Parrots and Politics Collide in Tasmania’s Trashed Forests, Forbes Science November 17, 2017 Logging of old growth threatening swift parrot extinction

Swift Parrot At Hollow Large

Conservation biologists were stunned that Australia’s critically endangered swift parrot habitat, including old growth in Tasmania’s forests had been clear cut. Describing this as inexcusable, ornithologist Mark Holdsworth reminds people that a tree doesn’t produce hollows for at least 120 years. Tasmania’s logging rotation cycles means the trees being cut will never be replaced in time, not in our lifetime or for many generations to come. The severe depletion of tree cavities drives intense competition amongst Tasmanian birds and other wildlife for the few hollow remaining. The swift parrot is the big loser in this shocking unrealistic logging experiment.

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