The end of native forest logging is occurring throughout the world. Here in Australia, Western Australia and Victoria have committed to putting an end to 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 former NSW Environment Minister the Hon Bob Debus AM, in conversation with the Australia Institute spokesperson for Native Forests and Director and Principal Lawyer at Bleyer Lawyers Vanessa Bleyer, at this special event to talk about a pathway out of native forest logging in Tasmania.

Speakers:

• The Hon Bob Debus AM served as Minister in both the New South Wales and Federal Parliaments. As NSW Environment Minister from 1999 to 2007, he succeeded in expanding the NSW national park estate by nearly 1.8 million hectares and more than tripled NSW’s declared wilderness to approximately 2 million hectares. On retiring, Bob was appointed Chair of the National Wildlife Corridors Plan Advisory Group that guided the development of the National Wildlife Corridors Plan, adopted by the Australian Government in 2012. He is currently chair of Wilderness Australia (formerly the Colong Foundation) as well as of the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative.
• 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.