WA protests against clear-felling

By Iggy Kim

PERTH -- On January 24, 100 people gathered in an area of old-growth forest in the south of Western Australia to protest against clear-felling. Known as the Wattle Forest, the area lies adjacent to the Shannon and Mount Frankland National Parks and has been the site of protest blockades for many months.

Three extensive sections have been set aside for clear-felling. Wattle 1 and 2 have already been razed. The recent protest was to highlight the imminent destruction of Wattle 3.

Logging operations in WA have come under the spotlight as the state and federal governments prepare to sign the regional forest agreement in June.

At the end of last year, a dispute broke out between the state's Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) and the Environmental Protection Authority -- both under the responsibility of environment minister Cheryl Edwardes.

In a clear conflict of interest, much of CALM's funding comes from the sale of forest logs, including those from old-growth areas. In early December, the EPA accused CALM of breaching jarrah harvest limits set in the 10-year 1993 Forest Management Plan.

Further, the EPA criticised the Forest Management Plan's legal logging limit of 490,000 cubic metres as ecologically unsustainable and called for it to be halved.

The dispute has spread within the state Coalition government, differences being expressed by the National and Liberal parties. A “peace deal” was announced on January 25, in which a review panel of scientists and a representative from the EPA will watch over the logging levels set by the regional forest agreement.

Peter Robertson, spokesperson for the anti-logging WA Forest Alliance (WAFA), addressed the Wattle protest. He said he was optimistic that sections of the “conservative constituency” could be won over to the anti-logging campaign.

WAFA is organising a “business men and women for old-growth forests” protest outside Premier Richard Court's office on February 1, 1pm. Participants must wear suits.

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