Ink dry on forestry peace deal Outbackjack: Tasmania's Premier has declared the signing of a forestry peace deal a difficult day for the state. The Forest Industries Association of Tasmania (FIAT) confirmed today that a deal had been reached to end the state's decades-old forest wars. FIAT's chief executive Terry Edwards says half a million hectares of forest will be protected from logging, with 395,000 hectares to be reserved immediately and the balance in March 2015. Mr Edwards says it will be up to Parliament to determine whether the second tranche is reserved. "We believe it is time for the war to cease..." Terry Edwards, FIAT The downsizing of the forest industry will include cutting the legislated quota of sawlogs to 137,000 cubic metres a year, below guaranteed levels. Timber Communities Australia (TCA) remains the only forest peace deal negotiator yet to sign up to an agreement and is indicating its signature could be some time off. It has sent a letter to the Premier saying its membership will not vote on the issue until next month. That has thrown into question whether legislation to implement the peace deal will be debated in Parliament today. The Government has listed the legislation for debate but the Opposition's Peter Gutwein questioned the move. "Doesn't this mean that the deal should not proceed? Or are you prepared to ride roughshod and progress ahead even without the agreement of this critical signatory to your disastrous deal?" He urged the TCA not to sign the deal. "What this deal is going to lead to is a further exodus of people from this island," he said. Outbackjack: Premier Lara Giddings says it is significant but difficult day for the state. Ms Giddings commended the negotiators for reaching agreement which has been more than two years in the making. "It's a day that's obviously significant for many and I am concerned very much for our communities across the state, timber communities who've have relied on this industry for many, many years," she said. She has urged the TCA to back the deal. "I would say to those members of the TCA that this is a unique opportunity for them." The TCA's Jim Adams has warned the association will not sign until its members have had a chance to study it. "Our understanding is that we can run our process alongside certain things that the Government may or may not decide to do through Cabinet and Parliament and our response can be fed into or added into that process as soon as it's available." Done deal Earlier today, Terry Edwards told ABC Local Radio it was the compromise offered by FIAT earlier this month which paved the way for the deal to be struck. He said the TCA had indicated its support. "The agreement document has been signed by all bar one of the participants in the negotiating process," he said. "That other participant has a number of corporate governance issues that it needs to complete but it has advised the Government of its support for the agreement subject to those corporate governance issues being properly finalised." Mr Edwards said his group signed the deal because it was time for the war to end. He called on groups like Markets for Change to back the deal and end forest protests. While he is relieved the deal has been signed, he said there were negatives in it for industry. Key points FIAT says the deal includes: More than 500,000 hectares of new reserves created; Immediate reservation of 395,200 hectares; A further 108,800 ha reserved by 2015; Land to be logged once, before reserving: an extra 21,000 ha; 38,000 ha placed in specialty craft and timber zone; 137,000 cubic metres of high quality sawlog available for industry; "Durability report" to be given to Parliament on whether peace is being delivered. Environment Tasmania's Phill Pullinger says it is an historic day and he has urged both sides of the debate to give peace a chance. "It's certainly, from our point of view, not perfect. We've had to make some big compromises along the way but certainly I believe that it's the best deal that we could get for nature conservation and we'll be throwing our weight behind it," he said. "There will be a lot of critics across the spectrum; it is easy to be cynical or be negative given what we have experienced over the past 30 years as a community. "What I'd say, and I will be saying it to critics in the conservation movement...is just imagine what our state can achieve if we can get a resolution and move on. "What it can mean for Tasmania for our place in the world if some of those amazing forests of national and world heritage value can be protected...and what it can mean for timber workers if they can go to work without the anxiety and uncertainty that they have had for so long." Audio: Phill Pullinger says it is an historic day. (ABC News) 'Sham' Opponents of the peace process believe the agreement is a sham that offers no security to the forest industry. Liberal Senator Richard Colbeck says a Federal Coalition government would tear up proposed reserves in the interests of the industry. "They've basically been bullied into this, there's no question that that's the case," he said. The Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association's Jan Davis says reduced sawmilling capacity will hurt private growers. "This will probably be the death knell not only for us, but for other parts of the industry." Farmers believe they were unfairly excluded from the talks. Environmental activist Miranda Gibson tree-sitting in the Tyenna Valley, southern Tasmania. An anti-logging activist who has spent almost a year living in a tree in southern Tasmania is awaiting the details before she decides whether to come down. Miranda Gibson, from Still Wild Still Threatened, has been in a tree-sit near Tyena since last December and has vowed to stay until high conservation forests are protected. Ms Gibson says she is hoping to see the details of the deal soon. "There's been so much uncertainty so far about what's going to happen with the forests so it was definitely a big announcement to hear that a deal has been struck," she said. "Obviously we haven't seen a copy of the agreement and there's still a lot of uncertainty about what it's going to mean."  jink88: What kind of wood is native to Tasmania? Is Tasmania its own country or is it owned by another? Outbackjack: Tasmanian is the southern most state of Australia and has wood that is very unique to the area.Being closer to Antarctica than the rest of Australia gives it a cooler climate with more rainfall.Huon pine,tasmanian Oak are just some of the trees found there and Huon pine take thousands of years to reach maturity. Tasmania is the jewel in the crown when it comes to Australian forests. Outbackjack: Environment groups raise concerns about forest agreement. Upon scrutiny of the forest agreement environment groups Still Wild Still Threatened and the Huon Valley Environment Center are today raising concerns about the certainty for the protection of forests. "It is far too early to be claiming a win for the environment based on this agreement, because the forests remain under threat. Even if it is passed by the Legislative Council, the deal offers no clear time frames for protection. And in fact, it allows for the continued logging of those areas that are ear-marked for protection. I have made the commitment to stay in the Observer Tree until the forest is protected and as this is still uncertain, I will be remaining in the tree" said Miranda Gibson of Still Wild Still Threatened. "We should not be overstating the real figures in this agreement. To say that there are over half a million hectares protected is misleading. The 395,000ha, which will make up the first tranche, is the only figure that is likely to even receive protection, yet even that remains uncertain. And in addition will eroded by a further logging. The agreement leaves little room for confidence that the rest will ever see protection. Even this 395,000 remains uncertain, being subject to a range of clauses, durability reports, rescheduling and ongoing logging in the meantime" said Jenny Weber of the Huon Valley Environment Center said Jenny Weber of the Huon Valley Environment Center. "This agreement could have been an opportunity to move Tasmania forward, but instead it feels like we are going backwards. Entrenching ongoing native forest logging and in particular a return to woodchipping. This is a part of the industry that has already caused massive destruction to Tasmania's environment and proven to be a failure in today's economy" said Miranda Gibson. "This agreement locks in woodchipping, clearfelling and Permanent Production Zones for logging of native forests, yet fails to guarantee secure proteciton for the forest. Clauses place conservation outcomes secondary to wood supply" said Jenny Weber "We will continue to speak up for the forests, because this agreement cannot be seen as the end of all environmental progress in Tasmania. Tasmania would set a dangerous precedent to allow this deal to be used to silence community engagement and public debate around such a critical issue" said Miranda Gibson. "Our scrutiny of this agreement has revealed controversial concessions made to the native forestry industry that should be undergoing a rapid transition out of native forests. Certification of controversial logging practices, maintaining Forestry Tasmania in its current form, a subsidised propaganda machine for the signatories to endorse native forest products in the market, exempting logging from an upgrade in the forest practices code and endorsement of industrial scale wood chipping are major hindrances to a solution," Jenny Weber said |