SOUTH EAST TIMBER ASSOCIATION

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SOUTH EAST TIMBER ASSOCIATION

The South East Timber Association (SETA) was formed in 1988 to represent the interests of people working in harvesting operations in native forests and plantations, on public and private land, in South East NSW and East Gippsland.

SETA members are strongly committed to ensuring public forests are available for a range of commercial and recreational activities and expect land management practices will maintain environmental values in the long term.

SETA expects the government to commit to ensuring forest and related policies strike an appropriate balance between social, environmental and economic outcomes, while minimising adverse impacts of policy changes on regional communities.

HISTORY

Many activists are under the impression that they are engaged in the original fight to save the native forests of Australia from exploitation or destruction. Unfortunately many are oblivious to the ancient and relatively modern history of the forests. During the latter part of the 19th century, European settlement spread across Australia, displacing the Aboriginal people who had managed the forests, woodlands and rangelands (including the so-called wilderness of today) for tens of thousands of years.

ACTIVISTS

Activists have been campaigning against the harvesting of native forests in Australia for over 30 years. Initially, campaigns involved direct action protest in the forests. These actions were to gain mass media attention, hence public support to apply political pressure to promote the transfer state forests to national parks. The more dangerous the stunts and the more doomsday the comments, the more mass media attention was gained.

BIODIVERSITY

Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life and is a measure of the variety of birds, mammals, reptiles, vegetation and other organisms.
Harvesting operations cause disturbance to native forest and plantation biodiversity.. Understandably, many people are concerned by this disturbance, particularly in native forests and activists opposed to any form of harvesting claim that stopping all harvesting is the only way to ensure many species do not become extinct.