SOUTH EAST REGION CONSERVATION ALLIANCE (SERCA)
                                   
               MEDIA RELEASE  (Metropolitan Media)   14 APRIL 2008

                                     GREEN CARBON COUNTS

Concerned Australians have combined with environmental groups to send this important message to the delegates at the 2020 Summit

Green Carbon Counts - Australia's native forests offer a positive, quick and cheap way to cut our greenhouse gas emissions.

A half page advertisement will be placed in a prominent position in the Canberra Times urging delegates to the 2020 summit not to ignore the massive potential of Australia's natural, native forests as carbon stores.

Concerned Australians have combined with environmental groups to send this important message to the delegates at the summit.

The delegates have a clear responsibility to look at the whole picture; Australia's carbon dense forests need to be at the top of the agenda.

These concerned Australians are asking 2020 Summit delegates to tell the Government that green carbon counts.

"Saving native forests is the best, quickest and cheapest way for Australia to dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions," according to spokesperson, Prue Acton "Australia has recognised the importance of saving native forests in neighbouring countries such as Indonesia and Papua New Guinea as carbon sinks, and yet we continue to subsidise the destruction of our own forests."

Prue says that climate change processes so far are not recognising that there is a positive contribution Australia can easily make with an alternative plantation resource at hand which provides a win win outcome. Prue says that Australia is heading down the path of exaggerating the CO2 uptake from forestry, but ignoring the emissions.

"It is the total carbon storage in a forest that counts, not the rate of uptake."

"State forestry agencies don't have to report emissions from logging, but can claim credits for sequestration," she says.

Prue said that the group was hopeful that the 2020 delegates would apply a fresh, common sense approach to this issue.

Enormous emissions result from burning of logging waste, soil disturbance as well wood product degradation, but the Government's current intention is to deem these emissions as "zero."

The government is not following the practice of the International Panel on Climate Change that logging emissions should be calculated at source. She says that the Australian woodchipping industry can easily move to plantations which can supply virtually all export and domestic markets currently supplied by native forests.

Over 80% of trees logged in Australian native forests are woodchipped. As paper products, these have a life of two to three years.

Using plantation sourced chips for these products will result in massive savings in Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, as well as great benefits for wildlife, water and soil conservation, Prue says.

Contact details:     Name:  John Hibberd
                              Phone:  64940135

                              Name:  Prue Acton
                              Phone:  64945144