Japan/Tasmania Woodchip Deal
4/25/94
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Headline: Japan/Tasmania Woodchip Deal
Source: Japan Tropical Forest Action Network (JATAN)
Date: 4/25/94
The following are press releases and letters released during the
current visit to Japan by two Tasmanian activists working on the
destruction of Tasmania's native forests. Background materials
on the Japan-Tasmania woodchip trade can be obtained by mail from
JATAN (send us you address).
Japan Tropical Forest Action Network (JATAN) (Igc!jatan), Fax:
3-3770-0727
April 22, 1994, Tokyo
____________________________
Peg Putt, MHA Tasmania,
House of Assembly, Parliament House, Hobart, Tasmania 7112
AUSTRALIA
Tel: 02-336-355
Fax: 02-231-406
Peg Putt, Green Party Spokesperson for Wilderness and Forestry
Earth Day, April 22, 1994, Tokyo, JAPAN
Fax: 3-3770-0727 (JATAN),
Fax: 75-712-7129
PRESS RELEASE
Tokyo Report:
PEG PUTT MEETS JAPANESE DIET MEMBERS, JAPANESE PAPER ASSOCIATION
(JPA), BUT DENIED MEETINGS WITH TASMANIAN WOODCHIP CUSTOMERS.
Peg Putt has held meetings with members of the Japanese Diet
(National Parliament), and the Japan Paper Association during a 3
day visit to Tokyo.
Ms. Putt was denied meetings with the 5 individual paper companies
(Nippon Paper Industries, New Oji Paper, Mitsubishi Paper, Chuetsu
Pulp & Paper, Daio Paper) who consume Tasmanian woodchips,
following the political storm which erupted in Tasmania over the
Japan tour. A proposed meeting suggested by a paper company with
the 5 customers plus North Broken Hill (Australian woodchip
exporter) was called off.
"I am disappointed that the consumers of our woodchips would not
meet with me to discuss the destruction of Tasmania's old growth,
wilderness and high conservation value forests to feed throwaway
paper production in Japan" Ms Putt said. " I suspect Tasmanian
government intervention to prevent our meeting." I will not give
up, and this afternoon I will personally deliver a letter to the
head offices of 4 or 5 of the paper companies which use Tasmanian
woodchips."
Ms. Putt said that this morning's 2.5 hour meeting with top
officials of the Japan Paper Association was a valuable
opportunity to present information about the International Union
for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Resolutions calling for
protection of Tasmanian forests in World Heritage reserves. Ms.
Putt also tabled advice to the Federal Environment Minister from
the Australian Heritage Commission which says that no roading or
logging should take place in Tasmanian National Estate Forests,
and Environment Department advice that current forestry operations
in the Huon and Picton valleys is damaging the current World
Heritage Area.
"I am pleased to have had a lengthy exchange of views with the
Japan Paper Association (JPA) who have previously only heard the
government and industry side of the story."
Yesterday's meeting with 3 Diet members who are members of GLOBE
(Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment)
produced national TV coverage in Japan, and brought to prominence
a proposal by Mr. Koizumi, a member of parliament (Diet), to levy
an environment tax on imports of native forest woodchips to Japan.
"The value of the proposed environment tax is twofold - it will
help to save Tasmanian forests, and at the same time it will
promote increased paper recycling in Japan. At present, large
scale recycling is uneconomic here because cheap imports from
Tasmania and other countries like Canada cost less than paper
collected for recycling."
"Mr. Koizumi and other members expressed a strong interest in
visiting Tasmania to see our spectacular ancient forests and
wilderness areas." "I intend to present them with a formal
invitation to visit and lend support to our new economic direction
of clean, green exports to Asia and promotion of our wilderness as
an international attraction."
Attached/following: Sample copy of letter hand delivered to
Japanese paper companies which use Tasmanian native forest
woodchips.
_______________________________
Peg Putt, MHA Tasmania,
House of Assembly, Parliament House, Hobart, Tasmania 7112
AUSTRALIA
Tel: 02-336-355
Fax: 02-231-406
April 22, 1994 (Earth Day)
Mr. Shigeru UCHIYAMA, President
Mitsubishi Paper Mills, Ltd.
3-4-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100
JAPAN
Fax: 3-3214-4534
Dear Mr. Uchiyama,
I am a member of the Tasmanian State Parliament, representing the
Tasmanian Green Party which holds five of thirty-five seats in the
House of Assembly. The goal of my current trip to Japan is to
inform the Japanese public and Japanese paper industry of the
outstanding high conservation value of Tasmania's natural old
growth forests, and the threat to the survival of these forests
posed by the export of woodchips to Japan. The recent trade
mission to Japan from Tasmania I am sure failed to mention that
the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in
1990 passed a resolution recommending protection of Tasmania's
high conservation value forests by addition to the current
Wilderness World Heritage Area, and in 1994 re-affirmed the
resolution and called on the Australian and Tasmanian governments
to immediately assess and nominate the areas and not allow the
construction of the new 4th woodchip mill at Hampshire, Tasmania.
Japan imports, in the form of woodchips, about 80% of the wood
extracted from Tasmania's natural forests. All of the wood is
obtained by clearfell logging of native forests, and all woodchips
exported from Tasmania come to Japan. It has been predicted that
Tasmania will lose its remaining unprotected ancient forests,
which have genetic links going back millions of years, in 10-15
years if present rates of extraction continue. If the rates
increase, as the Tasmanian government is hoping, the forests will
be gone even sooner. Unfortunately, the Tasmanian Government
intends to allow the logging of all unprotected native forests
before switching completely to plantations, even though there are
plantations which could be used today. One of the reasons is
that it is very inexpensive to cut the native forests because the
environmental costs are not taken into account.
The problem of destruction of natural forest ecosystems to feed
throwaway paper consumption in industrialized countries is of
course not unique to Tasmania. It is a global problem which
affects tropical, temperate and boreal forests, and has wide
reaching environmental and social impacts. Japan is one of the
world's leading producers and consumers of paper products, and a
significant proportion of the raw materials (wood chips and pulp)
for your paper industry originate in the natural forests of
Australia, North America, and Chile.
Your company, which uses Tasmanian woodchips imported by
Mitsubishi Corporation, has been identified as one of the major
Japanese users of our woodchips. Therefore, I would like to make
the following demands to your company;
* Firstly and most importantly, that you immediately cease all
imports of woodchips which are sourced from Tasmania's native, old
growth and high conservation value forests. Initially, this will
mean not accepting any woodchips obtained from National Estate
Areas (Registered and Interim Listed). National Estate designates
a property listed under the Australian Heritage Commission Act
(1975) as one of '... those places being components of the
natural environment of Australia, or the cultural environment of
Australia, that have aesthetic, historic, scientific or social
significance or other special value for future generations, as
well as the present community.'
* Secondly, that you buy only plantation grown woodchips from
Tasmania. Hardwood and softwood plantations are available for
harvesting now, and more are rapidly becoming available.
Consultants confidently estimate that 2 million tonnes per year
will be ready for harvesting by 2000. I therefore urge that you
support a rapid transition out of logging native forests and into
utilizing plantations by the above purchasing policies, and by
making this demand explicit to the Tasmanian and Australian
governments and to Tasmanian woodchip vendors. Pressure from
Japanese customers, the Tasmanian woodchip industry's only
customer, for lower woodchip prices is leading to pressure in
Tasmania to significantly increase woodchipping of remaining
native forests outside of conservation reserves.
* Thirdly, you should attempt to reduce pressure on remaining
native forests in Tasmania, mainland Australia and other
countries, and contribute positively to solving global
environmental problems, particularly the loss of biodiversity,
global warming and the growing solid waste problem by promoting
policies which call for a reduction in paper consumption to levels
which are ecologically sustainable, and a further increase in the
recycling rate.
Tasmania is proud of its "clean, green" produce marketed using the
images of our world renowned wilderness. We also offer top class
eco-tourism experiences of walking, rafting, caving, and fishing
in our wild and pure environment. The continued clearfelling and
burning of our wild native forests for wood chip production is in
direct conflict with these other environmentally-benign
industries.
I look forward to receiving a response to the points I have made
in this letter. Please feel free to write in Japanese if you
prefer. I can be reached in Japan by fax until April 26th at
0425-74-1871 or 075-712-7129.
Sincerely yours,
Peg Putt, MHA Tasmania
Green Party Spokesperson on Wilderness,
Heritage & Public Lands
cc. Mr. Minoru MAKIHARA, President, Mitsubishi Corporation
(Fax:
3210-8051);
Japan Paper Association
_____________________________
PRESS RELEASE
Earth Day, April 22, 1994, Tokyo, Japan
For Immediate Release
From Jim Everett (APG)
Tokyo: Fax: 3-3770-0727 (JATAN), 75-712-7129
Jim Everett, Aboriginal Provisional Government (APG), 198
Elizabeth Street,
Hobart 7000 Tasmania, Australia --OR-- GPO Box 569F, Hobart,
7001 Tasmania,
Australia
Fax: 02-311-348
NATIVE TITLE DISCUSSIONS IN JAPAN
Jim Everett joined Tasmanian Green Party MHA Peg Putt in
discussions with the Japan Paper Association (JPA) in Tokyo today.
Mr. Everett raised issues concerning woodchip agreements between
the Tasmania forest industry and Japanese paper mills that impact
on Native Title rights and the Tasmanian Aboriginal community.
Mr. Everett said after the meeting with Mr. Taiji MORIMOTO, Vice
President of the JPA, "it appears that information from the
Tasmanian government and forest industry organizations is either
inaccurate or deficient concerning forestry management and
Tasmanian Aboriginal concerns. However, the discussions were
positive and provided an entry for future discussions concerning
Tasmanian Aboriginal Native Title rights and Japanese paper
industry interests."
He said, "Mr. Morimoto indicated that the JPA would be prepared to
further discuss Tasmanian Aboriginal community interests when our
Native Title is lodged, possibly sometime later in 1995. He told
Mr. Morimoto that he would be lodging a Native Title for all Crown
land and our interests would include social needs, employment,
recycling, plantation resources and cultural programs.
Contact: Jim Everett, Representative, Aboriginal Provisional
Government
Fax: 3-3770-0727, 75-712-7129
Attached: Sample copy of a letter hand-delivered to 5 Japanese
paper companies (New Oji Paper, Nippon Paper Industries,
Mitsubishi Paper Mills, Chuetsu Pulp & Paper, Daio Paper) which
are using Tasmanian woodchips.
___________________________
April 22, 1994 (Earth Day)
Mr. Shigeru UCHIYAMA, President
Mitsubishi Paper Mills, Ltd.
3-4-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100 JAPAN
Fax: 3-3214-4534
Dear Mr. Uchiyama,
I am a member of the Australian Aboriginal Provisional Government
(APG). The APG represents the largest Aboriginal community-based
organization in Australia, with registered membership exceeding
5000 people. I am writing to you to raise matters of concern to
the Native Rights over our forests in Tasmania. Another important
issue is the extremely high conservation value of Tasmania's
natural old growth forests, and the threat to the survival of
these forests posed by logging to supply woodchips for Japan.
In 1993, the Australian Government recognized Aboriginal Land
Rights under a new federal law called "Native Title". I am
currently developing a court case to have the Australian and
Tasmanian governments acknowledge the Native Title rights of the
Tasmanian Aboriginal people over native forests in Tasmania.
The Tasmanian Aboriginal community has maintained an unbroken link
with the native forests for over 30,000 years. This fact and
Native Title rights will surely result in formal rights of
Tasmanian Aboriginal people over Tasmania's forests.
Japan imports, in the form of woodchips, about 80% of the timber
extracted from Tasmania's natural forests. All of the wood is
obtained by clearfell logging of native forests, and all woodchips
exported from Tasmania come to Japan. It has been predicted that
Tasmania will lose its remaining unprotected ancient forests,
which have links going back millions of years, in 10-15 years
if present rates of extraction continue. If the rate of logging
increases, as the Tasmanian government is hoping, the forests will
be gone even sooner. Unfortunately, the Tasmanian Government
intends to allow the logging of all available native forests
before switching completely to plantations, even though there are
plantations which could be used today. One of the reasons is
that it is very inexpensive to cut the native forests because the
environmental costs are not taken into account.
The problem of destruction of natural forest ecosystems to feed
throwaway paper consumption in industrialized countries is of
course not unique to Tasmania. It is a global problem which
affects tropical, temperate and boreal forests, and has wide
reaching environmental and social impacts. Japan is one
of the world's leading producers and consumers of paper products.
A significant proportion of the raw materials (wood chips and
pulp) for your paper industry originate from the natural old
growth forests of Australia, the United States, Canada and Chile.
Your company, which purchases woodchips imported from Tasmania by
Mitsubishi Corporation, has been identified as one of the major
Japanese users of woodchips extracted from Tasmania's native
forests. Therefore, on behalf of Tasmania's Aboriginal community,
I am making the following requests;
1. That your company formally acknowledges in writing that
the Tasmanian Aboriginal community is pre-eminent in any future
agreements concerning your company's purchases of wood obtained
from our native forests.
2. That your company negotiates with Tasmanian Aboriginal
community leaders (non-government) concerning any future woodchip
trade agreements in Tasmania which involve native forests.
3. That your company will give public support to have the
Japanese Government formally acknowledge the Native Title rights
of the Tasmanian Aboriginal people over Tasmania's native forests.
Finally, I would like to stress to you that we expect to obtain
control over our native forests under Native Title sometime in the
not too distant future. Tasmanian Aboriginal people have
traditional custodial responsibilities over Aboriginal land. In
relation to any future arrangements concerning our forests, we
would be pleased to discuss your interests personally. I would be
happy to arrange a meeting with Aboriginal leaders in Tasmania for
this purpose.
I look forward to receiving a response to the points I have made
in this letter. I can be reached in Japan by fax until April 26th
at 0425-74-1871 or 075-712-7129.
Yours faithfully,
Jim Everett, representative
Aboriginal Provisional Government
cc. Mr. Minoru MAKIHARA, President, Mitsubishi Corporation (Fax:
3210-8051)
Japan Paper Association