THE community campaign against Gunns’ current pulp mill proposal is gathering strength, with increased awareness that the pulp mill will drive ongoing forest destruction and pollute both the air and the marine environment. The Wilderness Society has responded to this by opening a Launceston Campaign Centre.
The main focus of the campaign centre will be the protection of oldgrowth forests in northern Tasmania, with a particular emphasis on the effects of Gunns’ proposed pulp mill. The Launceston Campaign Centre will promote the unique forests of the north and north-east of Tasmania. These forests were forgotten and largely left unprotected in the recent Howard-Lennon agreement and now form part of the wood supply for the proposed pulp mill.
Forests on the foothills of Ben Lomond, the Great Western Tiers, in Reedy Marsh, in the Blue Tier and other parts of the North East Highlands are under severe pressure from logging and often conversion to plantation. They will be under even more pressure to feed the four million tonne appetite of the pulp mill.
This logging will threaten the local survival of threatened animals such as the wedge tailed eagle which faces an increased risk of localised extinction should planned logging operations proceed. As these forests are found in the upper catchments of river systems, logging in these areas also threatens the domestic water supply of thousands of homes. In this day and age, water issues are simply too precious to gamble with.
Say NO to pulp mill rally
The Launceston Campaign Centre is a public space. It has an open door to anyone needing to find out accurate and up-to-date information about the pulp mill proposal and the threatened forests earmarked to feed it. It is a place where the public can come in and find out how they can help secure Tasmania’s clean, green future by warding off the current pulp mill proposal.
It will be the first shop front established to encourage public participation in the pulp mill debate. It will be a hub for volunteer activity and a place dedicated to highlighting the overwhelming environmental, social and economic costs associated with the current pulp mill proposal.
Volunteers working through the centre will be encouraging public submissions to the RPDC, letterboxing, letter-writing, research, and working on organising and promoting events such as the major rally on 3rd December.
The ‘Say NO to this pulp mill’ rally will be held in Princes Square, Launceston on Saturday 3rd December at 11:30 am.
A strong community voice is vital to ensure that the pulp mill is not approved. The rally will give all Tasmanians the opportunity to stand up and help secure a clean, green future for their state.
Vica Bayley is Forests Campaigner, The Wilderness Society.
