FIAT Campaign to hide native forest wood-chipping

The Forest Industries Association of Tasmania campaign launched today is designed to block Tasmanians’ desire for protection of Tasmania’s native forests (as evidenced by recent opinion polls*) by hiding the truth about native forest logging and export wood-chipping, said Environment Tasmania today.

“20,000 football fields of our native forests are approved for logging in Tasmania every year,” said Dr Phill Pullinger, Director of Environment Tasmania,

“More than 85% of the timber volume coming out of our native forests goes directly to woodchips,”

“Yet forest industry bodies continue to hide behind the logging and wood-chipping of our native forests using the very small quantities of timber that end up in high value products as a smokescreen,”

“Most Tasmanian environment groups support the sourcing of small quantities of native forest timbers for high-value products – but it is absolutely unnecessary to keep destroying our native forests to maintain a low-volume, high-value native forest timber sector,”

“This campaign by FIAT is designed to keep commodity exports from our native forests alive – when most Tasmanians* and world markets want an end to commodity native forest logging,” he concluded

* An October 2009 Essential Research poll found that 90% of Tasmanians agreed with the statement; I think it’s possible that we can both protect our native forests and maintain jobs in the timber industry and that is the policy I want the next Tasmanian government to implement. Only 10% agreed with the statement: I think the current policy of logging in Tasmania’s native forests should continue because it is the only way to protect jobs in the timber industry.

Environment Tasmania is the peak body for Tasmanian environment & conservation groups – and represents over 20 Tasmanian environment groups with collective representation of over 5000 Tasmanians.
Dr Phill Pullinger Director Environment Tasmania The Conservation Council