For the cause and their honourCamp Flozza remembered
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New Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman believes in a headline sense of “economic renewal” somehow and that his vote to power provides a Viking Mandate for him to ecologically ‘rape pillage and plunder’ Tasmania’s natural resources.
With the business community on side, the minerals council, the housing industry association, the developers, the loggers, everything is up for grabs, especially Tasmania’s old growth forests.
Logging trucks are already crossing back over Bass Strait from exile in parochial log state Queensland.
“We are going to embrace a new way of doing things in this state,” Mr Hodgman said.
Scary. What does he mean by that?
Not one for mature mediation, ham-fisted Hodgman is determined to tear up the $273 million ‘Tasmanian Forest Agreement‘ in what he has off-handedly vilified as a “job-destroying forest deal.” “It only threatened to lock away forever future productive forest.”
But how many Tasmanian loggers got paid out by Canberra’s $273 million Will? How much of that $273 million is left? Are you endorsing two-timing loggers – those paid out and now in for second crack?
So the hated 19th Century wood chip pulp mill is back on the table, with no prospect of profit, just a ‘work-for-the-dole’ scheme for crusted-on loggers.
But Hodgman, like Groom and Rundle before him, is sure short-term market conditions for woodchips will improve. Six hundred year old forests are renewable anyway Will reckons. Will says he has a mandate to follow through on the divisive election promise. “More wood equals more jobs” and “our plan focuses on growing the industry … not appeasing environmentalists.”
Dem’s fightin’ words indeed!
“I can’t do this on my own with these. . . people.”
Hodgman’s heavies are regrouping and more police are being recruited and resourced. Hodgman is prepared for Forest War on the belief he has the endorsement of high-T Tasmanians.
“We will not allow the past to drag us down and stop us from moving ahead. We understand where we should move.” ~ Vladimir Putin.
Rally to Defend Tasmania’s World Heritage in the Upper Florentine!
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When: Sunday, 27 April 2014 Time: 12 noon for 12:30pm start Where: Camp Flozza, In Tasmania’s magnificent Florentine Valley World Heritage Area, Gordon River Road, 21 km east of Maydena
(From Maydena drive along Gordon River Road, heading towards Lake Pedder. On the right, 3.3 km from the Thumbs Lookout, there will be signs for rally).
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Tasmanians and Australians this is your time!
The Bob Brown Foundation is hosting a rally in World Heritage listed forests of the Upper Florentine, Tasmania, in response to the Australian Government’s intention to remove 74,000 ha from the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
Speakers include Senator Christine Milne – Leader of the Australian Greens, Peg Putt – CEO of Markets for Change and Miranda Gibson – spokesperson for Still Wild Still Threatened.
Bob Brown Foundation Campaign Manager Jenny Weber said, “Tasmania’s globally significant World Heritage Area is gravely threatened by the Australian Government’s request to the World Heritage Committee to remove 74,000ha of forests from World Heritage listing. We are receiving huge support from members of the public who are coming along to this rally, people who love these forests and don’t want to see the listing stripped from forests which have outstanding universal values.”
“We will stand together in the magnificent World Heritage listed Upper Florentine forests to support the world heritage convention and call for protection of Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage Area and the maintenance of the current boundary. Standing together among the ancient tall eucalyptus forests, we will prove that the Australian Government is wrong in claiming that it is logged and degraded,” Jenny Weber said.
“The Upper Florentine is pristine. This entire region is proposed for removal from the World Heritage Area, though it is a perfect contradiction of the Liberal Government’s claims that these 74,000 ha are logged or degraded. The Upper Florentine is an extensive area of pristine tall eucalypt forest, part of a corridor of tall eucalyptus forests from the far south to the central west of Tasmania, recognised as World Heritage in 2013. This intact region of ancient forest is again under threat by the Australian Government’s proposal to remove these magnificent intact forests for logging,” Jenny Weber said.
Tasmanian Police inspect arson at Camp Flozza
Upper Florentine Valley, South West Tasmania
Thursday 20120913
(click image to enlarge)
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Still Wild Still Threatened’s Camp Florentine (Camp Flozza) has been subject to an arson attack the weekend before last. It is estimated that it was torched on Sunday night 9th September 2012. But since the camp had been unattended by environmentalists, the destruction was not discovered until some days later, by which time it had burnt itself out, perhaps with the help of rain.
Personal and campaign property has been damaged and destroyed, a car has been stolen from the site, and the information tent and camp structures were torn down and burnt. Police have inspected the site and the fire is being treated and investigated as arson.
It is believed that the arson was a misguided revenge attack by disgruntled loggers in response to an arson incident three nights prior at Les Walkden Enterprises at the nearby town of New Norfolk and connected vandalism the Saturday night prior of machinery owned by the same company at a logging coupe 12km south of Butlers Gorge in the Central Highlands.
Yet, Detective Constable Craig Fry, investigating the two attacks on the Walkden business has said that “they do not appear to be linked to any kind of protest activity.” So the subsequent arson attack on Camp Flozza was a case of mistaken identity – frustrated loggers happy to kneejerk blame conservationists (Greenies) for everything and anything. Being night time, the arsonists were probably on the turps. Perhaps the two attacks on Les Walkden Enterprises, which have caused over $800,000 damage, were intended to have the Greenies take the wrap.
Detectives are investigating all three crimes.
“This violent attack on the camp is an assault on the forest campaign. The camp is a peaceful protest movement and this incident is an act of intimidation towards protesters and the community involved in the camp” said Still Wild Still Threatened spokesperson Miranda Gibson.
Arson Attack on Camp Flozza Sunday night 9th September 2012
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Miranda Gibson:
‘It’s first thing in the morning when I get the call. “Camp has been attacked“, the voice on the end of the line is telling me. “What do you mean… attacked?“, I asked.
“Someone’s gone there and trashed it, burnt it down.”
She is talking about Camp Florentine, Tasmania’s longest running forest blockade. The camp is run by the group I’m part of: Still Wild Still Threatened. And it is a place that is very close to my heart, having spent many years spending so much of my time out there in the past.’
Camp Flozza front as it was before the arson attack
[Photo by editor, 20110928, free in public domain, click image to enlarge]
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Miranda Gibson:
‘Camp Floz, as it is known, is in the Upper Florentine Valley, the next valley to the west of where I am located in the Observer Tree (in the Tyenna).’ [Check out ^The Observer Tree]
The Upper Florentine Valley is a large tract of ancient wilderness, that is surrounding on three sides by the World Heritage Area.’ [Check out Tasmania’s majestic ^Upper Florentine Valley]
‘Despite the protection for the surrounding mountain ranges, this valley remained unprotected because it contains such significant tracts of tall trees that the logging industry were hungry to get their hands on.’
‘Over six years ago now members of the local community became aware of Forestry’s plans to fell 15 logging coupes in the valley within three years and in response the camp was established to stop this from happening. Over those years, the constant presence of the camp has meant that the majority of those logging coupes have never been touched by a chainsaw and the forest remains standing. Hopefully it will continue to remain standing until it can take it’s rightful place as part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.’
‘As well as literally stopping the logging, the camp has a range of other important functions in the campaign. Being on a main tourist road, it acts an information centre with people stopping in every day to find out about what is going on in the forest and having the opportunity to go on short guided walks. It has become a significant icon of the forest movement in Tasmania and is known to people all around the world who have stopped in on their travels.’
Camp Flozza Information Centre, as it was before the arson attack
[Photo by editor, 20110928, free in public domain, click image to enlarge]
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Miranda Gibson:
‘When I saw the photos I realised it was even worse than I thought. The entire camp had been torched. The main house, kitchen area and information hut were nothing but ashes.
And the camp car had been stolen.’
Camp Flozza arson attack on the Kitchen
[Photo courtesy of Still Wild Still Threatened 201209]
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‘Luckily no one was at the camp when the attack occurred. The next person who was rostered on to be at the camp turned up to a horrifying scene of the camp reduced to ashes. However, one has to wonder whether the attackers would have known there was no one there, as the camp is the usually always attendance and people could have been the forest nearby.’
Camp Flozza Kitchen as it was before the arson attack
[Photo by editor, 20110928, free in public domain, click image to enlarge]
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Camp Flozza’s front line legacy
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Up here in the ^Observer Tree, Miranda Gibson tree-sits some ways far removed from what was happening at the camp. Yet, it had a big impact.
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Miranda Gibson:
‘There was the practical side of things of course, as the Still Wild Still Threatened spokesperson I spent the day talking to media, police and community members. But it also was a sad day for me. Although I am not able to be there at Camp Floz, obviously, I still care deeply about the place.’
The Upper Florentine Valley
[Photo by Rob Blakers – visit his ^website]
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Ed: When viewing each video below and wishing to stop it, just click the pause button on the bottom left of the respective video view.
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The Battle of Coupe FO044A
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Like a poacher sees an elephant only with selfish cash-eyes through crosshairs, loggers only see native forests with selfish cash-eyes with chainsaw in hand. In Tasmania, the babyboomer government mindset cannot discern forest value from timber. The environment is still seen as a resource for industrial exploitation, just like it was in the 19th and 20th centuries. Forests are arbitrarily carved up on a logger’s map into harvestable ‘coupes’. The Upper Florentine Valley where Camp Flozza is situated is innocuously described by the Tasmanian Government as ‘Coupe FO044A‘ – sounds like a factory production batch stamped on a pallet.
It’s like how numbering of black slaves occurred through the 16th and 19th centuries’ Atlantic Slave Trade. To backward rednecks, Tasmania outside the bitumen has all been about how many ways to skin it, shoot it, trap it, log it, woodchip it, burn it, plough it, dam it, pollute it. The 19th Century Taswegian redneck element persists in logging despite there no longer being a market for the timber. But the loggers know no different. They only know how to log.
Camp Flozza is a blockade set up to try to stop them logging what’s left of Tasmania’s magnificent ancient forest ecosystems. It includes some of the largest trees left on the planet.
But to Forestry Tasmania, the Tasmanian Government logging corporation driving the deforestation, Camp Flozza is nothing more than “a slum in the forest, full of extremists“. Emotive words, but then one would expect as such demonising by vested interests.
In early 2006, well over six years ago now, Forestry Tasmania decided to target the Upper Florentine Valley for its massive hardwood timber. It rolled in the dozers and started pushing an ugly scar of a road into the pristine valley, within ‘coo-ee’ of Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage.
Community response was immediate. Local and independent activists and The Wilderness Society went out along the Gordon River Road to make peaceful protests. Over the comng months, the protest presence grew and became more established and other groups joined in – The Derwent Forest Alliance, and Friends of the Florentine.
By October 2006, a protest camp had been established situated strategically blocking logging access to an area of the forest containing Mountain Ash Trees over 200 feet tall. Camp Florentine (Flozza) was established.
It was not supposed to be flashbecause a permanent structure would have invited legal demolition
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February 2007 – Government Bully Bust #1
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On 21st February 2007, The blockade was raided by over 40 police and Forestry Tasmania workers and 16 arrests were made over the following 3 days. However, a complex system of structures was built and Camp Florentine continued. In October 2008, logging commenced in coupe FO042E in the Upper Florentine valley and was met with two actions, one resulting with physical assault on protesters by contractors. Footage taken at the action went national in the media and highlighted the ongoing violence that protesters face in the forest.
Not long after his media attention two cars and the info hut were torched one night resulting in even more media coverage.
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January 2009 – Government Bully Bust #2
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In mid January 2009, the blockade was busted for the second time by 65 police and Forestry Tasmania workers. Again there were 16 arrests in the first 3 days and after the tunnel and dragons and winter shack were removed the machines came in and carved a massive scar a further 3km into the pristine valley, to be a logging road. After 11 days of continuous actions to try and slow down further road construction and logging the machines weretaken away and we started rebuilding on the road again.
‘…In the Upper Florentine Valley today, the Battle of Coupe FO044A entered a second day (13th January) with six activists up trees — and one down a hole — holding out against arrest amid the ruins of their two-year-old protest camp.
Forestry Tasmania has requested police remove the camp which is hindering plans to build road and to harvest trees from a 25ha coupe in the area. (Ed: didims!)
Derwent District Forest Manager Steve Whitely (Ed: a hardcore logger) said Forestry Tasmania respected people’s right to protest peacefully and legally, but Camp Flozza was neither.
“The camp has been there for some time but it has degenerated into a slum and as shown late last year it has the potential to become a real flashpoint of conflict over this summer,” he said. “We ended up with a couple of conflict situations last year that were really quite serious and we really took stock that this camp wasn’t just a slum in the forest as some people saw it but in fact a place where extremists launched raids on various other places and actually generated conflict.
That’s when it was realised it wasn’t just an eyesore but something more serious than that.”
He said the logging in the valley will be small in scale and sensitive to the area’s conservation values but admitted up to 90 per cent of the old growth forest harvested will end up as woodchips.
“The Upper Florentine is an important place for both conservation and wood production,” he said. “In fact up to 90 per cent of the Upper Florentine is protected or not available for wood production.
“We recognise the values of the area and with that in mind we’re operating at a small scale, there’s no clearfelling in the area at all, there is to be no plantations established all of the forest that is harvested will be resown with natural seed and there will be no chemicals used in the area or fertilisers.
“It’s high-quality timber, it’s been grown over a number of years, it’s some of the higher value timbers that will be supplied to the local mills.
“On average I think we find that between 10 and 20 per cent, depending on the quality of the forest, is taken off as sawing-grade products and there’s some other milling grade products which can be recovered and then the rest of it is sold to make paper.”
Police move in on protesters at Camp Flozza in the Florentine Valley [Photo by Niki Davis-Jones]
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“..Push came to shove in the Upper Florentine Valley yesterday. Scuffles broke out as about 200 protesters confronted a line of police blocking access to a contested logging road.
Police arrested 15 people during yesterday’s Community Walk-In For the Florentine march.
In a short but heated exchange, several protesters broke through the the frontline of about 30 officers but were quickly tackled and arrested. No injuries were reported.
Over the course of the day about two dozen forest activists managed to infiltrate the logging site. One halted forestry operations for several hours after locking himself to logging equipment before police cut him free.
Tasmania Police act as cheap bouncers for the loggers
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Some of the others were escorted from the area by officers, while others were arrested for refusing to leave an exclusion zone around forestry operations near Timbs Track, off Gordon River Rd, west of Maydena.
Those arrested yesterday were charged with a range of offences including assaulting police, trespass, obstructing police, disobeying the lawful direction of a police officer and breaching bail conditions. They were taken by bus to the Hobart police station. Thirteen were granted bail and two others appeared in court last night. Simon Christopher Browning, of Huonville, and Lauren Athalie Campbell, of Adelaide, were remanded in custody for breach of bail and will appear in the Hobart Magistrates Court this morning.
After the initial confrontation about 11am, the remainder of yesterday’s protest was peaceful. There have been 20 arrests during the police operation in the area. Forestry Tasmania ‘asked‘ police to clear the area surrounding the so-called Camp Flozza of protesters on Monday.
Camp Flozza – Government Bust in January 2009
[Source: The Mercury – Photo by Raoul Kochanowski]
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Most of the old-growth forest to be cut in the area will become woodchips. The two-year-old protest camp was destroyed on Tuesday although four protesters continued a vigil on two treetop platforms. They could be heard shouting their defiance throughout yesterday’s protest. Police inspector Glen Woolley (Ed: hardcore logger sympathiser) said the outbreak of violence was regrettable.
“It’s very disappointing. Up until this stage the protest has always been peaceful,” he said. “The police presence is here to ensure that business operations were able to continue, however the activists have decided they would use some force to force their way through the blockade. “When they did force their way through the blockade, we were prepared for them and they were arrested very quickly.”
Police called for re-inforcements after the initial scuffles, boosting their numbers to nearly 60. Protester Bronwyn Smith said she attended yesterday’s protest because she believed the old forests were part of the state’s heritage. She said: “It’s much older than Port Arthur, they’ve never seen a chainsaw, there’s been very little disturbance.
“Can you imagine what it would be like today if they were at Port Arthur pulling down the ruins?
“We live in a dying world. We live in a world that’s becoming less and less tenable and less and less viable. And that’s in part because of the clearing of forest like what’s happening here.”
Fellow campaigner Patsy Harmsen said the logging had to be stopped. “It shouldn’t be happening, it mustn’t go on. It’s just the most shocking worldwide shame,” she said.
Ula Majewski, of the group Still Wild Still Threatened, said the largeHeadline: face-off turns nasty turnout for a weekday protest organised at short notice showed the strong support of the old-growth anti-logging cause.
“Once again, we are seeing a massive swell of community support for Tasmania’s carbon-dense old-growth forests and outrage at the destructive roading, logging, woodchipping and burning of these precious ecosystems by local climate criminals Forestry Tasmania and Gunns Limited,” she said.
“Our community will continue to stand up and speak out against these environmentally criminal acts. In this era of dangerous climate change, the destruction of Tasmania’s ancient forests is a global issue.”
She said there would be further protests.
Wilderness Society spokesman Vica Bayley said the forestry operations in the area showed Premier David Bartlett was no different to his predecessor on forestry issues.
“The Bartlett Tasmania is in the grip of the same greed-driven woodchip frenzy that ex-premier [Paul] Lennon promoted with such blinkered commitment,” he said.
“It makes a mockery of the clever and kind Bartlett rhetoric when carbon-rich old-growth forests in an intact valley of World Heritage value are being opened up with a brand new logging road for clearfelling.”
Late yesterday, Derwent district forest manager Steve Whiteley said contractors had resumed work.
“Our staff and contractors are cleaning up the site of Camp Florentine and undertaking road repair and construction,” he said. “We have had plans in place for several years to harvest a 50ha coupe and to build four kilometres of road. “This year, we plan to harvest 25ha of this area, using a variable retention technique we have developed as an alternative to clearfelling. “The timber is being harvested to meet market conditions. All harvested areas will be regrown as native forest.”
Mr Whiteley said the wood was essential for Forestry Tasmania to meet its legislated requirement to supply 300,000 cubic metres of sawlogs and veneer logs annually. However, most of the old-growth forest to be cut is destined to be come woodchips. Police are expected to scale down their presence today.
‘In early May 2009, Forestry Tasmania came back into the area to log the coupe. It was Mother’s Day.
A huge police operation that lasted a whole month accompanied Forestry Tasmania’s bulldozers chain saws and log trucks. Almost every log truck that left the area got a police escort of a dozen cops jogging alongside!
The Cops had a mobile cop shop bus parked in the clearfell so they could process arrestees on site. The operation sucked most of the states police resources for the month of May as they maintained a constant 24 hour presence in the logging area for the entire month. Of course when the police association complained about the drain on resources, the government blamed us.’
[Source: Still Wild Still Threatened]
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Logger Ecoterrorism Culture
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Miranda Gibson:
‘This is yet another act of violence against the non-violent protest movement. This was not the first time that such acts of intimidation had been committed towards the protesters and community involved in the camp.
‘In 2008 when there was a fire-bomb attack on the camp in the middle of the night, many people were there and were awoken in terror. Two people at the camp had their cars set on fire by the attackers, as well as the camp’s information center being torched.
That incident occurred within days of a violent assault on myself and another protester at a peaceful action in another part of the Upper Florentine Valley. Logging contractors used a sledgehammer to attack a car that we were in. Smashing glass in on us and screaming abuse. When we eventually managed to get out of the car, fearing for our lives, my fellow protester was dragged to the ground and kicked in the head.’
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How the incident was reported back in 2008..
“…Police have been called to investigate a film showing protester’s car being smashed by logging contractors. Protesters have posted footage of the attack by logging contractors on the Internet. They say one contractor kicked a man’s head when he was escaping from the car during the Upper Florentine Valley confrontation.
A representative of forest contractors said they had been pushed to the limit and he predicted further violence in the forests. He called on Gunns and Forestry Tasmania to compensate workers. The video shows several men, one wielding a sledgehammer, and one screaming expletives and abuse and smashing windows of the car.
The man and woman protesters were using a “dragon” technique, in which they put their arms into a pipe running through the floor of the car and into a concrete block in the ground below.
“The man was trying to get out of the car and he was pulled out and kicked in the head,” said Ula Majewski, spokeswoman for protest group Still Wild Still Threatened. She said a Forestry Tasmania staff member warned protesters to get out of the car before the attack but then stood by.
“Members of the Tasmanian community engaged in legitimate peaceful protest should not be subjected to this kind of violence, nor should it be condoned by a Forestry Tasmania employee,” Ms Majewski said. She said the FT employee could be seen in the video, which is on the public video website Myspace.
Forestry Tasmania last night said it had asked police to investigate the video footage.
Acting general manager operations Steve Whiteley said the staffer denied witnessing the violence. “Forestry Tasmania staff at today’s protest had provided a categorical assurance that he didn’t witness any confrontation while he was at the scene and did not receive any complaint,” Mr Whiteley said.
Australian Forest Contractors Association chairman Colin McCulloch said the contractor involved had had his work interrupted several times and had lost about $30,000.
“These loggers should be compensated by the industry or Government,” he said, adding that Gunns and Forestry Tasmania should pay in this case.’
“Florentine camp has been in place for the past five years as a frontline defence to protect the Upper Florentine. There have been violent attacks on the camp in the past. This valley is one of Tasmania’s most iconic high conservation value forests yet the current negotiations have failed to provide certainty for the future of this area. The camp is operating as an information centre, providing opportunities for tourists to take walks through the forest and find out more about the area”, said Ms Gibson.
“Sometimes I really miss the Floz and one thing I am looking forward to when I get down from this tree is going back to walk in the forest around the camp and visit all my favorite little spots. And I care deeply about all the people who are spending their time maintaining the camp. And it is hard for all of them to have to be out there this weekend, shifting through the ahes and rebuilding the camp again.”
“There is an odd lack of curiosity in the camp. People float in and out, asking a few questions of one another, as if the past is erased and this, what they are now, is all that matters.”
[Source: ‘Into the Woods: The Battle for Tasmania’s Forests‘, by Anna Krien, 2010, p.38, published by Black Inc. Publishing, ^http://www.blackincbooks.com/books/woods]
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Camp Florentine arson attack Sunday 9th September 2012
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‘Anti-forestry protesters have reported an apparent arson attack on a well-known protest camp in the Upper Florentine Valley. Activists say a large area of Camp Florentine has been destroyed by fire. They believe it happened earlier this week.
Jenny Weber from the Huon Valley Environment Centre says there were no protesters at the site at the time of the fire because they had been helping at a tree sit.
“It’s very serious because it’s an arson attack, it’s a pattern that we’ve seen before where arson has been used against the protesters camp at the Florentine Valley,” she said. “Even though people weren’t there at the time, it’s also a threat to what we believe in and the very real fact that we’re standing up for Tasmania’s forest.”
“Environmentalists have been targeted by the industry in calls for durability despite the fact that our actions are always peaceful. The question is, will these same critics be condemning this violent attack on the conservation movement? There has been a great show of support from the community, in response to this act of violence. We have received many calls from people in the Derwent valley and offers of support to help with rebuilding the camp, which has began today.”
Environment Tasmania today condemned the reported arson of Camp Florentine and condemned all violence towards person or property as totally unacceptable, and welcomed the police investigation into the incident.
“It is very fortunate no-one was present or hurt during this incident and we welcome the police investigation,” said Dr Phill Pullinger, Director of Environment Tasmania. But it was also wonderful to receive so much support from the community and offers of help to rebuild. I guess it is a perfect time for a spring clean!
And with so much help, I’m sure they will be able to build an even better camp. And so Camp Floz will, as it always has, rise up from the ashes.
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Comments on Tasmanian Times:
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Ron, 20120913:
“Nothing in the mainstream newspapers? When forestry equipment gets damaged you dont hear the end of it.”
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Garry Stannus, 20120913:
” The last time it was wrecked, was by the police. And the time before that …? ..the brotherhood roguery of Forestry Tasmania?
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William Boeder, 20120914:
“I can envision in my mind the snortings and sniggerings going on between the many upper level individuals that orchestrate the denudation of our Old Growth Forests, (along with the incumbent wildlife species and ecosystems,) this must give each individual attendant to and associated with this plundering consortium of Neanderthals the most enormous mirth.
Across the top end waters of Australia’s North a like-minded family of Malaysians have almost completely destroyed their own natural forests and the many homes of their indigenous people, all this for the life-killing tainted dollars that they now have squirreled away for themselves, yet now they are greedily and cunningly sourcing their cheaply negotiated timber product from our Tasmanian people’s forests, thanks to our feckless State government of Lib/Labbers…”
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John Hayward, 20120915:
“I can’t see any great moral difference between obliterating the camp and obliterating the surrounding forest. The same contempt for everyone and everything else is apparent in both.”
Less than a week before the arson attack on Camp Flozza, Tasmanian news media reported that vandals had caused about $750,000 damage to logging machinery in a Forestry Tasmania logging coupe.
Who attacked Les Walkden’s machinery at Butlers Gorge?
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The media report ran thus:
…’Police were called to the logging coupe near Butlers Gorge in the Central Highlands early yesterday morning and found two damaged excavators and a skidder. One excavator had been used to ram the other two pieces of machinery. Private contractor Les Walkden owns the equipment.
“It’s extremely upsetting especially when your workers have got to go to work and find that,” he said. “I just hope that we can catch these people and, if we do, I can assure you…they’ll be (pursued to) the full extent of the law, we just can’t have this sort of thing going on. “We’re supposed to have peace with this forest agreement that’s being mooted at the moment and its just disgusting.”
Mr Walkden says he will have to stand workers down until new equipment is sourced and the site is forensically examined.
Ed Vincent, from the Forest Contractors Association, says it is another blow to a struggling industry. “Vandalism by whomever is to be abhorred.”
The State Opposition has condemned the damage, saying its proof the forest conflict is not over.
[Ed: This media statement by the Tasmanian Liberals is unsubstantiated, presumptive and spiteful and has likely become the incitement causing the arson at Camp Flozza and the Tasmanian Police ought to investigate who made this statement as part of their arson investigation.]
Just two days hence, and just three days before the Camp Flozza arson attack, came a second related report of property damage to the same industrial logger.
The Tasmanian news media report ran thus:
‘Police believe an arson attack at a forestry company’s New Norfolk offices on Tuesday night is linked to the vandalism of forestry machinery over the previous weekend.
“The office and dining area was entered and multiple fires were started,” Detective Constable Craig Fry said. “It appears some sort of flammable liquid was used in the incident,” he said. Detectives believe the fire at Les Walkden Enterprises at 69 Hamilton Rd was started at 11.40pm. It caused an estimated $50,000 damage.
“The fire is being investigated in conjunction with a recent incident involving damage to two excavators and a logging skidder, also owned by Les Walkden Enterprises,” Constable Fry confirmed. The vandalism attack caused $750,000 damage and was carried out at a logging coupe 12km south of Butlers Gorge in the Central Highlands on Saturday night.
“The attacks on the business do not appear to be linked to any kind of protest activity,” Constable Fry said.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Yet the Tasmanian forest environmentalist campaigns have been consistently non-violent.
The fundamental core of the environmentalists defending the magnificent Florentine is non-violent protest.
All participating groups have a policy as such and the protest record is consistently non-violent. Importantly , the two night-time attacks on Les Walkden Enterprises have been confirmed by the investigating police detectives as not connected with environmental protest. It could more likely be a disgruntled past employee seeking revenge or some other criminal attack targetting specifically Les Walkden Enterprises, and happy to have blame attributed to environmentalists.
Indeed, the modus operandi of the night time attacks on Les Walkden have similarity with the attack on Camp Floz.
Yet as night follows day, within a few days Camp Flozza is torched, following the Tasmania Opposition publicly implying that this damage was associated with the “forest conflict”. How irrespponsible?
So what involvement did Tasmanian loggers play in this misguided arson attack on Camp Flozza just two weekends ago? Police ought to be taling to the local Forestry Tasmania crews under Scott Marriott, asking questions whther anyone saw anything; about who was where when around the local Maydena logger haunts like the National Park Hotel, the Maydena RSL and the New Norfolk Hotel. What vehicles were seen travveling along the Gordon River Road west of Maydena on the night of Sunday 9th September 2012?
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Word of mouth says that in the days between the two attacks on Les Walkden Enterprises logging operations and the arson attack on Camp Flozza, loggers on Facebook were fuming and texting prolifically threatening retaliation against ‘Green scum’ and ‘Green terrorists’. Police investigation of social media could well identify the culprits of all three attacks.
One Tasmanian logger page on Facebook includes correspondence on a known Tasmanian logger page is telling of the angst.
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“…the interim protection order on forests locked up for the IGA expired at midnight this Saturday just gone. Some of that forest was in the Buttlers Gorge area. Walkdens machinery was burnt out in the Buttlers Gorge area this weekend just gone, then his offices at New Norfolk….. co-incidence or not?”
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“How would they like it if someone did this to their property??? They’d squeal like crazy. Makes me so angry when they do this.”
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“Find them and cut off their centrelink payments plus jail time of 4 year. the governemnt BAN and shut down everything else so what not shut down the greens and BAN them.”
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“Hope they catch the dickheads that did this soon, someone must have seen strangers in the area they didnt walk there .”
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Jarrod Halsall should be nmade to pay for the damage done intil its completely paid should come out of there own back pocket ill go set there green alight and there propbety gutless doggs.”
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“I suspect that there are a couple of lackwit bogans somewhere sniggering about how they not only got away with it, but the “greenies” are being blamed. No doubt a double bonus to persons of that ilk.”
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“K***’are you really so gullible and naive that you think this is not the handywork of Green terrorists? Have a talk to Jenny – I believe she has a great little hand book on this kind of thing – Im sure you are aware of it?”
What area of old growth native forest has been saved from business-as-usual deforestation as a result of the United Nation’s declaration of 2011 as the International Year of Forests?
Well, at the time of writing, the public relations material on the official UN website conveys a general message that the ‘Forests 2011‘ programme is intended “to strengthen global efforts to improve the state of forests” and draws upon its dedicated subsidiary United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), adopting four Global Objectives:
Reverse Forest Loss – reverse the loss of forest cover worldwide through sustainable forest management, including protection,restoration, afforestation and reforestation, and increase efforts to prevent forest degradation.
Enhance Forest-based Benefits – economic, social and environmental benefits, including by improving the livelihoods of forest-dependent people.
Increase Sustainably Managed Forests – including protected forests, and increase the proportion of forest products derived from sustainably managed forests.
Mobilize Financial Resources – reverse the decline in official development assistance for sustainable forest management and mobilise significantly-increased new and additional financial resources from all sources for the implementation of sustainable forest management.
Sounds encouraging, but where are the stated deliverables?, key result areas?, key performance indicators?, programme targets?, UN budget to achieve these global objectives? Where is the implementation plan and the delegated implementation task force?
The website is thick on its public relations message, but thin on substance. In the absence of any mention of the means to achieve these four objectives, my initial reaction is that it is more motherhood and perhaps just about ‘raising awareness‘. But don’t we already know that deforestation is a critical global problem?
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The aim of the UN International Year of Forests 2011 seems to have merely been “to raise awareness and strengthen the sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests for the benefit of current and future generations“.
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It just sounds like more Forestry spin!
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And ‘sustainable forest management‘ is a familiar phrase and one bandied about not by environmentalists, but by forestry industry – i.e. industrial loggers. Type ‘sustainable forest management’ in Google at look at the websites results:
Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (i.e. derives revenue from logging)
Australian Forest Education Alliance (AFEA) – includes members from Australian Forest Products Association, Forests NSW, Forest Education Foundation Tasmania, Forest and Wood Products Australia, Primary Industries and Resources South Australia, Forestry Sustainable Forestry Program (Southern Cross University), NSW Forest Products Commission WA, VicForests (i.e. all derive revenue directly from logging, or subsidised by industrial loggers)
Forestry Tasmania (i.e. derives revenue from logging)
Forests NSW (i.e. derives revenue from logging)
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (encouraged forest be used for wood production)
The Institute of Foresters of Australia
Department of Sustainability and Environment (Victoria) (encouraged logging and burning of native forests)
etc.
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UN International Year of Forests 2011 – ‘Global Achievements‘?
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The only other information that may be gleaned from the official UN site covers topics such as promotional events, films, photos, collaborative global partner organisations plus some forest statistics, a few online publications but that’s about it. So today on 30th December 2011 as the International Year for Forests draws to a close, what has the UN programme actually achieved?
What area of the world’s native forests has been protected from otherwise business-as-usual deforestation? What has stopped Forestry Tasmania and its band of loggers from their business-as-usual holocaust treatment of Tasmania’s endangered ancient native forest ecosystems?
Answer: More PR funding for the UN’s next programme?
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Australian Government’s endorsement of International Year of Forests 2011
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Rather than convey an assessment here, I shall just quote from the Australian Government’s website dedicated to supporting this programme (before it vanishes):
‘Australia has some of the most beautiful and productive forest areas in the whole world. These fantastic and magical places mean a lot of different things to different people. Some of us work with the wood from the forests. Some work with the creatures that live in the forests. Some of us live in the forests and some of us play in the forest (camping, hiking, exploring) and some of us just love looking and being in a forest!
‘Without a doubt what ever your use, be it a little or a lot, Australian’s should be proud of Australia’s forests!
‘The United Nations announced 2011 as the International Year of Forests. Australians can unite and celebrate our sustainably managed forests and the diversity that our forests bring to our lives. Our forests give us wood that we use every single day and these very same forests give us the best playground that our kids could ever hope for. Australia’s forests are used by everyone and are the best in the world!
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Ministers Address
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‘Australia has about 4 per cent of the world’s forests on 5 per cent of the world’s land area, and has one of the best managed forestry sectors in the world.
‘The nation’s forests, and the products they produce, provide significant employment, environmental and recreational benefits to communities across Australia. Australia’s forestry and wood manufacturing sector employs nearly 76,000 people, many in regional areas, and generates around $7 billion worth of wood and paper products annually.
‘Across the nation the forests in conservation reserves cover over 23 million hectares. These reserves provide recreational benefits for communities and contribute to the 12 billion tonnes of carbon stored by Australian forests. Industry and government have been working hard to make sure our forests remain sustainable and viable for the long-term.
‘The Australian Government recognise the importance of World Forestry Day and the International Year of Forests and has actively supported both initiatives. This year the Gillard Government intends to release legislation to ban the importation of timber products that have not been legally harvested. This law will contribute to global efforts to stop illegal logging, provide for sustainable forest products made in Australia and reduce unfair competition. The Gillard Government remains committed to promoting sustainable forestry initiatives and encourages people to celebrate the International Year of the Forest.’
Senator Joe Ludwig,
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
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And guess who’s embraced the 2011 International Year of Forests with public relations relish?
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Forestry Tasmania
“Congratulations to Forestry Tasmania (FT) who held a successful Tasmanian launch of International Year of Forests. Held in Hobart on 25 January the ‘forest in the city’ event proved to be a popular summer holiday diversion with a steady stream of families, shoppers and naturalist flowing in to the Melville Street Dome throughout the afternoon.” .
‘Forestry Tasmania (FT) kicked off its celebrations for the United Nations International Year of Forests 2011 with an open day at the ‘forest in the city’ in its Hobart headquarters on 25 January. The event proved to be a popular summer holiday diversion, with a steady stream of families, shoppers and naturalists flowing into the Melville Street Dome throughout the afternoon. Their curiosity was rewarded by science and fire fighting displays, indoor abseiling, and even the opportunity for the young (and young at heart) to have their photo taken with ‘Krusty’, FT’s very own giant freshwater crayfish.
Forestry Tasmania’s promotional campaign for the International Year of Forests 2011
…to educate children early on that Forestry is good for native forests.
Tasmania’s endangered Giant Freshwater Crayfish just loves loggers destroying its habitat.
Get ’em while they’re young Bob!
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Forestry Tasmania’s General Manager Corporate Relations and Tourism, Ken Jeffreys, said the open day was just a taste of things to come, with a 12-month calendar of events planned to celebrate the International Year of Forests.
“We have a number of exciting projects scheduled over the next year, such as the opening of new accommodation at Tahune, to be called the AirWalk Lodge.
“This development will, for the first time, see family accommodation available at one of Tasmania’s most highly visited tourism attractions. It will allow our guests to spend a full day experiencing all of the activities on offer at the AirWalk, as well as the many other attractions on offer in the Huon Valley.
“The year will also see a number of high-profile sporting events on state forest, including mountain biking and the multi-sport Ben Lomond Descent.
“And one of our bursary recipients, Shannon Banks, is going to attempt to visit all 52 of our recreation and tourism attractions around the State over the year. She’ll be writing a blog about her adventures, which we hope will inspire Tasmanians to experience the wonders of the forests in their own backyard.”
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Mr Jeffreys said FT’s staff were excited by the opportunities presented by the International Year of Forests 2011.
“This year, we want to show the community that we are proud of the work we do to ensure the full range of forest values are maintained in perpetuity. Our staff worked hard to create displays for the launch that were fun and informative. The public’s reception showed us that there is a great deal of interest, and open-mindedness, about the way our forests are managed.”
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Speech notes Simon Grove (Conservation Biologist with Forestry Tasmania – Division of Forest Research & Development):
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‘Before I hand over to Rebecca White MHA to officially launch the International Year of Forests, I’ve been asked to say a few words about what our forests mean to the people that work here in Forestry Tasmania. Since our values come from our personal life-experiences, all I can do is tell you my own story, while recognising that every one of us here has their own story too.
I work as a researcher, a conservation biologist, with Forestry Tasmania. In some ways I deal with the meat in the sandwich that is forestry today – what does nature have to say about how we manage – or should manage – the forests in our care? But I want to start at the beginning. Life is all about discovery, learning and figuring things out, and I was lucky to discover early in life that nature, and forests, can be an excellent source of inspiration and experimentation. So here are a few of my naturalists’ memories, going back to toddlerdom.
I remember:
Figuring out that earthworms have bristles that work like legs – if you fill an empty milk-bottle with worms and then leave the milk-bottle in the kitchen, the worms climb out and slither all over the kitchen floor.
Learning that if I sat very still in the woods, I could watch the native mice going about their lives – and I could even catch them in my hands – but that they would bite my little sister’s hands if she tried the same thing.
Learning that bumblebees loved the nectar of honeysuckle flowers as much as I did – and that they wouldn’t sting if I picked them up to enjoy the sensation of having them buzzing around in my cupped hands – but that they would sting my little sister’s hands if she tried the same thing.
Discovering that it wasn’t only nasty wasps that filled the summer air with their droning, but beautiful flower-loving hoverflies – but little sisters aren’t always good at telling them apart.
Realising that hungry ground-beetles eat lizards if you keep them in the same cage and don’t feed them.
Learning that baby starlings abandoned by their parents get too hot if you try and incubate them on the boiler.
Discovering that tadpoles kept in a glass jar don’t turn into frogs unless you give them some land to climb out onto.
Realising that flower-presses were designed for delicate plants such as dandelions, and not for cacti.
Learning that seashells brought back from the beach get very smelly if they still have their animals in them.
Discovering that puffball fungi give off clouds of spores if you wee on them.
Discovering that blackbirds’ eggs taste as good as chooks’ eggs if you fry them up on a camping stove in the garden.
Figuring out that foxes eat cherries – you can find the stones in their poos.
Figuring out that I could make wonderfully whiffy stink-bomb mixture by adding all sorts of sordid ingredients – dog-poo, apple-cores, ink – to the liquid accumulating in the bottom of a tree-hollow; but that if I then added real chemical stink-bomb ingredients to this then I ended up with dead-maggot stew instead.
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We all have stories like this. (Ed: perhaps only at FT) In retrospect, we can see that they make us who we are today. Our challenge is to ensure that the next generation is encouraged to explore and experiment too.
I didn’t grow up in Tasmania, but the other side of the world in England. But I don’t think it would have made much difference to my outlook as a child. Nature’s all around us, and children the world over are tuned into it. If it’s nurtured, as it was in me, the empathy for nature can grow. Otherwise it may die away. The presence here today of so many families and children is testament to the amount of nurturing going on around us – which is wonderful to see. And what better place to do so than in our forests.
Some of us are lucky in that as adults we still get to liberate our inner child from time to time – every day if we’re very lucky. That’s how I’ve managed to live my life since leaving school – right through the years of university study; of working with nature conservation organisations in the UK; of working in Uganda as a conservation trainer in the forest department and in Indonesia as a training adviser on an international sustainable forest management project. It’s how I lived my life when I was researching rainforest insects in North Queensland for my PhD. And it’s how I have done so for the past decade as a conservation biologist here at Forestry Tasmania.
And despite what you might expect from media coverage of forestry issues, I don’t feel alone. Many people working in forestry here in Tasmania are naturalists at heart, and many more who wouldn’t call themselves naturalists nevertheless have a deep appreciation for the bush and an understanding of what makes it tick. Not so much sawdust in our veins, as bushdust – an empathy with the forests, and a recognition that we humans are not so much their lords and masters as their stewards.
My brother and I used to call chainsaws ‘long bottoms’, because to my ear they sounded like someone doing a very long fart. Later in my youth I came to see them as the conservationist’s friend, as we went about clearing wildling pines invading the heathland where rare birds nested. Today I know that chainsaws also have more prosaic functions – people use them to harvest trees so that they can be turned into products that we all use, such as timber and paper. This would be a tragic end for the forest if harvest were indeed the end-point. But it’s not, because experience shows that the elements of nature displaced by the harvest begin to move straight back in almost as soon as the chainsaws fall silent, and the forest begins to regrow and to fill with life again.
A background in natural history is good for making connections – among species and among natural processes. We learn that eagles feed on pademelons that graze on grasses and browse on young saplings; eagles nest in the old trees that grew up after the last wildfire and that escaped the browsing of pademelons; fungi and beetles recycle the trees – and even the eagles and pademelons – once they die. Eagles, trees, fungi, pademelons and beetles are all connected. Those of us steeped in natural history and ecology also make connections between humans and the rest of nature. We’re the original environmentalists. We recognise that the world faces not only a GFC but also a GEC – a global environmental crisis. I should emphasise that this crisis is not the outcome of sustainable forestry. But it is the cumulative outcome of all of our growing material demands outstripping the planet’s ability to supply. We all – especially our children – have to deal with the consequences.
In this context, we still expect the world’s remaining forests to be reservoirs of nature and yet to continue to supply our material and spiritual needs. It’s a big ask, but it can be done – certainly so in a place like Tasmania, with all the expertise in forestry and conservation at our disposal.
If I’ve discovered one big theme about the natural world during my life, it is that nature, for all its fragility, is remarkably resilient – think how forests recover after a bushfire. And the main take-home message from the forestry Masters course that I took at Oxford all those years ago, reinforced by daily experience since then, is that forestry is as much about people as it is about trees. Connecting the two concepts I come to a heartening conclusion. Through the increasing value that all of us place on our forests, they look set to become landscapes not of conflict but of reconciliation. Let’s see if we can use this International Year of Forests to further that end.
I’d now like to formally hand over to Rebecca White MHA, so that she can officially launch this International Year of Forests as Forestry Tasmania’s Ambassador.’
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(Tasmanian) State Labor Member for Lyons and International Year of Forests Ambassador, Rebecca White MP, was on hand to officially launch Forestry Tasmania’s celebrations for 2011. She said the UN’s theme for the year, ‘celebrating forests for people’, had struck a deep chord with her.
“This theme resonated deeply with me, as it conveys the need to manage forests for many values, including conservation and sustainable development. It means that these values, which are often portrayed as being in conflict, are in fact intertwined. It also recognises that people are central to the effective management of forests.
“With careful, scientifically driven management, such as we have in Tasmania, there need not be a contradiction between conserving biodiversity and providing wood products and other non-commercial values from forests.Forestry Holocaust of the Tarkine, October 2009
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“While not all values may be delivered in any one area of forest, they are delivered across the entire landscape. While there are of course a number of challenges confronting the forest industry at present, it’s nonetheless important to remember that our state forests provide skilled employment for thousands of Tasmanians, and indirect employment for many more in our rural and regional communities.
“And of course, our state forests also provide clean drinking water to our towns and cities, they store the equivalent of 24% of Tasmania’s carbon emissions each year, and they provide a host of recreation activities and tourism attractions that appeal to locals and visitors alike.”
Upper Florentine old growth forest clearfelled by Forestry Tasmania in 2009, situated behind Forest Defenders’ Camp Flozza
(Photo by Editor 20110928, free in public domain, click to enlarge)
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World Deforestation Clock
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Each year about 13 million hectares of the world’s forests are lost due to deforestation, but the rate of net forest loss is slowing down, thanks to new planting and natural expansion of existing forests.
From 1990 to 2000, the net forest loss was 8.9 million hectares per year.
From 2000 to 2005, the net forest loss was 7.3 million hectares per year – an area the size of Sierra Leone or Panama and equivalent to 200 km2 per day.
Primary forests are lost or modified at a rate of 6 million hectares per year through deforestation or selective logging.
Plantation forests are established at a rate of 2.8 million hectares per year.
Forestry clearfell of old-growth in Tasmania’s Styx Valley
(Photo by Editor 20110928, free in public domain, click photo to enlarge)
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More than two months (on 7th August 2011) after the landmark deal that promised to bring peace to Tasmania’s forests the protests – and the logging – continue unabated.
Funding for the struggling timber industry under the landmark $276 million Gillard-Giddings deal is starting to trickle out, but as yet not one tree has been saved!
Conservationists concede they may end up with nothing to show for 18 months of torturous negotiations, while many in the industry are sceptical that the promised peace will ever be achieved. The key decisions – on how many and which forests will be saved – are bogged down in difficult detail and alleged recalcitrance. Tasmania’s upper house, meanwhile, is lining up to sink the legislation needed to create the new national parks and reserves.
Environment Tasmania’s Phill Pullinger (right) with The Wilderness Society’s Vica Bayley
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A key conservationist and negotiator, Environment Tasmania director Phill Pullinger, concedes to Inquirer that events could conspire to see money flow to industry without one tree ever being saved.
“To be honest, it is a possibility,” says Pullinger, a Hobart doctor and former young Tasmanian of the year. “It has always been the case that the forest protection couldn’t be permanently delivered until the legislation goes through both houses of the Tasmanian parliament.”
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That vote is a long way off, probably well into next year. The most immediate hurdle to overcome is a row over whether the state-owned Forestry Tasmania should be allowed to continue logging in 41 coupes (forest areas). All are within 430,000ha of forests set aside for “immediate” interim protection in the Gillard-Giddings deal of August 7, known as the Forests Intergovernmental Agreement or IGA.
Forestry Tasmania insists it needs to log in these coupes, a fraction of the total area, to maintain existing contracts to timber mills. Conservationists argue Forestry Tasmania could and should reschedule logging to less ecologically significant forests. The dispute was being sorted out by an independent rescheduling team appointed by state and federal governments. Inquirer has learned this process has gone badly for conservationists, with only seven of the 41 coupes able to be protected and five already logged. Forestry Tasmania and industry claim there simply is not time to do the rescheduling work – new roads, development of forest practices plans – necessary to shift to new areas quickly enough to meet existing timber contracts.
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‘It is a fundamental problem that has weakened the (peace) process: you’ve got a government agency that is essentially working against the agreement. And the governments haven’t shown the stomach to pull the agency into line.’’
~ Phill Pullinger, Environment Tasmania, October 2011
Conservationists claim this should have been done months ago, given that Forestry Tasmania was asked by the state government – its owner – to place a moratorium on logging in these forests in March.
“They (FT) have basically for 12 months now deliberately spun the wheels on that; there could easily have been a moratorium delivered six or nine months ago,” Pullinger says. “It is a fundamental problem that has weakened the (peace) process: you’ve got a government agency that is essentially working against the agreement. And the governments haven’t shown the stomach to pull the agency into line.”
Crew-cutting pristine Tasmanian wilderness
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This is rare intemperate talk from Pullinger, normally diplomatic and restrained as he tries to keep his constituency in the peace tent and the process on track.
It’s a sign things are not going well. Forestry Tasmania, a government business enterprise that reports to a board and is not necessary bound by ministerial direction, denies it has been dragging the chain. While it is the party with the most to lose – up to 572,000ha of native forest it manages for timber production – corporate relations manager Ken Jeffreys insists it is acting in good faith.
“Some people out there seem to think that FT has some maniacal glint in their eye and go out and harvest forests when it has no market because it has nothing better to do,” Jeffreys complains to Inquirer. “That is so far from common sense it’s hard to respond to.“
He insists Forestry Tasmania is happy to abide by the independent reschedulers’ verdict and points out that it has already rescheduled logging out of some contentious coupes. This fight over a handful of coupes has been holding up plans under the IGA for an overall immediate interim conservation agreement between the state, Forestry Tasmania and Canberra to protect the 430,000ha. Under the IGA, this interim agreement would protect those forests while an independent verification team determines the final size and location of the new permanent reserves.
Ancient Myrtle Beech (Nothofagus cunninghamii) chainsawed in the Upper Florentine Valley, Tasmania
(Photo by Editor 20110928, free in public domain, click photo to enlarge)
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IGA Independent Verification Team
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The independent team, overseen by academic Jonathan West, will decide how much forest, of a larger 572,000ha nominated by green groups, is worthy of protection. West’s team will also test industry claims about how much timber it requires to meet existing contracts. Then it must decide how much forest can be protected while providing this resource. The job, which unrealistically is due to be completed by December 31, is the “forest wars” equivalent of deciding where exactly the boundaries of a Palestinian state should be drawn.
Conservation groups believe that most – if not all – of the 572,000ha can be protected, once a developing plantation resource is factored in.
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Forestry Tasmania’s position
Forestry Tasmania chief, Bob Gordon
– what IGA? It’s logging business as usual to fill ‘orders’.
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Forestry Tasmania stands by its modelling suggesting that no more than 300,000ha can be protected if it is to deliver on current timber contracts. Some in the industry believe only 250,000ha can be saved from the chainsaws. Neither of the industry figures is unlikely to be enough for conservationists, but may well be too much for Tasmania’s independent-dominated upper house. Several recent votes in the Legislative Council suggest it is opposed to the IGA and to more forest “lock-ups”. Its refusal to pass the reserves would leave conservationists relying on a federal-state conservation agreement to protect those forests.
While such an agreement would ban logging, it is legally uncertain if Forestry Tasmania could ignore this on the basis that it conflicts with its legislative or contractual obligations.
Jeffreys insists Forestry Tasmania would abide by any final agreement, subject to being able to meet those commitments – a big out if Forestry Tasmania decided to dig in for a battle.
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Tony Burke’s position:
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Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke
in Tasmania’s Wielangta forest, March 2011
(Photo by Matthew Newton, Source: The Australian ) .
Despite the difficulties, federal Environment Minister Tony Burke remains confident he can pull off the kind of final “win-win” forest peace deal that has eluded so many of his predecessors. He tells Inquirer the alternative is a kind of mutually assured destruction, whereby the forests continue to fall as fast as the jobs.
The number of jobs in Tasmanian forestry has halved since 2008 from 6960 to 3460, due mainly to Japanese paper-makers boycotting woodchips sourced from native forests, Gunns exiting the industry in favour of a plantation-based pulp mill and as a result of the high Australian dollar.
“If you let the markets sort this one out without a co-ordinated strategy from state and federal government … then you end up with a terrible outcome for the Tassie economy … diabolical,” Burke says.
Initially as Forests minister and more recently as Environment Minister, Burke has been involved in the process from the beginning. The first in federal cabinet to twig to the potential to assist industry while securing a historic conservation outcome, he has repeatedly slipped quietly into Tasmania to do his own field work.
The former staffer to Graham Richardson has camped with greenies amid the giant eucalypts of the Styx Valley and toured sawmills and production forests. When the process has looked as if it were imploding, he has intervened with all sides to keep it on track. Inspired to join the ALP by landmark conservation battles such as the Daintree and Kakadu, Burke constantly stresses his desire to also secure a good outcome for jobs and industry.
He believes the (Tasmanian) Legislative Council will take a different view to new reserves when details are developed for a $120m federal regional development fund promised under the IGA. That money, to revitalise timber communities and diversify the Tasmanian economy, is contingent upon state parliament passing the new reserves legislation. No reserves; no $120m.
Burke, himself a former state upper house MP (in NSW), believes this cash for regions will ultimately win over the key 12 independent MLCs.
“Those MPs will have to look in the eyes of a whole lot of their constituents who are out of work and justify their actions,” he says. “I just don’t believe when it comes to it they’ll vote this down. This is the first time we have tried to deal with this issue with an independent process rather than a political fix. The irony this time is: can we stop politics from wrecking it, not from fixing it?”
He warns both sides will need to accept the outcome of the independent verification process. “They are honour-bound to accept the process – they created it,” he says.
This suggests Canberra will not be afraid to impose the verdict of the independent verification team if the two sides cannot embrace it – or at least an agreed variation of it. Such action may well see either side – timber or conservation – walk away.
Certainly, Pullinger won’t promise to accept the outcome if it is not embraced by both sides.
“If the independent verification group comes down and says … we are going to protect just a fraction of these forests … then – expert group or not – I don’t think anyone believes that is going to be able to deliver a lasting agreement.”
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Editor:
The IGA deal is a deal is a promise. Why are Gillard and Giddings allowing Forestry Tasmania to renege on the deal by continuing to log these now protected native forests in Tasmania’s Styx Valley and southern forests. Why are Gillard and Giddings breaking their promise to Tasmanians?
IGA interim reserves are IGA interim reserves? The IGA offers millions in contractual compensation. So take the compensation Bob Gordon! You can’t have your compensation and interim reserves too!
Leave the bloody old growth alone!
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, 2011
– do I really have to honour that forest deal?
(Photo: The Examiner)
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Evidence of new logging despite Tasmanian Forests Agreement
Environment Tasmania, the Wilderness Society and the Australian Conservation Foundation have released a report assessing the status of logging in important native forests and photographs that show new logging activity in forest reserves prescribed by the Tasmanian Forests Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA).
“The settlement and retirement of Gunns’ native forest timber quotas has halved the demand for native forest timber from Forestry Tasmania, so there is no need or justification for logging within the forest reserve areas,” said Dr Phill Pullinger of Environment Tasmania.
“Wood supply for remaining sawmills can be provided from outside of the important native forests identified for protection,” Dr Pullinger said.
“Aerial photographs taken in late August and last week show Forestry Tasmania continues to log inside the 430,000 hectares of unique and important forests identified for immediate protection in the IGA,” said Vica Bayley of the Wilderness Society.
“In fact, our report and the new photos show Forestry Tasmania has not rescheduled logging outside this area and has even commenced logging new coupes since the IGA was signed.
“While we are encouraged to see progress on key components of the intergovernmental agreement — including the retirement of Gunns’ wood quota, funding for timber workers and contractors and the independent verification group — we have seen no progress on halting logging inside the nominated forest reserve areas,” Mr Bayley said.
“Environment groups again call on the state government to honour the agreement it has signed by directing Forestry Tasmania to declare the nominated forests as informal reserves and immediately appointing an independent expert to undertake the rescheduling,” said Denise Boyd of the Australian Conservation Foundation.
The report released today is part of environment group signatories’ ongoing commitment to implementing the IGA and will provide governments with verified, accurate information to help achieve the forest protection outcomes of the IGA. The state government must now ensure delivery of the critical plank of the IGA – forest protection.
“We have seen no progress on halting logging inside the nominated forest reserve areas.”
~ Vica Bayley, The Wilderness Society
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Forest protest continues in Mount Mueller Forest, Styx Valley (Tree Sit, Day 7)
‘Today “Camp Flozza” celebrates its fifth birthday. The forest blockade has been running continuously for the past five years, holding off logging operations in the Upper Florentine Valley’. [Read More].
Styx Valley Holocaust– old-growth clearfelled by Forestry Tasmania
(Photo by editor 20110929 – free in public domain)
(Click photo to enlarge, then click again to enlarge again)
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“A Conservation Agreement halting logging in 430,000 hectares is now over-due. The Intergovernmental Agreement signed in August explicitly states that logging operations must be rescheduled or where this is not possible compensation given. Every hectare of forest lost in this area now represents a complete breach of the promises made by the government.”
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~ Miranda Gibson, Still Wild Still Threatened
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Of old growth defenders:
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently—they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
~ Steve Jobs [1955-2011]
History will recount – the steadfast commitment by these forest defenders to hold their ground, to dig in, in the face of an overwhelming enemy, compares to the dusty amateurs that became the rats of Tobruk.
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Of old growth rapers:
Styx Valley hillside clearfelled – beyond Forestry Tasmania’s locked gates.
(Photo by editor 20110929 – free in public domain)
(Click photo to enlarge, then click again to enlarge again)
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A morally-wise person would not put down an animal because it was injured. Moral civilized society has evolved the ‘Veterinary’ profession – a highly skilled field, more highly qualified than human ‘General Practice Medicine’ – why?
In the wild, a female mammal may kill an impaired offspring only to save its remaining healthy young scarce food to survive.
In Tasmania, old growth forests are becoming scarcer by the day, and yes this is still occuring in the 21st Eco-Century, not the 19th Timbergetting Century.
But in the selfish eyes of industrial loggers, any broken branch justifies the clearfell and scorched earthing of old growth forests by the hectare, which are innocuously relegated as ‘coupes’.
What then is a coupe? A forest coupe is earmarked for logging. A selected section of an intact, pristine native old growth forest is earmarked by Forestry Command for ‘harvesting‘, read ‘logging‘, read ‘forest ecology slaughter‘, read ‘forest wildlife habitat destruction‘. Yet to the logger mind forest reads as plunderable timber, and these days as low grade commodity woodchip to greedy asian profiteers, only to sustain a diehard, got-no-where-to-go desperate logger culture. The log-till-I-drop logger mentality is no different to morbidly obese American juveniles confessing dependence on Maccas Big Macs.
I fear loggers would do same to their grandparents once impaired.
‘Corporate industrialism’ is worse than Herbert Spencer’s ‘survival of the fittest’ mindset. It is self-serving Forest Eugenics – evident in Forestry Tasmania’s programmed conversion of native Tasmania into plantations and the scourge of its genetically modified Eucalyptus nitens now exterminating Tasmania’s next condemned species – the Tasmanian Devil.
Beware the Forest Nazis lurking in the privets.
Holocaust is what the Nazis didThis is what Forestry Tasmania did recently to The Tarkine.
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‘Forest Eugenics’ is what Forestry Tasmanian ‘scientists‘ are doing today – GM-modified Eucalypt nitens plantations replacing native Old Growth
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Is this where GM Nitens (shining gum) is taking Tasmanian ecology – to ‘elite forests’?– superior growth rate, disease resistant, herbicide resistant, but perhaps the GM-exterminator of Tasmanian Devils.
For the cause and their honour
Camp Flozza remembered
Tasmanian police escort a log truck out of the Upper Florentine Valley after a week of protests, January 2009.
[Source: ‘Protests have failed to stop the log trucks’, 20090121, ABC News,
^http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-01-21/tasmanian-police-escort-a-log-truck-out-of-the/273180]
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Does young Will mean blood?
Sacred Upper Florentine Valley being logged only a few years ago
