Forest activists hand in petition to Australian High Commision in London
Mr P. Neale | 19.01.2009 17:04 | Climate Chaos | Ecology
FOREST ACTIVISTS HAND IN PETITION TO AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISION IN LONDON WITH 1000 NAMES ASKING FOR THE IMMEDIATE HALT TO LOGGING OLD GROWTH AND HIGH CONSERVATION VALUE FOREST
Forest Activists Drape banner at High Commision in London
Concerned members of the British public and forest activists today handed in a petition to the Australian High Commission in London. Activists draped banners across the front of the building situated on the Strand, a prominent central London location, reading END LOGGING NOW and SAVE TASMANIAS ANCIENT FORESTS.
The protest was motivated by the eviction of the long standing protest camp in the Upper Florentine valley in Tasmania.
To date 27 protesters and community members acting in the defense of the protest camp in the Upper Florentine valley have been arrested. 500 tasmanians this weekend walked in to the exclusion zone around the logging site and brought work to a stand still yet again. There are five people occupying tree sits, high in the upper canopy in dangerous proximity to roading operations by forestry Tasmania.
Tasmania is home to the tallest hardwood trees on the planet. They regularly grow to over 80 meters and last month one was found to be 110m tall - making it the second tallest tree in the world and the tallest hardwood tree in the world.
These trees and the ancient ecosystems around them are being devastated by industrial scale logging to feed the Japanese paper industry.
Recently 'The World Heritage Committee' meeting in Quebec released an important decision regarding Tasmania's tall eucalypt forests, which requests the State Party to consider an "extension of the property to include appropriate areas of tall eucalypt forest", once more highlighting this issue as being an international concern.
"Once again, we are seeing a massive swell of community support for Tasmania's carbon dense old growth forests and outrage at the destructive roading, logging, woodchipping and burning of these precious ecosystems by climate criminals Forestry Tasmania and Gunns Limited" said Ula Majewski, Still Wild Still Threatened spokesperson
"Our community will continue to stand up and speak out against these environmentally criminal acts. In this era of dangerous climate change, the destruction of Tasmania's ancient forests is a global issue" said Miss Majewski.
For comment, contact:
Phil Neale UK : 07948 968 239
Ula Majewski Tasmania: 061 (0)413 732 946
http://www.stillwildstillthreatened.org/
The protest was motivated by the eviction of the long standing protest camp in the Upper Florentine valley in Tasmania.
To date 27 protesters and community members acting in the defense of the protest camp in the Upper Florentine valley have been arrested. 500 tasmanians this weekend walked in to the exclusion zone around the logging site and brought work to a stand still yet again. There are five people occupying tree sits, high in the upper canopy in dangerous proximity to roading operations by forestry Tasmania.
Tasmania is home to the tallest hardwood trees on the planet. They regularly grow to over 80 meters and last month one was found to be 110m tall - making it the second tallest tree in the world and the tallest hardwood tree in the world.
These trees and the ancient ecosystems around them are being devastated by industrial scale logging to feed the Japanese paper industry.
Recently 'The World Heritage Committee' meeting in Quebec released an important decision regarding Tasmania's tall eucalypt forests, which requests the State Party to consider an "extension of the property to include appropriate areas of tall eucalypt forest", once more highlighting this issue as being an international concern.
"Once again, we are seeing a massive swell of community support for Tasmania's carbon dense old growth forests and outrage at the destructive roading, logging, woodchipping and burning of these precious ecosystems by climate criminals Forestry Tasmania and Gunns Limited" said Ula Majewski, Still Wild Still Threatened spokesperson
"Our community will continue to stand up and speak out against these environmentally criminal acts. In this era of dangerous climate change, the destruction of Tasmania's ancient forests is a global issue" said Miss Majewski.
For comment, contact:
Phil Neale UK : 07948 968 239
Ula Majewski Tasmania: 061 (0)413 732 946
http://www.stillwildstillthreatened.org/
Mr P. Neale
e-mail:
phil-neale@hotmail.com