Soil and Water Management Problems in Tasmania

Tasmanian forest companies are still pursuing wood from steep slopes and fragile soils, despite the introduction of a forest practices code claimed to be the best in the world.

The increasing use of cable logging in old-growth forests on steep slopes will continue to degrade the soil and water values of these forests and threaten the quality of Tasmania's rivers.

Tasmania is the only State which allows large-scale cable logging of native forest. The cables are used to haul cut logs up slopes too steep for vehicle access. It can only be used in old-growth eucalypt forest if the forest is clearfelled first. When cable logging expanded rapidly in the mid-1980s, there were no limits set on the degree of slope that could be logged and the Forestry Commission did not have a soil expert on staff.

In 1990 a consultant's report into the environmental impact of steep-slope logging found major problems with the widespread use of cable logging. It recommended placing limits on the degree of slope which could be logged. This was ignored. Within twelve months the first of a series of highly destructive landslips occurred in northern and western Tasmania. A combination of water-laden soil and steep slopes led to the slips. After cable logging at Brown's Creek in 1993, for example, there was nothing left to hold the soil on the steep slope and a large landslip ensued. After protest actions in the early 'nineties, some limits, albeit inadequate ones, were imposed.

Victoria: A Story of Failed Regeneration

Recent advertisements by the forests industry feature authoritative-looking "ecologists" or "teachers" telling a sceptical but ultimately believing mob of adolescents that logging and woodchipping native forests is okay because the "trees grow back".

A document obtained from the Victorian forestry department tells a quite different story. It states bluntly that due to inadequate regrowth of eucalypts "some 25,000 hectares across Victoria require rehabilitation". At a cost of around $300 per hectare, this could leave a bill of up to $7.5 million simply to get the trees back on to this land.

The loss of wildlife after clearfelling has been well documented. The inability of eucalypts to regrow in their own native habitat provides further evidence of the severe damage done to areas that are logged and woodchipped.

Chronic problems of regeneration have appeared in the Black Range near Alexandra in central Victoria, the Mullundung State Forest in South Gippsland and the mountain forests of East Gippsland. The problems are especially severe in the "high elevation mixed species" forests of East Gippsland. A 1992 Forestry Department memo, apparently from a local departmental officer in the Bendoc region of East Gippsland, stated that 79 per cent of clearfelled areas in this forest type had inadequate regeneration of eucalypts. Logging is continuing in these areas, despite the State government knowing that the newly cleared areas are likely to have similar problems.

Prescribed Burning in Western Australian Forests

Prescribed burning is the name given to fires deliberately lit to reduce the amount of flammable material in forests. It is the principal tool used by WA's forest management agency, the Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM), to reduce the extent and severity of forest wildfires.

CALM conducts prescribed burns every five to seven years in jarrah forest and every six to eight years in karri forest, even in national parks. In CALM's view, tree plantations and regrowth after clearfelling for chiplogs are more important than the conservation reserves, which are routinely burnt to protect tree crops.

The department claims that prescribed burning is economic and effective and has no harmful impact on the environment. The reality is very different.

The environmental and financial costs of prescribed burning are high. The fires are intended to be mild and in specified areas. However, many prescribed burns become very hot and some escape into other areas. The costs of fighting these escapes and compensating the property owners have not been calculated.

There is evidence that prescribed burns actually increase the amount of flammable material because they promote the growth of weeds and native plants that respond prolifically to fire. They also interrupt the processes that decompose plant material on the forest floor.

The frequency of prescribed burning is a major problem. Forest ecosystems do not have time to recover from one burn before the next occurs. Two-thirds of CALM's prescribed burnings are carried out in spring, which is the worst possible time for most native flora and fauna. For reasons of economy, very large areas are lit from aeroplanes and burnt in a single fire, leaving little opportunity for animals to escape. Those that do survive are left without food or habitat. Prescribed burns also release considerable quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and cause serious air pollution.

Ironically, these fires often burn into tree trunks and cause fire scars that not only degrade the wood but also allow insects and fungi to attack the trees and further devalue the wood. Logs with charcoal in them are not acceptable for woodchipping!

NSW: Breached Policies, Broken Laws and Biodiversity

The south-east forests of NSW comprise 285,000 hectares of mostly tall wet eucalypt forest. The area has immense importance as a centre of evolution for the eucalypts and as a home to threatened species such as the long-footed potoroo, the smoky mouse and the southern brown bandicoot. Locally endemic rare plants grow on many of the region's high peaks.

The koalas of the south-east are a remnant population considered vulnerable in the long term. They are genetically distinct from koala populations elsewhere in the State, and may even be a distinct race. Their protection is important to the conservation of the species as a whole.

North-eastern NSW has a greater area of forest cover than Tasmania. It is a biodiversity "hot-spot" where the biota of the tropics and the temperate regions meet.

The Chaelundi State Forest north-east of Dorrigo demonstrates this richness. An old-growth stand of tallowwoods and Sydney blue gums crowns the ridge on the eastern edge of the Guy Fawkes wilderness. This outstanding forest has more possums and gliders per hectare than any other forest in Australia.

Nearby are the remains of what was once the biodiverse forests of Wild Cattle Creek, an ancient forest with a rainforest understorey. The massive brush box trees here were around 2,000 years old, and the tallowwoods 1,000 years old. Koala had been found in this forest too, as well as other endangered species such as the Tiger quoll, Greater broad-nosed bat, Marbled frogmouth and Sooty owl. This area has now been logged.

New South Wales has a raft of laws and policies which ostensibly protect water quality, endangered species, wilderness and old growth forest, but all are inadequately applied and regularly breached.

Forest Agencies: Fire-sale Prices

It is no secret that the State forestry agencies make a loss in native forests thereby providing the timber industry with vast unconditional subsidies. But it is only in the last few years that we have started to insist that forestry agencies operate on a more commercial footing.

In 1993, Victoria's Auditor-General released a scathing report on the forestry services of Victoria's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). His findings included widespread fraud in the downgrading of log royalties, subsidies to the hardwood sector in the form of low royalties, and poor accounting practice. On finding that average softwood sawlog royalties were nearly double hardwood sawlog royalties, the Auditor-General said: "Given that the State's hardwood resources are environmentally more valuable and more expensive to produce than softwoods, it is apparent that their current pricing differential does not reflect the relative production cost or value of each product".

The Australian Industry Commission has also found that forestry agencies are underpricing their resource. In its 1993 report, "Adding Further Value to Australia's Forest Products", it said that this:
"depresses the prices obtainable by private wood growers and discourages private sector investment in plantations and agroforestry activities."

It is clear that the State forestry agencies still believe that their primary role is to support a timber industry based in native forests, even if this means bending over backwards to meet industry demands.

Recognising this, the Industry Commission recommended a package of reforms which include:

• full corporatisation of State forestry agencies operating in native forests;
• separation of regulatory functions from forestry management functions;
• making authorities liable for all taxes and government charges;
• requiring dividend payments to government;
• requiring uniform commercial accounting practices;
• making corporations subject to corporations and trade practices legislation.

Greater financial accountability in native forests will have a profound impact on the shape of Australia's hardwood industry and reduce pressure on the environment. But while other arms of government are forced to become more commercial, the subsidised destruction of pristine forests continues. The hypocrisy of these double standards is breathtaking.

For further information on ACF's National Biodiversity Campaign contact:
Peter Wright
Coordinator
National Biodiversity Campaign
33 George Street,
Sydney 2000
ph. (02) 247 4285 fax. (02) 247 1206.

Recommended Reading

• Native Forest Network, Who's Who of Export Woodchipping, Issue 2, March 1995
• Routley, R. and V., The Fight for the Forests, Canberra, 1977
• The Wilderness Society, Woodchipping: The Real Impact, Tasmania, 1986
• Traill, Barry, Woodchips or Wildlife?, Victorian National Parks Association, Melbourne, 1995

Bibliography

1. Thanks to the Australian Conservation Foundation and its publication 'Habitat' for permission to reproduce and update this material.