Otway Forest Update: 12/1/97
12/1/97
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Headline: Otway Forest Update: 12/1/97
Source: OREN propaganda
Date: 12/1/97
Otway Ranges Environment Network Propaganda services
(please e-mail propaganda@oren.org.au to be added or removed from mailing
list)
Campaign Update
Dec 1, 1997
1. Otway Forest Blockade
2. Background Info
3. Geelong Protest - Media Release
4. Forest Blockade - Media Release
1. 150 protesters at Otways Forest Blockade.
Today Otway residents and conservationists began the first stage of a total
obstruction of all clearfell logging operations in the Otway State forest.
Protesters have targetted logging operations next to the West Barwon Dam
and in the headwaters of the Cumberland river. So far protesters have
stopped logging operations at two locations in the Cumberland River
catchment area.
This is part of an ongoing campaign to highlight the effect clearfell
logging is having on Otway water quantity and quality. Protesters seek a
stop to logging in the Cumberland river in a bid to protect the only river
in the Otways that still has clean clear water running to the sea.
The protest is expected to expand encompass all native forest clearfell
logging operations in the Otway Region.
The Otway Ranges Environment Network's (OREN) has been campaigning over the
past 12 months to stop Kimberly-Clark using hardwood timber from Otway s
native forests to make kleenex tissue products. OREN would like to see an
end to all environmentally destructive logging practises in local native
forests.
Contact OREN Apollo Bay Office for details 03 52 377 516
2. Background Info
OREN has released a report that details the extent to which the Department
of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) has ignored its own
conservation objectives as set out in the Otway Forest Management Plan
(OFMP). The DNRE has ignoring the OFMP requirement to protect water
resources through axing funding for Sivilcultural Systems Project (SSP).
Funding was cut in 1994. Logging interests on the local water boards were
involved in this decision.
The OFMP requires objective scientific research from the SSP to allow
proper water resource management. Up to 47% of the forests potentially
available for logging are in proclaimed water catchments. The logging
industry view scientific research into water quality as a threat to their
business interests.
OREN has video evidence of several breaches of the Code of Forest
Practices. Video reveals that the new log roads at the West Barwon dam have
been poorly constructed. These dirt roads will spill tonnes of sediment and
sludge into the West Barwon dam next big rain. Video footage also shows
that logging occurred at the headwaters of the Cumberland river during wet
conditions. Severe rutting in the mud has been caused by bulldozers hauling
logs out. These ruts will channel muddy water into the headwaters of the
Cumberland river.
Additionally OREN has video footage of a tree cut through with a chainsaw
which had failed to fall over. This tree at a logging coup on Wye River
Road, failed to fall because it was leaning against branches of another
tree. This dangerous situation had been left unattended over a weekend.
3.____Media Update_____ - Geelong Protest
Otway Forest Protest Targets Geelong Supermarket
(Otway residents tell customers the truth about Kleenex)
This afternoon Otways and Geelong residents will stage a protest at a
Geelong supermarket. This protest is to inform the people of Geelong that
Kimberley-Clark, the manufacturer of Kleenex, sources pulplogs from Otways
native forest to make tissue products. Kimberly-Clark currently holds a
licence to take 44,000 tonnes of residual native hardwood per year from
Otway Native forest.
Up to 47% of the area allocated for clearfell logging in the Otway region
is in domestic water catchments," said Otway Ranges Environment Network
spokesperson, Ms. Kiyra Maclin. Research by Melbourne Water has shown that
logging causes a drastic reduction in water yield for an extended time
period after logging. Logging in the Otways directly effects the quality
and quantity of Geelongs Water supply.
We know that Kleenex products can be made from alternative sources of
plant fibre such a waste office paper. Consumers have a right to know that
the products they are purchasing is made from native forest hardwood from
the Otways and is not environmentally friendly.
We urge people to come into the forests and witness the beauty of the
Otway environment. Let them see for themselves the extent of the
destruction to the Otways environment. This way they can make their own
decisions on the products that they purchase.
Lets face it, we all use toilet and tissue paper. So lets do it right,
lets use recycled, concluded Ms. Maclin
4.____Media Update_____ - Forest Blockade
PROTESTS SEE HALT TO OTWAY LOGGING
(RESIDENTS CLAIM VICTORY IN DAY ONE OF FOREST PROTESTS)
Today over 150 Otway residents and conservationists halted clearfell
logging operations in 3 locations in the Otway State forest. Protesters see
this as a successful start to the Otway Ranges Environment Network s (OREN)
summer campaign to stop the clearfell logging of Otway native forest. OREN
also claimed a victory when logging crews were removed from a logging coupe
on the West Barwon dam, the source of Geelongs drinking water supply.
OREN has established blockades in logging coups at Mt. Cowley, Wye River,
and in the Cumberland River catchment at Curtis Track, effectively stopping
half of all native forest logging operations in the Otways.
Our focus at the moment is logging operations in water catchment areas,
said OREN spokesperson, Mr. Simon Birrell. Now that logging has ceased on
the West Barwon, we will focusing our attention on the Cumberland River
Catchment.
The Cumberland river is the last wild river in the region and the only
river in the Otways that still has clean clear water running to the sea.
Clearfell logging in the headwaters of the Cumberland river will alter both
the inland and coastal eco-systems. Melbourne Water research has shown that
logging in water catchments can have a profound effect on the quantity and
quality of water leaving that catchment. There is substantial long term
reductions in water volume after logging. Logging is allowed in the
Cumberland even though there has been no proper research into the long term
effects of clearing this catchment.
A large number of the people at today's protests are Otway Residents.
Native forest logging is not acceptable to many in the local community. It
is seen as threatening both the local environment and the local tourist
industry, a major employer in the region. Moral is very high and we expect
many locals to be in on the long haul ahead.
We have given an undertaking to the logging contractors that we will let
them remove their equipment from behind the blockades, if they give a
commitment to not log in the Cumberland this year. However we cannot
guarantee to not blockade them again if they proceed to log a contentious
location.
At least 60% of timber from Curtis Track is woodchip grade. This is
probably destined for Kimberly-Clark for manufacture into Kleenex tissues
and toilet paper. Many of the Otways residents see the name Kleenex as
synonymous to Otways Forest Destruction, conclude Mr. Birrell.
O t w a y s R a n g e s E n v i r o n m e n t N e t w o r k
An affilliation of Otway's residents, regional and Victorian
conservation groups and campus conservation networks
propaganda@oren.org.au (OREN Propaganda)
DO NOT assume that any act of damage to logging equipment or logging
infrastructure is done by conservationists or members of anti - logging
groups. - Victorian Police (internal memo)