Late Regional Forest Agreement submissions to be accepted till July 31

1/7/98

Late Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) submissions will be accepted until July 31, three weeks after the official deadline.

Federal Environment Minister Robert Hill, Federal Primary Industries and Energy Minister John Anderson and Western Australian Environment Minister Cheryl Edwardes announced the acceptance of late submissions today, following the huge amount of public interest.

Mrs Edwardes said she was encouraged by the enormous response shown by Western Australians to the RFA during the public submission period.

"More than 1,600 people attended the RFA Open Days held in the South-West and Perth last month, and more than 2,000 submissions have been received to date," she said.

"I welcome the acceptance of late submissions as it allows for even further public input into this important process."

Senator Hill said the late submissions would also allow interested parties extra time to review technical reports on National Estate identification and the economic profile of the tourism and recreation industries in the RFA area that are due for release this week.

The National Estate report documents places identified as having national estate aesthetic, historic, scientific or social significance or other special value for future generations, as well as for the present community. It will form the basis for the Australian Heritage Commission to determine which places are entered on to the Register of the National Estate.

The tourism paper summarises the number of visitors to the South-West region, tourist expenditure and its relationship to employment, and the expected growth of these elements over the 20-year RFA period. It is one of a series of economic profiles for industries that access resources within the native forests of the South-West.

"The release of the tourism and National Estate reports add to the comprehensive environmental, heritage, social and economic assessments of forest uses and values carried out as part of the long-term RFA between WA and the Commonwealth," Senator Hill said.

Mr Anderson said that more than 500 experts in fields from forest ecology to cultural heritage, economics and social science, had contributed to RFA assessments, maps and data review over the past two years.

"As a result, final decisions will be based on the most complete knowledge ever gathered on WA's South-West Forest Region," he said.

"This is good news in terms of achieving a balanced outcome that takes into account the need for environmental protection, as well as certainty for forest-based industries."

Both Governments are committed to taking their feedback into account when developing an agreement which supports both environment and conservation values, and employment and industry within the region.

The Ministers encouraged all Western Australians who had yet to respond during the public consultation period to use the extra time to consult the new reports and the public consultation paper, and have their say in the 20-year plan for the forests of WA's South-West.

Media Contacts: Matt Brown (Senator Hill's Office): 02 6277 7640

Robert Haynes (Mr Anderson's Office): 02 6277 7520

Nicole Trigwell (Mrs Edwardes' Office): 08 9421 7777

Please note: 'Towards A Regional Forest Agreement for the South-West Forest Region of Western Australia: A paper for public consultation' can be viewed on the World Wide Web: http://www.rfa.gov.au or http://www.calm.wa.gov.au