Tasmanian speciality timber operators are worried they will not get the wood they need to survive under the state’s forest peace deal.
The proposed deal allows for 430,000ha of public native forest to be placed in informal reserves pending verification.
Sawmiller and furniture maker Craig Howard said small operators were already struggling to get speciality timbers and he feared increasing demand for logs would force prices above what many furniture makers can afford.
“Plantation timbers are not going to work in our industry mainly because of the structural sound of the timber itself,” he said.
Opposition leader Will Hodman said modelling from Forestry Tasmania shows speciality operators will be at risk.
“To have only 6,700m³ available to businesses such as this is not going to be enough,” he said.
Greens leader Bob Brown said the forest agreement provided 12,500m³ of speciality timber a year, which he said exceeded the current extraction rate.
