Saving Giblett forest — again

Saving Giblett forest — again

By Angela Luvera and Anthony Benbow

PERTH — Giblett forest, one of the areas saved from logging by WA's 1994 forest blockade, has been under threat again since earlier this year, when the WA government's department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) gave approval to timber company Bunnings to log this magnificent old growth forest for woodchipping.

Activists responded with a campaign of direct action in the forest and community protest against Bunnings.

Giblett forest is approximately 15 km north-west of Pemberton in WA's south-west. Alongside the Beedelup National Park, it consists of 2300 ha of karri and 1600 ha of jarrah forest, and has been recommended as a conservation reserve since the 1970s. At present it is part of the Greater Beedelup National Park proposal, and is interim listed on the register of the National Estate.

Only 1% of WA is old growth forest. Of that 1%, less than a fifth is in conservation reserves. Around 188,000 ha is karri/marri forest, which is found only in south-west WA; less than 10% of this is in conservation reserves. Like karri, jarrah is found only in WA, and only about 4% of the remaining 2 million ha is in conservation reserves.

The remaining forests are rich in biodiversity, with many species of flora and fauna unique to that area.

The forest camp in Giblett was established in late March, with an activist permanently camped in a tree platform. At the same time, the Wilderness Society launched a "Buy-Pass Bunnings" boycott campaign, aimed at the timber company (which is owned by WA agricultural group Wesfarmers) and its metropolitan hardware stores.

There are 60,000 ha of timber in plantations in WA, some of which could be cut right now, yet still Bunnings and CALM log old growth for woodchips. CALM builds the logging roads, which means WA taxpayers are massively subsidising this industry, which pays only around $12/cubic metre for 400-year-old trees.

More than 3000 signed pledges have been collected in the buy-pass campaign, and the forest camp has received wide support and many visitors, including singer John Williamson and former footballer Craig Turley, who spent a few days in the tree platform. The protest has endured some wild weather, but people's spirits remain undampened.

Already the pro-logging "Forest Protection Society" has staged one rally in the logging town of Manjimup, and the Commonwealth and WA governments are pushing a "regional forest agreement" which puts the logging companies first and the forests last.

The existing woodchip licences, granted in the 1970s, expire at the end of 1997, making this a crucial year for the forest campaign.

From GLW issue 279