Coinciding with Valentine’s Day and less than a week after Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke’s spectacular failure to properly protect the Tarkine, people today gathered around Australia to express their love for Tasmania’s Tarkine wilderness and take part in a national day of action.
People have got together in Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Cairns, Adelaide and Perth to celebrate the Tarkine and distribute information to the public at stalls, information nights, banner events and signings. The events, dubbed Be My ValenTarkine are part of a broader campaign to protect environmental values and the laws and processes currently in place to assess development proposals. (http://placesyoulove.org/valentines/ )
“Our campaign to protect the Tarkine has focused on people’s love for the area and the natural values it holds so there is no better day to express that connection than Valentine’s Day,” said Liz Johnstone, Tarkine Campaigner for the Wilderness Society.
The Tarkine is threatened with mining and has been repeatedly abandoned by Governments. Despite the expert advice of the Australian Heritage Council to formally list more than 430,000 hectares of the Tarkine, Minister Burke will list less than four per cent of the region based on cultural values, ignoring the overwhelming evidence of outstanding natural values.
There are over nine open cut mine proposals across this region.
“The natural values of the Tarkine have been long-studied and repeatedly recommended as of National and World Heritage significance.
“Mining, including open cut mines in existing conservation reserves, threatens to fragment the Tarkine and seriously impact on those heritage values, including habitat for the endangered Tasmanian Devil.
“People love the Tarkine and will stand up to protect it,” said Ms Johnstone. “Today, people all around Australia are highlighting the incredible values of the area and the Federal Government’s refusal to protect them.”
Liz Johnstone, Ruth Groom, The Wilderness Society
