Sumatra: This land was once rainforest, but has now been cleared, burned, planted, harvested and burned again
What was that all about … ? Hag was sitting in a downtown Hobart cafe in recovery from far too much Green Fairy absinthe, natch, when she overheard two middle-aged gentlemen discussing that ghastly proposition, a pulp mill in the Tamar Valley. She didn’t hear much … other than refs to ‘next month’ and APRIL. Surely, god no, not this mob …
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has just aired a damning exposé called “Paper Tiger” about the devastating deforestation caused by the pulp and paper industry in Indonesia. The program is called Foreign Correspondent and it is a sort of Aussie 60 Minutes.
The piece features compelling footage of logging giant APRIL mowing down vast expanses of Sumatra’s primary rainforests and creating an “ecological Armageddon” in order to feed their paper mill in Riau, which is the largest such mill in the world.
RAN forest campaigner Lafcadio Cortesi and I spent a half day with the ABC film crew when we were in Sumatra last month. Quotes from Laf’s extensive interview with them are featured throughout the program.
This great investigative piece includes emotional pleas from lifelong farmers about to lose their land to APRIL’s clear cut logging and shows motion detector camera shots of critically endangered Sumatran tigers just days before their habitat was bulldozed for a paper plantation. It documents both government corruption and explosions of violence resulting from the social conflict surrounding APRIL’s forest destruction. This maddening footage is interspersed with snippets of blatant greenwashing and callous disregard from APRIL’s Director of Operations, David Kerr.
Lafcadio explains the carbon implications of logging peatlands to ABC film crew
The show is a half hour long, but it makes for gripping viewing and offers a strong introduction into the urgent forest crisis underway in Indonesia. I wrote a blog post about this portion of our trip entitled “A Rainforest Apocalypse? People, Peat And Promises For A New Direction“.
Watch the exposé here: http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2011/s3283804.htm .
You can also read some uplifting news about Indonesia in my post entitled “From the Field: Inspirational Agroforestry at the Corner of Nature.”
Read the full article, with full links here
• SENATOR THE HON RICHARD COLBECK
Senator for Tasmania
Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Forestry
Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Innovation, Industry and Science
M E D I A R E L E A S E
15 May 2012
Even Prof. West says forestry deal set to fail
Lara Giddings and Julia Gillard appear the last two people in Australia who still believe the Tasmanian forestry Intergovernmental Agreement can succeed.
“I don’t agree with his assessment that Tasmanian forests are being harvested at unsustainable rates, but I do agree with Professor Jonathan West’s view today that an agreement will not be reached and the issues will not be resolved,” Coalition Forestry Spokesman Richard Colbeck said.
“I also agree with his report’s finding that the supply agreements Ms Giddings promised to honour cannot be met if any further forest is locked up.
“The reason the IGA is doomed to fail is that the environment groups are not interested in peace.
“If environment groups were genuine, we would not be seeing ongoing disruptive protest actions here in Tasmania and corporate sabotage in our international markets.
“The only thing environment groups are serious about is the total destruction of Tasmania’s forest industry – at whatever cost to our forest communities and our State’s economy.
“Prof. West’s advice today comes off the back of warnings delivered by retiring Labor Senator Nick Sherry and AWU secretary Paul Howes in recent days. How much longer will the State and Federal Governments stubbornly push on with this sham process?
“The Federal Coalition has consistently maintained that the Intergovernmental Agreement and the political mechanism that have produced it are a sham.
“We are no closer to peace in the forests than when this process commenced in 2010, and there is no logical basis for any more of Tasmania’s forest resources to be locked up.
“The Federal Coalition stands by its previous calls for the deal to be torn up.
“Ms Giddings and Ms Gillard must stop being so ignorant and take notice of the warnings that are pouring in which all say this deal is a dud and it won’t bring peace to Tasmania’s forests.
“Ms Giddings and Ms Gillard should by now understand the consequences of broken promises,” Senator Colbeck said.
• Gunns’ latest announcement …
15 May 2012
Company Announcements Platform
Australian Securities Exchange
MARKET UPDATE
Gunns Limited (“the Company”) is pleased to provide a market update relating to its current strategic and capital raising initiatives.
Gunns has previously advised that it was undertaking a sales process on a number of assets and operations.
A contract for the sale of the Heyfield hardwood sawn timber business at an enterprise value of approximately $28 million has been executed and is expected to complete in late May 2012. Completion of this transaction will finalise the exit of the Company from operations based on native forest wood supply. The Company ceased accepting resource from native forest harvesting in Tasmania in June 2011 and has subsequently sold mainland based operations in Western Australia and now Victoria.
The process for realisation of the Company’s investment in the Green Triangle forest estate is proceeding.
The Company has received indicative offers for its mainland based export woodchip operations and has commenced a structured sale process for this business which includes the Portland woodchip export facility.
In respect of the proposed capital raising the Company is continuing in its discussions and diligence with a select group of institutional investors in relation to a substantial capital raising. The terms and nature of this proposed capital raising remain confidential and incomplete. It is likely that the capital raising process will continue for what is at this time an indeterminate period.
The Company is pleased to confirm agreement has been reached with the Managing Director Mr Greg L’Estrange for the extension of his term of appointment as Managing Director until 31 December 2012.
Suspension from Trading
The Company requests that its suspension from trading continues until the appropriate time, following finalisation of details of its proposed recapitalisation. The Company is not aware of any reason why the suspension should not continue.
