Hitting The Strand

Christo Mills
International concerns over the destruction of the Upper Florentine were taken to the Australian High Commission in London yesterday, as concerned members of the British public and UK forest activists presented the Commission with a petition containing 1000 signatures. Activists draped banners across the front of the building situated on the Strand, a prominent central London location, reading END LOGGING NOW and SAVE TASMANIAS ANCIENT FORESTS.

Where are the maps,
Greens want to talk to FIAT … who are “misleading the public”

MEDIA ALERT

Tuesday, 20th January 2009

ACTIVISTS CALL ON FORESTRY TASMANIA TO GIVE UP THE MAPS AS TWO GIANT MONOPOLES ARE ERECTED IN THE FOREST AND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE UPPER FLORENTINE HITS THE STRAND, LONDON

WHERE: FORESTRY TASMANIA. 79 MELVILLE ST. HOBART.

WHEN: MIDDAY TODAY

At midday, forest activists from Still Wild Still Threatened will bring their concerns regarding current operations in the Upper Florentine Valley straight to Forestry Tasmania’s front door. The move comes as roading operations were halted again in the Upper Florentine this morning. A tree sit attached to two giant monopoles is currently halting gravelling operations in the valley.

International concerns over the destruction of the Upper Florentine were taken to the Australian High Commission in London yesterday, as concerned members of the British public and UK forest activists presented the Commission with a petition containing 1000 signatures. Activists draped banners across the front of the building situated on the Strand, a prominent central London location, reading END LOGGING NOW and SAVE TASMANIAS ANCIENT FORESTS.

“Forestry Tasmania’s Steve Whiteley has been telling the Tasmanian public for several years that 90% of the Upper Florentine is unavailable for harvesting. Despite consistent requests from conservationists to be provided with maps and figures to support this assertion, no clear evidence has been forthcoming,” Still Wild Still Threatened Spokesperson Christo Mills said.

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MEDIA RELEASE
Tuesday 20th January 2009
FLORENTINE ACTIVISTS ASK FORESTRY TASMANIA – “WHERE ARE THE MAPS?”
Forest activists have today delivered a formal request for information and maps regarding Forestry
Tasmania’s current and planned operations in the Upper Florentine.
“Forestry Tasmania claims that 90% of the Upper Florentine is protected. Conservationists have
repeatedly requested clear maps and figures to support this assertion, and these have not been
forthcoming” Still Wild Still Threatened spokesperson and Triabunna 13 defendant Christo Mills said.
“Forestry Tasmania have previously proclaimed that they have entered into a new era of transparency.
If this is true, then they should disclose this information to the Tasmanian public. And if they do not
have the appropriate evidence, an explanation should be provided to the Tasmanian public as to why
these claims have been made” Christo Mills said.
Still Wild Still Threatened has requested further information, including:
• the total cost of current and planned operations in the Upper Florentine;
• the projected income to the Tasmanian public from those operations;
• the expected number of direct full time jobs resulting from those operations and;
• the proportion of commercially harvestable forests, such as tall eucalypt and
rainforest, which is unavailable for harvesting.
“Once again, Forestry Tasmania’s public statements are far from convincing. While their bulldozers
and axe whackers are destroying the World Heritage valued ancient forests of the Upper Florentine,
their woefully inadequate response to public concern is to endlessly repeat facts with no opportunity
for assessment of their veracity, ” Christo Mills said.

Still Wild Still Threatened is a grassroots community organisation campaigning for the immediate protection of Tasmania’s ancient forests and the creation of an equitable and environmentally sustainable forestry industry in Tasmania.

www.stillwildstillthreaatened.org
stillwildstillthreatened@gmail.com www.myspace.com/stillwildstillthreatened
PO Box 295. South Hobart TAS 7004

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GREENS WILLING TO TALK TO FIAT …
… But FIAT Must Stop Misleading The Public
Kim Booth MP
Acting Greens Leader
Tuesday, 20 January 2009

www.tas.greens.org.au
The Tasmanian Greens today called on the Forest Industries Association of Tasmania to cease misleading Tasmanians about the extent of forest reservation in the state following the publication of an article by FIAT chairman Dr Julian Amos which falsely claims that ‘100 percent of the catchment of the Gordon River and its many tributaries’ is ‘reserved from logging’. [1]

Acting Greens leader Kim Booth MP said the Tasmanian Greens are more than prepared to again meet with FIAT to discuss various issues, having already done just that in July last year, but the publication of misleading facts does nothing to move the debate forward.

“At least 2000 hectares of old forests including large stands of leatherwood have been clearfelled in the Wedge forest which is in the area of Clearhill Road along the Gordon River Road – this area is well within the catchment of the Gordon River and Mr Amos needs to accept that this is a fact and explain why he is misleading us all in today’s article.”

“If Mr Amos truly wants dialogue then we are more than prepared to discuss various issues with FIAT, but it would be helpful if he could stop publishing complete falsehoods about forest reservation in Tasmania, as he has done in today’s newspaper.”

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[1] “It’s Time Dialogue Replaced Derision,” Dr Julian Amos (FIAT Chairman), The Mercury, 20 Jan 2009, p27