The Federal Court of Tasmania has awarded Blue Derby Wild a second injunction on logging of Krushka's forests near the Blue Derby MTB trails
This has stopped Sustainable Timbers Tasmania plans to recommence logging of these forests by the end of February
The injunction will be in place while the Full Court continues to deliberate on the ongoing case claiming unlawful logging of Tasmania's forests due to apprehended bias of STT
Late in the afternoon of Monday February 26, Blue Derby Wild applied for an injunction on government logging agency Sustainable Timbers Tasmania plans to recommence logging of Krushka's forests, despite previous undertakings to not log these forests while the 2 year old court proceedings are still underway.
Blue Derby Wild Campaign Coordinator Louise Morris said, " We're relieved to have the courts provided this injunctive relief for our forests and community while the Full Court process continues regarding our claim of unlawful logging of our forests. This case is about more than the forests around the north east of Tasmania and Krushka's. This is about the systematic way in which Sustainable Timber Tasmania have been able to regulate themselves for decades, by delegating the powers of the independant Forest Practices Authority to their staff."
"The timing of this attempt of STT to recommence logging of one of the most contentious areas of forests in the middle of a state election campaign beggars belief. It has shown our community and business owners who have built their livelihoods around nature based tourism and Brand Tasmania that the state logging agency has a deaf ear when it comes to our communities' need to transition to more viable and sustainable ways of engaging with our forests."
"The bullish way in which STT has engaged with Tasmanians trying to protect our forests and our futures really drives home the fact that the era of native forest logging needs to come to an end. In the same way that has been done in Victoria and Western Australia."
"The coming weeks will involve more court appearances and submissions for Blue Derby Wild. As a volunteer run community group it is a big undertaking, but one that we are committed to as our forests are worth more standing," concluded Ms Morris