Australia's Endangered Species Law on Trial
There's a Federal Court case underway in Hobart that could have major implications for the national logging industry.
At issue is whether logging can be conducted in areas where endangered species live. If the action succeeds it could affect logging operations in many parts of the country.
The case has been brought personally by the Greens leader, Senator Bob Brown, in an effort to protect the endangered Swift Parrot, Wedge-tailed Eagle and Wielangta (Broad-toothed Stag Beetle). The case attacks the presumption of the Federal and State governments that the national law to protect rare and endangered species (the aptly named Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999) does not apply to logging operations because the Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement, signed by Mr Howard in 1997, exempts them.
Senator Brown's legal action takes three endangered species as examples of the fate of many more and will present a case that they are threatened by logging. The species are the Wielangta (broad-toothed) Stag Beetle, an ancient lineage of flightless beetles confined to the Wielangta area; the beautiful Swift Parrot, a migratory species whose main breeding area is coastal south-eastern Tasmania, centred on Wielangta Forest; and the magnificent Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle, which is larger than its mainland cousin and dependent on extensive tracts of undisturbed forest for breeding. All three species are listed as 'endangered' under federal and state laws, meaning that they face a 'very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future'. Any deleterious impact will drive these animals to closer to extinction.
If Bob Brown's case succeeds, responsibility for protecting endangered species from logging will revert to the Commonwealth Environment Minister. The Regional Forest Agreement will no longer provide automatic exemption and the Minister will have to apply the precautionary principle in making his determinations, acting in case of doubt to protect endangered species.
For information/contributions/explanation of the proceeding. http://www.on-trial.info
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