In September 2021 the WA government announced that all native forest logging would cease in 2024, the end of the current 10-year Forest Management Plan. Source: Australian Rural & Regional News
From that time, timber taken from native forests would be “limited to forest management activities that improve forest health and clearing for approved mining operations, such as Alcoa.”
The decision was made without consultation with the timber industry, the public or even government agencies.
The reasons given for the decision were to ‘save’ the forest and to preserve carbon stocks.
Future timber supplies would come from softwood plantations, boosted by 33,000 ha of plantation to be established over the next 10 years.
Under current legislation the Forest Management Plan is prepared every 10 years by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions for the Conservation Commission. The plan governs the activities with the public south-west forests and includes recommendation for conservation reserves, the amount of timber that may be removed each year and the conditions under which it is done. It is developed after extensive public consultation.
The recent decision pre-empts most of the task of the Management Plan.
Strip mining for bauxite, the ore from which aluminium is produced, is conducted by Alcoa and South32 under State Agreement Act leases that cover 47% of the public south-west forests. The Forest Management Plan has no control or influence over mining activities.
Bauxite mining in the Jarrah forest started in 1965 with a government commitment to mine 10 ha per year. Mining has progressively increased to 1000 ha per year with a proposal for further expansion and includes the mining of 2M tonnes of unrefined bauxite for direct export. 90,000 ha of the best Jarrah forest has been mined or is fragmented by mining to the present time.
Despite the fact that strip mining completely removes the forest and its carbon stocks as well as much of the soil that the forest grows in, it will still continue under the government’s new policy.
Jack Bradshaw is a retired forester, based in Western Australia.
