Envrio news

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/newshome/5557707/garrett-warbling-twit-parrot/

intresting stuff, it might be worht it e-mailing Peter garret and actualy give him your support instead of the normal attacks.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett is a "warbling twit" for putting the protection of a vulnerable parrot before the jobs of 1,000 timber workers, the federal opposition says.

The federal government reportedly has ordered the clear-felling of red gum to cease in the Central Murray-Darling region, near the NSW town of Deniliquin, because of concerns about the future of the Superb Parrot.

The parrot - listed nationally as "vulnerable" - nests in the hollows of red gums.

The decision was overkill, opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt said.

"There are a lot of them out there," he told Fairfax Radio Network, adding the birds were well managed by the local timber industry.

The vulnerable people were the workers whose jobs were about to be extinct, he said.

If Mr Garrett won't reverse his decision, then it will be up to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to step in and overrule the minister's decision.

The NSW state government has expressed concern over the order to stop timber production.

"It actually gives me a great deal of delight to agree with the NSW government on something," Mr Hunt said.

"As one person put it to me this morning, you've got the warbling twit protecting the green leak parrot but sacrificing 1,000 jobs."

However, an environmental lobby group has praised the federal government's decision ban logging of red gums.

The National Parks Association (NPA) of NSW said the state government has been caught red-handed illegally logging red gum wetlands in state forests.

"It is appalling that the government, which should be setting the highest standards in environmental management, is in fact flagrantly flouting the law," NPA spokeswoman Georgina Woods said in a statement.

"The NSW government prosecuted a private landholder this year for illegally clearing Ramsar-listed wetlands, resulting in a fine of more $400,000, yet now demands that the law not apply to its own logging agency for the same offence," she said.

"Patch-clear-felling of internationally significant forests for cheap firewood is not a solution to the economic woes of the Riverina region."

However, the NSW timber industry says the logging will not affect the Superb Parrot.

NSW Forest Products Association director Russell Ainley said the Superb Parrot nests in trees along the edge of the forest.

He said it feeds in the grasslands and logging did not disrupt its habitat.

"It's by no means spread throughout the forest," he told Fairfax Radio on Monday.

Mr Ainley said the industry employed practices that ensured the largely bright green Superb Parrot and other endangered species were protected.

"Nobody does any clear-felling of the red gum forests," he said.

An approved and internationally accredited system was also in place to re-grow the forests after trees were cut down, he said.

Mr Ainley said that if the ban was to proceed, 320 jobs would be cut immediately, affecting about another 537 jobs in the Riverina.

A spokesman for Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett says the federal government has told Forests NSW to stop logging in around half the available logging area, until an investigation of the area's future is completed.

The government is concerned about the wetland, which is listed as "of international importance" for conservation reasons.

It is also concerned about the welfare of the Superb Parrot, which lives in the area and is listed as a vulnerable species. There are fewer than 5,000 breeding pairs left in the wild.

"Subject to those discussions, forest harvesting will still be able to go ahead in a large part of the forest," the spokesman said.

"The commonwealth is examining a range of options to allow for this to happen."

"This is an important question of balance, protecting habitat and internationally-listed wetlands with the need to protect jobs in the region."

The federal and NSW governments are still discussing the issue, the spokesman said.

Later, Mr Hunt told reporters that if the federal government wanted to help protect the parrot, it should fund a breeding and recovery program, not shut down logging.

Federal Liberal MP Sussan Ley, whose Farrer electorate includes the wetlands where the parrots are located, said there were 11 timber mills on the NSW of the Murray River.

She accused Mr Garrett of being "very heavy-handed", adding conservation rules allowed sustainable logging in the area.

The NSW government said it would need "a lot of convincing" that a partial logging ban was needed to protect wetlands and parrots.

NSW Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald said he would meet with his federal counterparts as soon as possible to discuss the logging ban.

Mr Macdonald said he was concerned that hasty action on the issue would cost "many hundreds of jobs" and wanted logging to continue.

"I believe that the operations in the forests do not really challenge the... survival of this particular parrot," Mr Macdonald told Sky News.

The Superb Parrot flew long distances each year so it did not appear the area must be quarantined from logging, he said.

"I'd need a lot of convincing, but I'm happy to listen to the evidence."

Mr Macdonald said logging was only carried out in small areas, around 50 square metres in size, in the forests in question.

He said a $2 million environmental impact study was due for release on June 1, adding it would be wise to wait for that before making decisions.