MEDIA RELEASE
20 June 2008

Ecotourism body dumps Forestry Tasmania
Environment group applauds decertification

Australia's premier eco-tourism accreditation body has dumped Forestry Tasmania from its eco-certified tourism listing. Ecotourism Australia removed Forestry Tasmania's listing from their website last week. Forestry Tasmania previously had tourism products, including the Tahune Air Walk, accredited by Ecotourism Australia. Huon Valley Environment Centre members contacted Ecotourism Australia yesterday to confirm the action.

"We telephoned Ecotourism Australia and they confirmed that Forestry Tasmania has been de-listed. We understand that this decertification has come about because Forestry Tasmania does not meet the operating standards required for ecotourism certification," said Huon Valley Environment Centre spokesperson Jenny Weber.

"The Huon Valley Environment Centre applauds Ecotourism Australia for taking this decision to reclaim the credibility of the Ecotourism certification process and logo. Forestry Tasmania's broader business operations are clearly not consistent with the principles of ecotourism,"Jenny Weber said.

"We believe that Forestry's de-listing has come about as a result of their unsustainable logging practices. It is a clear indication that Forestry Tasmania's destructive old growth logging is undermining its other business activities, as well as the the broader Tasmanian brand," Jenny Weber said.

"Today, Forestry Tasmania is pushing ahead with plans to log wilderness forests in the Weld Valley, which had previously been promoted as a tourism destination and is just a few kilometers from its star tourism venture, the Tahune Airwalk," Jenny Weber said.

"We hope that, in the not too distant future, FT will stop logging old growth and High Conservation Value forests, and can be recertified by Eco-Tourism Australia," Jenny Weber said.