Jarrahdale Forests (Adjournment)

I rise tonight to speak on the future of Jarrahdaleand its forests. Those members who have not had the pleasure of visiting Jarrahdale will be interested to know that it is a beautiful spot on the very edge of the east metropolitan region, about 50 kilometres south of Perth in the Darling Range. Jarrahdale has a long history since white settlement, and obviously an even longer history prior to that. It was originally established as a timber milling town, and it has remained a timber milling town for more than 100 years, so it has a very long history of milling.

About 12 years ago, the final timber mill was closed suddenly, and the nearby bauxite mining also ceased. At that point, the town’s economic future was looking a little dire. It is a credit to the residents of Jarrahdale that they have successfully managed in the past 12 years to reposition Jarrahdale as one of only seven historic towns in Australia. They have also taken advantage of what is a stunning setting in the jarrah forests to reposition Jarrahdale as a very popular tourist destination. Jarrahdale is a unique town, and it is only a one-hour drive from the city.

The combination of what are easily accessible historical sites and buildings, and also the very beautiful and rejuvenated jarrah forests, attracts a wide range of tourists, and also a lot of popular activities such as hiking, cycling and other forms of ecotourism such as scientific and historic interpretive tours. The Jarrahdale residents have been working extremely hard to develop their tourism industry and to address the limited employment opportunities that are available within this community. There is a strong sense of pride in this close and supportive community about how it has fared.

The issue that I would like to bring to the attention of the house tonight is that the forests that Jarrahdale is relying upon so heavily are unfortunately back under threat. The most immediate threat is the plan by the Forest Products Commission to log Mundlimup coupe 03 in the very near future, but there is also the ongoing threat from the Wungong catchment thinning trial, which residents feel is threatening to substantially alter and reduce the forest cover across that area. In addition, Alcoa is planning to resume open-cut bauxite mining from 2011. There is great concern that this will entirely remove the forests in the residents’ area of interest. Mundlimup coupe 03 is only one kilometre from the Jarrahdale town site. It was last logged 70 years ago. It contains regrowth forest interspersed with a lot of old-growth trees. These are mostly giant marris, and also some big, old jarrahs that were considered unsuitable for sawmilling. That is terrific for the local birds, I might add. The forest is home to a number of endangered species. One of those species is the forest red-tailed black cockatoo. The value of that forest is far greater than the timber that it can produce, and it forms an essential part of Jarrahdale’s sense of place.

I advise members that the residents of Jarrahdale are conducting regular tours around Jarrahdale. I encourage members to look at these sites for themselves, because it is quite spectacular and quite stunning to look at the difference between the areas of regrowth and the areas that have been very recently logged and the desolation in those areas. The implications of allowing logging in the Mundlimup coupe 03 are grim. Parts of the bush are already infested with dieback—it can be seen by driving through it—and the community is really concerned that this devastating disease will be further spread by the proposed logging. Frankly, the sanctions that currently apply to contractors for breaching dieback hygiene requirements are weak and are really an insufficient deterrent. Dieback will kill many forest plants and will seriously reduce the area’s biodiversity. There is no question that logging in this forest will leave devastation in its wake. Even the relatively benign sounding

“selective logging” entails the use of a machine that leaves a wide area of destruction to and from any particular tree, and I have seen these machines; it is basically indiscriminate logging. It just goes in and takes everything in its path. Jarrahdale residents have estimated that 1 500 square metres of forest has to be cleared to harvest as few as five jarrah trees. The visual appeal of the logged area will be reduced to zero, substantially decreasing the value of the forest for the tourism activities that Jarrahdale residents have worked so hard on. The noise of logging machinery at such close range will also have a negative impact on the town, as will the increase of heavily laden logging trucks going in and around the town site.

I have no doubt that the Forest Products Commission will undertake some sort of post-clearing rehabilitation of the forest, but trees take a long time to grow. Even the 70-year-old and 80-year-old trees we see now are babies compared with the huge stumps that are the only remnants of the old-growth trees. Local businesses will lose the use of the forest not only during logging, but also for decades to come.

I would like to voice my concern about why it is felt necessary to recommence logging in this area after such a long time. An initial examination of the figures indicates that, far from there being an economic imperative to decimate these forests, the revenue generated by logging may not even adequately cover the costs of managing our forests sustainably, due to the extremely low prices being charged by the Forest Products Commission. That is without even taking into account the costs involved in the Department of Environment and Conservation’s role in ongoing forest management and in planning and preparing logging operations. Nor does it take into account the role of the Conservation Commission, which is involved in forest management. The work of these agencies represents a range of hidden subsidies to the FPC and the native forest logging industry.

The logging of Mundlimup coupe 03 cannot be considered in isolation. It is one of a number of threats to the forests in this area, all of which will have an adverse impact on the ecology of the forests. In this context, any logging has the potential to damage the businesses in Jarrahdale that rely on both unspoiled and regrowing forests for their survival. Mundlimup coupe 03 should not be logged; we should leave it alone. This forest is vital to the economic future of Jarrahdale, and it is also an important recreational area for people in the wider Perth community. It is in our interest to maintain this beautiful area on our doorstep. The areas used by Jarrahdale tourist businesses and other businesses that require unspoiled and regrowing forests for their successful operation need to be protected and supported. Those businesses should not be destroyed along with the forests for the sake of allowing the FPC to continue with contracts that bring in minimal or negligible revenue to the state.

I urge members to visit Jarrahdale if they have not been there already, to walk in the forest and, very importantly, to talk to the residents and business owners. I hope that members will then join me in opposing this really quite needless destruction. I call on the Minister for Forestry to commit to the future of the Jarrahdale community and put Mundlimup coupe 03 off limits to logging.