Leatherwood Retention During Timber Harvesting Operations

1. Flowers of the leatherwood tree are critically important to the beekeeping industry in Tasmania, not only for honey production and to keep bee colonies strong, but more importantly for the capacity to pollinate food crops in the state. 2. The extent of the accessible leatherwood resource is being reduced, through the loss of trees to bushfires in 2016 and 2019 in particular, climate change generally with more irregular rainfall and higher temperatures, and as a side effect of clear-fell forestry operations with generally minimal regrowth of leatherwood in a coupe after clear-fell and burn. 3. Hence this decline in the accessible leatherwood resource represents a significant constraint on the Government's plans for a big increase in the farm gate value of agricultural production. The grievance is that, for the agriculture sector and for beekeeping in particular, employment opportunities for future generations have been negatively impacted by clear-fell forestry operations in recent decades. In the future, this situation can be mitigated by the forestry sector adhering strictly to the recently agreed Planning Guidelines for Apiary Values. Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to: Direct the Minister for Resources to ensure that Sustainable Timber Tasmania (ST) adheres strictly to the recently agreed Planning Guidelines for Apiary Values when it plans the extent of leatherwood retention in all coupes to be harvested in the next three years, and in particular Coupe TN005D near the Florentine Road, and that STT ensures its contractors comply with those plans.