Helen Kempton Mercury
ALMOST one in 10 Tasmanians think that 90 per cent of the state’s forests will be permanently stripped by the end of this century, a telephone survey has found. The EMRS survey was conducted to give Forestry Tasmania a snapshot of what Tasmanians thought about the organisation and its practices and policies. The results have shocked Forestry Tasmania. They show Tasmanians are confused about the use of poisons, the conversion of forest to plantation, how much forest is protected and what happens when a coupe is harvested. Read more here
What the Wilderness Society says:
MEDIA RELEASE – 10th September 2008
FORESTRY TASMANIA CLUCH AT STRAWS TO FIND A SCAPEGOAT FOR THEIR OWN CREDIBILITY PROBLEMS
FT dummy spit a sign of immanent PR blitz at taxpayer’s expense
A desperate bid to smear The Wilderness Society with baseless and unsubstantiated claims about our role in the forestry debate appears little more than Forestry Tasmania clutching at straws and pre-empts a taxpayer funded public relations blitz akin to Bob Gordon’s fateful Pulp Mill Task Force and Pulp Mill Bus tour.
A survey quite rightly shows that there is a high level of public mistrust about the claims and credibility of Forestry Tasmania and other players in Tasmania’s native forest woodchip industry.
“No amount of attacking the messenger or scapegoat searching will hide the fact that oldgrowth and high conservation value forests are still being clearfelled and burnt at great cost to our climate, water catchments, wildlife and clean, clever reputation,” said Vica Bayley, spokesperson for The Wilderness Society.
“Until Tasmanian’s see proper protection of their high conservation value native forests, the public debate will continue and the skepticism over the spin coming from industry apologists will remain.”
“What the public don’t want to see is another Bob Gordon bus tour and advertising campaign like the Pulp Mill Task Force. To fix the perceptions of the logging industry Mr Gordon needs to take real action to protect high conservation value forests and not block overdue industry reform.”
Despite aiming his grievances squarely at The Wilderness Society, Forestry Tasmania boss Bob Gordon fails to provide a single substantiated case of incorrect information emanating from our materials.
“In a letter to the ACCC Forestry Tasmania was unable to identify any instances where The Wilderness Society is wrong, indeed it identifies that what we have said is factually correct.”
“The Wilderness Society stands by every word we have published and are proud participants in the public debate about forest protection,” continued Mr Bayley.
“Instead of publicly complaining about the bad public perception of his industry, Mr Gordon’s challenge is to produce a transcript, brochure or media release where we have made the claims he alleges, and talk to us about it directly.”
‘The Wilderness Society often meets with management at Forestry Tasmania and is open to discussions about issues over which we have control. A public dummy spit over a bad poll result and accusatory finger pointing is a poor development in that dialogue,” concluded Mr Bayley.
