The scale of newly protected forests in Tasmania’s timber industry peace deal is in dispute as Labor seeks to reduce forest areas and the Greens bid for more.
Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings admitted yesterday some of these forests may be of World Heritage value.
But she left open the prospect of logging into a ”bottom line” area of 430,000 hectares agreed in the settlement reached with Prime Minister Julia Gillard at the weekend.
Ms Giddings said legal obligations to fill sawlog and veneer contracts would mean the government first looked outside a larger 572,000 hectare area identified by conservation groups and industry as being of potential high conservation value.
The deal meant the government would work down through steps until it reached the 430,000 hectares that are to be immediately reserved to fulfil contracts if necessary, Ms Giddings said.
Greens leader Bob Brown called for the immediate securing in national parks of the 572,000 hectares of forests that was originally agreed between industry and environment groups.
”That would bring back the balance to the deal which gives $148 million this year to the logging industry, but doesn’t secure one hectare of national park,” Senator Brown said.
Despite the Greens’ sharp criticism of the deal, mainstream environment groups, including the Australian Conservation Foundation, have recommitted themselves to a ”good faith” implementation of the agreement.
The deal hands out about $276 million for industry restructuring, compensation and new park management.
However, smaller hard-line groups pledged their direct action against old-growth logging would continue, and Ms Giddings called for them to be reined in.
”We cannot continue with the war in the forests,” she said.
There have been repeated attempts to settle the forests debate in Tasmania since the 1980s, but agreements have achieved only temporary truces.
