The creation of a long-mooted national park on Melbourne’s fringe could create hundreds of jobs by turning the area into an eco-tourism centre, an analysis has found. Source: The Age
Commissioned by environment groups, the report by consultants the Nous Group estimates the proposed Great Forest National Park could bring hundreds of thousands of extra visitors to the central highlands each year.
It comes as the Andrews government appears to be moving away from supporting a park as it faces warnings that hundreds of forestry jobs will be lost unless it reverses a recent decision to cut the amount of mountain ash available for logging.
The proposed cut in logging follows years of advice that Leadbeater’s possum, Victoria’s faunal emblem, is critically endangered due to the combined impact of forestry and the Black Saturday bushfires that devastated the region in 2009.
The owners of the Heyfield mill in Gippsland, Australia’s largest hardwood mill, were told in January their log allocation would be cut by more than half to 200,000 cubic metres of logs over the next three years.
In response, Australian Sustainable Hardwoods said if the allocation was not increased to 130,000 cubic metres a year – and a 20-year supply contract put in place – it would be forced to close, putting 260 employees out of work and affecting thousands more across the industry. It has set a deadline of March 7.
Environment groups point to scientific evidence that logging in the area is not ecologically sustainable, and say the government risks ignoring the long-term potential of backing tourism.
Citing evidence from the creation of the Grampians and Murray-Sunset national parks, the Nous report found merely declaring the area protected would dramatically boost tourist numbers.
If the government invested in a improving basic infrastructure and establishing a hiking trail from Healesville to Eildon, an estimated 520 jobs could be created and $48 million a year added to the local economy.
Private backing for existing proposals for an eco-lodge, a tree-top walk at Cambarville and a zip-line at Toolangi could lead to further growth.
The Wilderness Society’s Amelia Young said Victoria trailed other states in world-class nature tourism, but the proposed park – stretching between Kinglake, Mount Baw Baw and Eildon – could grow to rival Sydney’s Blue Mountains as a drawcard.
“For an investment of $45 million from government and private enterprise, it could deliver more than $70 million annually and create 760 full-time jobs,” she said.
Deanne Eccles, who runs the Strathvea Guest House at Healesville, said the region had untapped potential, but destruction of forests was holding it back.
“We’re trying to present the image of an incredible place, which it is – visiting nature is great for people’s mental health – and also fend off the negative image of what’s happening here,” she said.
Labor was on the cusp of announcing it would back a new park before the 2014 election, but the plan was dumped just days before the poll after the CFMEU threatened to run a campaign against it, warning jobs were at risks at Australian Paper, a major employer in the Latrobe Valley.
As a compromise, Labor announced a taskforce of unions, green groups and forestry representatives in a bid to reach a consensus.
But after almost two years of deliberations the taskforce has reached a stalemate, unable to move beyond a broadbrush statement of intent.
According to government sources, Premier Daniel Andrews met the taskforce two weeks ago and agreed to play “an active” role to find a solution.
There is broad agreement the industry is unsustainable in current form and there will almost certainly be a greater focus on plantation timber in future, but the timing remains a sticking point.
In Parliament last week, Agriculture Minister Jaala Pulford stressed the government’s proud record of supporting the forestry industry. She blamed the former government for contributing to the industry’s woes by introducing a 200-metre logging exclusion zone wherever there was a confirmed sighting of a Leadbeater’s possum.
She said there had been 400 confirmed sightings, limiting the amount of timber available.
Ms Young said she understood the Environment Department was now reviewing the 200-metre exclusion zone. She said reducing it could lead to the possum’s extinction, noting some scientists had called for a kilometre-wide buffer.
A government spokesman said it was serious about “addressing the future of the forest industry and our environment, and will continue to work with all interested parties who share this goal”.
The dispute over Australian Sustainable Hardwoods’ timber supply is not new. In 2014, the company negotiated a 20-year contract for 155,000 cubic metres of logs a year, but neither the then Coalition government nor its Labor successor signed off.
It has asked for $40 million state backing, reflecting in part the cost of shifting to a plantation timber supply over two decades, and an indemnity clause to cover potential loss of supply.
Company director Clinton Tilley estimated about 1000 direct timber jobs, and thousands more in the supply chain, were at risk. He said the alternative was Victoria relying on imported timber and using more aluminium and steel.
“We must be hopeful that sense will prevail,” he said.
