Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement

The Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement is a joint commitment of the Australian and Tasmanian Governments to enhance the protection of Tasmania's forest environment and assist the Tasmanian forest industry adjust to changes in forest resources. Under the agreement over $250 million was committed to revitalise the ti MBer industry and preserve old-growth forests.

The previous Australian and Tasmanian Governments jointly announced the TCFA on 13 May 2005. The features of the agreement are:

Additional protection of well over 170,000 hectares of forest on public and private land
Protection of old growth forest in Tasmania increased to more than 1 million hectares
Formal reservation of significant additional areas of the Tarkine, the Styx valley and other key conservation areas across the State
A new Forest Conservation Fund to protect 45,600 hectares of old growth forest and other under-reserved forest types on private land, including a special Mole Creek component targeting 2,400 hectares
Reduction of clearfelling of old growth forest on public land
A phase out of clearing and conversion of native forest to retain at least 95 per cent of the 1996 native forest extent
Conversion of native forest to plantations on public land will cease by 2010 and clearing of native forest on private land will be phased out over ten years
New statutory measures to prevent the clearing and conversion of rare, vulnerable and endangered non-forest vegetation communities
Measures to monitor impacts of chemical use on water quality, to save the Tasmanian devil and to further reduce the use of 1080 poison
Investment of over $200 million in total in the Tasmanian forest industry to maintain supply levels to the industry and to assist the industry to adjust to a future increase in the proportion of logs from regrowth forest and plantations
$115 million to fund additional plantation establishment and productivity improvements in existing plantations and native forests to ensure sawlog and veneer log supply targets are able to be met into the future
Support for the Tasmanian hardwood industry, including $42 million for the development and revitalisation of mills and other businesses in the industry and $4 million for country sawmills
$11.4 million to support the special species and beekeeping industries
$4 million to build skills and training for the Tasmanian forest industry
$10 million in assistance for the Tasmanian softwood industry to maintain a viable and environmentally sustainable industry.

Negotiated under the Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement, the initiative will be implemented through a Supplementary Agreement, which now forms part of the RFA.