Wild Wielangta

Media Release from Birds Australia

Swift End to Endangered Parrot in Tasmanian Forests

Plans to log areas of forests, including Wielangta Forest in southern Tasmania, are likely to severely jeopardise the future of the globally-endangered Swift Parrot, according to Birds Australia who is urging the Tasmanian and Commonwealth Governments to put a stop to the imminent disaster.

There are less than 1000 pairs of the nationally endangered Swift Parrot known to exist in the wild, yet Forestry Tasmania plans to undertake logging in the Wielangta Forest where there are believed to be several hundred Swift Parrots preparing to breed.

Birds Australia Conservation Manager, Chris Tzaros, said today that if the current logging regime continues, it will have devastating consequences for this species. “A significant part of the Swift Parrot population is currently preparing to breed within Wielangta Forest, sections of which we understand are scheduled to be felled within the next few weeks”.

Tasmania is the only place in the world where Swift Parrots breed.  The species migrates across Bass Strait annually to forage in woodlands of the mainland over winter before heading back to Tasmania to breed.  The parrots are dependent on eucalypt forests that contain hollow-bearing trees for nesting in the south and east of Tasmania.

Mr Tzaros says, “For the Swift Parrot, it’s a case of death by a thousand cuts, where incremental loss of critical nesting sites is occurring annually. Each year, Swift Parrots return to an area of forest to breed only to find that hollow trees have been removed or earmarked for destruction through forestry operations”

“The parrots at Wielangta have commenced breeding and logging will almost certainly result in the loss of nest sites” Mr Tzaros added.  “The Swift Parrot is a species whose future is precarious enough due to the loss and degradation of their habitats on the mainland.  We have grave fears for their future without having to contend poorly managed logging”.

This is not the first time this has occurred. Birds Australia is aware that logging in Tasmanian forests has already affected a number of important nesting areas and continues to impact on the species. “Let there be no doubt that the single greatest threat facing this species is logging in its nesting habitat in Tasmania” said Mr Tzaros.

For the past 13 years, a national recovery program involving all the eastern States and costing hundreds of thousands of dollars has been implemented in an effort to better understand this species and work towards its conservation.  However, it seems that recent expert advice on nest site conservation is falling on deaf ears.

“If uncontrolled logging of Swift Parrot nesting habitat continues then this national recovery effort will have effectively been for nothing.  The impact of such losses will be so great that I firmly believe it could spell the beginning of the end for the Swift Parrot” said Mr Tzaros.  The Swift Parrot needs to have successful breeding events that allow the species to continue to exist and thrive in the wild.

Birds Australia implores the Tasmanian and Commonwealth Governments to take immediate action to halt logging in nesting areas, such as Wielangta, and support population monitoring programs in breeding habitat of this endangered species.

Media contact:
Chris Tzaros, Conservation Manager, Birds Australia,
Tel: (03) 9347 0757
Email: c.tzaros@birdsaustralia.com.au

Swift Parrot images available upon request
Swift Parrot video footage available on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFVjHe1DMYA

Select to listen to, or right select to download the interview

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Wielangta Campaign
South East (Tasmania) Forest Protection Group
July 2008

Media Map including potential helicopter landing sites to follow.

The Wielangta Campaign
We are a group of concerned local residents who have come together to protect the forests and endangered wildlife of Wielangta from woodchipping.
The Wielangta Forest has been at the centre of a well publicised and long running legal battle that concluded in May this year. (See enclosed brochure “Wielangta Forest – Landmark Trial” and www.on-trial.info.) Endangered species in this forest remain unprotected despite the Federal Court finding that logging in Wielangta is sending three of them – the Swift Parrot, Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle and the Wielangta Stag Beetle – closer to extinction.

The community is now preparing to take up where the court case left off and will be pressuring the State and Federal governments to reverse the changes made to the Regional Forest Agreement by former Prime Minister Howard and former Premier Lennon which sidestepped the Court judgement and left the way open for continued logging.

Invitation to Wielangta Walk and Picnic Day
A large crowd of locals and other concerned Tasmanians will gather for the Wielangta Walk and Picnic Day on Saturday 19th July from 11 am. This event will provide an opportunity for people to experience first hand the threatened forest, see the endangered wildlife habitat, talk to scientific and legal experts and find out how they can be involved in this new phase of the campaign to save Wielangta.
See attached invitation for detailed directions to picnic site.

Wielangta Campaign Contacts:
Lisa Cuatt
476 Bream Creek Rd
Bream Creek 7175
Ph/Fax 6253 5493
Mobile: 0428 399103
breamcreekartwk@southcom.com.au

Sharon East
Dunalley 7177
Ph: 62535 348

Wielangta Background

Bob Brown v. Forestry Tasmania
Wielangta Forest Landmark Trial
Launched on 30 May 2005, Senator Brown very nearly obtained leave from the High Court to appeal against the Full Federal Court decision that Regional Forest Agreements give no guarantee that endangered species will not ‘suffer’ as a result of logging. Such a case would have rivalled the Franklin Dam case in significance. As it stands, the case has demonstrated that federal environment legislation completely fails to protect Tasmania’s and Wielangta’s endangered species from logging.

Logging Imminent
Forestry Tasmania is about to log coupe 19D, the very coupe that was at the centre of Senator Bob Brown’s 3 year long legal battle. Contractors have been working during the past week to prepare the road into the coupe. An Exclusion Zone has just been put in place, prohibiting any member of the public from entering this area, without a permit.

Endangered Species
The three endangered species that were under the spotlight in the Wielangta court case were the Swift Parrot, Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle and the Wielangta Stag Beetle. All three species are nationally listed under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act as well as Tasmanian threatened species legislation.

Federal Court Judge Marshall, in 2006, found that logging as planned, in Wielangta, at that time, would drive these endangered species towards extinction. The logging in 2008 will follow the exact same plan that was under the scrutiny of the Federal Court in 2006.

All that has happened since the 2006 judgement is that the wording in the Regional Forest Agreement has been changed, without parliamentary approval, to remove any requirement for Forestry Tasmania to really protect endangered species. This leaves endangered species in Tasmania protected by national legislation everywhere except in the vast areas of native forest subject to logging where Forestry Tasmania has a special exemption granted to on other industry.

Swift Parrots
There are currently only 1,300 breeding pairs of Swift Parrots in the world. Swift Parrots migrate to the forests of South-east Tasmania each year, the only place to breed. Coupe 19D was identified by an expert witness in the 2006 court case as having the best Swift Parrot breeding habitat known anywhere. Millions of dollars have been spent on the mainland to protect the parrot’s winter feeding habitat yet its crucial breeding habitat here in Wielangta is being logged and wood chipped.
In the next few weeks the Swift Parrot will be returning to Wielangta to breed. What will they return to find?

Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle
There are at least 3 known nest sites of the Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle in the vicinity of coupe 19D. With less than 400 breeding pairs surviving in 2008, every nest site needs to be protected. They are known to be very sensitive to any disturbance around their nest and so require extensive undisturbed forests to breed successfully. Recent studies have predicted almost certain extinction of this species if logging of its habitat continues.

Wielangta Stag Beetle
This unique, flightless beetle has connections right back to the ancient continent of Gondwanaland. It is found nowhere else in the world but here in Wielangta and a small population just offshore on Maria Island, where it lives amongst the old decaying logs that are found on the floor of old growth forests.

For more detailed expert comment on the threatened species
Peter McQuillan
Ecologist
Lecturer, Uni of Tas
6226 2840 (wk)
6223 3262 (hm)
0417 384916

Wielangta – the carbon sink
The decision to clearfell old growth forests in Wielangta also fails to recognise the vital importance of protecting places that have the greatest stores of carbon. The protection of old growth native forests is an integral and essential part of tackling climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

For more detailed expert comment
Margaret Blakers
Green Institute
0419 877 325

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