March 29th 2001

1. Forests

The election on February 11th gave government to Labor. The new Premier, Geoff Gallop, made good his pre-election promise to end logging in old growth forests immediately he came to power. Logging has been stopped in over 90 nominated forests. Since all the logging was taking place in old growth forests, it was reasonable to consider the next necessary step would be to reduce the cut. Unfortunately this has not yet happened, so at present we have a political solution, but not a real one on the ground.

What this means is that the logging has been shifted to what are described as ‘regrowth’ forests; in other words those that have been logged heavily already and so do not qualify for protection . This is actually a quite a dangerous move as it is cutting again too soon on already overcut forests, and is not sustainable for long, if at all. There are still enormous numbers of trucks carrying huge logs on the roads; several people have stopped me to ask why this is so.

The Government is trying to do a delicate balancing act, keeping all parties happy, but I fear it will be our overtaxed and long-suffering native forests that will suffer longer yet before proper change can be made. Mediterranean ecosystems are resilient, but our jarrah forest is the only tall forest in the world in a truly Mediterranean climate. Ecosystems can come to a point of no return and we may be getting close to ecosystem collapse in some ‘regrowth’ jarrah forests, it is almost certain there will be biodiversity loss. Perhaps one day we shall learn to take care of what God has given us.

2. Taking Care of the Bush - Nature Conservation on Private Land

Last week I had the privilege of attending this three day National Forum in Perth hosted by the National Trust. It was an inspiring event with well over 200 people from all over Australia attending. There was a rich diversity of backgrounds and experiences which people were eager to share and a common commitment to nature conservation on private land.

There is a general recognition that we cannot expect government to do all that is necessary to protect nature and we need to work hard and effectively to turn back the tide of destruction in order to salvage and protect what remains of our rich and unique natural heritage. It was also recognised that to work effectively means working in partnerships and having the flexibility to meet varied and changing situations. There was valuable input from indigenous land- holders who are welcomed into the partnerships, together with other people at the local level.

There was a sense that the boundaries of work in this field have been expanded, first to embrace indigenous participation, while recognising the need for cultural learning for most people. Secondly amazing passion, caring and dedication was shown by all the people present. This was something extra that could not have been anticipated. It was wonderful. Plans were made for working at the landscape level, far more than the ad hoc farm or catchment scale of the past, and beyond forests, even beyond woodlands.

It seems that the ‘tools’ are largely there, but the ‘institutions’ ie the legal frameworks, the cultural norms, (especially of government) and the policy frameworks are not adequate to the demands of these times. So that effectively posed a set of challenges for the next 12 months.