Up In Smoke: Bulldozed In Queensland, Burnt In Sydney
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday April 28, 2001
Landclearing in Queensland is becoming the major supplier of Sydney's quality firewood.
Most of Sydney's big firewood companies now rely on the Sunshine State for a significant proportion of ironbark and box logs - highly sought-after timbers because of their density.
But no-one knows for sure how much timber salvaged from the bulldozed woodlands of Queensland is making its way south of the border in convoys of semi-trailers. Firewood collection operates in a legal vacuum especially on private land and virtually no figures are kept for where wood is sourced or how it is collected. The Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council is now finalising a strategy that will detail the Federal Government's attempts to curb the environmental impacts of firewood.
The draft report, A National Approach to Firewood Collection and Use in Australia, proposes accreditation for firewood collectors, listing critical areas where firewood harvesting would be banned and an education campaign highlighting the importance of dead trees for biodiversity. According to the draft report, the national consumption of firewood is 6 million tonnes a year.
But conservationists, including executive officer at the National Parks Association, Mr Andrew Cox, fear the draft will be watered down and that unchecked timber harvesting from private and public lands will continue.
The association is organising a firewood conference at the end of next month in Armidale, which will bring together scientists, bureaucrats, industry and political leaders.
Mr Charlie Spiteri, the owner of Betta Burn Firewood, one of the biggest suppliers in Sydney, refused to reveal how much firewood he supplies each year but estimates that the Sydney region, including Katoomba, consumes about 100,000 tonnes.
He said about a third of his supply was sourced from Queensland, where the wood is worth between $40 and $50 a cubic metre. By the time the freight reaches Sydney, it is worth up to $125 and is being snapped up. ``People are choosing ironbark and box and we have to go where the timber is," Mr Spiteri said.
He said his contractors sourced wood from Queensland farms that were mopping up their paddocks rather than clearing virgin woodlands. ``Firewood is only a byproduct of landclearing," Mr Spiteri said. ``If we don't take it, it is pushed into piles and burnt. It's taking a resource that is going to be squandered anyway."
Other major sources of hardwoods for Betta Burn include Pilliga State Forest in north-west NSW and private properties in the Nyngan area.
Mr Spiteri said he had mixed feelings about the new report. While he would welcome a standard for firewood, he warned that if the rules were too strict they could harm small operators who were already struggling.
Armidale firewood collector Mr Peter Howarth, 57, has harvested timber most of his life. He said more controls over the industry were needed and that the price of firewood should increase ``to eliminate a lot of people who don't need to use it".
But if firewood collection was done properly it prevented waste, he said. ``Otherwise what are the landholders going to do with the wood push it up and burn it?"
© 2001 Sydney Morning Herald