Media Release: Conservationists halt controversial logging operations at Butlers Gorge
Conservationists from Still Wild Still Threatened have today halted logging operations at Butlers Gorge, in a call for forest protection. 10 people have gathered at the gate of a logging road that accesses several forestry operations in the area. One person is perched on a 5 meter high tripod in the middle of the road.
“Butlers Gorge is one of the state’s most significant tracts of wilderness and has been independently verified as world heritage value. This forest, which was proven to have outstanding values, through the verification assessment, has been subject to intensive logging despite being part of a promised moratorium over a year ago ” said Still Wild Still Threatened spokesperson Miranda Gibson.
“The industry has received around $130 million through the negotiation process, yet logging has continued business as usual in forests like Butlers Gorge and there has been not one hectare of forest protected” said Ms Gibson.
Miranda’s Daily Blog: Day 322
In the pale light of the pre-dawn I watch the shadows of trees slowly take their form. The forest is changing shifts, as the nocturnal animals make their way home and the early risers start their calls across the valley. The air is crisp with the smell of the fresh rain and eucalyptus leaves. And the valley is shrouded in mist. It feels like a glimpse into another world, like I am privy to a special and beautiful secret.
I almost can’t believe this is real! That I am here in the tree tops of an ancient forest, witnessing an entire world that otherwise goes on without anyone knowing. If I wasn’t watching- the Currawong would still be making it’s morning calls, the forest would still hum to the pulse of the fan-tailed cuckoo’s cry, the mist would still be stumbling through the upper branches of these giant euclypts. I think of all the people who are asleep in their houses right now, not knowing that all that takes place in the forest as they sleep.
That’s the thing about the forest, it is a like a hidden treasure, a secret world. But the thing is that out there, in the human world, it is easy to forget that there are other worlds like, this one. As I sit and watch the forest, how many people around the world are waking up to walk across a floor, sit at a table and read a newspaper that are all made out of the ancient forest that once surrounded this one. Will there come a time when this forest too, makes it’s way into people’s kitchens … flattened, sawn and pulped?
Please take action in defense of Tasmania’s forests: click HERE.
Miranda’s Daily Blog: Day 320
In these past few day of suffocating uncertainty about the future of the forest, there is one thing that keeps me going. Every single day I witness the beauty of the tree tops and it constantly reminds me of why I will stay up here until the job is done – until the forests are protected.
So I thought I would share some of it with you. And I hope it inspires you too.
If you haven’t already – check out the observer tree FaceBook page. Make sure you “LIKE” it to stay in the loop and see more pictures like these as soon as I take them! And keep checking the blog, because I have been putting together a little film about when my Mum came to stay with me in the Observer Tree! It’ll be up online in the next few days.
Please take action in defense of Tasmania’s forests: click HERE.
Miranda’s Daily Blog: Day 319
It has been a wave of emotions since I first read the news on Saturday that the forest talks had collapsed. To be honest I didn’t believe it when I first saw those words on my computer screen. Is this a joke? A mistake? No, it was true. They were over, with no agreement reached. No forests protected.
After more than two years of talking, and already $130 million of assistance to the forestry industry, there was not to be one hectare of forest saved from logging. I had been waiting for the end of October, for the final (“we really mean it this time”) deadline. If an agreement was reached it would have been off to Parliament for a vote by the end of November , and I maybe I could have been off to visit my family by Christmas? I know I should have learnt from my mistakes of the past ….don’t get too hopeful about these things. But somehow there is always this little part of me that wont let go. Even when I have so many very rational doubts, that little piece of me just wants to believe that this it could happen. And so, without realising it I found myself day dreaming… imaging Christmas at Mum and Dad’s, swimming on warm summer days, going for bush walks in the new reserves…. you get the picture.
Deep in my heart though, I knew that this was fanciful. It’s not that I don’t believe that we can protect these forests. I absolutely, one hundred percent do. It’s just that the warning signs have been getting clearer and clearer over these past months . There were the obvious problems: missed deadlines and broken promises, money to the industry and no conservation gains. Then there were the more subtle problems, the ones that began to rear their heads, the ones that were by far the scariest. Like the idea that the agreement might endorse Ta Ann, even if they didn’t transition out of native forests.
Of course I want to see the forests protected. But the question is, can we accept this at any cost? Read the rest of this entry
Media Release: Conservationists call on government to take responsibility for forests.
Reports in the media today that signatories to the forest negotiations are continuing informal talks has raised questions about the future of the process. Still Wild Still Threatened are calling for transparency in the process and asking the government to now take responsibility for forest protection.
Media Release: Australia’s longest running tree sit set to continue indefinitely
Miranda Gibson, who has been at the top of a tree for 318 days, is today making a commitment to stay in the tree, despite the failure of the forest talks to reach an agreement.
“The failure of the talks brings even greater uncertainty for Tasmania’s world class forests. And with it uncertainty about how long I will need to remain at the top of this tree” said Miranda Gibson.
Media Release: Threatened Tasmanian forests left open for destruction
Conservation groups Still Wild Still Threatened and Huon Valley Environment Centre are today renewing their commitment to continue their campaigns for forest protection, in the wake of the forest talks collapse.
“The failure of the talks does not mean that the industry can bury its head in the sand and continue to entrench native forest destruction. The reality of global market pressures cannot be ignored and the controversy over Tasmania’s wood supply will continue,” Still Wild Still Threatened’s spokesperson Miranda Gibson stated.
Media Release: Conservationists seek answers from timber company as forest negotiations continue
Veneer stacked up at Ta Ann mill
Conservationists are today calling on timber company Ta Ann to provide details of their trials of lower quality, smaller and plantation logs that were held in June. As Federal Minister Tony Burke returns to Tasmania this weekend in an attempt to finalise the forest negations, the question of Ta Ann’s future role in native forest logging remains unanswered.
Tasmania’s Forest Minister Bryan Green announced in June that Ta Ann was conducting trials in smaller and lower quality peeler logs. Green stated at the time that a permanent change at the Ta Ann rotary veneer mills could free up forests for reservations under the state’s forest talks to reduce native forest logging.
The Huon Valley Environment Centre and Still Wild Still Threatened are seeking an announcement by the Malaysian timber company about the results of these trials, as they hope that the company has found a way to use wood supply from plantations and we expect forests to get protected
“Ta Ann’s wood supply demands have stood in the way of forest protection. They company’s continued utilisation of wood sourced from high conservation value areas was identified as a key driver for ongoing logging in the proposed forests, logging was not rescheduled out of these areas. The result of which has been the destruction of vast areas of independently verified national and world heritage value forests” said Jenny Weber of the Huon Valley Environment Centre.
Forest in the Picton Valley: logged recently to supply wood to Ta Ann.
Miranda’s Daily Blog: Day 315
Celebration of Forestry Tasmania’s corporate relations executive resigning a few days ago have been short lived. Yesterday the shocking news hit that Managing Director Bob Gordon has remarkably been reappointed for a further five years. At the same time it was revealed that the Government Business Enterprise made a loss of $27.6 million over the past year. How can it be that Bob Gordon has been put in charge for another five years, when it has been on his watch that so many millions of tax payers money has been lost? Read the rest of this entry
Miranda’s Daily Blog: Day 312
I had a great start to the day… reading the news that Corporate Relations executive of Forestry Tasmania, Ken Jeffreys, is resigning. And his role will not be replaced. Considering that the role of corporate relations has often been one of publicly defending the indefensible, attempting to persuade the public that the destruction of our forests is a good idea… then I think this is a job that tax payers can certainly do without having to foot the bill for.
It seems that Ken Jeffreys’ decision to leave has come about from the now unstable relationship he has with the Tasmanian government, after recently attacking the government over their decision to restructure Forestry Tasmania.
An independent review of Forestry Tasmania released in 2012 provided the government with a range of suggested options for restructuring the Government Business Enterprise, based on the findings. The review found that Forestry Tasmania was “unable to fulfil its obligations under the Government Business Enterprise Act 1995, to operate as a successful business.”
The government is approaching the restructure option of number two. This involves a split between the commercial and non-commercial functions of FT. With the latter being handed over to the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and the Environment. The model also involves the wood production land being controlled by the Department, and leased back to FT. The government’s decision came to light through a leaked email written by Ken Jeffreys to FT staff, scathing of the government. Read the rest of this entry
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