Miranda’s Daily Blog: Day 85
I sit here in the quiet still night, listening to the call of the boobook owl and watching over the moonlit forest. Suddenly a loud crack rings through the air. A gun shot. And then another. The shooters are back again. They come to the clearfell nearby to shot and kill wildlife. This is part of the way in which the forestry industry operates in Tasmania. I try to block it out, but it’s hard not to imagine the little pademelons falling prey to the guns. Crack crack crack… I know that tonight, like the other nights when the shooters are out, it will be hard to sleep as the sound of gunfire rings through the valley.
As I take a moment to think of the pademelons that have fallen victim to the forestry industry here, I think too about the Orang-utans of Sarawak, who are also the victims of a ruthless forestry industry driven by the same company who is responsible for Tasmanian forest destruction- Ta Ann.
Ta Ann Holdings are implicated in corruption, large-scale environmental destruction, human rights abuses and deforestation of key Orang-utan habitat. Evidence of their activities in Sarawak have been documented in a report released by the Huon Valley Environment Center this week.
Tonight I was looking at the photos of Orang -Utans in the new report and feeling such a deep sense of sadness for them and for all of the creatures who have lost their lives for the sake of Ta Ann’s greed. I think it is the so very human look in the Orang- Utans eyes. It is so hard to imagine how the loggers can destroy those areas with no regard for the safety of these animals. As I write this lights flash across the sky. Not the aurora which I had hoped I might get to see. But instead the search lights of the shooters. The bright lights scan across the forest. It is silent now except for that BooBook, but any minute now they will find what they are looking for and the shots will start again. It is just so difficult to understand why so much destruction and killing is allowed to continue.
I have been reading report on Ta Ann and my resolve is strengthening, we must continue more than ever to hold this company accountable. The lies they have told about their activities in Tasmania and their false eco-friendly branding are obviously not their only attempts at trying to hide the truth of their practices. In 2009 they proudly announced membership in the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Global Forest and Trade Network (GFTN). The integrity of such membership is severely questionable considering the company is logging key Orang- utan habitat. ‘Most of the forest Ta Ann is in the process of clearing for timber plantations falls within the boundaries of the WWF ‘Heart of Borneo’ project, described by WWF as the ‘one place remaining in South East Asia where tropical forests can still be conserved on a grand scale.’’91
The thing that I found most distressing about Ta Ann’s activities is the total disregard for the rights of Indigenous people. The displacement of Indigenous people in Sarawak has been driven by this company, in order for logging and oil palm plantations. To take away the forest, to pollute the water, to destroy the land is to destroy the lives of the people who depend on the land for survival. The legal rights of the indigenous people through Native Customary Rights (NCR) include rights to the produce of the forest, fishing rights, and land access rights. These are being denied and ignored for the benefit of the forest industry, including Ta Ann.
Although the Indigneous people can try to defend their rights to the land in court, it is difficult because they often don’t know that logging is due to occur until the contractors turn up. ”
Court cases regarding native title are often held up in the courts for up to ten years, while forest-dwellers watch the habitat on which they rely for their livelihoods are destroyed.” If any official complaints are made against Ta Ann, then thugs are brought in to harass villagers.
The area for which Ta Ann has plantation licence directly affects 96 villages.
An indigenous member of the Iban from the village of Rumah Jupiter, the area under Lot 97 disputed in the High Court case, stated “we are told that we have no rights and we were even ordered to stop using and cultivating our lands. If the government has acquired our lands and give it to the company, why are we not informed or notified and compensated accordingly? Our lands and properties are taken from our back and issued to others. This is sheer robbery. “
As I sit here in my tree and look out over the forest that I have come to know and love, I know I find it hard enough to see these forests destroyed, I cannot imagine the trauma of losing your land when it is your life, your culture, your livelihood, your survival. And then I think about the brave action taken by the communities, many of whom have erected blockades to hold off the logging companies. Although the Sarawak Forest Ordinance has made it illegal for the Penan people to even be in their own forest homes, meaning that people seen at the blockades face arrests and jail sentences or large fines.
Ta Ann Tasmania are inextricably linked to these practises of their parent company Ta Ann Holdings. This report gives even more reason why we need to be questioning this companies activities in Tasmania. If you haven’t done so already, please take a moment to sign the cyber action.
It’s going to be a long night here, as I try to sleep despite the gun fire.
Talk to you again soon,
Miranda
Miranda’s Daily Blog: Day 81
I now I have a garden! Well, a sort-of garden. It’s a sprout garden. I was so excited to get a package sent up and discover it was my very own “bio-snacky.” It’s a three-tiered sprouting tray. The idea is to stagger the laying of your spout seeds over several days, and that way you will have a fresh layer of sprouts each day ready to eat! What a great way to get fresh food up here. So, on the first day I put mung bean seeds in the top layer. The second day I put alfalfa seeds in. And tomorrow will be time for layer number three: fenugreek seeds. I might seem strange to live in a forest and want a garden, but It’s amazing how nice it feels to have something up here that I can tend to and watch grow, and then eat. I keep looking over at it to see if there has been any change in the little seeds. But so far they have not started sprouting yet. But I’ll keep my eye on them.
My garden adds an extra homely feeling to my tree sit. Which I think is important to have. It can get a bit hard to be up here sometimes. As you can imagine. It’s challenging to wake up in the same place everyday and know that I have no where to go all day, and then go back to sleep to do it all again the next day. Not that I don’t have lots of things to keep me busy, especially when my power is working efficiently. And when I have power and can stay busy I feel the happiest. It’s great to be on the computer working on my blog, making little videos, answering people’s emails, and doing other campaign-related activities. I guess because it gives me a sense of purpose and meaning to being up here. But in the times when the power is low, it can be a bit hard. I was having a night like that the other night. The previous day, after a long period of time editing a video blog, my computer ran out of power. To my dismay the next night I discovered that none of the work had been saved. Oh, well, I thought, I’ll just have to do it again! So I did, and then just as I was close to finishing, what happened? That’s right, ran out of power, again. Ah! I was so frustrated I felt like I just wanted to throw my solar panel, computer, everything off the edge of the sit! I didn’t of course. I just went to bed, feeling frustrated and a bit over it all. And then, in the middle of the night I woke to a high pitched sound, coming from the tree next to me. I opened my eyes and peered into the darkness. I waited quietly, listening. And then, there it was again. Suddenly I saw the shadowy silhouette of an owl open its wings and fly straight towards me! It landed on the branch just above me. After a brief visit, it spread it’s wings and was off into the night, It’s visit felt like a special gift. I lay awake, feeling a renewed sense of wonder at the amazing forest that I live in.I no longer felt any frustration, how can you really, when you live in an ancient ecosystem. Being here day in and day out can’t possibly be boring when everyday something new happens, like the visit of an owl to my tree for the first time.
It was such a dark night, no moon to be seen through the thick cover of clouds. All I could see of the owl was it’s dark and shadowy silhouette. So it was hard to tell what sort of owl it was. I did hear it’s call distinctly though, and it was one I haven’t heard out here before. Mostly I hear the Boo-book owls in this forest. This one, however, had a more high pitch sound, which it repeated twice in each call. I have asked around, but haven’t been able to determine exactly what species it is yet. But I’ll let you know when I work it out. I’ll also let you know when my spouts begin to appear.
Now I am listening to the rain fall onto the tarp. Only moments ago the clouds had disappeared allowing the moon to shine through and light up my tree and the trees around me, casting their long shadows across the valley. The stars had a brief chance to twinkle down on me. And then they were gone, covered once more by thick clouds, with rain setting in. What a nice night for snuggling on down in my swag, cosy in my warm sleeping bag and drifting off to sleep to the sounds of the forest in the rain.
Miranda’s Daily Blog: Day 78
Pinocchio has come to Tasmania to sniff out the lies of the forest industry!! And his nose lead him right to the airport yesterday, to meet Deputy Premier Bryan Green. Bryan was returning from a trip to Japan, where he met with Ta Ann and with their corporate customers. This could have been a oportunity for him to work with Ta Ann to help get them out of native forest destruction. But has Bryan Green simply continued the greenwashing and lies that Ta Ann have been spreading across Japan?
Pinocchio was not fooled by the greenwashing though. In the last few days he as been on a tour of Tasmania, seeing for himself the destruction that is occurring. Pinocchio visited to devastating clearfells and logging operations, where the wood from high conservation value forests is destined for the veneer mills of Ta Ann. Armed with these cold hard facts, Pinocchio stood beside Bryan Green at the Launceston airport and called Ta Ann for what they are: eco-liars.
Thanks to The Last Stand, Huon Valley Environment Center and Code Green for standing with Pinocchio in his efforts to expose the lies! You can join him too…
Please help Pinocchio to dob in the lies of Ta Ann! Click HERE to take part in the cyber action!
Check out this slide show of Pinocchio’s tour.
Pinocchio’s welcome home for Bryan Green made it to the top story on ABC news. Take a look….
Miranda’s Daily Blog: Day 77
I know what you’re probably thinking. Yes, it’s true, in my last blog I did cross my fingers and hope it would rain, so I shouldn’t really be complaining about it, right? But you know, when I woke up in the morning to the drumming of raindrops on the tarp, I must admit that I shrunk down a little deeper into my sleeping bag and thought for a minute I would just like to go right on back to sleep! So when, next minute, my phone beeps with a message “yoga time” from my buddy (we help to remind each other to get up and do our morning yoga) I wrote back to say I’d do it soon (ish), not right now. But of course, if I let myself be scared of a little bit of rain, well, when it comes to winter I’d be stuck in my swag for weeks on end! So, I pulled myself out of the cosy sleeping bag, stepped (or rather crouched) out from under the tarp and into the rain.
So, there I was “saluting to the sun” while it was no where in sight! And you know what, it was amazing. I breathed in and held my face up to the rain to let the drops fall onto my face. (Just like having a shower, only you can’t turn the hot tap on!). I breathed out and watched the mist slowly shifting shapes, the silhouettes of trees appearing and disappearing. I breathed in as I listened to the sounds of birds enjoying their rainy morning exercise as much as me. I breathed out and felt reinvigorated and ready for the day. Wow, I can’t believe I had even for a moment contemplated staying curled up in my sleeping bag under the tarp, what was I thinking!? My morning rainy yoga session had me feeling enthusastic and upbeat all day.
As I promised, I am going to tell you all about Sunday’s visit from a group of wonderful volunteers involved in carbon accounting. I’m sorry that it’s a little bit late now, but I’ve had some technical difficulties! As an introduction to what carbon accounting is all about, I thought I’d show you this little video produced by The Wilderness Society:
Here are the team measuring my tree in order to calculate the amount of carbon stored there:
After measure the tree, the volunteers used an allometric equation, specific to the species and the conditions in which it is growing (in wet forest on fertile dolerite soils). Through this process they were able to get an estimated biomass of 55 tonnes (that is how much the tree wieghs, minus its water content). Half of this biomass is actually carbon because carbon is the basic building blocks of all living things. The Observer Tree therefore contains 27.5 tonnes of carbon which has been taken out of the atmosphere and converted from CO2 into wood and leaves over the life of the tree, something like 300 years. If all the carbon in the tree is released into the atmosphere it will create 100 tonnes of CO2! The carbon footprint of the average Australian is 28 tonnes per year.
The allometric equation comes from an Australian government report and was devised by weighing all the bits of selected trees that had been cut down during a typical logging operation in Tassie’s southern forests. Click here to see the National Carbon Accounting System report.
Thanks to all the volunteers who came out on the weekend. It’s great to know that my tree is storing so much carbon and helping to reduce climate change. Yet another important reason why we need to protect this forest so urgently!
I had another crowd of people walk through the forest to visit me. Stay tuned for a video blog coming soon to a computer near you! 😉
Miranda
Miranda’s Daily Blog: Day 74
The air was electric with energy. The forest was seething with heat. The wind was blowing full force, waves of hot air crashing against the tree sit. The trees around me seemed to be twisting and turning, succumbing to the relentless wind. I don’t think I have ever seen weather like this in these forests. I felt like I was holding my breath, waiting, waiting for something. The air had that expectant feeling about it. I kept my eyes scanning across the horizon, my nose alert for smells of smoke. Any fire that started in weather like this would be moving very quickly.
Yesterday and today I kept constantly checking the Tas fire service website for updates. I was looking on my computer yesterday afternoon and saw an emergency warning for Meadowbank, it had been reported only moments earlier. I turned away from the computer and looked over towards Mount Field. Smoke was billowing up into the sky. It was a light coloured smoke, creamy and almost could be mistaken for cloud. Except for the eerie glow, like the sun was setting on the other side of the mountain. The smoke began to fill the horizon.
Back on the computer I was quickly researching the best tactics when it comes to bush fires and being properly prepared. Some of it only served to make me feel more nervous, imagining what it would be like if a fire ripped through this valley. Especially with the pictures that accompany the articles, that stayed with me long after I’d stopped reading. Yet, it is vital to read and understand and be prepared. Particularly when you are living in the middle of forest, as I am. The most important thing is of course safety. And I wouldn’t hesitate to evacuate if I need to. (No action is worth more than life). It is sad, of course, to think about having to make that decision to leave and I think about all the people who have to leave their homes behind in times like this and not know if it will still be there when they get back. My thoughts go out to those people tonight.
These past two days my platform has swayed and moved, battered by the onslaught of the wind. Sometimes when walking around it is like being on a boat, and I have to hold onto the rope to keep my feet steady. Everything on my platform was trying desperately to escape and run free in the wind. I was obsessively checking everything was tied down properly. Yesterday I was having rice paper rolls for lunch. I had chopped up a selection of ingredients: cabbage, cucumber, carrot, garlic, green beans… and laid them all out ready to prepare my rolls. Suddenly a great gust of wind came, scattering my cabbage (the last of it’s kind up here, I might add). I quickly had to grab hold of everything, which is quite difficult when trying to control multiple small pieces of vegies! I wasn’t quiet quick enough for one of the sheets of rice paper though, which managed to slip away and sail to the ground. Wow, who would have thought eating lunch would be so hectic! In addition my cup also managed to become airborne. I desperately called out to the people on the ground to have a look for the pink plastic Barbie cup, which I seem to have become quiet fond of over these past months. Despite not being too impressed by the selection sent up for me at first, it is funny how I now feel like I would really miss the familiarity of that cup, or bowl or plate. So it was with much relief that I pulled up the runaway Barbie cup, once it was located by ground crew.
If it wasn’t for the worry about fires, I think I would enjoy the weather. In some ways I like the extremes, rather than those perfect days where the weather is so mild that you forget it even exists. I like it when the natural world is reminding you of its presence just a little, when you can’t ignore it – the heat or the cold or the wind. I especially like the windy weather, because it is so full of energy. The hot weather today was a stark contrast to some of the other days I have had up here, that is for sure. I guess I am lucky that these days my platform is more shaded. It’s actually incredible how in the past 2 and a half months that I have been up here, the position of the sun has changed so much. When I first came up in December the sun was moving across high in the sky. Which very little cover from the heat for me, being so close to the top of the tree there are not many branches above for shade. I hadn’t really noticed the sun changing its position so drastically until these past few hot days, when I realise that now I have no trouble keeping in the shade most of the day. The sun goes just slightly lower around the sky now and the branches that reach out to the side provide the perfect amount of shade. It still got mighty hot, though. It was hard to believe that only a few days ago I was wearing thermals and a beanie! To think that some nights the wind has whipped through cold as ice and caused me to huddle under my tarp wrapped in a sleeping bag and today it is thick with heat. That’s Tassie summer for you, though.
Despite the heat, a group of enthusiastic people came out to visit my patch of forest today. About 20 people walked in today to count the carbon in this area of forest, including my tree. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog to find out what this ‘carbon counting’ is all about and what people were up to with tape-measures at the bottom of my tree today!
That’s all for tonight. I hope everyone in the areas near to the fire are safe. And lets hope it dies down and doesn’t spread any further. I think I can smell the faint smell of rain on the air, so fingers crossed we’ll get some much needed rain tonight.
Take care,
Miranda
Miranda’s Daily Blog: Day 73
Forestry Tasmania have really made a mess for themselves this time. An article in The Australian last thursday, by Matthew Denholm, exposed the truth behind Forestry’s contract with Ta Ann. The contract they had made with Ta Ann is basically selling a product that doesn’t exist. That’s right. There simply is not 265,000 cubic meters per year of veneer wood available in the native forest estate of Tasmania. There they trying to push back on conservation outcomes because of contracts and they themselves can’t even meet the contract anyway! And they’d be thanking their lucky stars that Gunns Ltd left the native forest industry of their own accord. If there isn’t even enough wood for Ta Ann, who knows how they expected to supply over double that amount had Gunns Ltd still been in the game.
How did Forestry Tasmania think they would supply Ta Ann with wood that wasn’t there? Lets hope they weren’t thinking of doing any sneaky cutting of wood they weren’t meant to, a little from a wildlife reserve here or a streamside buffer there?
When calculating how much wood you have, the trick is that you can’t just include 100% of the forest that is in the State forest system. Because to do that would mean no streamside buffer zones, no wedge-tail eagle nest buffers, no wildlife corridors. (surely that is not what FT had in mind?). Now, in Tasmania we have the Forest Practises Code (FPC). It outlines some rules for all those conservation measures. Really it is highly inadequate and for a state that claims “world’s best practise” it really leaves a lot to be desired. For example a river (class 1) here in Tasmania is currently getting a 40 meter buffer. When in some other Australian states that would be 100m. Class 4 creeks, like the one just near my tree, get what’s called a Machinery Exclusion Zone, meaning the machines can’t go closer than 10 meters, but it doesn’t necessarily exclude other types of disturbance within that zone. So, really the current Code is not super great for conservation outcomes as it is. Yet, even then, Forestry Tasmania only allocated 10% of the wood in the forest estate to be taken up by such buffers, zones and other inaccessible areas. Well, this is a gross underestimation. They should have been looking more at the 30% figure, or at least 20%. You would think that it would be important to get the calculations right before you went around signing contracts for that wood. Now they are in even more of a pickle. Because not only did they overestimate the amount of wood with the current Code, they didn’t leave room to move. And that was not wise, considering they would have known that the FPC was subject to regular review.
A recent review of the FPC has indicated that tighter restrictions are needed. The review found that the FPC was not providing protection for endangered species. (You and I could have told them that of course, with all the Tasmanian devils in this coupe that are going to lose their homes!). The Forest Practices Authority is particularly concerned about native bird species that require hollows for nesting. So, how did Forestry Tasmania respond? Well, John Hickey from FT was quoted in the Australian as saying that a much more “pragmatic” approach was needed. That’s right, we really can’t concern ourselves too much if the Tasmanian devil is going to go extinct or not, when we have the more important duty of supplying wood to a Malaysian company so that they can make veneer! Well, it’s not really a very convincing argument. At least, it certainly hasn’t convinced me to stop caring about the devils! And it didn’t manage to convince Graham Wilkinson chief of the Forest Practices Authority either. Graham said (as reported in The Australian) that you can’t go against the scientifically proven data and they would not be willing to water down scientifically based requirements. Endangered species need to receive more protection. The new FPC changes will increase the area inaccessible to logging to about 40%. Creating a further shortfall for Forestry Tasmania to sort out for their unviable contract with Ta Ann. The FPC review was no surprise and they should have left a bit of room for it, rather than selling off every last scrap of forest in the entire state (and more).
“Forestry Tasmania has argued throughout the process that, provided it can continue to ignore scientifically based requirements for the protection of endangered species, it could still meet its contracts until 2030 provided no more areas were protected. Now we know that is a lie. It cannot. Even with no reserves, and unsustainable practices, Forestry Tasmania cannot fulfil its contracts from native forests.” Christine Milne said in her press release about the issue.
Forestry Tasmania should be abolished. As Senator Christine Milne said ”
Forestry Tasmania must be disbanded beginning with the Board which has overseen reckless destruction of forests, overcutting, over allocation in contracts and financial failure with the $18 million losses over the past two financial years.” They cannot be trusted. They have not only sold away all of our forests and even some that aren’t there. They also have shown clearly now where their true loyalties lie. If they are willing to say that we should not bother protecting endangered species, that we should instead prioritize contracts, then it is clear that the organisation will never be able to deliver true conservation outcomes. For this reason, it is anyone’s guess why the organisation would be given the responsibilities of both logging and preserving the forests. There is a clear conflict of interest. And in addition they have shown themselves to be simply incompetent at managing our forests time and time again. It is time for them to go.
And as far as Ta Ann’s contract is concerned, well, the new information about wood supply certainly changes the way it should be viewed within the IGA process. How can the negotiation process take into account a contract that can’t be meet even without any new reserves? The contract is going to have to be renegotiated. And since a whole lot of changes are going to have to be made anyway to make up for this debacle, then they might as well make the additional changes needed to meet conservation outcomes. The Australian reported that with the FPC changes, there would only be about 177,000 cubic meters a year available for Ta Ann. The company is currently requiring about 330,000 cubic meters of wood (to create 265,000 m3 of veneer). If they have to change the way they operation to account for the short fall of 100,000 m3 they might as well do so to account for the loss of wood from the 572,000 hectares, so that it can be protected, as it should be. Surely not that difficult, since it would amount to less cubic meters than the current short fall anyway.
Perhaps it is time for Ta Ann to change their business model? The company clearly has no future in the ongoing destruction of native forests, especially when they are marketing it as environmentally friendly. Even they are admitting that their customer’s are not going to accept forest destruction anymore, claiming to have lost 50% of their Japanese customers due to the environmental concerns. They cannot survive by logging native forests, the wood isn’t there, the customers don’t want it anyway and the rest of the world certainly doesn’t want them to either. So, it seems to me that the timing is perfect now for them to transition out of native forests. And for the government to make sure they do, because otherwise Forestry Tasmania might well find it’s self on the end of a law suit. Ta Ann could certainly considering suing FT for the signing of a contract for wood that wasn’t even available.
I think if the Premier wants so desperately to see a solution, as she seems to be claiming, she will be doing everything she can to get Ta Ann out of native forest as quickly as possible.
Media Release 23/02/2012: Global message to Ta Ann’s customers calling for end to forest destruction
Conservationist Miranda Gibson has today written to the Japanese corporate customers of Ta Ann to inform them of the 70 actions that took place last week in support of Tasmania’s forests. Miranda Gibson has spent the last 10 weeks at the top of a tree in forest that is threatened by logging in order to supply wood to Ta Ann.
“Today we are sending a clear message to Ta Ann’s Japanese corporate customers and asking them not to purchase wood sourced from our precious high conservation value forests. Last week, over 70 actions took place in 15 countries around the world in support of Tassie’s spectacular forests” said Miranda Gibson.
“Today Bryan Green is meeting with Ta Ann’s Japanese customers. If the Tasmanian government had taken real action to protect native forests, then Bryan Green would be able to reassure those companies today. However, as long as Ta Ann continue to destroy native forests and to lie about their products there will be instability in the market” said Ms Gibson
“We fear that Bryan Green’s efforts today are a further attempt to cover up the lies of Ta Ann. Our correspondence with these companies today is bringing to their attention the fact that the international community know the truth about Ta Ann and will not accept Ta Ann’s ongoing role in native forest destruction.” said Ms Gibson.
Actions are set to continue in Tasmania and around the world to highlight Ta Ann’s role as the driving force behind Tasmanian forest destruction.
Miranda’s Daily Blog: Day 70
When logging contractors assaulted myself and another conservationist back in 2008 in a violent outburst against our non-violent action, they were given merely 70 hours community service. When violent assaults take place daily against the forest and the animals who live there, no one is held accountable, there are no courts or sentences. No, none of the ‘criminals’ who destroy these ecosystems are put behind bars. Yet, when a committed conservationist takes peaceful action to bring attention to the destruction of our forests and he is locked in prison, it seems to me that there is something out of balance with our justice system.
Today Ali Alishah was sentenced to a three-month sentence for taking non-violent action in defense of Tasmania’s forests. Ali has already served 5 and a half weeks of this time behind bars, when he was denied bail in September last year. Tonight he will back in prison again, to serve another 6 weeks.
Ali was charged with breach of suspended sentence. And also given a further 3 month sentence suspended for two years on condition of good behaviour, for charges of trespass. Ali’s sentences are a result of his determined efforts to halt the destruction of Tasmania’s forest. He has no charges other than those that relate to such non-violent protest actions.
I have known Ali for a long time. He is a respectful, well-spoken and intelligent person who has dedicated his life to protecting Tasmania’s precious environment. The actions that Ali took that have resulted in today’s sentence included protests at Ta Ann. These actions have highlighted the company’s ongoing role in the destruction of Tasmania’s high conservation value forest. Ali also took action at the site of Gunns Ltd pulp mill, a project that has extremely strong community opposition.
As Jenny Weber said today outside the court house:
“people will continue to stand up for Tasmania’s forests.Our non-violent direct action people have been continuing in the forests, at Ta Ann’s offices and in a number of different ways while Ali’s been awaiting his sentence and we will continue to protest that the ongoing logging of high conservation value forests is unacceptable.”
Until Tasmania’s precious native forests stop falling we will not be deterred by imprisonment, nor threats of violence towards us, nor letters from Lara Giddings, not threats from the Legislative Council to withhold passing environmental legislation if we don’t keep quiet, none of it will deter the people of Tasmania who have dedicated their lives to ensuring that the forests are protected for all of us. Because these forests are too precious, too unique, too irreplaceable for us to just walk away and let them be lost forever.
We could be so close to seeing protection for Tasmainia’s forests, yet they continue to fall as rapidly as ever. We need to be speaking up and speaking out. We need to make sure the government is accountable for their broken promises and Ta Ann is accountable for their lies and misleading marketing, No, we will not be deterred, because we have the whole world behind us, calling for these forest to be protected. Inspired by last weeks action that saw over 70 actions across 15 countries all calling for Tasmania’s forests to be protected, we will continue to speak up for these forests. And over the next six weeks, while Ali is held in a prison cell, we will continue to speak out even louder!
Please support Ali while he is inside. Prison is not an easy place to spend time and he would benefit from your support. Details coming soon of how you can get a message of support to him. In the meantime please check out and “like” the support Ali Alishah Facebook page.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if when Ali is let out of Risdon Prison in 6 weeks I could meet him at the gate? That could happen if Julia Gillard and Lara Giddings honored their promises and Ta Ann also made the committment to transition out of native forests. Lets keep this campaign going loud and strong and see if we can’t that make a reality. I’m sure Ali would consider it a great way to show support for his efforts!
Miranda’s Daily Blog: Day 68
This past week has been a crazy week in the world of forestry and forests in Tasmania.
About a week ago Ta Ann made an announcement that it had lost about 50% of it’s customer base in Japan and they said for this reason they had to fire a third of their mill staff (accounting to 40 people). The company blamed environmentalists. But refused to make any further comment. What better way to hide your own poor management decisions, then to find someone else to scapegoat, hey? And what better scapegoat to find for such an occasion then environmentalist!
It is yet to be confirmed if Ta Ann’s claims regarding their loss of customers is true. However, even if there has been a change in their market in Japan, who do they have to blame, but themselves? How long did they expect to get away with lying to their customers? With misleadingly marketing their products as environmentally friendly? With stating that the wood comes from plantations when the official reports in Tasmanian are clearly stating that wood from high conservation value forests are being accepted by Ta Ann? And that they are in fact the driving force behind the logging of such forests right now.
This is simply a very bad business plan. And it would be no wonder if they began to lose their customer base. Yes, it is true, environmentalists have been exposing the truth to those customers. But those customers have a right to know that truth. They have a right to know where the wood is coming from that they are buying. It is not the fault of the environmentalists that Ta Ann has built their business on lies. Nor is the fault of environmentalists that Ta Ann has made the decision to continue to further entrench themselves in native forest destruction and to sack workers rather than to change their practices.
It is very strange indeed that those who have lost their jobs have not turned their anger towards the people who made the decision to cut those jobs. They have instead turned their anger (or rather had their anger quiet distinctly directed by Ta Ann and by the government) towards environmentalists. This anger has especially been targeted towards the Huon Valley Environment Center and more specifically towards one individual, Jenny Weber, spokesperson for the Center. Last week there was a rally outside the center, where people were aggressively calling for Jenny to come out. She was in fact, not there, as it was after hours. Instead they turned to the art therapy group next door (unassociated to the Environment Center), where three young women were engaged in a counselling session. These young women were intimidated by the angry crowd, and the woman running the session, was harassed. Later Jenny was harassed as she was driving home from the shops with her children. Then came the facebook threats of violence towards the center and to her personally. This was followed on Saturday by another demonstration in Huonville that once again turned the blame to the Huon Valley Environment Center as the scapegoat for Ta Ann’s job cuts.
The situation was made worse by the misleading comments of the Premier who attempted to justify the actions by saying that workers had been intimidated by dangerous tactics of environmentalists for years, claiming that tree spiking was one of these. These accusations which were false and unable to be proven. The next day there were media releases from all different environmental groups and also the Greens, calling on Lara Giddings to apologise. Which she did (somewhat reluctantly, it seemed) today.
Yet, she still is turning the blame towards people who care about the environment. And she is asking us to be quiet about our concern for the forest. In fact, she sent Jenny Weber a personal letter just the other day, asking Jenny and the Center to stop campaigning! What happened to freedom of speech? Do we not have a democracy in Australia? Don’t those rights apply in Tasmania? Or maybe freedom of speech doesn’t apply here if you have something to say about the forestry industry that they don’t want you to say!
In addition, the Members of the Legislative Council in Tasmania also made a very undemocratic call. A large group of the MLCs said they wouldn’t be passing any forest protection legislation until stopped speaking up for the forests. What a bizarre twist of the democratic process. I thought the way it was supposed to work is that the community had the right to speak up for what we believe the government should be doing and that they would pass legislation based on what their constituency wants. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that the principle behind democracy? Yet, here they are, saying they will only pass legislation if we are silent? We’re not going to give you what you want unless you stop asking for it…. it seems a bit out of line to me. In fact I’d say it is an abuse of their power. There was of course, no flip side to that statement… no guarantee that if we all kept our mouths shut and didn’t say another word about the forests, that they would go ahead and protect them. It is quiet obvious to me that we need to keep speaking up for the forests. Because the government clearly does not have the initiative to go ahead and protect them without such reminders. So far, they have only managed to make a promise and then allow the amount of forest that is being logged inside the area ear-marked for protection to actually increase! This seems to be, therefore, no time for people who care about the forest to be silent.
It was absolutely ironic when Lara Giddings, the night of our global action, called on us to “back off” so they could get on with the job! Funny, because that was the whole idea behind the moratorium promised to be in place back in March 2011…That the logging industry would back off from destroying those forests and give the negotiating team space to do the work. That never happened. The forests are still falling close to a year later. And Lara Giddings has the audacity to tell us to back off, when we are simply pointing out the fact that she herself has failed to implement her own promises.
It is good that she has apologised for the false claims about environmentalists tactics. However, Lara Giddings needs to go further than that. She needs to apologise for her role in furthering the scapegoating of environmentalists. She needs to apologise for attempting to silence Jenny Weber and the Huon Valley Environment Center. If she wants to see a solution to the crisis, as she claims she does, then a good place for her to start would be to implement the full conservation agreement that she promised by in August, along with Prime Minister Gillard.
I believe there is a solution to the industry crisis that will benefit the environment and the community. But it wont be possible if Ta Ann continues to have no regard for either. And personally, I am committed to continuing to campaign against Ta Ann for as long as the company continues to be driving Tasmanian forest destruction. None of the events of this past week have deterred me from this.
I hope you will join me in speaking up for these forests. If you haven’t already done so, please sign the online cyber action. This action is asking the corporate customers of Ta Ann to call on the company to stop sourcing wood from native forest destruction.
The global action was a great show of support and a strong message to the Tasmanian government that we will not be silenced! Lets keep that message loud and clear!
T h e O b s e r v e r T r e e 