February 7th, 2002

1.Forests

URS assessment of 11 ‘moratorium’ forest blocks

In April 2001, the Conservation Commission of WA appointed multinational environmental consultants URS Australia Pty Ltd to assess the scientific, economic and community values , and the impact of logging on salinity, in 11 forest blocks in the Central Forest Region. This region is conspicuously short of reserves and the forests involved have been at the forefront of community campaigns for increased forest protection in the Collie, Donnybrook and Nannup regions. URS lists among its major clients at least four logging and mining companies that stand to benefit from a government decision not to protect some or all of the ‘moratorium’ forests: these are Alcoa, BHP, Wesfarmers and WMC Resources.

The Archbishop was invited to put in a submission; he passed the request to ASRC and it became my task to research the situation and write a submission, which I did at the beginning of July. In August URS produced its final report without making actual recommendations about which forests should or should not be protected.

Eventually, on the basis of the URS report the Government did decide. On New Year’s Day 2002, Ministers Edwards and Chance announced the decisions, which clearly show the Government backing away from forest protection to support the logging and mining industries. Of the total area of the 11 forest blocks (56 000 ha) only 32% (17 920 ha) will be protected.

This means that what remains of the best, commercially exploitable forest will be rapidly logged for its remaining old growth trees, the whole forest burnt, and then left to regrow in the face of climate change, drought, salinity, erosion, insect attack, dieback and repeated burning. Knowing how little of the original jarrah forest remains in the Collie, Donnybrook and Nannup regions and how massive, destructive and wasteful the assault of logging and mining has been in the past 100 years, it is hardly likely that the forests will ever recover. There is no doubt that most, if not all of those forests warrant permanent protection. As they are destroyed for short term commercial gain, the opportunity for a viable, sustainable future for these still beautiful forests will be lost forever.

None of the moratorium blocks are actually scheduled for logging in 2002. In the best interests of the forests and the community, the WA Forests Alliance is calling on the Government to maintain the moratorium and allow the Conservation Commission to assess these forests again as part of the new Forest Management Plan (FMP) process.

Dalgarup and the assessment of High Conservation Value (HCV) forests.

At election time, Labor promised protection of all old growth and HCV forests within one year. The year is just about up and HCV forests are being assessed now, all 107 of them. The first 34 are being assessed in three weeks! This time frame means that the consultants can use little more than the inadequate RFA data, and will have no time to inspect even one forest. One might question the rush, except that it is obvious that these forests are on this year’s logging plans and the Government is, once again, being pushed by the insatiable appetite of the native forest timber industry.

Bridgetown’s most important forest, Dalgarup, is one of the 34. The assessment period is over and the Conservation Commission is considering evidence provided by the consultants, Ecoscape of Fremantle. Already we are aware of a grader at work on the only internal road through Dalgarup. "Just normal maintenance" we are told. What a co-incidence! We have seen many such processes subverted for political ends. Can the Government stand firm and deliver a fair, open and transparent result in this assessment? We hold our breath and pray. Please pray with us.

2. Climate change report - ‘Living and Growing with less Rain’

The SW corner of WA is one of the areas that is likely to suffer the greatest amount of climate change. We have already experienced 30 years of a dry period. We are likely to have less winter and spring rainfall, with drier years more frequent and no really wet years.

For agriculture the ‘type’ of season is most important. Most cropping systems depend on the timing of rainfall as well as the amount. We need to know the extremes of the changes, because of the big impact on the ground; this may enable adaptation, perhaps by using different crops. In every case it is critical that we make better use of the water we have. We have relied on groundwater in the past, but recharge depends on rainfall, so with lack of recharge of those supplies the future becomes uncertain. At this stage we do not know what is sustainable, but we know there will be less groundwater than before.

Essentially, adaptation is our only option, and this will require reconsideration of what we understand by ‘ecological sustainability’. We do know that drought proofing is now a necessity and we must expand our water conservation programs. On the other hand, it is clear that environmental flows will be hardest to maintain, especially as we know so little about aquatic ecology, foreshores and riparian zones. The implications for the future are serious.