The Federal Court decision on Bob Brown Foundation’s Great Forest Case is deeply disappointing for Tasmania’s forests and threatened species.
It’s a setback but the decision won’t stop those who’re determined to end this senseless, State-sanctioned destruction.
In a climate and biodiversity emergency, threatened species like the swift parrot are already under intense pressure. The intensification of native forest logging under the Liberals, and supported by Labor, is driving them closer to extinction.
It’s clear our federal environmental laws are too weak to protect threatened and endangered species. Today’s decision doesn’t give the Liberals or Forestry Tasmania a pass. Science is science. Habitat destruction caused by logging has reduced the Swift parrot to an estimated 300 individual birds.
Any government that genuinely wanted to protect threatened species, or be taken seriously on climate, would already be working to end native forest logging. Instead, the Liberals are choosing to play cynical, dishonest politics at huge cost to the environment.
We applaud forest defenders from the Bob Brown Foundation for fighting so hard to protect these forests and creatures they sustain.
BBF may not have won today, but if anything this decision will only fuel the determination, courage, and strength of the conservation movement.
The Greens are proud to stand alongside Bob Brown Foundation and the vast majority of Tasmanians who want this island’s wild, carbon-rich forests protected from logging madness.