Burning native forests for power
The Victorian government has released a draft strategy for the future of the Forestry industry which includes lifting the current ban on burning native forests to burn as renewable energy and increasing timber contracts from ten to twenty years. These measures would undermine efforts to transform the logging industry into a climate-positive, value-adding, innovative, job-creating industry.
A study released by ANU last year estimated that if we were to leave the native forests of South-east Australia and allow them to reach their full carbon storing potential, they would absorb enough carbon dioxide to offset the equivalent of 24% of Australia’s 2005 emissions per year for the next 100 years.