Leaked figure sparks Tasmania forestry fears

25 Jul 2012, 8:08 pm   -   Source: AAP
A leak from the Tasmanian forest peace talks sparked fears the logging industry will cease to exist. (AAP)

A leak from the Tasmanian forest peace talks sparked fears the logging industry will cease to exist. (AAP)

A leak from the Tasmanian forest peace talks has some predicting the state's logging industry will cease to exist.

Tasmania's opposition is warning that forestry will be turned into a "cottage industry" if leaked figures from the state's forest peace talks are correct.

The Australian newspaper has reported negotiators are set to agree on 525,000 hectares of native forest being protected, the largest such allocation in the state's history.

"This deal represents an almost total victory for the Greens and will turn the forestry industry into little more than a cottage industry," opposition spokesman Peter Gutwein said in a statement.

"The forestry industry will cease to exist in any meaningful way within five years.

"At the 2010 election Labor promised to support the forest industry - instead, they have kowtowed to the Greens and done the opposite."

The hectare figure is one of the most keenly awaited out of the talks.

Environmentalists initially identified 572,000ha they wanted reserved, while an area of nearly 430,000ha was given interim protection for the duration of the peace talks.

An agreement on 525,000ha would be significantly more than many expected from the process.

But logging could be more intense in permitted areas to ensure wood supply quotas do not fall too low, the newspaper report said.

Industry and green groups involved in the talks have been given two more weeks to strike a deal, which could bring to an end the bitter 30-year battle over the state's forests.

Negotiators have said they will use the time to model a single "scenario" to assess its impact on the forestry industry and the communities it supports.

Granting the two-week extension on Monday, Premier Lara Giddings said she had not yet been told the details of the preferred model.

She says the figure in The Australian's report is premature.

"Until we actually see a final agreement, it doesn't matter what speculation there is around numbers," she said.

"The reality is there is no agreement on final numbers and we have to wait for that."

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