Swift Parrot “Reprieve” Not Enough to Halt Extinction Threat

Local residents welcome yesterday’s announcement by David Llewellyn, Minister for Energy and Resources, Primary Industries and Water, that logging and woodchipping will be postponed in Wielangta Forest where endangered Swift Parrots are currently breeding.

“The Minister’s announcement will allow the Swift Parrots to breed in safety in Wielangta for this year, but still leaves the way open for Forestry Tasmania to log this all important breeding habitat as soon as the parrots migrate back to the mainland” said Sharon East, spokesperson, Wild Wielangta, South East Tas Forest Protection Group.

“If it had not been for the threatened species surveys conducted by local volunteers in recent weeks, Forestry Tasmania would still be unaware of this significant breeding event of a federally-listed endangered species in Wielangta Forest.  The very trees where the birds are now nesting could have been chipped and on their way to Japan by now if it had been left to Forestry Tasmania staff to conduct appropriate surveys” said Ms East.

“Minister Llewellyn’s reassurance that the State Government is committed to the conservation of the Swift Parrot is completely at odds with warnings from the National Swift Parrot Recovery Team and Birds Australia that the woodchipping of Swift Parrot breeding habitat in Tasmania is the key threat to its survival” said Ms East.

“Swift Parrots are on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species which gives global recognition to their endangered status.  With less than 1,000 breeding pairs, they are rarer than China’s Giant Pandas and Africa’s Mountain Gorillas.   The Tasmanian and Federal Governments must act to protect this jewel of a bird.  This is a conservation emergency” said Ms East.

“On the mainland there are hundreds of volunteers re-afforesting areas specifically as Swift Parrot winter feeding habitat and yet here in Tasmania, the only place in the world that they breed, the State Government allows the destruction of their nesting and feeding habitat.

“Wild Wielangta has launched a ‘Save the Swift Parrot’ postcard campaign and 3,000 cards are currently winging their way to the Tasmanian Premier from across our state and the mainland.  We are calling on Premier Bartlett to protect the Swift Parrots’ critical breeding habitat in areas such as Wielangta, the Southern Forests and Bruny Island.  Surely David Bartlett doesn’t want to become known as the Premier of Extinction!” concluded Ms East.

For more information contact:
Sharon East 6253 5348
Lisa Cuatt 6253 5493  0428 399103
http://wildwielangta.edublogs.org
wildwielangta@gmail.com

We offered a ‘New, Fresh Way of Working’.

We offered the Tasmanian Government the opportunity to use Wielangta as a way to demonstrate to the wider community, a new way of responding to contentious and historically divisive forestry issues. Wielangta can provide the opportunity for the Government to move into a new era of community engagement and transparency in forestry issues.

We asked them to:

• make an appointment with Premier David Bartlett preferably in Wielangta Forest Coupe 19D
• create a public opportunity for all scientific ‘experts’ on Wielangta Coupe 19D (departmental, forestry and independent) to establish facts
• place a moratorium on logging swift parrot breeding habitat – from Orford to Dover, from the coast to 10km inland
• delay logging and woodchipping in Wielangta until June 2010 to undertake independent surveys of endangered species habitat and studies of the forest’s potential as a carbon sink
• stop all logging in Wielangta – in line with the Federal Court decision in 2006 – with the exception of areas already in plantation.

This will ensure that endangered species habitat is protected and the mature forest retains its value as irreplaceable carbon storage.

We asked them to respond to the following questions:

• under the recently amended RFA, how does the Premier intend to ensure the protection of endangered species on land managed by Forestry Tasmania (given that the Federal Court showed that current forestry management regimes in Wielangta are further endangering species)?
• what mechanisms does the Premier have in mind to address community concerns about forestry operations in Wielangta?
• will the Premier include the economic and the environmental benefits of protecting Wielangta’s mature native forests for carbon storage as part of Tasmania’s climate change strategy?
• will the Premier meet with us in Wielangta, Coupe 19D to see why this extraordinary forest has inspired such strong community concern?

What next?
We have requested meetings with David Llewellyn – Minister for Resources and Michelle O’Bryne – Minister for Environment.

Meeting with Forestry Tasmania
Three members of Wild Wielangta, South East Forest Protection Group had a 2.5 hour meeting with the Derwent District Forest Manager and a Senior Planner, Forestry Tasmania on 6th August 2008.

Forestry Tasmania do not see any factor – endangered species or carbon storage – delaying or stopping the logging of Coupe 19D in Wielangta.
Coupe 19D is scheduled to be logged and woodchipped during the 2008/09 financial year.
Forestry Tasmania will allow members of the community to enter the exclusion zone around Coupe 19D to undertake surveys etc – we just need to gain permission.

What next?

We have requested a meeting with the Executive General Manager of Forestry Tasmania and with the Forest Practices Authority (who regulate Forestry Tasmania’s operations).