Winter 2007 - Contents
(click on links to view articles)
Welcome...
Winter solstice
Winter recipes – apple scones & spiced wine
Weld Echo reflections (by Peachy & Jenny)
Art from Trash
Changes to electoral system
Xavier Rudd supports Tassie's forests (by Lilia Letsch)
Songs for Tassie's forests
The River of Life (by Starhawk)
Weld Valley campaign news (by Jenny Weber)
Southwood, the veneer peeled back (by Will Mooney)
Forestry Tasmania reveals change to three year plan (by Will Mooney)
Logging crimes in the Arve Valley (by Jenny Weber)
The trouble with palm oil (by the Palm Oil Action Group)
The universe responds (by Alice Walker)
The Huon Valley Environment Centre takes no responsibility for the opinions expressed within.
Opinions are those of the author alone.
The HVEC would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of this island
As always the HVEC crew have been very busy over the past few months, and in this season's Havoc you can read all about it!
Volunteers have been working hard on
forest campaigning, environmental art exhibitions, networking with
supporters around Australia, and much, much more.
The space will be going through a
transformation soon due to the loss of storage space in the garage and
garden. Any fresh enthusiasm for making the space spiffey and inviting
is always welcome. The winter growth in the garden needs some keen
hands too!
Contributions to Havoc are always
excitedly received. If you are an artist/doodler/writer/ poet, and have
something you would like to contribute to the Spring edition of Havoc,
please get in contact through my email: tasquoll@gmail.com , or phone
the environment centre. Deadline for the spring edition is September 10.
We hope everyone is having a cuddly winter, enjoy the Silver Wattle blossoms when they come out!
Warm winter wishes....Lilia Letsch (Havoc editor)
P.S. Check out Jenny Weber's article about the Weld Valley in the latest Earth First! Journal
NEW INITIATIVES AT THE ENVIRONMENT CENTRE
Political Theatre:
A new politically motivated street
theatre group will be running regular training sessions from the
Environment Centre. The aims are to be able to produce some short
pieces that can be presented at various local events - as well as to
have fun and build up people's confidence and skill level. Interested?
Contact Peachy: reachpeach@gmail.com
Learning Respect:
Is a new group that has formed with
the aim to focus on learning, understanding and respecting local
Indigenous peoples, the Indigneous history and culture of this area and
ways we can all contribute to the reconciliation and healing process.
Next meeting 20th July, 7- 9pm at the HVEC. Bring a plate of food to
share.
Volunteers wanted for helping with Forest Defender Fund:
Anyone interested in joining a collective to organise fundraisers and managing Forest Defender Fund, please email centre@huon.org
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Winter Solstice
Shortest day of the year - Thursday 21st June
In pre-historic times, winter was a
very difficult time for people in the northern latitudes. The growing
season had ended and the tribe had to live off of stored food and
whatever animals they could catch. The people would be troubled as the
life-giving sun sank lower in the sky each noon. They feared that it
would eventually disappear and leave them in permanent darkness and
extreme cold. After the winter solstice, they would have reason to
celebrate as they saw the sun rising and strengthening once more.
Although many months of cold weather remained before spring, they took
heart that the return of the warm season was inevitable. The concept of
birth and or death/rebirth became associated with the winter solstice.
Winter solstice has been celebrated all over the world for many
centuries, in many different ways:
ANCIENT BRAZIL: Brazilian
archeologists have found an assembly of 127 granite blocks arranged
equidistant from each other. They apparently form an ancient
astronomical observatory. One of the stones marked the position of the
sun at the time of the winter solstice and were probably used in
religious rituals.
ANCIENT GREECE: The winter solstice
ritual was called Lenaea, the Festival of the Wild Women. In very
ancient times, a man representing the harvest god Dionysos was torn to
pieces and eaten by a gang of women on this day. Later in the ritual,
Dionysos would be reborn as a baby. By classical times, the human
sacrifice had been replaced by the killing of a goat. The women's role
had changed to that of funeral mourners and observers of the birth.
DRUIDISM: Druids and Druidesses
formed the professional class in ancient Celtic society. They performed
the functions of modern day priests, teachers, ambassadors,
astronomers, genealogists, philosophers, musicians, theologians,
scientists, poets and judges. Druids led all public rituals, which were
normally held within fenced groves of sacred trees. The solstice is the
time of the death of the old sun and the birth of the dark-half of the
year. It was called "Alban Arthuan by the ancient Druids. It is the end
of month of the Elder Tree and the start of the month of the Birch. The
three days before Yule is a magical time. This is the time of the
Serpent Days or transformation...The Elder and Birch stand at the
entrance to Annwn or Celtic underworld where all life was formed. Like
several other myths they guard the entrance to the underworld. This is
the time the Sun God journey's thru the underworld to learn the secrets
of death and life. And bring out those souls to be reincarnated."
INCA RELIGION: The ancient Incas
celebrated a festival if Inti Raymi at the time of the Winter Solstice.
It celebrates "the Festival of the Sun where the god of the Sun,
Wiracocha, is honored." Ceremonies were banned by the Roman Catholic
conquistadores in the 16th century as part of their forced conversions
of the Inca people to Christianity. A local group of Quecia Indians in
Cusco, Peru revived the festival about 1950. It is now a major festival
which begins in Cusco and proceeds to an ancient amphitheater a few
miles away.
IRAN: Shabe-Yalda (a.k.a. Shab-e
Yaldaa) is celebrated in Iran by followers of many religions. It
originated in Zoroastrianism , the state religion which preceded Islam.
The name refers to the birthday or rebirth of the sun. People gather at
home around a korsee -- a low square table -- all night. They tell
stories and read poetry. They eat watermelons, pomegranates and a
special dried fruit/nut mix. Bonfires are lit outside.
INDIGENOUS AMERICANS: The Pueblo
tribe observe both the summer and winter solstices. Although the
specific details of the rituals differ from pueblo to pueblo, "the
rites are built around the sun, the coming new year and the rebirth of
vegetation in the spring....Winter solstice rites include...prayerstick
making, retreats, altars, emesis and prayers for increase."
The Hopi tribe "is
dedicated to giving aid and direction to the sun which is ready to
'return' and give strength to budding life." Their ceremony is called
"Soyal." It lasts for 20 days and includes "prayerstick making,
purification, rituals and a concluding rabbit hunt, feast and
blessing..."
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Apple Scones
1 medium-sized organic apple
2 cups organic plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
2 tblsp organic sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
6 tblsp organic butter or nuttlex
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup apple juice
Peel, core, and mince the apple.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (400 F). Mix the flour, sugar,
baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. With a pastry blender, or your
fingers, cut in the butter/nuttlex. Stir in the apples and raisins. Add
the apple juice to stiffen the dough.
Turn the dough out onto a floured
surface. Roll the dough to about 1/2 inch (1.25 centimeter) thickness.
Cut into triangles or into shapes with cookie cutter. Bake on an
ungreased baking sheet for 10 minutes or until light brown.
Spiced / Mulled Wine
8 cups (2 litres) cheap red wine
1/2 cup sugar
8 sticks cinnamon
10 whole cloves
4 star anise
pinch of nutmeg
4 slices orange and/or lemon peel
1 tblsp fresh lemon juice
2 tblsp fresh orange juice
Mix all above ingredients in a large saucepan. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Serve warm.
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Weld Echo 2007 exhibition reflections
by Peachy
(Works: left to right - Lizard Gizzards by Aviva Hannah, Laid to Rest by Luke Hamilton, Incendiary Balls by Marcus Tatton)
The artistic focus on the Weld Valley
Campaign and forestry practices provided an incredibly strong and
emotive exhibition - which included paintings, photography, sculptural
and multi media works, and the community response was incredibly
supportive. Over 1000 people visited the exhibition over the 10 days it
was exhibiting.
The opening night, which featured a
presentation from Bob Brown, saw over 500 people attend. Jenny Weber,
long time campaigner for the Weld Valley Campaign, was paid special
tribute for her tireless and consistent efforts in fighting for
protection for Southern Tasmanian forests.
A large number of the artworks were
sold, which has meant that money has been raised to continue efforts to
protect the Weld Valley. A big thank you to all the artists who
contributed, the sponsors of the event, and the Black Sassy Collective
who organised the exhibition. In particular a big thankyou to Jenny
Weber, Lillia Letsch, Jasmine Wills, and Nicole Pietsch who worked
incredibly hard to bring the event fruition.
Weld Echo...
by Jenny Weber
What a bonanza
People from everywhere all channeled energy in to the weld
Such a special thing to share
Took four activist grrls with zest to pull off
Working with love for a place so wild
Lots of liquor donated and food galore to feed people
then in came another grrl ready to help with vigour and love
printing late the night before opening after a few 12 hour days
giggles and glee as the paint didn't work
then the day came and so many activist kids to help put on a splendour
to celebrate the artists beautiful, strong, smiling people who said something for the weld
then to celebrate such an amazing place that is the weld forest
to see it on walls in the city in all it's guises
lizards, pirate ships, trees, lots of them, shapes, chainsaws, textures, colour, darkness,
our opening speech presented in such rigour by the inspiring wordsmith senator brown
seeing the faces of all of you who stood with smiles together you stood for the weld.
The doors were spilling with people
everywhere, standing and greeting the incomers, they just kept coming
and were caught by the powerful image of Weld Angel.
Then over the days people came and they kept on coming,
It was with sadness that we had to pack it down,
Though that was the only sadness we could have had in such a wonderful experience.
We carry that as a blessing in these times of despair and disillusionment when so much of the Weld is being smashed.
We loved the long gallery and will be back there again next year.
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Art from Trash
Resource Work Co-operative (a.k.a. the Tipshop) is holding the annual Art from Trash event again!
You
can enter anything creative that you think is worthy - but it must be
made from materials reincarnated from rubbish that you have salvaged or
bought from a tipshop. Entry is open to all ages and must be original art.
To enter, you must fill in an entry
form and hand it in along with the $15 entry fee by the due date. Entry
forms are available from the South Hobart Tipshop or the City Resource
shop. The conditions for entering artworks are on the entry form.
There are two steps to participate:
1. Get your entry form in by the 20th July.
2. Finish and deliver your artwork by 31st July.
Your entry must be delivered to the Long Gallery between 10 am and 3pm on Tuesday, 31st of July.
Opening night for the show is 6 pm on the 3rd of August at the Long Gallery, Salamanca.
For more information, call Shar at Resource on 6234 3772
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Changes to the electoral system
A Federal Election is looming...are you enrolled to vote?
Do you realise that the electoral system has recently changed?
Liberal Senator for Tasmania Eric
Abetz has been campaigning for years to change the way we enroll to
vote, and recently he got what he wanted. On the day that the Federal
Election is called the electoral roll will close for new enrollments at
8pm. This is a particularly big disadvantage to new voters and those of
us who move houses regularly. So it is extra important to make sure you
are enrolled correctly well before the election is called.
You can check your enrollment details
by ringing up the Electoral Commission (03- 6233 3749), or using their
online confirmation system on their website:
On their website you can also
download a copy of the NEW enroll to vote forms. The old forms were
green, but the new ones are purple. Old green forms will no longer be
accepted when enrolling to vote. You can also get the new purple enroll
to vote forms at the environment centre, post offices, and many
government and politician's offices.
Don't let these changes to the electoral system take away your right to vote!
And remember, when the time comes to vote...
Vote for the earth!
Authorised by L.Letsch, 21 Lucas Rd, Lucaston.
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Xavier Rudd Supports Tassie's Forests
by Lilia Letsch
On the 7th of April acclaimed
musician Xavier Rudd visited threatened forests in the Arve Valley,
Southern Tassie. The area is only a thirty minute drive from the
'forest town' of Geeveston, and is home to some of the largest trees in
Tasmania. Only recently the sixth largest tree in Tasmania, 'El
Maestre', was found in the vicinity. Xavier visited the area on a
beautiful sunny day with friends and volunteers from the Huon Valley
Environment Centre, who have been campaigning for the protection of
Tassie's threatened southern forests for the last five years.
Bare-foot, he scrambled down the road
embankment straight into the depths of the dark ancient forest, with
400 year old tree ferns and Sassafras trees towering overhead. After a
short walk we encountered a giant Eucalyptus regnans which was a
welcoming place to sit and experience the beauty of the place. Xavier
talked with forest activists and Indigenous community members about the
power and importance of activism in the face of a world ruled by
economic greed and big industry. He talked of how his upcoming new
album "White Moth" contains a song ("Better People") dedicated to
activists like those in the forests and out in the oceans defending
whales, and how much people fighting for these causes inspire him.
"I really support the work being done
by these activists and the energy they put in to protect Australia's
ancient old growth forests. I hope to be able to cast an international
spotlight onto their efforts. These people are heroes. I thank them for
showing me around and I hope to come back soon," Xavier Rudd said.
Later in the afternoon Xavier played
a gig at the Southern Roots festival with two forest banners behind
him, and chatted to the crowd about the importance of saving the trees.
Xavier Rudd Yidaki Raffle
In the coming weeks we will be
raffling off a beautiful Yidaki (didgeridoo) donated to us by Xavier
Rudd. Handmade by Xavier's Yidaki maker, Nathan Burton (www.burtondidj.com),
it has been crafted out of Woolly Butt (Eucalyptus miniota) and is
signed by Xavier Rudd. It is 135cm long, a 30x34mm mouthpiece, and is
in the key of G. Burton says: "Great for fast rhythms and in general a
wicked all rounder. This may be small but has plenty of power and bite,
thunderously loud volume, great tight bass drone and treble range with
good vocals with an excellent easy horn." The Yidaki also features an
inspiring forest message engraved into the wood.
Raffle tickets will be available
online at www.huon.org and www.xavierrudd.com . All proceeds from
raffle sales go directly to the Huon Valley Environment Centre's forest
protection campaign fund. Details of raffle dates and prices will be
available very soon, keep an eye on our email list and website!
Thanks to Xavier Rudd for all the love & support
Visit the forests info page on huon.org to see more photos
Songs for Tassie's Forests
Bomba ... Hold Your Ground
Funk band Bomba have produced a
fantastic song about the Weld Valley campaign and the Weld Ark. You can
check out the song and video online at:
www.bomba.com
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azu3PhLd2w8
Bomba are currently doing a national tour titled 'Hold Your Ground', and will be in Tasmania in July.
Milk ... All Aboard
Melbourne folk band Milk have
produced a gorgeous song about the Weld Ark. They toured recently in
Tassie and played the song live on local ABC radio. Yet t0 be
released...keep an eye on their website for more details.
www.milktheband.com.au
Xavier Rudd ... Better People
From his new album 'White Moth', this
stunning song is an ode to the people that inspire Xavier...those
defending the whales, the old trees, feeding the hungry...Xavier
recently came down to the Arve Valley in Tassie's Southern Forests
where he talked with activists about the song and the forests. You can
listen to the song and watch the video at:
www.xavierrudd.com
www.myspace.com/xavierrudd
Symbiosis ... Rise Up
Melbourne Gyp-Hop n' Reggae-Rock band
recently held a fundraiser for the Huon Valley Environment Centre, and
their dreamy song 'Rise Up' was written for the event. Yet to be
released...but keep an eye on their websites for more details:
www.symbiosis.net.au
www.myspace.com/symbiosissounds
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The River of Life
By Starhawk
On March 8, International Women's
Day, 2003, thousands of women marched on the White House in Washington
DC, demanding peace and standing up for the values of caring and
compassion. The march included a pageant of giant puppets and an
attempt to encircle the White House with giant pink ribbon. Below is
Starhawk's fable to inspire the pageant.
Once a people lived along the banks of the river of life…
The river of life is a river of sweet water, that awakens the seeds of spring and nourishes all growing things.
The river of life is a storm wind, blowing fresh across the earth.
The river of life is the deep molten fire that shakes the continents.
And the people should have had all they needed for happiness and joy,
But they were plagued by a terrible monster, the triple-headed monster of
Greed, Hate, and War.
Greed sucked up all the colors of life and locked them inside his fortress.
Hate severed the threads of love and taught the people to fear each other.
War threatened destruction to anyone who opposed the monster's rule.
And the people were separate, and afraid, and poor.
The threads of connection were frayed.
The fabric of care unraveled.
And War took the young and marched them off to slaughter and die in places far away.
Greed stole their future...
The river of life ran dry.
The women saw the springs go barren, the new sprouts fail, the trees die,
and the hills turn brown…
And they wept and mourned, and didn't know what to do.
The women, too, were divided, for some had more and some had less.
Old wounds and present injustices kept them apart.
But as War shook his fist, and threatened to unleash weapons to destroy the earth...
The women turned to each other; they said:
"We are scraps of a torn fabric, but if we tie them together,
we can bind wounds, dry tears,
weave a net to carry heavy loads.
"We must amplify love, and throw off dread,
Take back our power and spin a thread,
A life-line, held in our strong hands,
A living web of shining strands.
"And our hands remember how to spin.
We spin freedom on the rising wind,
We spin threads of life, the cords of fate,
We spin love into a river that can overrun hate.
"We spin justice burning like a flaming star;
We spin peace into a river that can overcome war.
And if you want to know where true power lies,
Turn and look into your sisters' eyes.
"So come mothers and grandmothers,
Lovers and daughters.
Come spinners and weavers,
Tool makers, potters,
Dancers and dreamers,
Fixers and changers,
Singers and screamers.
Forget all the dangers.
Come ancestors, guardians, Goddesses too,
You who teach us, you who speak true,
You who plant, and you who reap,
You who soar and you who creep,
You who cook, and you who drum,
You who have been, and you yet to come,
You who fight with the sword,
You who fight with the pen.
Unreasonable women,
Unmanageable men.
Come harpies and banshees and gorgons and Witches;
Come sweet loving hearts and furious bitches!"
"Break the chains that have kept us bound.
Weave a web to pull the monster down.
In the face of truth, no lie can stand.
Weave the vision, strand by strand.
"We are sweet water, we are the seed,
We are the storm wind to blow away greed.
We are the new world we bring to birth;
The river rising to reclaim the earth."
Weld Valley Update
While there is despair there is action for peace
by Jenny Weber
Forestry Tasmania's ravenous thirst
for ancient forest is seeing large areas plundered in the Weld Valley.
For eight months now Weld forests have had logging for new roads, cable
logging and clear felling reduce the forests to bare earth.
With a shebang the Weld Shutdown
action at the end of March saw a Tasmanian first with a person
suspended in a sit above the Weld River. An even more moving image was
the Weld Angel atop a tripod at the entrance to the Tahune Airwalk for
the entire day. At another entrance to the valley a defiant activist
sat locked on at the Eddy Rd gate. Essentially the Weld Valley was
shutdown.
The
first log truck arrived to cart forests to the mill at 2:30am in the
morning. The bridge sit was pulled down in the afternoon four log
trucks were waiting to roar through the forest and load up trees.
Whilst activists were at the bridge they heard the creak and grind of
cable loggers working in the large logging coupe, named WRO12C. A
platypus played in the wild river and a Wedge-Tailed Eagle took to the
air, maybe stirred by the startup of the cable logger.
It was not until 11am the cable
logger started, after the Weld Angel prevented loggers from using the
Tahune Airwalk for access. They were later ferried in by Forestry
Tasmania vehicles at Tahune. The majority of the visitors were vocal in
their support for the Weld Angel, many took photos standing in front of
the structure.
The young passionate woman who was
dressed as the Weld Angel is now facing a potential $5000 fine for the
action. Please donate to a fighting fund to help her pay this
outlandish attempt to silence people.
During May Forestry Tasmania started
logging world heritage bordering forest and clear felling is happening
in ancient forests 100 metres from the national park boundary. The area
known as WRO15F is a steep near-alpine forest that has been visited for
many years by hundreds of people on Huon Valley Environment Centre Open
Days.
This is the logging industry at its
worst, destroying not only the qualities of the high conservation value
forests but threatening the World Heritage Area. Also in another area
across the Weld Valley a new logging operation has pushed a road within
close proximity to the World Heritage Area.
Activists formed a World Heritage
Action Team and carried out tree-sit actions in response to the
commencement of logging. These actions were in remote forest, three
hours walk in from the nearest drop of point. In the first action a
tree sit was suspended in a tree and cabled off to two log loading
machines in the logging area. Logging of this ancient rainforest was
halted for the day.
Whilst activists spent the hours here
in this fresh logging area it was haunting to be so close to the World
Heritage boundary. It was especially haunting to witness the
destruction of such an ancient and fragile ecosystem in a remote part
of the threatened Lower Weld Valley.
Activists conducted a second action
when a tree-sit structure was erected on a major logging route, to
highlight the continued assault on World Heritage forests. 24 hour
security guards had been employed to be in the remote forest and
ferried the workers to continue logging, however log trucks were
prevented from transporting logs for the day.
Forestry Tasmania attempts to excuse
their logging by saying that buffer zones were placed within the
National Park when declared to protect the area from activities such as
logging. No part of Tasmania's national park was meant to be sacrificed
through the use of 'buffer zones'. Clear felling these old growth
forests so close to the World Heritage Area threatens these high
conservation value areas with the potential introduction of weeds,
escaped regeneration burns and other human impacts.
Huon Valley Environment Centre claims
the State and Federal Governments are derelict in their duty of care
for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Activists on the
ground are witnessing the move closer and closer by Government
sanctioned logging practices to the World Heritage Area. It has been
shown through many reports that the existing World Heritage Area fails
to protect the tall ancient forests that are being plundered.
Logging has continued in the forests
of the Weld, known to Forestry as WRO12C. The area in total planned for
logging is 118 hectares. At this stage 55ha of forest are being cable
logged. This logging has been happening since January and with two
cable loggers a very devastating impact has been made. Two hillsides of
forest have been cleared. There are plans to immediately continue with
another 20 hectare clear felling operation in this area after the 55ha
cable logging has finished.
Logging as I mentioned before has
also occurred in the Barnback area, high above the Barnback and Eddy
Creeks a new road has been carved in to high conservation value
forests. These are old, old forests with big ancient tall forest and
many understorey leatherwoods. On the flanks of the Snowy Range this
new road has come in very close proximity to the World Heritage Area.
Barnback Extension Rd is 3.7km road
in to ancient forest of tall Eucalyptus obliqua and regnans. There was
an old road here that has been followed in some sections, though this
extension also pushes a further 1.5km further than the old road. The
logging operation begins at 300 metres altitude and has pushed a wedge
in to the forest up to 600 metres.
The logging occurs in an area that
there is a known Wedge-Tailed Eagle nest nearby. Forestry Tasmania are
aware that they need to be out of the area by 1st of August for the
eagle breeding period. Though they know they can come back and are
setting up the ancient forest for the chopping block. Another
threatened remote forest on the boundary of the World Heritage Area.
Also of very special value to the
immediate area around the Barnback Extension logging, is the Little
Denison Crayfish, endemic to the Little Denison Catchment region.
Forestry Tasmania have sighted the crayfish in the Eddy and Barnback
Catchments. The Little Denison Crayfish is a burrowing species and can
be found some distance from a stream, in damp patches of
ground/understorey.
For an endemic crayfish to be found
in the Barnback and Eddy Catchments signifies vital conservation values
and an urgent need for all logging to cease. The four species of those
burrowing crayfish that are listed in Tasmania are of high conservation
concern due to their severly restricted habitat ranges and the presence
of actively threatening processes within these areas. Threatening
processes include those that affect water quality and quantity, soil
and food (wood/plant) availability. General road and drainage
activities are a threat to the crayfish, all crayfish are very
susceptible to any alteration of their environment during mating,
moulting, nurturing their young and at times when they venture to the
surface.
This new Barnback Extension road has
been built to access a logging area on the boundary of the World
Heritage Area. This is also the road that HVEC members were lead to
believe would be North Weld Rd Stage 1. This was HVEC's idea of a
nightmare road that was going to go across steep terrain and access a
large area of ancient wilderness. Please see Will Mooney's update for
more information about the proposed North Weld Rd.
For more details, photos and online videos from the Weld Valley campaign please visit: www.huon.org/weldvalley
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Southwood, the veneer peeled back
by Will Mooney
Ta Ann Holdings is a giant Malaysian
logging company which has become the darling of the Tasmanian forestry
sector. Boasting the title of "the world largest logging company in
terms of capitalisation," Ta Ann has firmly installed itself in
Tasmania through the development of two rotary peeled veneer mills, at
Southwood in the Huon and in Smithton. With taxpayer funded help to the
tune of some eight million, Ta Ann's veneer mills have become the much
need good news story for pro-logging politicians Pul Lennon and Eric
Abetz. But that's not the whole story.
On a chill Huon Valley morning in
May, activists and community members gathered outside the huge
southwood compound to voice their concerns at the opening the new mill.
Police and security guards were on the ready, despite the small
peaceful presence. In a flurry, convoys of Forestry executives,
politicians and loggers sped up and through the gate. Busloads of
Japanese media looked bemused as activists waved placards. Forestry
Tasmania's Second in Charge Kim Creek yelled at activists to "F**k
Off". Inside the compound, Liberal and Labor joined hands in
unconditional praise for the new mill.
Ta Ann Holdings is a billion dollar
logging company. In their home state of Sarawak they are closely
involved in the conversion of rainforest to oil palm plantations. The
booming oil palm industry is destroying biodiversity and dispossessing
indigenous people who have used the forest for centuries. Ta Ann
executives have been personally linked to nepotistic land-dealings and
repression of indigenous groups who oppose logging on their land.
Its not surprising then that they
would seek access to Tasmanian forests. By building a mill in Tasmania
they can escape the damaging association with unsustainable and illegal
logging which is commonplace within south east Asia. They can dupe
Japanese customers
into believing that their Tasmanian product is "clean and green".
But the 'clean and green' tag is not
much more than a sales pitch. The associated claim that the mill can
only use "regrowth" also hides the reality that because of a dubious
definition of "regrowth", pristine forests which have never seen an axe
or a chainsaw can be destroyed to feed the mill. In the nearby Lower
Weld Valley, spectacular high
conservation forests, which have
never been logged or roaded but were subject to natural wildfire, will
be targeted by Ta Ann. Forests like these will be destroyed to feed the
mills appetite for over 200,000 tonnes of timber per year. The veneer
produced from the mill is not a "finished product" but will go straight
to Malaysia to Ta Ann's plywood factory.
And then there's the secret 20 year
wood supply agreement with Forestry Tasmania. Tasmanians are not
allowed to know what price Ta Ann is paying for the wood sourced from
publicly owned forests, or what volume of timber will actually be
supplied. When a Malaysian newspaper reported a price of A$68, Forestry
Tas denied it. But they couldn't hide the fact that nearly eight
million dollars of taxpayers money had been granted to Ta Ann to
develop their mills. Just why a massive international logging
corporation needs taxpayer funding has not been made clear.
With an old-growth forest-furnace
also planned for the Southwood site, the Huon Valley Environment Centre
will continue to monitor activities and inform Tasmanians about the
impact of this destructive industrial development.
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Forestry Tasmania reveals change to three year plan
Destructive plans for Lower Weld Valley
by Will Mooney
The Huon Valley Environment Centre
has condemned Forestry Tasmania's latest plans for the Lower Weld
Valley which include a second bridge over the wild Weld River and new
roading into pristine old growth and rainforest in the South Weld. Both
operations will open up thousands of hectares of untouched ancient
forest to destructive logging, high intensity burning, wildlife
shooting and habitat destruction.
Since the destruction of the Weld Ark
Camp in November 2006, Forestry Tasmania has pushed new roads and
logged three coupes in pristine forests on both sides of the Valley.
Their latest plans amount to a further assault on this world heritage
value landscape.
For several years Forestry has been
looking for ways to access a huge tract of pristine forests on the
Northern banks of the Weld Valley, beneath the World Heritage Snowy
Range. Their original plan for a road descending from the Denison area
has been scrapped due to the incredibly steep and complex terrain. Now,
the company plans to cut a new road through to the Weld River and
construct a bridge to access the North Weld area. This is likely to be
funded by taxpayers money allocated under the so-called "Tasmanian
Community Forest Agreement". On the Southern side of the Valley,
Forestry plans to extend the existing "South Weld Road" to access
pristine old growth and rainforest adjacent to the boundary of the
Tasmanian Wilderness World heritage Area.
These two new roads represent an
assault on the key unprotected wilderness zones in the Lower Weld
Valley. Free of roads, tracks and industrial activity, these virgin
forests represent collective ecological assets, filtering our water,
cleaning our air and storing vast amounts of carbon in the fight
against global warming. So far, they have escaped the destructive
influence of the Tasmanian logging industry. Now, in an act of willing
environmental vandalism, Forestry Tasmania, at the behest of Tasmania's
giant woodchip industry, will cut into the heart of these hidden
treasures.
Forestry Tasmania will justify the
destruction of wilderness quality in these areas and the vast waste of
taxpayers money under the pretext of providing access for the
leatherwood honey and special-species timber industries. However, any
visitor to the Southern Forests can witness the daily destruction of
leatherwood trees and special species timber. It is sheer hypocrisy to
spend vast funds on opening new areas of leatherwood when existing
accessible areas are being systematically clearfelled and burnt.
The Huon Valley Environment Centre
will continue to highlight the value of these beautiful and wild
forests, which belong to the Tasmanian public. If you would like to
help the campaign please consider donating time, resources or money to
the HVEC.
Log onto www.huon.org for more information.
(Photo by Matt Newton of new roading in the lower Weld Valley)
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Logging crimes in the Arve Valley
by Jenny Weber
Just up past the Big Tree Reserve
tourist attraction in the Arve Valley is a very big and very steep
clearfell. It's finished after many months of savage cable logging.
Forestry Tasmania (FT) recently released a statement that they had
logged a large area of Arve Loop Reserve. Nearby a new area of ancient
forest is being logged,
bordering the same reserve.
FT has stated, 4.25 hectares of the
adjacent 921 hectare Arve Loop Reserve was logged, along with a strip
of land designated by FT as a corridor for wildlife. The error in
marking the boundary occurred more than 12 months ago, in May 2006, but
the logging was not completed until February this year.
FT claims "An aerial photograph and a
subsequent on-the-ground investigation by FT's Huon District staff
indicate that logging has occurred outside a designated logging area.
The breach was discovered when an aerial photograph showed a
discrepancy in the actual shape of the logged area and the intended
shape of the coupe as set out in the Forest Practices Plan."
FT's Executive General Manager Hans
Drielsma said, "We have protocols in place to prevent these things
happening, but on this occasion, it appears the protocols were not
strictly followed."
Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown
is calling for the police to be called in to deal with the reserve
wreckers. "Those responsible for logging a large swathe of the Arve
Forest Reserve in southern Tasmania must be prosecuted", Greens Senator
Bob Brown said.
"This is an environmental crime and a
breach of Tasmanian law, which requires that Forest Practices plans
must be adhered to. The penalty for not abiding by a Forest Practices
Plan is $100,000."
"The wood-chipping profits from
destroying more than four hectares of this high conservation value
reserve, which is also an important tourist asset on the way to the
Tahune Airwalk, should be confiscated," Senator Brown said.
This criminal logging of reserved
forest happened whilst an area known as AR34C was being cable logged.
This area is one where activists previously visited and showed serious
concerns about, it was high conservation forest, steep and leatherwood
rich, and was subsequently cable logged. The forest was Eucalyptus
regnans and delegatensis, and the logging area started at 300 metres
and reached to 600 metres.
There were huge amounts of
leatherwood lying on the forest floor. In October 2006 activists took
action and staged a community walk in to coupe AR34C. Activists
conducted an independent audit of operations, to highlight the ongoing
destruction of Southern Tasmania's old-growth forests and dwindling
leatherwood resource.
Now just down the hill another forest
on the border of the same reserve is being decimated by logging. AR34C
was 54 hectares and the new logging has commenced in AR41A and is 83
hectares. An ancient swathe of old growth forest down that is
continuous with the Arve Loop reserve and another victim of the
rapacious logging industry that is plundering many of the Huon
Districts magnificent ancients.
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The Trouble with Palm Oil
by the Palm Oil Action Group
Palm Oil Consumer Campaign Launched in Australia
The Rainforest Information Centre
along with the Palm Oil Action Group -- Australian Orangutan Project,
Friends of the Earth and Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation -
have launched a consumer campaign to bring awareness to the hugely
devastating impact that palm oil plantations are having in Indonesia
and Malaysia and to encourage citizen action.
To put it briefly, peatland
rainforests are clearfelled, burnt and drained causing large scale loss
of habitat to orangutans and other endangered species, huge greenhouse
gas emissions and hardship for local communities who lose their land
and their traditional ways.
Unsuspecting consumers may well be
unaware that palm oil can be found in ice cream, chocolate, biscuits,
chips, margarine, crackers, cooking oil, toothpaste, soap, detergents,
cosmetics and more.
Among other things, the campaign asks
consumers to write to food companies to urge them to transition to oils
that are sourced through sustainable means. Food companies and
government are also being asked to label products explicitly when palm
oil is used rather than masking palm oil under the generic title of
'vegetable oil'.
We have beautiful A2 brochures that
can be distributed or hung up as posters. If you would like some to
help spread word, please email rainforestinfo@ozemail.com.au
For further information, visit www.palmoilaction.org.au
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The Universe Responds:
Or, How I Learned We Can Have Peace On Earth
by Alice Walker, from Living by the Word
To some people who read the following
there will seem to be something special or perhaps strange about me. I
have sometimes felt this way myself. To others, however, what I am
about to write will appear obvious. I think our response to
'strangeness' or 'specialness' depends on where we are born, where we
are raised, how much idle time we have to watch trees (long enough at
least to notice there is not an ugly one among them" swaying in the
wind. Or to watch rivers, rainstorms, or the sea.
A few years ago I wrote an essay
called 'Everything Is a Human Being,' which explores to some extent the
Native American view that all of creation is one of one substance and
therefore deserving of the same respect. I described the death of a
snake that I caused and wrote of my remorse. I wrote the piece to
celebrate the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr., and I read it first to
a large group of college students in California. I also read it other
places, so that by summer (I had written it in winter) it had been read
three or four times, and because I cannot bear to repeat myself very
much, I put it away.
That summer 'my' land in the country
crawled with snakes. There was always the large resident snake, whom my
mother named 'Susie', crawling about in the area that marks the
entrance to my studio. But there were also lots of other wherever we
looked. A black-and-white king snake appeared underneath the shower
stall in the garden. A striped red-and-black one, very pretty, appeared
near the pond. It now revealed the little hole in the ground in which
it lived by lying half in and half out of it as it basked in the sun.
Garden snakes crawled up and down the roads and paths. One day, leaving
my house with a box of book in his arms, my companion literally tripped
over one of these. We spoke to all these snakes in friendly voices.
They went their way. We went ours. After about a two-week bloom of
snakes, we seemed to have our usual number; just Susie and a couple of
her children.
A few years later, I wrote an essay
about a horse called Blue. It was about how humans treat horses and
other animals; how hard it is for us to see them as the suffering,
fully conscious, enslaved beings they are. It also marked the beginning
of my effort to become non-meat-eating (fairly successful). After
reading this essay in public only once, this is what happened. A white
horse came and settled herself on the land. (Her owner, a neighbour,
soon came to move her.) The two horses on the ranch across the road
began to run up to their fence whenever I passed, leaning over it and
making what sounded to my ears like joyful noises. They had never done
this before (I checked with the human beings I lived with to be sure of
this), and after a few more times of greeting me as if I'd done
something especially nice for them, they stopped. Now when I pass they
look at me with the same reserve they did before. But there is still a
spark of recognition.
What to make of this?
What I have noticed in my small world
is that if I praise the wild flowers growing on the hill in front of my
house, the following year they double in profusion and brilliance. If I
admire the squirrel that swings from branch to branch outside my
window, pretty soon I have three of four squirrels to admire. If I look
into the eyes of a raccoon that has awakened me by noisily rummaging
through my garbage at night, and acknowledge that it
looks maddeningly like a mischievous person - paws on hips, masked
eyes, a certain impudent stance, as it looks back at me - I soon have a
family of raccoons living in a tree a few yards off my deck. (From this
tree they easily forage in the orchard at night and eat, or at least
take bits out of, all the apples. Which is not fun. But that is another
story). And then, too, there are the deer, who know they need never,
ever fear me.
In white-directed movies about the
Indians of the Old West, you sometimes see the 'Indians' doing a rain
dance, a means of praying for rain. The message delivered by the
moviemaker is that such dancing and praying is ridiculous, that either
it will rain or it will not. All white men know this. The Indians are
backward and stupid and wasting their time. But there is also that last
page or so in the story of Black Elk, in which his anthropologist /
friend John Neihart goes with him on a last visit to the Badlands to
pray atop Harney Peak, a place sacred to the Sioux. It is a cloudless
day, but the ancient Black Elk hopes that the Great Spirit, as in the
real 'old' days, will acknowledge his prayer for the good of his people
by sending at least a few drops of rain. As he prays, in his old, tired
voice, mostly of his love of the Universe and his failure to be
perfect, a small cloud indeed forms. It rains, just enough to say
'Yes.' Then the sky clears. Even today there is the belief among many
Indigenous holy people that when a person of goodness dies, the
Universe acknowledges the spirit's departure by sending storms and rain.
The truth is in the country, where I
live much of the time, I am virtually overrun by birds and animals -
raccoons, snakes, deer, horses (occasionally). During a recent court
trial at which a neighbour and I both happened to find ourselves, her
opening words of greeting included the information that two wild pigs
she'd somehow captured had broken out and were, she feared, holed up
somewhere on my land. But at least, I thought, my house in the city is
safe.
But no.
One night after dinner, as some
friends were leaving my house, I opened my front door, only to have a
large black dog walk gratefully inside. It had obviously been waiting
quietly on the stoop. It came into the hallway, sniffed my hands, and
prepared to make itself at home, exactly as if it had lived in my house
all its life. There was no nervousness whatsoever about being an
intruder. No, no, I said, out you go! It did not want to go, but my
friends and I persuaded it. It settled itself at the door and there it
stayed, barking reproachfully until I went to bed. Very late that night
I heard its owners calling it. George! they called. George! Here,
George! They were cursing and laughing. Drunk. George made no response.
I suddenly realised that George was not lost. He had run away. He had
run away from these cursing, laughing drunks who were now trying to
find him. This realisation meant the end of sleep for me that night as
I lay awake considering my responsibility to George. (I felt none
towards his owners). For George obviously 'knew' which house was at
least supposed to be a stop on the underground railroad, and had come
to it; but iI, in my city house, had refused to acknowledge my house as
such. If I let it in, where would I put it? Then, too, I'm not
particularly fond of the restlessness of dogs. They way they groan and
fart in their sleep, chase rabbits in their dreams, a flop themselves
over, rattling their chains (i.e., collars and dog tags).
George had run away from these drunks
who 'owned' him, people no doubt unfit to own anything at all that
breathed. Did they beat him? Did they tie him to trees and lampposts
outside pubs (as I've often seen done) while they went inside and had
drink after drink? Were all the 'lost' dogs one heard about really
runaways? It hit me with great force that a dog I had once had,
Myshkin, had undoubtedly run away from the small enclosed backyard in
which he had been kept and in which he was probably going mad whereas I
had for years indulged in the
fantasy that he'd been stolen! No dog in his right mind would
voluntarily leave a cushy prison run by loving humans, right? Or
suppose George was a woman, beaten or psychologically abused by her
spouse. What then? Would I let her in? I would, wouldn't I? But where
to put George, anyway? If I put him in the cellar, he might bark. I
hate the sound of barking. If I put him in the parlor, he might spread
fleas. Who was this dog, anyway? George stayed at my door the whole
night. In the morning I heard him bark, but by the time I was up, he was gone.
I think I am telling you that the
animals of the planet are in desperate peril, and they are fully aware
of this. No less than human beings are doing in all parts of the world,
they are seeking sanctuary. But I am also telling you that we are
connected to them at least as
intimately as we are connected to trees. Without plant life human
beings could not breathe. Plants produce oxygen. Without free animal
life I believe we will lose the spiritual equivalent of oxygen.
'Magic,' intuition, sheer astonishment at the forms the Universe
devises in which to express life - itself - will no longer be able to
breathe is us. One day it occurred to me that if all the birds die, as
the might well do, eventually, from the poisoning of their air, water,
and food, it would be next to impossible to describe to our children
the wonder of their flight. To most children, I think, the flight of a
bird - if they've never seen one fly - would be imagined as stuff and
unplayful, like the flight of an airplane.
But what I'm also sharing with you is
this thought: The Universe responds. What you ask of it, it gives. The
military-industrial complex and its leaders and scientists have shown
more faith in this reality that have those of us who do not believe in
war and who want peace. They have asked the Earth for all its deadlier
substances. They have been confident in their faith in hatred and war.
The Universe, ever responsive, the Earth, ever giving, has opened
itself fully to their desires. Ironically, Black Elk and nuclear
scientists can be viewed in much the same way: as men who received from
it a sign reflective of their own hearts.
I remember when I used to dismiss the
bumper sticker 'Pray for Peace.' I realise now that I did not
understand it, since I also did not understand prayer; which I now know
to be the active affirmation in the physical world of our
inseparableness from the divine; and everything, especially the
physical world, is divine. War will stop when we no longer praise it,
or give it any attention at all. Peace will come wherever it is
sincerely invited. Love will
overflow every sanctuary given it. Truth will grow where the fertiliser
that nourishes it is also truth. Faith will be its own reward.
Believing this, which I learned from
my experience with the animals and wild flowers, I have found that my
fear of nuclear destruction has been to a degree lessened. I know
perfectly well that we may all die, and relatively soon, in a global
holocaust, which was first imprinted, probably against their wishes, on
the hearts of the scientist fathers of the atomic bomb, no doubt deeply
wounded and frightened human beings; but I also know we have the power,
as all the Earth's people, to conjure up the healing rain imprinted on
Black Elk's heart. Our death is in our hands. Knock and the door shall
be opened. Ask and you shall receive. Whatsoever you do to the last of
these, you do also unto me - and to yourself. For we are one. 'God'
answers prayers. Which is another way of saying, 'the Universe
responds.' We are indeed the world. Only if we have reason to fear what is in our hearts need we fear for the planet. Teach yourselves peace.
Pass it on.
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