Wielangta forest
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The Wielangta forest is located in South East Tasmania , Australia.
The area is part of remnant glacial refugia forest and contains blue gum eucalypt forest and pockets of cool temperate rainforest. The forest is a key habitat of rare and threatened species, including the Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle, Swift Parrot, Broad-toothed Stag Beetle, Spotted-tail Quoll and Eastern Barred Bandicoot. A rare orchid (Genoplesium nudum) has also been discovered in the forest.
The forest is under the control of Forestry Tasmania, with logging being allowed.
The logging of the forest has been extremely contentious due to the impact on rare and threatened species. Environmentalist called for the Wielangta forest area to be incorporated into a broader reserve offering full protection to environmental and biodiversity values. Some parts of Wielangta were delivered formal protection in the recent Supplementary Regional Forest Agreement.(Tasmania)[1].
In 2006 Australian Greens Senator, Bob Brown, took the issue of Forestry Tasmania's failure to protect endangered species in Wielangta to the Federal Court. He won. In February 2007, the Tasmanian State Government and the Australian Federal Government responded by changing the text of the State's Regional Forest Agreement. New clauses make it clear that the word 'protection' relates only to whether the two respective governments deem a species to be protected rather than the meaning of the word being based on actual evidence of such.
[edit] References
- ^ Logging of contentious coupes in Wielangta in South East Tasmania begins, Media Release, The Wilderness Society, May 26, 2005
