What if a critically endangered bird could have a chance at survival by preserving 7% of Tasmania’s native forests that are earmarked for logging?
What if the forest industry had different reasons for arguing that logging should reduce by roughly the same amount?
This is the argument made by ecologists and environmentalists in a proposal that could stop the rapid decline of the swiftparrot, a migratory bird that experts fear could disappear in 10 years if nothing is done.
It is difficult to monitor the fastest parrot in the world. It spends the winter living in Victoria and New South Wales and then nests in Tasmania every summer, depending on which part of Tasmania is blooming.
No one disputes the fact that rapid parrot numbers have plummeted. The December CSIRO-published birds guide puts the population at approximately 750, a decline of around 2,000 roughly a decade earlier.
A new reportBirdLife Australia, Wilderness Society, and the Tasmanian group The Tree Projects have released statements stating that the main cause is the loss large, hollow-bearing trees that were used for breeding.
It cites a peer reviewed study that found almost a quarter of Tasmania’s southern old-growth forests were logged from 1997 to 2016. This is evidence of a systemic failure of the state government, it states. Multiple scientific advicesThe survival of the parrot species was dependent on its habitat.
Dr Jennifer Sanger, a Tree Projects forest ecologist, said that while the parrot faces other threats such as predation by sugar gliders or worsening bushfire risk because of the climate crisis, habitat destruction from logging remains the main issue.
She claims that we have seen poor policies from the government over the past decade, which has been exacerbating this decline. The habitat is still being logged.
The Tasmanian Liberal government claims it has the answer. In late 2020, the government released a policy called the public authority management arrangement. It promised to save 9,300 hectares in southern forests from logging.
On the Edge of Extinction claims that this is misleading. 69% of newly set aside land was previously exempted from logging due to operational limitations or portions of it already being in reserve.
It is true that the new policy would prohibit logging on only 2,900ha and make other areas with mature trees the swiftparrot depends on available to the forest industry. According to scientific advice, all swift parrot nesting areas and forest on Tasmanian public lands should be protected in order to preserve them.
This argument is not new, but the report includes what groups call a new calculation of what it would mean. A rapid parrot protection plan would only require the industry to give away 7% of forest land on state land for logging. It would also protect 40,000ha of mature forest and 20,000ha regrowing forest, which could provide future habitat.
According to the state-owned timber business, Sustainable Timber Tasmania (which in 2016 informed the state government that logging was not economically viable if it had to meet a quota of 137,000 cubic metres per year, it could achieve this. It demanded that this quota be reduced to 96,000 cubic metres and that timber supply be reduced by 30%.
Guy Barnett, the state resource minister, rejected the request from the industry group. The Liberal state government, which was formed on the platform of ending a recession, was elected in 2014. Labor-Greens peace dealAfter decades of conflict, the industry and environmentalists reached an agreement. The goal was to expand native forestry in order to support local jobs and create new ones. Barnett believes that the current sawlog quota can be met by selling timber at higher prices and looking for lower-cost areas of forest to log.
The groups behind this report believe the quota should never be lifted. However, Sustainable Timber Tasmania suggests that it be reduced to a level that will stabilize parrot populations. Sanger claims it would help other species and preserve significant amounts of carbon in the state’s mature wet eucalyptus forest.
In a perfect universe, there would not be any native forest logging. But, to protect the bird, they don’t need to do much. They are doing absolutely nothing at the moment.
Roger Jaensch (Tasmanian environment minister) said that the reduction of the legislated sawlogquota was not part our thinking when Roger Jaensch was asked about the report. He stated that $1m had been committed by the government to implement priority areas of a swift parrot recovery program and that he was seeking advice from officials about how to spend that money. Jaensch stated that significant changes have been made to harvesting arrangements in areas that have swift parrot habitat.
Suzette, a general manger with Sustainable Timber Tasmania, believes the current policy is a significant improvement in swift parrot defense. The agency also recognizes its responsibility as land managers and is currently developing an additional management plan. She suggests that the industry’s economic circumstances have changed since 2016 when it called for a reduction in the sawlogquota.
Sustainable Timber Tasmania’s annual reports show that it has made an operating profit over the past four years. John Lawrence, an economist says that it would have experienced losses if it weren’t for these profits. Accounting measures and government grants.
Dr Eric Woehler is an ecologist who is also the convenor for BirdLife Tasmania. He says that the government’s and agencies’ plans don’t go far enough to stop the devastating decline in parrot numbers. The strength of the report, however, is that it basically aligns the industry’s demands.
He says that it shows that we can reduce the pressure on critically endangered species by using strategic thinking and planning. It’s not rocket science.
According to Woehler political incompetence is the only obstacle.
He says that the problem is well-known and has been known for decades. Weve seen a decline in protection and a business as usual approach to state land management, he said. It is a recipe for the end of a species.
