Sustainable Timber Tasmania agrees to suspend operations in 19 coupes as Bob Brown Foundation court action continues
The Bob Brown Foundation is celebrating what it has called one of the biggest breakthroughs for Tasmanian native forests in years as Sustainable Timber Tasmania suspends operations. LATEST >>
Tasmania
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SUSTAINABLE Timber Tasmania has voluntarily agreed to not log several coupes which are home to the endangered swift parrot while court action initiated by the Bob Brown Foundation is ongoing.
In August, environmentalist Bob Brown launched legal action aimed at ending native forests logging in Tasmania.
Lawyers for the Foundation last week foreshadowed they were considering filing an interim injunction to stop any logging which may impact the endangered swift parrot.
Shortly prior to Friday’s case management hearing in the Federal Court, STT agreed to pause plans for logging in 19 coups which cover 850ha of Tasmanian forest.
Dr Brown said it was a “big break through” which came as a surprise.
“That’s the biggest breakthrough for protection of Tasmania’s wildlife-filled forests since 170,000ha was protected as World Heritage in 2013,” he said.
“It means that those coups can’t be logged until the termination of the court, which won’t be this summer otherwise it would be a contempt of the court.
“It’s power to the people – we work through thousands of supporters who have given us the gumption to take this court action. We’re seeing that rising tide of public horror at Australia’s blatant destruction of species.
“I think we will have more scientists and citizen watchdogs in the Tasmanian forest this summer than ever before in history.”
Dr Brown said it should not have been up to the Foundation to reach the agreement.
“It should have been the ministers for the environment in Tasmania and Canberra,” he said.
“We’re alarmed there are other endangered species in Tasmania like the giant freshwater crayfish, the Tasmanian Devil and the wedge tailed eagle which are still going to be threatened by logging activities this summer.”
During the court hearing, Justice Duncan Kerr expressed his thanks to all parties for the mutual respect shown.
“These matters are not always as elegantly resolved,” he said.
The Tasmanian Forest Products Association and the Australian Forest Products Association backed STT’s decision not to fight the injunction application.
“The forest industry is sick and tired of the green lawfare being conducted by the BBF, which includes challenging the Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement that is an existential threat to any natural forest harvesting – State and privately owned,” TFPA CEO Nick Steel said.
“We have full confidence in the RFA that is underpinned by Tasmania’s world class Forest Practices Act and Code which prescribes forest management practices to ensure best practice environmental outcomes.”
Resources Minister Guy Barnett said it “beggars belief” that during the pandemic, the Foundation was “escalating its campaign to damage our sustainably managed forest industry and put thousands of hard working Tasmanians out of work, destroying families and rural communities.”
The court case was adjourned until October 19.
Originally published as Sustainable Timber Tasmania agrees to suspend operations in 19 coupes as Bob Brown Foundation court action continues
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