Cassy O'Connor MP | Greens Leader and Forests spokesperson
Following their failure to stand with young Tasmanians striking for a safe climate last Friday, the Premier and his Resources Minister today dealt young people another slap in the face with confirmation 356 000 hectares of carbon-dense forests will be opened to logging in April next year.
Under the Tasmanian Forest Agreement, 356 000 hectares of old forest were independently assessed as of high conservation value and set aside – with the industry’s agreement – as a second tranche of reserves.
In return for getting out of these forests, the industry accepted tens of millions of dollars in transitional funding out of the public purse. Now, the Forest Industry Association of Tasmania wants to get back in to those forests and the Liberals are cheering them on.
These forests include the Styx, Bruny Island, Tasman Peninsula, Wielangta, the Blue Tier, Ben Lomond, Douglas Apsley, Great Western Tiers and the takayna/Tarkine.
They are not a ‘wood bank’ as the Premier and Minister Barnett claim. They are a vast carbon bank, a gift to the world.
It’s clear neither the Premier nor his Resources Minister care about or understand the critical need to keep the carbon that’s in the ground, in the ground.
They should hang their heads in shame.
In a time of climate emergency, felling these forests would be a crime against nature and future generations.
We won’t stand idly by and allow this crime against nature and future generations, and nor will the wider conservation movement.