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Tasmanian Government sending forestry down perilous path

Tasmanian Government sending forestry down perilous path

The Tasmanian Liberal Government and Australian Forest Products Association are threatening the future of the state’s forestry industry by continuing on the path of loss-making native forest logging, instead of securing its future with stable plantation timber production, carbon storage, and support for timber manufacturing.

Yesterday, Tasmanian Minister for Business, Industry and Resources, Eric Abetz, opposed preserving the state’s native forests for carbon sequestration and forest management jobs, instead threw his support behind the rapidly declining native forest logging industry.

"Native forest logging overwhelmingly ends up as exported woodchips. We are far better off preserving native forests so they can store carbon and provide habitat for endangered animals, and instead expand our plantation timber industry and manufacturing capacity. We need smart investment in plantations and processing,” ACBF Executive Director Lyndon Schneiders said.

The native forest logging industry faced an 80% downturn in wood volumes over the past 20 years, making it the fastest-declining procurer of hardwood timbers in Australia. More than 50% of all Tasmanian native hardwood exported as low-value woodchips. Of all valuable sawnlogs harvested in Tasmania, only 6% are harvested from native forests. Currently, native forest logging provides as little as a third of all forestry jobs in the state.

Timber plantations already provide 77% of all wood harvested in the state while Tasmania requires better support for innovative timber manufacturing to bolster its plantation industry. Currently, 95% of all hardwood timbers (plantation and native) are used for lower-value, short-lived products like woodchips and pulp, when they could be manufactured into high-value products.

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