Common sense prevails on Tassie forests

Australian Greens Leader Christine Milne has praised the World Heritage Committee decision overnight to uphold Tasmania's Wilderness World Heritage boundaries as a victory for common sense.

"This is a great win for the forests, for wildlife and for Tasmania," Senator Milne said.

"It's been clear for decades that these forests are of world heritage value, the only person unable to see it is Tony Abbott.

"Thankfully the world community doesn't believe political point scoring is a legitimate reason to abandon a globally significant area and to destroy the outstanding universal values for which it is famous.

"This is a win for common sense, the forests and people power.

"We've seen thousands of Australians hit the streets in support of these forests and a Senate inquiry into the delisting proposal received thousands of submissions against it.

"Mr Abbott should now rule out any more tampering with the area and commit to the funding needed to look after it properly.

"This includes assessing the area's cultural values in consultation with Tasmania's Aboriginal community.

"The World Heritage Committee decision provides the certainty that businesses need to trade on Tasmania's clean, green brand.

"Tony Abbott is hell-bent on destroying our precious places, but the Greens will stand up to him every step of the way," Senator Milne said.