Sustainability of Forest Logging in Tasmania, Australia

Background and Overview

A brief outline of the key actors and stakeholders involved and their positions on the issue of sustainability is provided in Appendix A.

One of the overarching constraints involved in assessing the effectiveness and transparency of governance in the Tasmanian logging industry is the ability of the major players to conform to the wide range of regulations and laws in place while still doing irreparable long-term environmental damage to the country's old-growth forests. In this regard, Green et al. report that "the exploitation of forests is subject to a wide variety of laws: customary laws; international laws relating to trade, human rights, the environment (notably CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species); national and local laws relating to land tenure, human rights, exports, conservation, wildlife and forestry; and the terms of licenses or concessions for the logging of specific areas" (2007, p. 95). According to Forestry Tasmania's most recent Stewardship Report (2008–2009), "Our sustainable forest management performance is independently audited against three certification standards: namely the Australian Forestry Standard (AS4708); Environmental Management Standard (AS/NZS 14001); and the Occupational Health and Safety Standard (AS4801)" (2009, p. 8).

This means that the key players involved can claim legitimacy for their activities because those activities are de facto legal to the extent that they conform to customary and international laws, while avoiding accountability for the longer-term implications of their actions on the environment and all stakeholders — implications that would otherwise be considered criminal. As Green et al. emphasize, the strict legality of the logging industry today must be viewed in a longer-term context in order to formulate improved governance approaches. According to these authorities, "There are serious problems in accepting 'legality' as a criterion of criminality, or as a basis for measures to curb the damaging aspects of the timber trade" (Green et al., 2007, p. 95).

Forestry Tasmania and others are able to conduct their logging operations while simultaneously developing institutional barriers to reform and sponsoring or conducting research that counters specific environmental objections — objections that the industry characterizes as coming from radicalized environmentalists. These factors, together with the underlying desire for profit irrespective of its long-term effects, make substantive changes in governance difficult and even impossible without aggressive intervention on the part of national and local governments and increased grassroots support from Tasmanian citizens — support that has not been entirely forthcoming. Nevertheless, there are signs that the situation is changing somewhat, and these issues are discussed further below.

Current State of the Forestry Industry in Tasmania

On the one hand, "Tasmania is rich in natural assets and is the most forested state in Australia. Its relatively unspoilt beauty attracts visitors from all over the world" (Kloeden & Gordon, 2009, p. 7). On the other hand, Green et al. (2007) emphasize that despite its abundant natural resources, Tasmania remains the poorest of Australia's eight states and territories. With regard to the current state of the forestry industry, Green laments that "the rise of Tasmania's forestry industry has been called a 'dark tale of corporate greed and government connivance'" (p. 95).

The connivance involved relates to the fact that Forestry Tasmania enjoys stewardship of one and a half million hectares of state forest on public land by virtue of the Parliament of Tasmania (Green et al., 2007). This public land contains 39 per cent of Tasmania's forests, and wood production is available on almost half of the state forest (685,400 hectares), with the remainder reserved for recreation and conservation purposes (Kloeden & Gordon, 2009).

The economic impact of these activities is significant. Kloeden and Gordon note that "Forestry Tasmania supplies three million tonnes of hardwood and softwood timber products to Tasmanian customers for processing into sawn timber, rotary peeled veneer and pulp and paper products. In 2008/09, 3.3 million cubic metres of sawlog and pulpwood were harvested from state forest, generating around $217.5 million based on the price paid by our customers for logs delivered 'at the mill door'" (2009, p. 7). The overwhelming majority of logging operations continue to take place in Tasmania's native forest production areas rather than on plantations, clearly pointing to the need for sustainable practices in these regions.

Current State of the Environment and the Impact of Continued Logging on Biodiversity

By some accounts, time is of the essence in formulating sustainable practices that will ensure the long-term biodiversity of Tasmania's forests, particularly in view of more recent research indicating that the threat is greater than previously believed. According to McGhee (2004, p. 26), "There are now more and more impacts on those high conservation value forests that were recognised some time ago but weren't protected" — a reference to areas that should have been protected by the Tasmanian Regional Forestry Agreement (RFA) but were not.

The grassroots initiatives taken to date may be inadequate to counter the persuasive assertions by the logging industry that it is not only conforming to all laws and regulatory requirements but frequently exceeds them, while also pursuing research into ways to further improve efficiency and reduce environmental impact. These assertions are all the more persuasive because many of them are true, even if they fail to include all relevant facts or provide the full context. In this regard, Owen (2003) cites the controversy surrounding efforts to protect the so-called "Tasmanian tiger." Based on agreements between the national government and each of the states, if Tasmanian tigers were discovered, a sufficient amount of land would be set aside to protect them. According to Owen, one aspect of these otherwise-laudable agreements was to potentially unjustly enrich the Tasmanian logging industry.

Moreover, there is a well-entrenched perception among many Tasmanian citizens that current logging practices are adequately responsible. Owen concludes that "conservation issues remain highly emotive in Tasmania because there is seen to be a close correlation between one form of environmental extinction and another. For many Tasmanians, old growth logging has been so comprehensive for so long that it differs little from the thylacine slaughter in which their forebears indulged" (Owen, 2003, p. 160).

Forestry Tasmania cites a number of initiatives and investments it has made in recent years to retain and promote biodiversity in its areas of operation. Likewise, the country's largest timber producer, Gunns, insists it engages in activities intended to preserve the biodiversity of the forest areas in which it operates (Gunns Limited, 2010). The company cites a long history of commitment to the development of Tasmania's forest-based industries and states that it subscribes to "the internationally recognised definition of environmentally sustainable development as the underlying management principle; i.e., development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (Gunns Limited, 2010, para. 2). Gunns also emphasizes that it subscribes to third-party independent verification of its activities to ensure compliance with relevant laws, regulatory guidelines, and the above-stated commitments (Gay, 2009). Taken together, it would appear that everything is in order in terms of ensuring a sustainable and biodiverse forest industry for the future of Tasmania — but there are other forces at work that carry important implications, and these are discussed further below.

Appendix A: Key Actors and Stakeholders in the Tasmanian Timber Industry

Forestry Tasmania is a Government Business Enterprise that manages Tasmania's one million hectares of state forest and produces about three million tons of timber per year (Green, Ward & Mcconnachie, 2007, p. 95). Its overall position on sustainability is summarized in its Sustainability Charter, which commits the organization to: promoting and supporting domestic processing and value-adding of wood products; maintaining a sustainable supply of commercial timber; ensuring an ongoing long-term supply of high-quality eucalypt timber from native forests; ensuring an ongoing long-term supply of specialty timbers; establishing and managing plantations to maintain timber supply levels; and managing state forests to ensure an ongoing supply of leatherwood nectar and other non-wood products and services.

Gunns, Ltd. is Tasmania's largest timber company (Herr, 2007) and is certified under ISO 14001 and the Australian Forestry Standard for its forest management practices (Gay, 2009). The company states that it promotes sustainable practices and is actively engaged in research to improve its efficiency and reduce its environmental impact. Since 2003, external audits have confirmed that Gunns has consistently maintained its forest management practices in accordance with ISO 14001 and AS4708 guidelines (Gay, 2009).

Japan is the largest importer of Tasmanian woodchips (Milne, 2009) and is largely disinterested with regard to Tasmanian logging sustainability concerns.

Australians and Tasmanians: The Australian population was estimated at 21,262,641 (July 2010 est.) (Australia, 2010), while the Tasmanian population was estimated at 507,084 (September 2010 est.) (Giddings, 2010). More than 65 per cent of the Australian population and 69 per cent of Tasmanians want an end to the practice of clear-felling of old-growth forests (Green et al., 2007); however, 92 per cent of the Tasmanian community is opposed to the type of illegal protest activity seen in the Upper Florentine Valley during the first half of 2009 (Kloeden & Gordon, 2009, p. 11).