Government Decision on Woodchip Exports

"the destruction of habitats of rare and endangered species like leadbeater's possum in Victoria, like the white goshawks and the grand Tasmanian wedgetails, the sub-species which are down to about a hundred nesting pairs in Tasmania."

"... is that the optimum habitat for Leadbeater's is a young regenerating or uneven-aged forest that contains both wattles and an ample supply of old hollow logs which are used for nesting. Regrowth from the 1939 wildfires which devastated much of Victoria, together with the fire-killed remnants of mature forest, has provided abundant feeding and nesting habitat during the past 30 years. However, these remnants are gradually decaying and falling over, and suitable nesting hollows will not occur in regrowth forest for another 150 years. Population models have predicted a massive decline of the possum over the next 30 years, with no increase in population until about 2075 when the 1939 regrowth ash forest will begin to develop tree hollows suitable for nesting."

1. just as the aftermath of the 1939 bushfires seems to have played an important part in providing optimum habitat to enable the possum's increase, so it is likely that the fires themselves were a major, (possibly the major) reason for the possum's decline;


2. active forest management for timber production seems to have greatest potential to ensure the continued availability of food and shelter for the possum, (as well as the greatest opportunity to maintain a degree of fire control and prevention). This is because with the maturing of the forest, the canopy closes, and the growth and flowering of wattles is suppressed. Leadbeaters appear to need some regrowth, and sustainably managed forestry supplies it.


3. there doesn't seem to be any evidence that the forest managers, who are employees of the state government, or the timber industry have been at all recalcitrant about finding and adopting measures to protect the possum. The relationship between the possum and timber production may not be entirely comfortable, but there doesn't seem to be any evidence of hostility or neglect on the part of forest managers either.


4. given that the Victorian government manages the forests, as well as being responsible for environmental protection, it doesn't seem likely, prima facie, that it would allow any decision by the federal government about permissible woodchip export levels to upset the provisions it has put in place to protect the possum;


5. the steep decline in possum numbers that is apparently expected over the next 30 years does not appear to be a function of forest management practices per se, but mainly of forest growth and maturation. It is not, to borrow a term from the greenhouse debate, an "anthropogenic phenomenon".

"Widespread clearance for agriculture in north-east New South Wales and south-east Queensland (confirmed); in Queensland changes to fire regime (speculative) egg collecting (speculative), shooting by pigeon and poultry owners (speculative). Clearance of habitat has undoubtedly caused a decline in the south-east of the species range, other factors may be having local effects that reduce abundance."

"Clearance for agriculture (confirmed) clearfelling for timber extraction (confirmed), poisoning and shooting (confirmed). Though there are no historical records of the population much suitable habitat, particularly in eastern and northern Tasmania has been cleared and the birds are still subject to disturbance when nesting and to illegal killing."

1. "in state-managed forests buffer zones must now be left around known nests and those discovered during logging operations;


2. a public education program has been attempted but with limited success."
   
   The recovery outline says that management actions still needed are:


3. "maintain close liaison between conservation authorities and forest managers to improve protection of nest sites on public land;


4. develop a vigorous public education program in areas where illegal poisoning and shooting [are] most prevalent, and to encourage conservation of nesting habitat on private land."

• to the extent that inappropriate forest management was responsible for any decline, diligent efforts seem to have been made to remedy the problem;


• there seems to be a serious problem with public attitudes, as reflected in the incidence of poisoning and shooting, (presumably for livestock protection);


• as with leadbeaters possum, the active involvement of the state forestry agency, along with state parks and wildlife officials, in implementing the recovery plan seems to make it unlikely that any decision by the Commonwealth government about permissible levels of woodchip exports would be allowed to undermine or impede the implementation of the recovery plan.