BY ALEX MILNE
EAST GIPPSLAND — More than 20 logging areas (coups) have been planned for Goolengook, in East Gippsland in Victoria, of which four have already been logged. Much has been lost already, but a lot can still be saved if enough people are prepared to get involved.
The dedication of the Goolengook protest crew has been nothing short of heroic. People have been putting their bodies on the line, sitting in trees and on tripods, "locking on" to bulldozers, trucks and even the road itself. Other supporters have been doing the "black wallaby", walking into the coups and preventing logging with their presence (logging is not allowed if protesters are in the area).
The Victorian Labor government has been throwing everything at the protesters, with large numbers of police allocated to protect the logging. A 20-kilometre exclusion zone is being enforced around the logging areas, with roadblocks forcing protesters to walk up to 25 kilometres into the area.
Support crews for the tree-sitters have been removed by police, leaving the sitters with no food or water. The Department of Natural Resources and the Environment staff in Goolengook are essentially police with a different uniform. They are paid to arrest, harass and intimidate the protectors of the forest.
Goolengook is an ancient and beautiful rainforest in East Gippsland. Dominated by lillipilli and sassafras, this area is unique in that it contains both temperate and cool rainforests, providing a wide range of habitats. Goolengook is home to many rare and endangered species, including tiger quolls, long-footed potoroos and the orbost spiny crayfish, of which only 15 recorded specimens have been found since 1956.
Goolengook lies partially inside the Errinundra National Park. Environmental groups — including Friends of the Earth and the Wilderness Society — have been calling on the government to extend the park's boundaries to cover the remainder of the forest.
To counter this, logging companies have employed a policy known as "ringbarking" — selectively logging the forest on the present border of the national park to make an extension less viable.
After a coup is logged, the land is napalmed from helicopters, then replanted with a small number of tree species desired by the logging companies. To ensure the survival of these trees, the logged area is baited with poison, killing endangered species.
The state government and logging companies claim that the main purpose of logging is to produce sawmill timber, with woodchips only a "by-product" of the industry. In fact, old-growth forests are not very suitable for sawmills, as the trunks of eucalypts hollow out with age. Eighty per cent of the trees logged in Goolengook are used entirely for woodchips.
The Japanese logging company Diashowa exports more than 700,000 tonnes of woodchips a year from East Gippsland. Yet this industry is only viable because of massive government subsidies. A leaked government document confirmed that the government has been flogging off our forests for as little as 9 cents a tonne.
The figure refers to royalty rates received for residual logs (i.e., chip logs). An additional 33 cents per cubic metre of timber is paid as a licence fee and about $3.80 per cubic metre is collected as a road-use fee. This is what the public receives in return for the destruction of its old-growth forests.
The government spends about $40 million more than it collects to make our forests available for plundering. This amount has increased significantly in recent weeks, with large amounts of money being spent on deploying the police.
There are many ways to help protect Goolengook. Go down there for a while, check out the most amazing forest and meet the most courageous people. Be a participant, not just a spectator.
If you can't make it to the forest, there's plenty happening in the cities. Help build a movement to save 'Gook. Regular Friday night rallies are being held outside the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (corner of Nicholson and Victoria streets, Melbourne). A rally will be held on May 18, 11am, at Batman Park (corner of Flinders and Spencer streets).
For more information contact Friends of the Earth on (03) 9417 8700 or the Goongerah Environment Community office on (03) 5154 0156 or visit <http://www.geco.org.au>.
From Green Left Weekly, April 24, 2002.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.