The Tasmanian Forest Products Association (TFPA) has cautioned against misinterpreting the agreement between Sustainable Timber Tasmania (STT) and the Bob Brown Foundation, pending the
outcome of the Federal Court case.

“This is simply a case of STT voluntarily agreeing to a further moratorium in order to avoid costly court action for all parties, pending the outcome of the Federal Court case which we all hope will be
sooner rather than later,” TFPA CEO Nick Steel said.

“Anyone trying to claim this as some sort of “win” is completely wrong, and is engaging in deceptive spin. Tasmania’s forest industry is the ultimate renewable; it replants for the future according to a longterm plan; it helps tackle climate change by taking carbon dioxide out of the air and storing it (a fact acknowledged by the IPCC); and it supports more than 5,700 direct and indirect jobs in our state.

“In regards to the Swift Parrot:

• -The causes of decline in Swift Parrot populations are complex and include nest predation by sugar gliders, collision mortality, competition from other bird species, climate variability and
  change, and illegal wildlife capture and trading, as well as habitat loss.
• Research has highlighted the significant impact of predation by sugar gliders. If current trends continue in the increasing sugar glider predation rates, a catastrophic decline in the
  swift parrot population has been predicted.
• A trial funded by the Tasmanian Government has been successfully completed, and has resulted in a $700,000 Australian Government investment in work over the next three years
  to trap sugar gliders in nesting boxes to effectively create safe zones for Swift Parrots, to breed in addition to the safe zones on offshore islands that are sugar glider free.
• As an industry we are progressive and always looking to improve. That’s why we support things like the Public Authority Management Agreement (PAMA) between DPIPWE and
  Sustainable Timber Tasmania (STT) for the protection and management of swift parrot habitat on Permanent Timber Production Zone Land (PTPZL) in the Southern Forests.
• The PAMA provides certainty for the timber industry and benefits the critically endangered Swift Parrot, which will be further protected with almost 10 000 hectares of potential
  nesting habitat to be excluded from wood production under the Agreement.
• This is coupled with an already existing world class forest practices system. The purpose of the system with respect to swift parrots is to maintain the breeding-habitat throughout the
  landscape. This is done by ensuring that sufficient levels and arrangement of important nesting-habitat and foraging-habitat are retained to support breeding.”

The original media release is here: MR_Caution against misinterpreting moratorium agreement_110121