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EditorialLogging of WA’s native forests must stop. More and more conservation groups and members of the community are coming to this conclusion. After 175 years of abusing what nature gave us, people now realise that forests offer us far more important things than wood. They are habitat for many species of plants and animals that exist nowhere else in the world. They provide ecosystem services that for too long we have taken for granted. Forests help regulate climate and moderate weather. They give us clean air and fresh water. They hold soil in place, cycle nutrients and prevent salt from rising. They also store large amounts of carbon which is released into the atmosphere when they are cleared, logged and/or burnt. If there was no logging, there would be no ‘residue’ or ‘waste’. WA groups wanting to end logging are working together to stop all logging, thinning and clearing of WA forests and woodlands. We now have the opportunity of the mid-term review of implementation of the Forest Management Plan to work towards achieving this goal. With your help and support we can bring it about.
Forests and climate changeClimate change and forests interact in two ways. First, forests store large amounts of carbon both in the vegetation and in the organic matter in the soil. Except for what is stored in long-lived products like furniture, this carbon is released into the atmosphere when the forests are logged and burnt and the timber used for woodchips or firewood. So logging forests adds to greenhouse gas emissions and hence to climate change.
Simcoa still using jarrahThe Japanese-owned company Simcoa Operations Pty Ltd, which produces silicon at Kemerton, near Bunbury, uses wood in the production process. Under its State Agreement Act, every year it has the right to buy 150,000 tonnes of jarrah logs from State forest.Simcoa says that in 2007 it used 78,800 tonnes of wood for charcoal, comprising 40% from mine site residues (mainly jarrah) and plantation material; 32% of sawmill residues (mainly jarrah); and 28% from dry char grade logs (all jarrah). This is forecast to increase to 86,300 tonnes in 2008 and 99,400 tonnes in 2009. As Simcoa has now bought a second set of equipment for processing clearing residues, the proportion from dry logs is projected to fall to 19% in 2009 and clearing residues will increase to 58%. Conservationists have a real concern that the Forest Products Commission (FPC) is stockpiling low-grade green jarrah logs in the forests, allowing them to dry out then selling them to Simcoa as dry logs. In addition to 78,800 tonnes of wood (90%), Simcoa used 15,150 tonnes of other reductants, made up of 7,250 tonnes of NZ coal, 6,700 tonnes of Collie coal and 1,200 tonnes of ‘other’. In future years charcoal production will increase at the expense of coal. In 2007 a further 39,000 tonnes of woodchips were used in the furnace (93% sawmill residues, 7% plantation pine). This increased to 22% plantation pine in 2008. At January 2008 prices, FPC logs delivered to site cost $16.80 per tonne plus falling and hauling plus other costs, which all amounted to ~ $65 per tonne. The price is linked to the price of silicon. Simcoa pays $5 per tonne to the FPC for mine site residues. The company covers the costs of processing and transport. According to Simcoa’s Vice-President, Mr Jim Brosnan, the company is planning on the basis of no native forest logging as it can survive on residues from Alcoa's mine sites and other unavoidable clearing. Any expansion is based on using this and plantation resources. The use of jarrah for anything but high value products is inexcusable. Since logging for timber to make high value products results in four or five times that amount becoming ‘waste’, it is time logging stopped altogether
Bioenergy not necessarily ecoenergyBabcock and Brown, a US investment group, has set up a company called Western Australia Biomass Pty Ltd that proposes to build a so-called bioenergy power plant near Manjimup. The plant was to be built near Bridgetown, but the local community objected so strongly that the proposed location was moved to the WA Chip and Pulp Co’s chipmill site at Diamond Mill, near Manjimup.The plant would burn 380,000 tonnes of wood a year to generate 40MW of electricity. The company says that the feedstock will be plantation waste, and the former Minister for Forestry, Hon. Kim Chance, assured us that no native forest ‘residue’ or ‘waste’ will be used. However, logging in native forests produces far more ‘residue’ and ‘waste’ than sawlogs, and the Forest Products Commission (FPC) has recently called for tenders for the sale of ‘residue’ logs, that is, logs it can’t sell as sawlogs because of their poor quality. The Diamond chipmill site is at the centre of a network of high standard woodchip roads that would make it easy to deliver karri, jarrah and marri ‘residue’ logs to the Biomass plant. So it is likely that the FPC will one day offer the company ‘residue’ logs at a very low price. For that reason alone, the proposal must be stopped. Because of the pollutants in the emissions from wood-burning power plants, there is mounting opposition from the major producers of fruit and wine in the Manjimup and Pemberton area. Visit their website > www.nobiomass.com <. We offer them our full support.
Lignor, strand lumber and ‘forest waste’A company called Lignor Ltd has approval to build an ‘engineered stranded lumber’ (ESL) plant near Albany. ESL involves slicing logs into small strips then gluing them into planks of the required length and thickness. The process allows strong and versatile lumber to be produced from small logs and would be acceptable except that in addition to plantation blue gum (two-thirds of the feedstock), Lignor wants to use ‘native forest residue and thinnings,’ mostly karri, for the other third.The Forest Products Commission (FPC) has entered into a contract to sell Lignor ‘forest residue’. However, the amount of karri ‘residue’ (more than 200,000 tonnes) exceeds the total allowable cut for karri logs set in the FMP. This would appear to be unlawful and has been challenged. The FPC would get $20.47 a tonne for karri logs, $7.69 for jarrah logs and $11.50 for marri logs, plus additional charges of $30 for administration, falling and hauling. From the specifications in the contract (no maximum diameter limit for karri or jarrah logs), it is clear that logs would not just come from small regrowth trees but would certainly include old growth trees. Happily, construction has been deferred because Lignor hasn’t secured the necessary financial backing. It needs $350 million in addition to the $16 million it has received from the Federal and State Governments. We will continue to oppose Lignor’s proposed use of anything from our forests. If it can’t survive on plantation feedstock, it shouldn’t happen.
Young karri attacked by native fungusA native fungus, Armillaria luteobubalina, is infecting post-clearfelling regrowth karri. There are some 50,000 ha of such regrowth – a quarter of all the karri forest in the world – and it’s only 30 years old or less. The fungus causes significant losses because it both kills trees and discolours and degrades wood. These problems are made worse by intensive management practices such as thinning. Thinning is the preferred treatment for immature regrowth. It is done to increase growth rates and speed up the production of more sawlogs. At least, that is the expectation.It has been found that following thinning, disease levels in regrowth karri increase significantly and continue to increase with time. Unfortunately, the fungus attacks the biggest, healthiest, fastest-growing trees, so whether the weakest and unhealthiest trees are killed (as is usual with thinning), or the trees most affected by the fungus are removed, the future karri forest will not be very healthy. The best solution is not to thin at all. It is ironic that clearfelling has caused the problem because it provided this fungus with an excellent host – large stumps from which the infection can spread to regrowth trees by root to root contact. Now the plans of WA foresters and the logging industry are collapsing in a heap because regrowth karri cannot provide sawlogs of the quality and in the quantities they estimated when they began extensive clearfelling of karri forest in the 1970s for the benefit of the woodchip industry.So much for world’s best forest management!
How effective is prescribed burning?Just how effective is prescribed burning for containing wildfires?Prescribed burning was developed by foresters to protect the timber resource in the northern jarrah forest from wildfire. The main reason now given is protection of people and property. Protection of biodiversity has been added as another justification. However, recent research by scientists at Australian universities and in the American and Canadian Forest Services shows that prescribed burning is not as effective as the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) makes out for reducing the area burnt in wildfires. These scientists say that the weather, not letting fires start in the first place, and rapid suppression when they do start are more important than prescribed burning for containing wildfires. Prescribed burning as currently practised actually makes forests and bushland more flammable. It opens up tree canopies, dries out the understorey, and promotes rapid and prolific growth of fire-loving plants. The fire managers then feel obliged to burn again and again, which produces an increasingly fire-prone environment. Kings Park scientists say that frequent fires have a disastrous effect on many species of flora and fauna. Fires kill all animals that can’t escape or find refuge and the burnt areas must then be recolonised. Species that need long fire-free periods disappear from places burnt at short intervals. The whole of our South-West is suffering from lack of rain. Frequent burning adds to drought stress and threatens the biodiversity that DEC is supposed to conserve and protect. With jarrah, marri, tuart and wandoo all in decline, it is time that DEC adopted a different approach to preventing and controlling wildfires.
On not believing the balgaIn 1998, David Ward, then a research scientist with CALM, claimed that the history of fires in WA’s south-west forests could be reconstructed by examining dark bands on the stems of Xanthorrhoea (balga, or grasstree). On the basis of this work Ward developed the hypothesis that before European settlement the Noongars burnt the jarrah forest and other parts of the South-West every three to four years. Because the hypotheses supported CALM’s policy of frequent prescribed burning, the Department presents it as fact.Reputable scientists have pointed out that while there is evidence some balga may have burnt at the suggested intervals, there is no evidence the surrounding landscape burnt at the same frequency. Some common banksia species could not have persisted under a regime of fires every three to four years. Furthermore there is evidence that Aboriginal people preferentially burnt balga. Research has now been carried out by independent scientists who compared fire records from 100 balga with a 30-year record of fire data derived from satellite imagery in a region of sandplain shrubland near Eneabba. The balga markings failed to identify fire in 83% of fire occurrences identified by the satellite record. A similar proportion of fire incidents that showed up on balga stems was not matched in the satellite record (false positives). The rate of false positives increased as the record went back in time. While it is clear that the balga record reflects fire history to a degree, it contains at least as many false as true fire records and may tend towards over-reporting the incidence of fire in the past. It is time that DEC publicly rejected this now discredited hypothesis.
Creative accounting – FPC styleThe Forest Products Commission (FPC) engages in some very creative accounting. From 2001 to 2007 the FPC’s accumulated profit was $27 million. During that same period the FPC increased the estimated value of the south-west forests by $109 million. Without this revaluation the FPC would have an accumulated loss of $82 million.
Chester’s not for chopping!Chester forest lies in the south-western corner of WA’s forests, about 20 km north-east of Augusta. A nature reserve in its centre protects an isolated patch of karri. It was selectively logged in the 1950s.The Forest Products Commission plans to log within an 830 ha area in the north-west of Chester. It expects to extract only 800 m2 of 1st and 2nd grade jarrah sawlogs., but five times that amount of low grade logs will be felled and stacked on landings to rot and burn. Chester is very low lying and is drained by a system of interconnected streams and wetlands. In winter it could be described as a shallow lake. It is an area of exceptional conservation value. A 1998 species richness map, prepared during the Regional Forest Agreement process, shows that Chester has maximum floral diversity (700-800 species per km2). The interconnected wetlands provide habitat for a variety of vegetation types, from predominantly water dependent species – paperbarks, teatrees, sedges – to other complexes where the tree species include jarrah, marri, karri, banksia, sheoak, peppermint, bullich, Christmas tree, snottygobble, woody pear and balga. Such varied habitat, most of it in excellent condition, is rare, beautiful, and increasingly important. Climatic drying means that wet, southerly forests will become refuges for species migrating from drying regions to the north. Areas such as Chester are important for biodiversity conservation and should be protected as part of our response to climate change. The requirements for flora surveys and protection have not been complied with in Chester. The locations of threatened flora are only protected from road and landing construction, and not from logging activities. With so little to gain and so much to lose, Chester should not be logged at all.
Killing trees not a good way to get more waterThe Water Corporation is killing trees in the 12,845 ha Wungong catchment in an attempt to increase run-off into the Wungong Dam.There is no problem with Water Corp replacing pine and other exotic trees with local species. But there are serious problems with its treatment of previously logged (‘cut-over’) jarrah forest. There are 5,100 ha of cut-over jarrah forest where Water Corp has started ‘thinning’. It is in fact partial clearing because the intention is to reduce the basal area of retained trees (the area of a cross section of tree trunks at breast height) to 15 m2 per hectare and to keep it at that level by repeated killing of unwanted trees. This is less than half the basal area of the old growth forest before it was logged. The killing is done either by felling the trees and poisoning the stumps with Roundup or, mainly, by injecting Roundup into the trunks because that method is cheaper. There are real concerns about the use of Roundup, especially in a water catchment. It’s not just jarrah trees that are killed. Marri, sheoak, banksia and snottygobble are also killed. And it’s not just skinny regrowth. Giant veteran jarrah that are centuries old are poisoned too. To add insult to injury, the trees are just killed and left standing. It is a waste of native forest trees and a potential serious fire hazard. Research shows that thinning jarrah forest increases the impact of Phytophthora dieback. Furthermore, while the small increase in salinity that often follows logging and burning is not a problem for human use of water, it may be deadly for the creatures that live in forest streams. All this is bad news for biodiversity. The Wungong trial is the thin end of the wedge because Water Corp wants to use this method in other catchments to get up to 10 times the amount of water it hopes to get in Wungong. The rainfall in WA’s South-West has decreased significantly and will probably keep on decreasing. We have to look at all our uses of water and make sure we are using this precious gift of nature very carefully and obtaining it sustainably. We have already lost half the pre-European area of our forests. We cannot afford to permanently deplete any of what is left, especially in the face of climate change. Killing trees is not a good way to provide people with more water. The Water Corporation must find more ecologically sustainable sources of water and the whole community, including mining and agriculture, must use much less water and recycle much more.
Plantation resources in WAGovernment sources show there are adequate plantation resources in WA to supply current community needs for virtually all timber products, so native forest timber is not required. Already, despite higher royalties, plantation pine is used for two-thirds of sawn timber requirements. According to the federal Department of Forestry, for the period 2005-09 the forecast plantation softwood sawlog supply in WA is 816,000 m3 a year. If 40% of sawlog volume is turned into sawn timber (average yield), the timber produced from plantation softwood sawlogs would be 326,400 m3, which is more than the amount of sawn timber currently obtained from all sources in WA, both native forest and plantations (about 323,000 m3) So there’s no need to log native forests in WA.
Bauxite mining and the jarrah forestIn Western Australia, two multinational companies, Alcoa World Alumina and Worsley Alumina Pty Ltd, have been mining bauxite in the jarrah forest, Alcoa since 1963 and Worsley since 1980. Since they began operations, both companies have significantly increased production and have approval for more big expansions. However, in November Alcoa announced that it has shelved its planned $2.2 billion Wagerup expansion. Let’s hope it’s shelved forever!There are several more companies either with or applying for bauxite exploration licences in the northern jarrah forest outside Alcoa’s and Worsley’s leases. It is of major concern that this over-exploited forest, already under attack from over-cutting, over-burning, fragmentation, Phytophthora dieback, salinity and canker, as well as increased temperatures and decreased rainfall due to climate change, is considered fair game by companies that would destroy it for profit. We must do everything we can to prevent this from happening.
Lies, damned lies and forestry propagandaIf the definition of a lie is an untruth told when you know, or should know, that it is untrue, there are a number of foresters who are telling lies about conservationists.In various public forums they are saying that conservationists did little or nothing to oppose bauxite mining in the jarrah forest. They then contrast this alleged inaction with conservationists’ concerted opposition to native forest logging, which, according to them, is benign because it has only a small and temporary impact on the forest. The most cursory inquiry would reveal the tremendous effort made by the Conservation Council and other conservation groups to stop the expansion of bauxite mining in the jarrah forest in the 1970s and 80s. This included numerous submissions, rallies, media campaigns, lobbying, direct action, and legal action in the USA. These same critics of conservationists overlook the fact that in the 1970s foresters were perfectly happy to see 60,000 ha of jarrah forest in the Donnybrook Sunklands completely destroyed and replaced with plantations of exotic pine trees. This is a larger area than has been, or is likely to be, destroyed by bauxite mining under current leases. The conversion project, strenuously opposed by conservationists, was approved and well under way until it was stopped after the ALP won government in 1983. There are now some 57,000 ha of State-owned pine plantations, mostly on land that was once native forest – jarrah, karri, tuart. The forest was totally destroyed to grow the pine trees, courtesy of the Forests Department. People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, especially if the stone throwing is really just mud slinging.
Forest Management Plan reviewThe Forest Management Plan 2004-2013 (FMP) requires that the proponent, the Conservation Commission, must prepare an audit of performance report for the EPA by 31st December 2008. The EPA will release a draft report for public comment early in 2009. This is a good opportunity to expose the failure DEC and the FPC to implement the FMP.One glaring example is the failure to prepare the final Guidelines for Fauna Habitat Zones (FHZs) to replace the interim Guidelines in the FMP. The FMP states specifically that the final FHZ Guidelines will be prepared by DEC with public consultation, submitted to the Conservation Commission and approved by the Environment Minister by 31st December 2004. Four years later, the draft Guidelines still haven’t been released for public comment. We will take the opportunity of the mid-term review to recommend major changes to the FMP, in particular a big reduction in the allowable cut and preferably a total end to native forest logging. Keep an eye on the WAFA website for submission dates and points.
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