RACAC News: November 1995: Issue No. 1


		Issue No. 1 - Resource and Conservation Assessment Council - November 1995 Working together The new Resource and Conservation Assessment Council's (RACAC) objective will be to provide the Gov-ernment with rigorous, defensible and clear advice on forestry issues. This will require consideration of the views and needs of the people of New South Wales, as well as environmental and economic concerns. This is the first forum in New South Wales that will provide a mechanism for the heads of the main conservation and resource agencies and key community interest groups to work towards a shared understanding of forestry issues. The work of RACAC is crucial to the implementation of the Govern-ment's forestry and conservation policies and associated reforms. The Government is committed to a viable forest industry and a comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system. Working together with the community and key interest groups is recognised as the way to achieve this outcome. Community feedback will provide the Government with the information that it needs to make balanced decisions in these areas. What is RACAC doing? As a priority, RACAC will be undertaking a nine-month interim assessment of forests. This will identify forests that may need to be set aside from logging so they remain as options for inclusion in a comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system. The Council will also coordinate comprehensive regional assessments of all forests to determine their environmental values. Any forest not included in the reserve system will be made available for logging. Who are the members? The Council is chaired by Mr Gerry Gleeson and comprises the heads of relevant Government agencies as well as representatives of the key interest groups the forestry industry, the major timber union, the conservation movement and the scientific community. The views of the Chair and the four non-government representatives are featured in this newsletter. Forestry policy has been and still is one of the most contentious areas of policy debate over the last twenty years. Because of the wide range of views on how forests should be managed in this State, the NSW Government has formed an independent high- level Council to deal with a wide range of forestry issues. Dorrigo field trip RACAC Chair Gerry Gleeson has started a series of trips to forested areas in New South Wales, accompanied by staff from the RACAC Secretariat. In October, he visited forests in the Dorrigo region. Officers from State Forests and the National Parks and Wildlife Service were on hand to extensively brief the Chair and RACAC staff on the scientific complexities and economic interests associated with forests in this region. Mr Gleeson said, 'Getting out into the forests and meeting people that have to deal with these complex matters on a day-to-day basis will better equip me to understand the issues and to guide RACAC's assessment processes.' Forests visited included Wedding Bells, Bagawa and Wild Cattle Creek State Forests. Statement from the Chair Gerry Gleeson RACAC represents a unique opportunity to protect and optimise the value of the forests of New South Wales according to the Chair, Gerry Gleeson. He sees the CouncilÕs great challenge as making sure that economic and environmental goals are pursued hand in hand to ensure the ecological sustainability of native forests and maintaining a viable forest products industry. Mr Gleeson has also made a commitment to open decision-making and accountability to the people of New South Wales. ÒCommunity knowledge and support will be vital to RACACÕs assessment processes. We will hold consultations with all relevant groups before any decisions are made,Ó he said. ÒWe also recognise the importance of Aboriginal values associated with forests.Ó ÒRACAC has a mandate to lead major reform in the way forests are assessedÓ said Mr Gleeson. ÒIn the course of our work, we will undoubtedly have to take some hard decisions in making recommendations to the Government. It is my hope that with the diverse interests represented on RACAC, we will be able to find a balance between development and conservation interests and to ensure good management of our forests into the 21st century.Ó Professor Andrew Beattie Director, Centre for Biodiversity & Bioresources School of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University Professor Beattie outlines the key issues from his perspective as scientific representative on RACAC ÒOne of the aims of RACAC is to ensure the conservation of Australia's forest biodiversity. This is a major challenge for science. There are many different forest ecosystems and hundreds of thousands of forest-dwelling species in New South Wales. ÒThe State has an inventory of plant species and, to some extent, the mammals, birds and reptiles they harbour. However, the majority of species - the invertebrates and the mircroorganisms - are little known. This is unfortunate because they make up most of biodiversity and it is largely their activities that maintain forest ecosystems and industries. Currently, the assessment process is driven by forest types that are characterised by dominant plant species. These, in turn, function as surrogates for all biodiversity. ÒNew South Wales is fortunate that it has a first-class team of scientists developing highly sophisticated ways of mapping and classifying forests. New techniques also enable them to age a forest and measure the degree of disturbance so that we can understand the distribution of wilderness, old-growth and unlogged forest. There are initiatives to understand forest invertebrates. ÒRecently, forest scientists from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, State Forests of NSW and several universities have collaborated to strengthen the scientific effort and speed up the process of assessment. Nevertheless, it will be many years before the assessment is complete. We are just beginning the complex process of creating a scientifically based system of forest reserves.Ó Dailan Pugh Conservation Representative Dailan Pugh outlines the key issues from his perspective as conservation representative on RACAC 'As the non-Government conservation representative on RACAC my principal responsibility is to overcome preoccupation with timber extraction and be an advocate for all the other multitude of values forests possess. This covers a spectrum from endangered species and natural systems to non-timber economic values such as recreation and water supply. These are the values which are best catered for by conservation reserves. 'I perceive my role to be to facilitate: the development of ecologically based criteria for reserve selection, the creation of an adequate database on all facets of the natural environment, the adoption of scientifically credible assessment methodologies, and the identification of a comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system which is capable of maintaining viable populations of our unique species and ecosystems, and a diversity of societal benefits, into our uncertain future. 'All too often decision-making processes and the information that is used are hidden from the public. The challenge for RACAC is to over-come the understandable cynicism that this has engendered in the community, by developing community information bases and ensuring that local communities have a meaningful role in the assessment processes. The establishment of Regional Assessment Committees and the broad community consultation process are the key to unlocking the doors and letting the community in. 'For the future of those (human and non-human) that I seek to represent, I hope that I can be an effective advocate and deliver a worthwhile process and justifiable conservation outcome. There is a long way to go to complete the process and RACAC's credibility will be tested between now and the completion of the Interim Assessment Process in June next year.' Gavin Hillier NSW Branch Secretary, Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union Interview with Gavin Hillier, union representative on RACAC Gavin Hillier sees his membership of RACAC as an opportunity for timber workers to have a voice in Government decision-making on forest management in New South Wales. 'This is the first time the Union has been represented on a forestry body which reports to Cabinet. This means the views and needs of our members are considered before any major decisions are made on forest management and conservation. 'Our members are not against conservation. We acknowledge the need to protect significant areas of forest. We are already talking to Aboriginal people about sites they want protected.' 'We see RACAC as a way to balance resource and conservation issues, with the outcome being a sustainable, growing, employment-intensive industry.' 'We welcome the fact that RACAC will assess the socio-economic impact of forestry policy and decisions on small rural communities. In many cases, when the mill is closed down, even with Government assistance packages, the heart leaves the town.' 'Another issue we are taking to RACAC is that no stocktake has ever been done of forests on private land or in national parks. You cannot make informed decisions about a forest without knowing what stands a few metres away on private land.' 'We are the first to agree that the hardwood industry has not been pro-ducing as high grade or value added products as it could have been. We have always known restructuring of our industry was inevitable. Our vision is to make these inevitable reforms work for the timber industry, to create better products.' 'Our primary aim, however, will be to create a sustainable, jobs-intensive timber industry.' Col Dorber Executive Director NSW Forest Products Association Interview with Col Dorber, industry representative on RACAC Col Dorber is an enthusiastic supporter of the decision to establish RACAC. According to Col, any forum that can provide an objective and scientifically credible alternative to the decades of bitterness and division over the harvesting of native forests is worthy of support. Col believes that the native forest industry operating in the hardwood, red gum and cypress forests, has a commitment at least equal to that of the Government to ensure that a truly representative and comprehensive reserve system is established in New South Wales and the rest of the country. Where he thinks the differences are revolve around his view that multiple use forests, based on sound ecological and environmental principles and delivering a whole range of forest uses, including timber production, recreational and passive values, can be achieved without the need for wholesale locking up of those forests or the major dislocation of a significant rural industry contributing over $2 billion annually to the New South Wales economy. Col recognises that the challenges before RACAC are formidable. Despite that, he says a spirit of cooperation and a willingness to compromise from positions of equality rather than the traditional adversarial pose of winners and losers should see an acceptable result. 'For the industry, I am hoping to bring about an era of stability that leads to unparalleled growth and the establishment of a world class native forest products sector. If RACAC can contribute to that outcome, using science, technology and plain common sense, then I will be a happy man indeed,' said Col. RACAC members Mr Gerry Gleeson, Chair Mrs Gabrielle Kibble, Director-General, Department of Urban Affairs and Planning Mr Roger Wilkins, Director-General, The Cabinet Office Dr Col Gellatly, Director-General, Department of Land and Water Conservation Ms Robyn Kruk, Director-General, National Parks and Wildlife Service Dr Hans Drielsma, General Manager, State Forests of NSW Dr Neil Shepherd, Director-General, Environmental Protection Authority Mr Gary Ella, Department of Aboriginal Affairs (Acting Representative) Professor Andrew Beattie, Scientific Representative Mr Col Dorber, Industry Representative Mr Dailan Pugh, Conservation Representative Mr Gavin Hillier, Union Representative Mr Phillip Glyde, Commonwealth Representative
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