The forest industry has been in the media a lot lately.
That is no surprise as we have now entered the final battle in the decades long Forestry Wars.
The old forest warriors are back in the trenches – shouting and vilifying, rattling sabres and thumping hairy chests. Just like the good old days!
One thing different this time is the so called Forest Economics Congress being organised by Kirsha Kaechele later this year, as reported in The Mercury newspaper Saturday 19th August.
The idea that after decades of bitter conflict a bunch of people can sit down and solve the forestry wars seems completely fanciful. Especially so after the 2014 Tasmanian State election when the last attempt at discussion and compromise was destroyed by Tasmania’s corrupt political system.
Ms Kaechele is promising free and open discussion about a positive forestry future for Tasmania.
Part of the problem however is that Ms Kaechele has already set a long list of Terms of Reference for the Congress that are identified in these two articles.
These Terms of Reference include:
- the continued logging of public native forests, including oldgrowth forests;
- “artisans and boatbuilders” will be given preferential access to our public native forests;
- sawmillers are our friends!
It seems that many outcomes from the Congress have already been determined
Curiously Ms Kaechele fails to mention anything about politics, as if the Congress will define and implement a positive forestry future completely independent of our State parliament.
Q. How can a public resource (our forests) be managed outside of the political system in a small corrupt fishbowl like Tasmania?
A. It can’t! Never has, never will!!
I could ask 100 people in the forest industry what their vision of the future is and I would get 150 different answers, many of them mutually exclusive. Many people are not prepared to compromise, and many people have utterly fanciful ideas about our forests. There is much distrust, anger and hostility in the mix as well.
How can common ground be reached under these difficult conditions?
Many of the fundamental issues facing timber markets and the forest industry are not mentioned in either of these articles. Fundamental issues like the complete absence of proper functioning timber markets in Australia, the absence of level playing fields for all tree growers, farm forestry, etc..
No doubt the Congress will provide some interesting discussion, but I for one am not holding much hope. One thing is guaranteed – the forestry wars will not be resolved by the Tasmanian parliament. The Tasmanian parliament can only enflame and exacerbate the conflict.
That is the reality that Kirsha Kaechele faces.
PS. Never mind that John Lawrence has spent the last 18 years repeatedly destroying Forestry Tasmania’s business model and their very dodgy accounting practices. What really are they going to talk about in November?
http://tasfintalk.blogspot.com/search/label/Forestry%20Tasmania
Tasmanian Blackwood Growers Cooperative 
The Wooden Boat Festival and the Tasmanian Forestry Wars
As I’ve written previously on this website, to have a wood craft festival in the 21st century that ignores the issue of where the wood comes from, who grows it, fails to express concern for the future of the world’s forests, or demonstrate support for private tree growers, seems to me to be the equivalent to denying climate change.
But such is the situation with the Australian Wooden Boat Festival (AWBF) which is on this weekend in Hobart, Tasmania.
https://blackwoodgrowers.com.au/2018/10/08/the-australian-wooden-boat-festival/
The fact that most wood craft festivals in Australia behave in a similar manner is no excuse.
To date the AWBF has managed to avoid being caught up in the long running Tasmanian Forestry Wars, but the events of the last 5 years have changed that.
In 2014 the Tasmanian State election was waged yet again on a battle for the forests. The new Liberal Government scrapped the Tasmanian Forestry Agreement that had been negotiated between the forest industry and the community.
Forest areas that had been earmarked for reservation were opened up for future logging against the advice of the forest industry and the market.
The new Liberal Government then sought, with the support of the wooden boat community, to open up the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) for logging. This move was blocked by UNESCO.
The TWWHA can still be logged, but UNESCO would remove the area from the World Heritage Register.
In 2017 the Tasmanian State Government released the Tasmanian Special Species Management Plan. This Plan allows for the logging of special species timbers, including so called boat timbers, within Tasmania’s Conservation Areas. This logging is to happen at taxpayers expense, with no accountability and no transparency.
These Conservation Reserves were established under the 1996 Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement explicitly to protect rainforest and oldgrowth from logging, even although Tasmanian legislation allows for logging with Conservation Reserves (this IS Tasmania after all).
The new Special Species Management Plan explicitly uses “market demand” and events such as the Deloraine Craft Fair and the Australian Wooden Boat Festival as justification for opening up Tasmania’s Conservation Reserves for rainforest and old growth logging.
That Management Plan has now been in effect for 18 months with zero transparency or accountability. We have no idea what areas have been logged or how much taxpayers money has been wasted.
You can read my critique of this travesty of a Management Plan here:
https://blackwoodgrowers.com.au/2017/10/23/tasmanian-rainforest-plunder/
The fact that some people within the wooden boat community are in full support of this appalling situation needs to be highlighted.
The AWBF is a large successful festival which could be a force for change and for good.
Instead the Australian Wooden Boat Festival is now in line to become another battleground in the long running destructive Forestry Wars.
And the toxic Tasmanian political system will guarantee that the AWBF is used as a weapon to achieve short term political gain. We have seen it all before!
The Future
In the 21st century the AWBF needs to explicitly state its policy on forests, wood sourcing away from public native forests.
Currently the AWBF has no policies on these issues.
Instead the AWBF sits in silence working to ensure that Tasmanian rainforests and oldgrowth remain available for logging.
The State Government will of course threaten that to stop rainforest logging will endanger the AWBF.
The State Government will of course assert that rainforest logging is sustainable (whilst providing zero evidence/transparency/accountability).
In what perverted universe is the harvesting 500 to 1,000 year-old trees sustainable? Based on this very same logic Tasmania will resume logging Huon pine at some point!
It’s time to bring the Australian Wooden Boat Festival into the 21st century. Otherwise pressure must be brought upon the AWBF sponsors to review their support for the event.
Here’s a list of the major sponsors:
https://www.australianwoodenboatfestival.com.au/about-us/partners/
People attending or participating in the AWBF need to realise they are supporting the Tasmanian Forestry Wars and the continuing plunder of our rainforests and Tasmanian taxpayers.
It’s time to stop!!
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Posted in Commentary, Events, Politics