a Senator the Hon. Anne Ruston Ast tant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Senator for South Australia Ref: MC18-000608 Mr Ed Hill Goongerah Environment Centre i email: geco@geco.org.au 2:9 FEB 200 Dear Mr Hill It is with disappointment that I note the Wilderness Society is engaged in a campaign to mislead the Australian people regarding the progress and implementation of the Victorian Regional Forest Agreements (RFAS). RFAs remain the most effective framework to achieving a balance of economic, environmental and social outcomes for all Australians. They provide for a wide range of forest uses, including wood production, recreation, tourism, cultural heritage, biodiversity conservation and water supply. Australia’s forest industries are vital to our regional communities. They are an integral part of fabric of modern Australia, directly employing more than 67,000 people and contributing more than $23.6 billion to the economy each year. In Victoria alone, the forest industries directly employ approximately 21 200 people, generating more than $7 billion per annum in economic activity. When the Victorian RFAs were first signed, more than 965,000 hectares of production forest was transferred to the reserve estate, This action increased the size of Victoria’s reserve estate by approximately 56 per cent, Nationally, more than 3.3 million hectares of forest was put in the reserve estate (including almost one million hectares of old growth forest), a 46 per cent increase. This was a great outcome for the environment, yet your petition deliberately and dishonestly fails to acknowledge these achievements. In addition, the RFAs have resulted in: The identification of old-growth forest values and protection of 100% of old growth forests that were classified as either rare or depleted * significant advances in our approach to ecologically sustainable forest management ‘© anative timber industry that operates with some of the highest levels of biodiversity protection in the world ‘© long-term certainty of access to forest resources and improved regulatory processes for the timber industry. Padiament House, Canberra ACT 2600 Tet: 02 6277 3753 FaYour petition deliberately and dishonestly fails to acknowledge that, in a Senate Estimates hearing held last year, the Threatened Species Commissioner, stated: *...no Australian mammal has become extinct due to forestry operations...” Your petition deliberately and dishonestly claims native forest logging is exempt from national environmental law. Yet the inclusion of RFA provisions within the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) recognises that a comprehensive regional assessment was undertaken to address the environmental, economic and social objectives of the Act in each RFA region. Rather than being an exemption from the EPBC Act, the establishment of RFAs actually constitutes a form of assessment and approval. Furthermore, forestry operations must adhere to obligations set forth in any state-based legislation, This includes the application of forest management strategies to protect rare and threatened species, and ecological communities. Finally, your petition deliberately and dishonestly fails to acknowledge that Australia’s native forests remain the primary source of durable, high strength and appearance grade timber such as solid wood flooring, panelling, furniture and fine craft products. ‘The type and quality of ‘wood produced from our native forests simply cannot be replaced by plantation timber. RFA are indeed adaptable to changing circumstances and new information. ‘The benefits of a competitive, sustainable and renewable native forest industry in our regional communities cannot be underestimated, ‘The Coalition Government re-affirms its election commitment to establish a 20-year rolling life to Victoria’s RFA. Yours sincerely ine Ruston