AN independent study by Bureau of Rural Sciences has revealed that almost three-quarters of Australia’s old growth forests are now locked away.

An independent study has exposed the lies of the radical conservation movement by revealing almost three quarters of Australia’s old growth forests are locked away.

The Bureau of Rural Sciences report Old Growth Forests – Science for Decision Makers provides indisputable figures, done independently, based on quality research rather than dodgy polling by ‘spin’ Doctors for Forests.

The BRS report outlines that:
• 71 per cent of the 5.2 million hectares of old growth forests in Regional Forestry Agreement regions is now in conservation reserves.
• About 20 per cent of the area of native forest available for wood supply in Tasmania is old growth.
• Up to 15 per cent of the area in East Gippsland and North East Victoria and lesser areas in other Victorian RFA regions is old growth.
• Sustainable forestry in old growth is essential for wood supply across the country.
The study also outlines once and for all the true definition of an old growth forest, and not the one the radical green movement like to use to dramatise statistics.

Old growth forest is ecologically mature forest where the effects of disturbances are now negligible. Those who seek to undermine the sustainable harvest of Australia’s forests by using fear campaigns should stop playing power politics and read the science.

The forestry industry underpins the jobs of thousands in regional Australia, and with the ever improving management it will continue to be sustainable and environmentally sensitive for generations.

Further information is available on the web site: www.brs.gov.au/sciencebriefs