FOREST VALUE

AN illuminating article by Tom Allen that confirms there really is no sensible case to answer when it comes to logging native and high conservation forests. (Talking Point, October 14). It’s ironic that Forico — the company that bought much of failed timber company Gunns’ plantation estate — should be the one to prove it conclusively.

If Forico, a company that requires no government or taxpayer subsidies, can make a sustainable living without destroying the rich biodiversity of our forests and environment, then it should be blindingly obvious that Forestry Tasmania aka Sustainable Timbers Tasmania has failed the same test on every level. Forestry Tasmania has been a constant drain on the public purse for decades. Its brutal and controversial clear-felling practices have recklessly caused the destruction and degradation of our native and high conservation forests, that are critically important environments for the survival, not just of the swift parrot, but for all our iconic and threatened wildlife and flora. They are also a priceless asset in respect of tourism.

The monetary value Forico have placed on biodiversity and our standing native forests in their report shows just how shortsighted and foolish the Hodgman and Gutwein governments have been when they binned that hard-won Tasmanian Forest Agreement in 2014. That decision was an example of the Liberals’ irrational ideology over corporate economics, and environmental common sense.

Anne Layton-Bennett

Swan Bay