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| Old-growth forest, Upper Florentine Valley, Tasmania. Photo by: Rob Blakers |
The former foes agreed to halt logging in all areas identified by the environment groups as holding high conservation values such as old growth or wilderness - unless it is necessary to meet existing wood supply contracts.
The agreement will allay growing alarm among some conservationists, who returned to forest protest this summer after slow implementation of the moratorium, originally proposed when a forests truce was reached last October.
The six-month agreement announced yesterday by peace talks facilitator and former ACTU secretary Bill Kelty covers virtually all forest areas around the state fought over for a generation. Premier Lara Giddings warned the deal would still require more compromises between groups that had been at war for decades.
The industry, and particularly major timber company Gunns Limited, has been driven to leave native forest logging by the rejection of its low value woodchips by foreign customers in favour of plantation chips.
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