logging native forest reserves in Tasmania flies in the face of this, the extinction crisis and the adoption of nature-based solutions to global heating.⁵

Threatened species: Many of Tasmania’s over 600 threatened plants and animals live in or rely on forests. The threatened forest reserves are known habitat for thousands of plants and animals, many of them listed as endangered, critically endangered, threatened or vulnerable. These include masked owls, giant freshwater crayfish, swift parrots, wedge-tailed eagles and quolls, which will move closer to extinction if their habitat is logged.⁶

Water: Forests are critical to Tasmania’s water cycle and heading into dry and unpredictable times, they are more importantthan ever. Thousands of hectares of the converted FPPF reserves are part of Launceston’s water catchment. Logging them would put the Launceston area’s water cycle and supply at risk.

Tourism: These converted reserves are full of tourism infrastructure, are close to local communities and are beautiful places to visit. They are already managed by Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service. Their tourism value, social, environmental and economic, is worth more to Tasmania than any wealth that could be generated from logging them. Prior to the spread of COVID-19, nature tourism was booming in Tasmania, which needs more accessible places for tourists to visit rather than opening up areas in the heart of the wilderness. Local tourism operators are horrified that tourists could soon witness the return of logging, log trucks and social conflict.⁷

These forests, like many that are already protected, provide spiritual, recreational, scientific and aesthetic values. Combine this with the biodiversity and forests become powerful life-enhancing ecosystems that carry the endeavours of all Tasmanians. These forests need to be protected for good!