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The Upper Florentine Valley, Tasmania.
Photo Source: The Wilderness Society. |
The outlook on the Tasmanian Forest agreement was not looking good as of yesterday with the proposed protected forrest to be placed in 'informal reserves' which would have ment they were not really protected at all and could be logged in the future. However a last minute change by Gillard now sees 430 000 hectares of old growth forrest in the Tarkine, Styx and Upper Florentine formally legislated into protected reserves. Hopefully that translates into their inclusion into National Parks. Truly some of Australia's most awe inspiring ecosystems, finally protected from decades of plunder and destruction by the forrest industry. A win for some of Australia's last remaining wildernesses.
On an aside it was interesting to read how the issue was reported across Australia. The same article by Andrew Darby published in Melbourne's Age by with the headline 'Greens win deal to save Tasmanian forests' was entitled 'Timber industry furious at Tasmania forest peace pact' in Sydney's SMH. Same newspaper company, different cities. Just goes to show that here in Sydney we are quite not as an enlightened bunch as our Melbournian compatriots.
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