FIAC describes its industry blueprint, released in June 2016 as ‘vision and strategies for addressing the opportunities and challenges for the forest industry to 2050 and beyond’.
In fact many of the recommendations are designed to increase industry access to much more native forest for logging and to ensure further subsidisation by the federal government.
FIAC is lobbying to have all forested areas across Australia be managed by the logging industry – though this concept is veiled in some industry rhetoric.
It also recommends that all forests, regardless of ‘tenure’ i.e. including those in protected areas be ‘certified’ to ensure they are delivering their ‘ecosystem services’. This recommendation is part of FIAC’s strategy for getting forests certified as being sustainably logs so that whatever wood product comes our of them is more desirable as an export commodity. This is because all that comes between native forests and export for the notorious wood biomass energy is a ‘sustainably sourced’ tick. It’s not yet known what certifications will be put in place for those countries pretending that burning wood is carbon neutral and therefore renewable; certainly there will be some form of certification. That is why the native forest logging industry in preparing now to be able to claim that any wood source from Australia is ‘sustainably’ logged from forests providing ‘sustainable ecosystem services’.
What won’t be made known is that the tree certified as ok for export to an overseas furnace might once have been in a national park and might have grown into habitat for critically threatened wildlife species. (That is not FIAC’s concern however.)
FIAC, co-chaired at the moment by Liberal Senator Anne Ruston, is effectively calling the shots via the National Party on Australian native forest policy. Read through the rhetoric of the document for a chilling scenario.
FIAC’s pro forest bio-energy stance is part of an international carbon emission accounting scam – wood to replace coal – that is creating more emissions while permitting countries to pretend that they are creating more renewable energy. It is extremely dangerous and will undermine all genuine efforts to reduce emissions in time to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.
FIAC’s traditional political ally is the National Party, which is lobbying to abolish ‘tenure’ and to have the logging industry manage all Australian forests, regardless of whether they are national parks, nature reserves, wilderness areas and so on. It is the contention of the National Party and the logging industry that it – the logging industry – knows best how to manage all forests. Coupled with increased access for logging and certification of wood products from ‘managed’ (former) protected areas, Australians might witness trees from even their national parks exported for overseas furnaces for electricity production.
Elsewhere, AFCA analyses industry in more detail the industry intent concealed behind the fairly sophisticated rhetoric of this document.
Download Publication