RACAC News: May 1996: Issue No. 3


		Issue No. 3 - Resource and Conservation Assessment Council - May 1996 The negotiations... stakeholders get together on forests In an unprecedented move, industry, union, conservation and government representatives have recently completed four weeks of intensive negotiations to agree on a range of outcomes for the future use of public forests in eastern New South Wales. The negotiators worked out up to four alternative outcomes for each of the eleven negotiation areas. These give options for which areas will be avail-able for timber production and which will be set aside until completion of comprehensive regional assessments and establishment of a reserve system. The development of these outcomes is a major step towards resolving the long running forestry debate. The negotiators used computer programs containing extensive databases of information about the biological features and wood resources of the forests. On screen, they then identified high conservation areas and those areas which may be needed to supply industry needs at a range of proportions of sawlog quotas. Conservation targets were determined by the New South Wales and Commonwealth Governments in their Scoping Agreement which was signed early this year. The negotiations have been an important phase in the interim assessment which recognises the values of these forests to conservation and industry. This type of face-to-face negotiation in which stakeholders themselves are directly involved in developing outcomes has not been attempted before in the forestry debate. The process produced outcomes negotiated by all sides rather than a victory for just one side. What happens next At the end of the negotiations the outcomes were considered by the Resource and Conservation Assessment Council. A draft interim assessment report will be released for public comment in early June. The report will outline the ways conservation, wood resource, social and economic data were assessed and the results of the negotiations. A consultation period begins with the release of the draft report when RACAC will be seeking the views of all the community and conducting consultation sessions (see inside for more details). Submissions will be considered by RACAC before the report is forwarded to the Government for finalisation. The Government's decision will be an interim determination of those areas to be deferred and those which may be logged. It is emphas-ised this is a temporary measure to allow logging to continue while the longer and far more comprehensive forest assessment occurs. The community will continue to have its say in the development of the comprehensive, adequate and representative forest reserve system. Committees made up of regional representatives will be integral to the development of regional forest agreements. How the negotiation process worked The negotiations produced up to four outcomes for each of the eleven negotiation regions for the consideration of the Government. For all regions except Eden, these outcomes were arrived at by: Progressively building up a deferred forest area option on conservation features. The deferred area was 'built' until all conservation targets were satisfied as far as possible. Choices were made to least affect timber volumes. 'Rollback' of the deferred area taking account of industry considerations. Scenarios giving 70%, 50% and 30% of quota allocations at July 1995 were documented where possible, given the yield available at the start. The process also minimised, as far as possible, effects on conservation targets. The computer program allowed selection of forestry compartments for their importance for meeting conservation targets. Various comb-inations of questions put to the computer allowed selection of the best combination of required areas. The allocation-reduction targets were based on the calculation of sustained yield from the Wood Resources Study (prepared by State Forests of NSW). Forestry operational management implications were also considered in developing the outcomes. In the case of the Eden Management Area the Government required outcomes which produced a maximum 90 000 hectare reserve and provided a minimum per annum level of sawlog quota of 26 000 cubic metres. We hope those who attended the information sessions in March and April found them useful. The sessions demonstrated that many people already had a good understanding of the forest assessment process in New South Wales. The speakers welcomed the chance to meet and listen to members of the community and to emphasise the importance of their participation in RACAC's open process. Following the information sessions RACAC reviewed the main issues which came out of them. In this newsletter we record the answers to those questions most frequently raised by you in our meetings. Q: The process seems to be taking place in a rather short time. I am concerned that some forest areas will not be properly assessed and considered. The State Government makes its decision on the interim forest assessment in July. It is not a final decision. The interim assessment will determine the timber resource which will be available to industry while the longer, more comprehensive process continues. It 'aims to identify on a regional basis those forested areas that may need to be deferred from logging for inclusion in a comprehensive, adequate and representative (CAR) reserve system.' The determination of a comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system will take longer and is a more detailed process. It depends on continuing community involvement for its success. Soon after the interim assessment is finalised you will be informed about the next step in consultation. Committees made up of regional representatives will be integral to the development of the regional forest agreements (RFAs). Q: Apiarists use our forests. How are they affected by this interim forest assessment? What happens to them next? While RACAC recognises the apiarists are stakeholders in the forests, the deferrals following the interim assessment will only affect logging. Other forest uses can continue. The comprehensive regional assessments (CRAs) which will begin immediately following the finalisation of the interim assessment will deal with those issues and will consider private as well as public land. With the establishment of regional committees there will be further opportunity for stakeholders to participate. Socio-economic aspects of the apiary industry will be considered. Q: Why aren't areas of old growth less than 25 hectares being considered? Time constraints during the interim assessment involved some limitations. The old growth mapping project mapped 3.3 million hectares of forests in just six months. A minimum area of 25 hectares was used in mapping growth stages. There may be parts of forests less than 25 hectares which are significant. However, the current process covers all the eastern forest regions in order to secure important conservation options and timber resources in the interim. There is a limit to the level of detail which could be considered in the time available. Q: What does the 15 per cent benchmark mean? The 15% benchmark was developed by the Commonwealth and agreed to by New South Wales in the Scoping Agreement between the governments. It requires a broad benchmark of 15% of pre-1750 vegetation to be reserved but can vary according to natural rarity, past depletion and level of threat. The interim assessment targets are adjusted to take into account natural rarity according to a formula which sets some common types at 10% of pre-1750 distribution and adjusts other types so that the overall level of reservation is maintained at 15%. For example, naturally very rare types have a reservation target of 100% and other types have an intermediate target. Q: How was old growth defined for the purposes of data collection? How do we know the data on which this interim assessment is based is reliable? There is no unanimous definition of old growth. For the interim assessment RACAC developed a definition of likely, or 'candidate', old growth to guide interim deferral. 'Growth stage' mapping was done by twenty four air photo interpretive contractors who interpreted from aerial photos the current growth stage and disturbance. The methodology was to map the growth stages of forests in terms of the proportion of regrowth trees, mature trees, overmature or senescent trees and obvious past evidence of logging or fire damage in each stand. The project was a cooperative one, coordinated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service with State Forests of NSW providing trained aerial-photograph interpreters to make detailed checks of the aerial photographs. Project workers spent 60% of their time in the field and State Forests checks came up with 80% agreement. From the mapped growth stages, categories were selected to be treated as possible old growth for the interim assessment. The validation of the aerial photography interpretation project is ongoing and there will be ground truthing of areas in dispute. Q: How do we know the data is sufficiently detailed? New South Wales is the only state which has a policy to make data available to stakeholders. Some data is not owned by the Government and is therefore not ours to release. Government agencies have cooperated in the production and verification of data, which will be subject to continuing validation. Rather than use pre-existing and possibly outdated data, fresh studies and projects were undertaken for this forest assessment. The level of detail sought was that which was needed to provide a regional overview. Those areas where the data has not been as comprehensive as for other areas the Central region in particular will receive special attention during the comprehensive assessment. Q: What are the socio-economic studies looking at and are you also taking non-timber values, such as those from tourism and water quality, as well as other economic impacts into account? The timber industry is the industry most directly affected and therefore RACAC is supervising studies on how changes may affect industry at the micro-economic level as well as a regional level. Community profiles and social studies are also being conducted. The socio-economic studies will provide information about the likely effects of options of resource changes and the significance of these changes will be taken into account in implementing the interim assessment. The socio-economic studies are a starting point. For the comprehensive regional assessment it is proposed that a full benefit/cost analysis of future resource options will consider non-use values and the best net result from land use decisions. Consultation on the interim assessment report ... how, where, when The draft report will be released for public comment in early June. A four week consultation period will then begin and during that time RACAC will be visiting communities from Lismore to the south coast to hear your views on the report. We will notify you about the time and venues for those meetings through ads in your local papers. The aim of the sessions is to inform people about the proposals for the deferred forest areas and get your views on the proposed outcomes. We expect the meetings to run from 4.30 to 8.30 pm. The issues which emerge in these consultations will be considered along with the submissions in the preparation of the final report. We invite you to these meetings to have your say. Information session feedback Batemans Bay information session. RACAC Director, Rex Bowen, with representatives Tim Shepherd (NPWS), Andrew Harden (union), Peter Moore (SFNSW), and Simon Clark (conservation), who described how stakeholder groups are contributing to the assessment. New on RACAC Mark Blecher Conservation Representative Mark Blecher has been appointed to RACAC as a second conservation representative on the 14 member Council. Mark has had a long association with conservation issues in this state and is currently President of the South East Forests Conservation Council which provides a forum for ongoing community consultation on all forestry issues. Mark has a background in landscaping, cabinetmaking and schoolteaching in Bega and Eden. His knowledge of forest management, forest ecology, timber industry, wood products industry, State, federal and local government political processes, community networking and advocacy is extensive. Mark has authored and co-authored numerous papers and submissions on the NSW timber industry. His know-ledge and experience will contribute another conservation voice to the RACAC process. Stakeholders in negotiation L to R: Annemarie Watt (Commonwealth), Col Dorber (Forest Products Association), Rex Bowen (RACAC), David Ridley (SFNSW), Mark Greenhill (Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union), Leanne Wallace (NPWS) and Dailan Pugh (Conservation). 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, Environment Protection Authority Mr Geoff Scott, Director-General, Department of Aboriginal Affairs Professor Andrew Beattie, Scientific Representative Mr Col Dorber, Industry Representative Mr Gavin Hillier, Union Representative Mr Dailan Pugh, Conservation Representative Mr Mark Blecher, Conservation Representative Mr Phillip Glyde, Commonwealth Representative Further information RACAC News is an occasional publication. It will keep you up to date with relevant information, including details of projects, consultations and general progress. If you wish to be placed on the RACAC News mailing list, please call the RACAC Secretariat on (02) 228 3166, or write or fax a request to: Rex Bowen, Director RACAC Secretariat, GPO Box 3927, Sydney NSW 2001 Phone (02) 228 3166 Fax (02) 228 4967 DISCLAIMER Any representation, statement, opinion or advice, expressed or implied in this publication is made in good faith but on the basis that the State of New South Wales, its agents and employees are not liable (whether by reason of negligence, lack of care or otherwise) to any person for any damage or loss whatsoever which has occurred or may occur in relation to that person taking or not taking (as the case may be) action in respect of any representation, statement, or advice referred to above. © Crown copyright May 1996 Resource and Conservation Assessment Council ISSN 1325-5045
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