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April 2007: government supported vandalism
in Tasmania
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We never thought we would move into paradise when we came to
Tasmania. Wherever you go, the problems of this world will have
arrived there before you. But the practices of Forestry Tasmania are
incredibly outdated in a world where climate change is now the main
concern of many people. It is completely unbelievable that this continues
and is by Forestry Tasmania branded as "world's best
practice."
We'd like to show how the "revegetation burns" that
Forestry Tasmania carries out degrade the quality of life in our part of
the world. It's not just about how bad this looks, it's not even just
about the contribution to climate change that the burns make; the air quality
is so severely degraded that many people suffer from asthma attacks and
other health issues.
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April 4th, 2007: These are NOT natural
bushfires! These plumes are "revegetation burns" started
by dropping napalm from helicopters. These burns are carried out
by Forestry Tasmania to "clean up" the clear felled
logging coupes. Huge amounts of timber are left on the ground and
are simply burned. |
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An hour or two has passed between the previous
photo and this one. The smoke from the huge plumes is now settling
over the Huon Valley and turns day into night. No private business
in Australia would be allowed to pollute the environment in this
way, but it happens every autumn in Tasmania!
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What is really happening in Tasmania's forests? Is it really so bad? All
of us need paper. Paper is made from trees. We really need this kind of
forest industry, don't we? To answer this question let's look at a few
photos we took in Tasmania's famous Styx Valley. Logging is very active
today in the Styx. Only a portion of the Styx was supposed to be protected
after the 2004 federal election. But even that portion is under threat and
no extensions were made to the adjoining national park.
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A logging road close to the Southwest National
Park boundary. These forests are the home of the giant
eucalyptus regnans, Swamp Gums, that can reach heights of 80 to 90
metres. Swamp Gums that have reached that height are 400 to 500
years old. |
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Imagine standing in front of a tree that was
already here when Queen Elizabeth I was born. A tree that existed
250 years BEFORE Captain Cook landed in Australia. It will now
be legally destroyed and turned into woodchips. |
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The giant Swamp Gums are not -as Forestry Tasmania now calls it-
"harvested", to provide timber for building materials. They are
cut down to be turned into woodchips. Isn't this the same thing as
demolishing a mediaeval cathedral to sell the rubble as road base?
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An example of unbelievable waste: this swamp gum was
cut down by chain saw (look at the over two metre wide stump). The
tree was left to burn and rot. I paced out the length of the trunk at
over fifty metres. |
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But are they even all turned into woodchips? Certainly not! The major
issue here is not to get the timber. The major issue is to get control
over the land. Once the old growth forest has been cleared, Forestry
Tasmania can use it for plantation timber without the danger that the land
might be declared part of the Southwest National Park. After all, once the
devastation has been done, what's left to protect? In a world of changing
values and opinions Forestry Tasmania tries to act as fast as possible.
The more land is cleared, the more land is controlled forever by Forestry
Tasmania.
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Once the old growth forest is gone, all the diversity of the ancient
forest is gone as well. First come the napalm carrying helicopters who
turn the remains of the old forests into a flaming inferno. Then hardwood
plantations are established where only a few varieties of fast growing
eucalypts are planted in rows. These plantations will be
"harvested" again in about thirty years. These are the silent
forests, where the native wildlife can't survive in monocultures. Where it
actually won't survive anyway, as carrots poisoned with 1080 are laid to
kill off any hungry wallaby who gets into the way of commercial success.
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Like a silent gravestone the stump of a once mighty
Swamp Gum towers above the rows of plantation eucalypts. |
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Will this tree also be "harvested" and
turned into woodchips or left on the ground to be napalmed and rot
away? |
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Do we need to allow the destruction of old growth forests because we need
paper and building materials? Absolutely not! Woodchips and timber for
building materials must be sourced from timber plantations. Tasmania needs
a sustainable forest industry based on renewable resources. Renewable
resources in the true sense of the words, not in the sense given to them
by Forestry Tasmania. To destroy old growth forests and replace them with
plantations, that is NOT renewable and certainly not sustainable..
The debate about the forestry industry in Tasmania is a very heated one
and lots of information is available on the websites of the Wilderness
Society and the Greens, and on many
others. We wanted to show here how Forestry Tasmania's practices influence
the lives of people in Tasmania, people like us. These are our photos,
experiences and opinions. They speak for themselves.
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