The story so far
Leatherwood honey is produced by bees from the fragrant blossoms of the leatherwood tree (Eucryphia lucida ).
This rainforest/wet forest species is found only in Tasmania. The golden, aromatic and exquisitely tasting honey is uniquely Tasmanian and is exported worldwide. Honey produced from Tasmanian leatherwood trees sustains the state's honey industry; indirectly, it also subsidises the horticultural industry via the pollination services the bees provide.
Forest management techniques that are systematically destroying our leatherwood rich forests threaten the ability of Tasmanian beekeepers to bring leatherwood honey to the world. Most of our accessible leatherwood trees grow in forests managed primarily for wood production.
Find out what happens to leatherwood trees after cable harvesting.
Sadly, leatherwood trees grow in the same wet eucalypt forests that are clear felled and regenerated by burning for wood and fibre production. These forests are managed on an eighty year rotation; hence any leatherwood that regrows after regeneration doesn't reach maturity to produce the flowers that yield the honey. Already hive numbers are declining.
Tasmanian beekeepers who are concerned about the loss of this vital access have been largely ignored. The economic returns generated from leatherwood honey are regarded as small in comparison to the value of the wood and fibre products extracted from the same forests. State politicians have not been prepared to halt the destruction of our leatherwood rich forests.
This failure to protect the leatherwood forests is not only based on faulty economics. It also ignores the 'multiple use' philosophy so keenly promoted by Tasmania's forest policy experts.
Leatherwood forests are an important part of Tasmania's forest values in much the same way as timber, recreation, wildlife and fresh water are 'forest values'. The Tasmanian Forest Practices Code protects everything from animal habitat, soils, rare and endangered species and cultural heritage, but it does not protect leatherwood-rich forests.
Help us to change forest policy to protect leatherwood forests. Our proposed amendments to the Code provide a way to ensure that leatherwood-rich areas are properly protected and managed.
Help us convince the Tasmanian Government that its policy needs to change.