The Climate Commissions report ‘A critical decade’ has identified protecting forests from logging as the most important land-based climate solution.

The report which was released on the 23rd of May 2011 identified the protection of native forests in Australia from logging as a critical climate change mitigation measure. The report says that eliminating harvesting of these native forests is “perhaps the most important policy measure that can be taken to reduce emissions from land ecosystems.”

Australian scientists have identified cool temperate native forests of south eastern Australia as the most carbon dense in the world. Tasmania’s tall wet eucalypt forests have been found to store up to 1500 tonnes of carbon per hectare. The protection of these forests, as part of the Tasmanian Forest Agreement that is currently being negotiated, will make a major reduction in the carbon emissions that result from the logging and burning of these forests every day.

The Climate Commission report states that mature undisturbed native forests ecosystems store much more carbon than the degraded native forest ecosystems or agricultural crops that replace them (Diochon et al. 2009; Brown et al. 1997;Nepstad et al.1999).

The protection of the ENGO identified High Conservation Value Forest Reserve Area from logging operations will protect the large amounts of carbon that is stored in their trunks, branches, roots and the soil and will avoid these forest ecosystems been logged, burnt and converted into a young regenerating forests that will be managed for wood products and logged again in the future.

It is a critical decade for our planet, it is a critical year to reducing the carbon emissions from logging some of the world’s most carbon dense forests.

This report shows that Protecting Tasmania’s native forests and driving a transition away from native forest logging will not only protect Tasmania’s natural heritage and secure our water supplies, it will help halt climate change.

The time for reaching a lasting solution to the Tasmania’s forest conflict is here. The Federal and Tasmanian Government will not have this opportunity again.

Read the Climate Commissions report  ‘A critical decade’.

Contact your local member of parliament today and tell them to support the Tasmanian Forest Solution.

To join the climate change and forest protection campaign, contact us at Environment Tasmania – members@et.org.au or 6224 6319