Campaign against Otway logging bears fruit

By Bronwen Beechey

Residents of the Otway Ranges south-west of Geelong have scored a victory in their campaign to stop logging on the Wild Dog bushwalking track. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) announced on March 10 that it would no longer log the area, following a campaign that included a blockade of the track.

The dispute dates from the early 1980s, when residents of Wild Dog Valley learned that the forerunner of DNRE was planning to clear-fell in the area. Local pressure forced the department to back off at the time, but recently logging was begun.

Activists on March 1 removed a sign put up by DNRE at the entrance to Wild Dog Track stating that it was closed to the public. They also set up tripods on logging equipment and dumped abandoned logs and logging debris along the length of the track to block logging trucks.

The area is a critical forest wildlife corridor between the south and north of the Otways, and is listed as a regional site of rainforest significance in the Otway Forest Management Plan.

The logging is being carried out by Kimberly Clark, manufacturers of Kleenex tissues and other paper products. Kimberly Clark has a licence to remove 44,000 tonnes of trees per year from the region. The Otways Ranges Environmental Network has launched a "Boycott Kleenex" campaign.

This campaign has already had an impact; Kimberley Clark recently ran full-page advertisements in the Geelong Advertiser and Colac Herald claiming that it was being unfairly singled out, since it wasn't the only company using woodchips from the area.

"The future of the Otways is in tourism, not woodchipping", said Simon Birrell, one of the campaigners. "Loggers and DNRE forestry workers could all be retrained to work in a sustainable tourist industry with strong growth opportunities. There is no future for anyone in forests that have been flattened by bulldozers."

Further actions are planned in the area as well as in Melbourne. For more information about the campaign, call (0352) 377 439 or (03) 9372 0813; check out the web site at http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~jock/otways/otindex.htm, or e-mail the campaign at oren@paradigm4.com.au.

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