Bob Loone
Air and water pollution has reached an alarming level. The poisons and green wood-smoke particles which cause lung infections, heart ailments, cancer, and increase the severity of asthma attacks, are impacting on our health. Air and water borne poisonous herbicides and insecticides, used unnecessarily and associated with unsustainable plantation forestry, threaten our health, animals, and marine life.
Noise comes from the exhaust brakes of log trucks as they pollute our towns. The noise of trees falling, of skidders roaring, of chainsaws screaming is depressing and stressful to many people. Noise as the forestry power and influence expounds its message on the airways and in the media. Forestry noise imposes itself on the community. There is no relief, if it stops for a while it will come back when it wants to, there is intended to be no end. Peace in the country is a theory only, forestry makes sure of that.
PROPER accountability of forestry in Tasmania, although given prominence and publicity, is of major concern.
We see the systematic destruction of our scenic values, native forests, farms, economy, air and water quantity and quality under self regulatory, secretive, privileged and protected forestry political powers and spin doctoring. The question is; what authority looks after the “public interest” in forestry matters?
The answer is there does not appear to be any.
The situation has become imperative, and therefore it is the responsibility of Municipal Councils, who are the first line of community welfare and economic sustainability, to include the Forest Practices Code and the Sinkhole Manual in their Council Planning Schemes, and forestry be given “discretionary”, status rather than “permitted”.
By doing this councils, or their officers, would be able to apply relevant conditions to lessen the damage forestry activities impose on local communities, and have authority to ensure the Forest Practices Code and the Sinkhole Manual is adhered to. I call on all councillors and communities where forestry is conducted to implement these three amendments into their Planning Schemes as soon as practical. This is imperative if we care about the continued and sustainable economic welfare of our rural communities. Proper public accountability is required by other industries and forestry should be the same.
Land corporatisation, i.e.; the transfer of ownership of land from the local people to large corporations, open to be taken over by multinational conglomerates, degenerates the local community to at best caretaker level, but more likely akin to cheap furniture. The sense of local ownership, even if not personal, or “sense of place”, enriches the community and state; remove it and there is social disintegration. Future generations of Tasmanians will not have access to wealth it produces. Its use, management, and benefits will be for rich people far away. This is the stuff wars are fought over. Imagine our children having to compete with cheap imported labour for any employment positions offered by the multinational owners of what was our good farmland.
We should never let people or companies who are not 100% Australian own our land. Already an alarming amount of our good farms have been handed over to corporations. History will record us as the generation which sold out our future generation’s income, welfare, and farmland, for short term gain. This taxpayer subsidised land grab by big business, fuelled by gross and misguided interference in market forces by our Federal Government, is the worst disaster to come our rural communities since we took over the land from the aboriginal people, sometimes for a few trinkets. Talk about history repeating itself!
Alarming level
Air and water pollution has reached an alarming level. The poisons and green wood-smoke particles which cause lung infections, heart ailments, cancer, and increase the severity of asthma attacks, are impacting on our health. Air and water borne poisonous herbicides and insecticides, used unnecessarily and associated with unsustainable plantation forestry, threaten our health, animals, and marine life.
Erosion caused by clear-felling pollutes our streams and domestic water supplies. The communities of Mole Creek, Chudleigh, and Caveside, are so concerned they have formed the Western Rivers Preservation Trust, to monitor and analyse, at their cost, the quality of water in our local streams adjacent to forestry activities. If pollutants are found, appropriate action will be taken. All the forestry practices which are causing this air and water pollution are unnecessary. They are not required if responsible sustainable forestry practices, or if conventional forestry methods are used.
Nutrient depletion resulting in slow or stunted growth is already apparent. Due to the high nutrient demand of intensive low value pulp plantations the soil is being robbed of its ability to sustainability produce. That’s why the highly productive, highly fertile farms are sought after at almost whatever price is necessary to buy them. Even on these properties plantation forestry becones unsustainable after two or three crops, and any thought of replacing the nutrients with fertiliser is uneconomic. The application of growth boosting fertilisers may do just that, but in effect they only enable the trees to speed up the nutrient mining process. We have a responsibility to be stewards of our soil, environment, sustainability, and biodiversity. Unsustainable nutrient depleting plantation forestry is not good stewardship.
Toxic pollution caused by forestry residue burn smoke, gasses, and spray chemical particles in our air, soil, and water is known to cause ill health and premature death. The latest research shows the unhealthy effects of wood smoke to be essentially the same as that of cigarette. It also shows forestry workers to be at highest risk of work related cancer problems and therefore people living near plantations would be at similar risk.
Both smoke and spray particles, drift down towards valleys when the air is still, or if windy can be carried for many kilometres. Indications are that the smallest amount can trigger major health problems, which may not show symptoms for years, thus there is no “safe” level.
Irresponsible
Successful forestry can and is conducted without burning, which also contributes to unsustainability, and without using toxic herbicides or insecticides. The use of either is unnecessary and therefore irresponsible.
Answers are being submitted at every enquiry, and at every level of government, by many concerned and well informed people only to be ignored. The closed system, spin doctoring, self regulation, political donations, government handout culture, forestry power, and immunity from accountability ensure the present system prevails. Yes there is always the offer of dialogue, but that dialogue is on the basis of forestry people are the experts, and people outside forestry are not, and their wisdom and experience means nothing. Maybe some small short term adjustments are made, but essentially forestry has the power to impose, and the effected people lose out.
The answer is simple, and needs to be implemented urgently. The Federal government needs to remove the ill advised, open for abuse, market forces distorting, 100% tax deductible plantation investment incentive scheme. It’s diminishing our economy, our environment, our social welfare, our farms, our soils, and our ability to produce in the future.
Tax avoidance schemes for the rich, while the rest of us struggle to pay high taxes is not good democracy. How can a farmer who struggles to pay high taxes possibly compete for land against those who are given huge amounts of tax exempt money? The 100% tax deductible driven plantation investment companies inflate the price of good farmland beyond the reach of genuine farmers. To give able and genuine farmers a fair go at being able to buy a farm I ask that our Federal government quickly introduce a first farm owner’s grant of $2m, similar to first homeowner’s grant. There would need to be accountability but if the government is going to give tax concessions to the rich they must also help the genuine farmers who are our future prosperity. Even with tax avoidance schemes, plantations will never provide food, jobs, sustainability, local or national prosperity.
Impacts of plantations on the viability of surrounding farmers who are trying to continue farming forces more farmers to sell up causing a domino effect. The extra costs and workload a plantation in the vicinity causes the farm only to be attractive to a plantation company and so there is another plantation victim as the greed driven land acquisitions spread like cancer. The lowering of the water table causing crops to dry off earlier or requiring a much longer irrigation period impacts heavily on viability. It suits plantation companies fine to have their vermin eat the farmer’s crops and take the nutrients into the plantation as droppings.
Sense of place values
Then there is the shading, the depressing weed infestations, the loss of scenic and sense of place values. The fire risks, and sense of isolation and hopelessness, the spray drifts and smoke inhalation. The impacts of plantations erode our economy, destroy our sense of place, can render nearby farms unviable, reduce employment and cause sickness even premature death. A huge amount of irreversible damage has already occurred. As a result of clear felling many thousands of tonnes of eroded soil and rubble is already choking up our estuaries, karst systems and out into the sea.
Out of control is the obvious conclusion one comes to when one considers the many instances of abuse of the Forest Practices Code and the Sinkhole Manual. Out of control is the natural outcome of the “self regulating” forestry industry. There can be very little or no control when the chief officer has to report to a boss who relies on education and encouragement rather than authority. An industry trying to lock the public out, presumably because they are the only people who will hold them accountable, again shows that forestry is out of control. There is also the exemption of Private Timber Reserves from Council Planning Schemes, denying people of their rights to have forestry’s impacts on them addressed and creating ongoing inequality with potential for discrimination. Over 180 Forest Practices Officers, planning forestry activities, most working for bosses motivated by profit, self auditing, with only about 5% of coupes audited by another Forest Practices Officer. A Forest Practices Authority who reports to political parties who are recipients of donations from forestry companies.
Noise comes from the exhaust brakes of log trucks as they pollute our towns. The noise of trees falling, of skidders roaring, of chainsaws screaming is depressing and stressful to many people. Noise as the forestry power and influence expounds its message on the airways and in the media. Forestry noise imposes itself on the community. There is no relief, if it stops for a while it will come back when it wants to, there is intended to be no end. Peace in the country is a theory only, forestry makes sure of that.
Stupidity is the word that describes the government system which uses 100% tax deductible incentives to inflate land prices and promote the transfer of our farmland from farming families to corporations. Stupidity is the word which describes replacing sustainable economic activities with unsustainable greed. Stupidity is the word which describes government promotion of activities which destroy, pollute and poison our air, water, scenic values and fragile karst systems. Thousands of jobs and huge amounts of our good farmland have already been destroyed. Due to political donations and forestry favours our governments have failed those they pretend to represent. Local communities and municipal councils must act decisively and quickly to protect our health, environment, economy, welfare, heritage, and quality of life for ourselves and our children.
Summary
Plantations mostly appear to be the result of the
Landgrab driven by 100% tax free investments. Unnecessary
Air and water pollution and unsustainable
Nutrient depletion and the use and release of
Toxic gasses and chemicals has resulted.
A nswers are put forward. One is to reign in the
T axpayer subsidised destruction causing unacceptable
I mpacts and inflations which appear to be
O ut of control, yet making much spin-doctoring
N oise to divert attention from the
S tupidity and unsustainability of it all.
Bob Loone
President
Western Rivers Preservation Trust
Email: [email protected]
