Forest activists occupy Timbercorp

Forest activists occupy Timbercorp

MELBOURNE — Forest campaigners from Friends of the Earth (FoE) occupied the offices of Timbercorp here to protest against the company's destruction of one-third of red tail black cockatoo nesting sites at a location in the West Wimmera shire.

FoE forest campaigner Anthony Amis said, "It is absolutely absurd that Timbercorp destroyed those nesting sites. As we understand it, the red tail black cockatoo is one of Victoria's most endangered bird species. There are less than 1000 birds remaining.

"Timbercorp was warned by the West Wimmera Council not to destroy those trees, yet they did so as soon as the council's back was turned. This is an act of vandalism in the worst sense of the word."

Timbercorp owns blue gum plantations, which have spread rapidly throughout western Victoria, Tasmania, south-west Western Australia and south-east South Australia. Australia is planning to treble its plantation base in 20 years through a document called "The 2020 Vision".

According to Amis, "What this means for Victoria is that an additional 32,000 hectares of plantations will be established each year until the year 2020 ... there are barely any restrictions on where the plantations can be established.

"Friends of the Earth has been warning about the unrestricted establishment of plantations for many years now. We see the destruction of one-third of red tail black cockatoo nesting sites as the tip of the proverbial iceberg."

For more information, contact Cam Walker at Friends of the Earth on (03) 9419 8700.

From GLW issue 401