The Forest Wars with Prof David Lindenmayer and Dr Monique Ryan

World-leading forest expert Professor David Lindenmayer uncovers the grim truth about what is happening in our tall eucalypt forests in his new book, 'The Forest Wars', which lifts the lid on destruction of native forests by government corporations and the logging industry that is making bushfires worse, killing wildlife and costing taxpayers millions.
0:04 Introduction - Lynn Frankes, Lighter Footprints Co convenor
0:35 Introducing Dr Monique Ryan MP, Sophie Torney, Forests Working Group
1:16 Introducing David Lindenmayer AO, Distinguished Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, ANU
2:41 David Lindenmayer: The Forest Wars offers a better vision of forest management
4:19 Reasons to stop logging - meeting our greenhouse gas targets
5:11 Logging or thinning forests increases fire risk
5:54 Logging escalates our biodiversity crisis
6:13 Logging costs vasts amount of public money
7:17 Logging radically simplifies forest structure, losing large trees, losing tree hollows and forest animals, losing the ability to set flowers for up to 200 years
9:40 Logging reduces the ability to hold water as young regrowth is water hungry
11:12 Vic Forests has continuously breached logging conditions and lost in court
12:19 Surveillance of scientists by Vic Forests
13:40 Salvage logging is the most destructive form of logging, worse than clear felling, due to repeated major shocks, and increased amounts of very flammable debris
16:41 Interval Squeeze Problem - repeated logging or fires mean trees are unable to set flowers and become extinct in that area, an opportunity for forest regeneration
18:10 Before 1788 tall forests were not open and park like, but tall and dense, and not subject to cultural burning - new paper with evidence
21:03 Epicormic buds - Mountain Ash lost the ability to re-sprout after fire, so these forests rarely burned
23:21 Evidence-based bond for forest regeneration and first jobs in new nature prepare carbon market offering opportunities for work on Country, with credible independent carbon monitoring for genuine carbon offsets through forest regeneration
29:02 Tackling the deer problem is essential - massive population growth with post fire regrowth
31:19 Book reading about saving Mulligan's Flat
34:11 Great Forest National Park - Melbourne has one tenth of reserved land compared to Sydney, important to make sure forest has legal protection through tenure change and co-managemment
35:55 Senator Robert Hill has changed from believing in job certainty when setting up Regional Forest Agreements to understanding their failure and endorsing forest regeneration
37:18 Poor regulation and understanding leads to driving massive 'firebreaks' through naturally fire resistant tall dense wet forest - this disturbance increases flammability
39:52 Hazard Reduction Burning works only for a short time then there is a pulse of flammability and increased fire risk for many decades. Prescribed burning has health impacts
43:44 Overseas experience - young plantations are very flammable, they can be managed to reduce large area fires and offer frequent crops and steady employments
45:40 Victoria has a steep increase of forest fires. Chance of a native forest tree getting to 80 years is only 20%.
46:39 There is a high risk of native logging resuming in Victoria without proper tenure change, the experience in Tasmania and 'thinning' in WA are examples

[@mlindsay527]

Good presentation. I would’ve liked some conversation on the industries consuming the logs (ie lumber, paper, biofuel, etc) and the possibility of reducing demand from these industries.