Blog » Forest Agreement!!
The current negotiations and Statement of Principles established to reach agreement between all parties with an interest in the use of our native forests in Tasmania continues to be a minefield. One wonders if ‘agreement’ will ever sit comfortably with all parties in the long term. One of the key issues is the use of old growth forests from which much of the timbers that have become recognised as iconically Tasmanian are sourced, often as a by-product of logging and wood chipping. The use of these special timbers has become representative of sustainable value adding to the logging industry and look destined to become even harder to source in the future. Most of us with an affinity to timber know that much of these special timbers have been squandered in the past or at the very least their use has not been maximised. This leads me to my key point that we need to start to look at maximum recovery of the timber resource and not be lulled into a false sense of comfort by just making a high end piece of furniture or such from a piece of special timber and thinking that this is enough. This is what we should be doing, and then questioning the use of the waste from that. I know many fine crafts people who produce extraordinarily high quality pieces but still produce usable waste that gets put in the heater to keep their workshop warm in winter! Utilisation of this waste will increase in time as the cost of special timbers increases due to the forest industry drawing back from old growth logging. Crafts people and wood workers struggling to survive from their work will look for ways to maximise every cent they can from each piece of timber they invest in. Now is the time for crafts people and artists to think, network, collaborate and be innovative to maximise the recovery rates of our beautiful and unique Tasmanian timbers.