Signing of the Regional Forest Agreement betn. the C'wlth and WA [Audio]

4/5/99

The Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) for the South-West Forest Region of Western Australia is a balanced result for both the natural environment and forest-based industries, Prime Minister John Howard and the WA Premier Richard Court said today.
Mr Howard and Mr Court signed the agreement between the Commonwealth and the WA Government during a satellite hook-up between Perth and Canberra.
Consistent with other RFAs signed by the Federal Government, the WA RFA outcome is a good balance between jobs and investment and protection of important forests. It is a product of detailed scientific analysis and extensive community consultation.
The RFA increases the region's formal conservation reserves by 150,885 hectares - 12 per cent - to bring the total area of reserves to 1,047,201ha.
The RFA also creates 12 new national parks and makes a further 25 additions to existing parks.
With 45,700ha of old-growth forest added to existing reserves, the agreement protects two thirds of the State's old-growth forest, including 100 per cent of rare or depleted old-growth ecosystems where possible. This well exceeds the target of at least 60 per cent old growth protection in the nationally agreed criteria for a Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative (CAR) reserve system.
By agreement with industry, there will be an immediate reduction in the level of jarrah and karri sawlogs cut to sustainable levels, verified by a panel of independent experts.
Industry will benefit from 20 years of resource security, removal of export impediments, the marketing advantages coming from RFAs, and a $59 million timber, tourism and regional industry development package to help forest-based industries exploit new opportunities.
The package includes $41.5 million for the timber industry in grants and interest subsidies to increase value-adding and downstream processing, to install new equipment and technology, expand local manufacturing and to facilitate adjustment by businesses in the timber industry.
$17.5 million has been provided for development of tourism facilities and strategic tourist roads in the region.
The package will focus particularly on the Nannup, Pemberton and Manjimup region to ensure not only the maintenance of a viable timber industry, but also the expansion of the tourism industry.
Taken together with RFA security, the timber and tourism financial package will ensure that the base is laid for jobs growth over the life of the RFA.
In fact, independent consultants have indicated that the WA timber industry has the potential to create around 500 extra jobs in the region over this period. Give the certainty provided by the RFA and the industry assistance package, Governments are confident that this will be achieved.
"The RFA will ensure that both conservation reserves and multiple-use forests in WA are among the best-managed in the world, while WA's unique timbers are put to the most profitable and innovative use," Mr Howard said.
Mr Court said the State could now plan ahead "secure in the knowledge that our forest management practices are ecologically sustainable and that the region's biological diversity and natural and cultural heritage are conserved in perpetuity".
"At the same time, we can be confident that we are getting the most from our quality timbers in high value products such as furniture and fine woodcrafts, flooring and mouldings," he said.
Mr Court said the RFA's new reserves would help local communities to develop their tourism industries, as well as enhance the conservation reserve network.
"One significant addition to the conservation estate is in the Walpole-Denmark area where the total area of three existing national parks will be increased to create continuous formal conservation reserves extending over 215,000ha," he said.
"These new areas include parts of Sharpe, Collis and 15 other blocks, and will enable wilderness values in the area to be enhanced."
Conservation groups, tourism and heritage organisations, local government authorities, Aboriginal organisations, scientists and individuals identified many of the new reserves during the public consultation phase of the RFA process.
"The WA Coalition has effectively cut the jarrah sawlog intake by 45 per cent since 1993, and there has been a reduction of up to 52 per cent since 1987," Mr Court said. "However the impact of the RFA will be supported by industry development assistance and the certainty provided by the agreement."
The RFA brings forward the reductions in resource supply that the last Forest Management Plan foreshadowed would occur from 2004. As a result the annual contracted level of jarrah sawlog cut will reduce from around 482,000 cubic metres at present to 286,000 cubic metres from 2004.
As agreed with industry, the average annual jarrah sawlog cut to 2003 will be 324,000 cubic metres.
The annual level of karri sawlog cut will reduce from around 203,000 cubic metres at present to 178,000 cubic metres from 2004. Average annual harvesting to 2003 will be 186,000 cubic metres.
Media Contacts: Prime Minister's Press Office: (02) 6277 7744
WA Premier: Casey Cahill 9222 9475
"We know that we cannot please all of the parties but we have been able to increase the conservation reserve areas by 12 per cent." (28secs/609K)
"We have a responsibility to deliver the best possible balance to make sure that we do protect our maginificent natural resource." (24secs/525K)