Tasmania – Let’s talk about a pathway out of native forest logging

The end of native forest logging is occurring throughout the world. Here in Australia, Western Australia and Victoria have ended their native forest industries, and Tasmania should be on the same path.

But Tasmania continues to delay the inevitable end to an industry that is a relatively small employer, subsidised by the taxpayer, and one that causes climate change and habitat loss.

With jobs in decline – 2021 Census figures show that jobs in forestry and logging (both plantation and native forestry) and jobs across wood product and paper manufacturing industries, together represent just under 1% of all Tasmanian jobs – now is the time.

So what happens to the remaining unprotected native forests in Tasmania? Transitioning them into national parks would take them off logging schedules permanently, provide added protection from commercial development and help bolster biodiversity.

Join Alec Marr, the former Executive Director of The Wilderness Society and Manager of Triabunna Investments, in conversation with Vanessa Bleyer, the Australia Institute spokesperson for Native Forests and Director and Principal Lawyer at Bleyer Lawyers, at this special event to talk about a pathway out of native forest logging in Tasmania.

Speakers:

• Alec Marr is the Principal at environmental consultancy Strategic Interventions. He was the Executive Director of The Wilderness Society Australia (TWS) from 1997 – 2010, leading the organisation through a period of unprecedented growth and campaign success. He was appointed the Triabunna Mill Manager in 2011 and decommissioned the woodchip mill in 2013, which led to a Parliamentary Inquiry in 2014. He has been involved in successful environmental campaigns across Australia since 1985. His awards include the Australian Humanitarian Award on behalf of The Wilderness Society in 2000 and Wild magazine’s Environmentalist of the Year award in 2001. He was recognised as one of ’20 Global Wilderness Visionaries’ by the World Wilderness Congress in 2010.
• Vanessa Bleyer is the Australia Institute spokesperson for Native Forests and the Director and Principal Lawyer at Bleyer Lawyers. She has a long history operating at the interface between our forests and the law. She was President of Lawyers for Forests Inc from 2003-2007 and returned as a committee member in 2021. She has twice been awarded the Law Institute of Victoria’s President’s Award for providing Access to Justice for our native forests and the species that depend on them. She was Chairperson of Environment Tasmania Inc from 2012 to 2015 and in 2022 she became a board member of Landcare Tasmania.

This is a free event so registrations are essential.