Will Gunns burn native forest timber in its pulp mill power station?

The Wilderness Society today questioned the wood supply for the power generator attached to Gunns’ proposed pulp mill and reinforced the fact that for the community to have full confidence the pulp mill will not use native forests, all relevant wood supply deals must be renegotiated.

Gunns information shows that the pulp mill’s power generator would burn 500,000[1] tonnes of forest products. It currently has a separate wood supply deal with Forestry Tasmania to supply up to 200,000[2] tonnes of wood products for burning in a wood-fired power generator.

“If the Tasmanian community is to believe Gunns’ claims that its proposed pulp mill will be 100% plantation based then the company must rule out using any native forests in the project, including the wood-fired power generator,” said Vica Bayley, Tasmanian Campaign Director for The Wilderness Society.

“To demonstrate it is genuine, Gunns must take immediate steps to renegotiate the native forest wood supply agreements.”

Tasmania currently has three native forest-fed power generation proposals waiting for investment. Forestry Tasmania are proposing two – one at Southwood and one in the north-west, while Gunns has one as a component of the pulp mill proposal.

“Native forest-fired power generators would only continue industry’s dependence on the conflict-ridden logging of native forests and would undermine the job of building a clean, clever reputation for our state,” said Mr Bayley.

“Native forest logging has proven impacts on threatened species, water catchments and climate change. Generating electricity for public consumption by burning these forests is bad for both the environment and the future direction of Tasmania.”

“Gunns must take steps to rule out native forest-fired power, to protect Tasmania’s image and help give credibility to its plantation-based pulp mill claims,” concluded Mr Bayley.

Website: www.wilderness.org.au

[1] http://www.gunnspulpmill.com.au/iis/default.php

[2] http://www.forestrytas.com.au/uploads/File/pdf/Gunns%20SOPSA.pdf (page 11)
Vica Bayley, Wilderness Society