Shua Garfield, Hobart
On January 13, four men were arrested for unfurling a protest banner as the Spirit of Tasmania III ferry left Sydney on its first voyage to Devonport. The protest highlighted the continuing battle between conservationists and the Tasmanian government and forestry industry.
The four protesters — Neal Funnell, James Reardon, Scott MacKenzie and Scott Daines — abseiled down the side of the ferry, unfurling a 30-metre banner with the words "woodchipping" above the ship's name.
Funnell was quoted in the January 14 Hobart Mercury, which featured the protest on its front page, saying: "The action was in response to the fundamentally untrue image that the Tasmanian government is selling... The idea that Tasmania is the 'clean and green state' is absurd considering that Tasmania clearfells and woodchips more old-growth forests than the rest of Australia combined."
The protesters were each fined $1500 for the banner drop.
Though Tasmanian Premier Jim Bacon responded to the action by saying, "Tasmanians are sick and tired of green activists trying to sabotage the tourism industry", the majority of letters printed in the Mercury regarding the action were sympathetic to the protesters.
The protest action comes in the context of an increased focus by conservation activists on the Styx and Weld river valleys. In the Styx valley, which is home to some of the tallest hardwood trees in the world, a tree-sit organised by Greenpeace and the Wilderness Society has been going since November 12.
Dubbed the Global Rescue Station, the tree-sit has involved protesters from Belgium, Germany, Japan and Australia. The tree-sit is located in an 84-metre tree in an area scheduled for logging in the 2004-2005 financial year.
Susan Pipes from the Wilderness Society told Green Left Weekly that protesters are demanding that half of the approximately 30,000 hectares in the Styx valley be added to the World Heritage Area (WHA). This would include the 8000 remaining hectares of currently unprotected old-growth forest, as well as several mountain tops and rivers.
Currently, the WHA only includes 3000 hectares of the uppermost region of the Styx valley. In recent years, approximately 500 hectares per year of old-growth has been logged in the valley, and the intention of the government and forestry industry is to keep logging the valley at that rate, according to Pipes.
The lower Weld river valley, which contains known sites of Aboriginal historical significance, faces a similar threat. The 6000 unprotected hectares of old-growth forest in the Weld valley have been nominated for inclusion in the WHA by the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and the Heritage Commission.
While the upper 80% of the Weld valley is part of the WHA, much of it is inaccessible, and much of the old-growth forest is in the unprotected lower Weld.
Adam Burling from the Huon Environment Centre told GLW that in the last 12 months there has been an escalation of logging in the Weld forests. Logging operations are beginning to move deep into areas never before disturbed by European settlers.
Burling warns that the methods of logging being used will have impacts within the borders of the WHA if logging continues deeper into the valley. "The only reason [the upper Weld] is protected is the result of decades of battles by conservationists", he said. He suggested that more such battles will be needed to protect the high-heritage-value forests of the lower Weld.
From Green Left Weekly, January 21, 2004.
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