Tasmania's native forests are in the international spotlight after a famous Hollywood actor used social media to sledge a promise to increase logging in the state.
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Environmental advocate Leonardo DiCaprio has called for an end to native logging in Tasmania, highlighting the state as being home to the earth's last remaining giant trees.
Resources Minister Felix Ellis has shot back, telling the actor that he should stick to acting.
"Tasmanians don't appreciate being lectured by a Hollywood celebrity. They'll make decisions about their future themselves," Mr Ellis said.
The Australian state is in the midst of an election and the Liberals, if re-elected, have promised to increase native logging production by 10 per cent.
Academy Award winning actor DiCaprio wrote on Instagram that habitat destruction from such logging was driving animals to extinction.
DiCaprio said his organisation re:wild supported a zero extinction commitment, and would continue to encourage Australian governments to end native logging.
He said Tasmania's giant trees measured more than 280 feet tall.
"These giants have been logged for decades, resulting in many forest species, including the Critically Endangered Swift Parrot, being pushed to the brink of extinction," DiCaprio wrote.
"For the past 20 years, the logging industry in Tasmania has relied heavily on taxpayer-funded subsidies to remain profitable," he said.
"The Tasmanian government, for the first time since 2011, has announced an increase in the amount of native forest available for logging, despite 75% of Australians calling for an end to native forest logging altogether."
Long-term forest advocate Bob Brown said the latest native logging forest would hurt Tasmania's global reputation as a lauded environmental destination.
His comments come as Swift Parrot environmental advocates attended court for trespassing.
"This is a call from Leonardo DiCaprio's heart for an end to the flattening and firebombing of these ancient forests and their wildlife, including the critically-endangered Swift Parrots," Brown said.
DiCaprio's posted his message to 62.2 million followers on Instagram.
