The Tree Projects and Sustainable Timber Tasmania spar over the Grove of Giants

A campaign to save some big Tasmanian trees is gaining momentum. But a stoush is brewing over public open days.

Steve Pearce co-founder of the Tree Projects next to a big tree in the Grove of Giants. Picture: Rob Blakers.

A GROUP running public open days in the Huon’s Grove of Giants says Sustainable Timber Tasmania is using red tape to silence a campaign to have the forest protected.

The Tree Projects has been hosting community open days to showcase the area’s big trees.

The 100ha area of native forest near Lonnavale contains a 35ha logging coupe.

Last month Sustainable Timber Tasmania (STT) removed locally-made signage directing visitors to the area.

Tree Projects co-founder Jennifer Sanger said STT was now asking the group to obtain a permit for their open days.

“The Grove of Giants campaign has been really quite successful and a lot of people have been messaging the government about it,” Dr Sanger said.

“I think Sustainable Timber Tasmania are getting a lot of pressure from government to do something about it.”

“They say we need to get a permit for safety reasons. We have been working very closely with Work Safe Tasmania and we have consulted with them and done everything Work Safe Tasmania recommended that we do.”

The Tree Projects founders Jennifer Sanger and Steve Pearce

In March 2021 a Supreme Court judge ruled STT had no authority to require groups to obtain a permit for activities in public forests.

The ruling followed the Bob Brown Foundation’s challenge to STT requiring a permit for the Tarkine Marathon.

General manager operations Greg Hickey said STT was in “ongoing” conversation with the Tree Projects about the open days, but stopped short of saying whether they were being asked to obtain a permit.

“Sustainable Timber Tasmania became aware of the Tree Projects holding public events on Permanent Timber Production Zone land in early 2023 and reached out to the group seeking information relating to public liability insurance, risk assessments and safety management plans for the activity,” Mr Hickey said.

“It is Sustainable Timber Tasmania’s approach to engage with stakeholders holding events on land it manages to understand the nature of the event and the potential impacts of such an event.

“To date, the conversation regarding the Grove of Giants open days is ongoing between Sustainable Timber Tasmania and the Tree Projects.”

Locally made signage directing visitors to the Grove of Giants in the Huon Valley. The sign was removed by Sustainable Timber Tasmania

Mr Hickey confirmed the Tree Projects would need to obtain an agreement from STT before the visitor signs could be put back up.

“Signage indicating a route to the ‘Grove of Giants’ was erected on Permanent Timber Production Zone land without approval from Sustainable Timber Tasmania and was therefore removed,” he said.

The Tree Projects has been lobbying STT to expand its definition giant trees to include trees of 4m in diameter.

The Grove of Giants has 150 trees of this size.

“This is an example of some of the best forest in Tasmania, amazing amounts of old growth trees,” Dr Sanger said.

The coupe in the Grove of Giants is on Sustainable Timber Tasmania’s three year wood production plan, meaning it is due to be logged some time by 2025.

STT has confirmed it won’t be logged in 2023.