After two years of intense negotiations, the Tasmanian forest peace talks between the environment movement and the timber industry, spectacularly collapsed over the weekend. Despite strong support for an outcome by most industry groups, a handful of old growth sawmillers walked away from an  historic opportunity to protect hundreds of thousands of hectares of wild Tasmanian forests.

Environmental groups, including the Wilderness Society continue to campaign for a just transition away from old growth forest logging for forest workers and environmentalist, Miranda Gibson remains in The Observer Tree.

The ObserverTree is a platform situated 60m above the ground in an old-growth Eucalyptus tree, in the heart of Tasmania’s southern forests. On the 14th of December 2011 conservationist Miranda Gibson climbed a rope to the top of the tree and vowed to stay until the forest is protected. Miranda’s upper canopy home is a tree under imminent threat, in a forest due to be logged any day now.

You can find out more about this direct action protest by a remarkable young woman at http://observertree.org/about/

It’s hard to believe, but one of Malaysia’s biggest wood cartels is ripping through the Tasmanian wilderness, sourcing wood that comes from the destruction of high conservation value forests and selling it in Japan as “eco-friendly” plywood. Ta Ann is the company and they supply companies like Panasonic who may unwittingly believe the eco-spin and buy this plywood, selling it on to the Japanese housing companies and the public. For more information and to send a message to the company see:

https://taann.good.do/cyberaction/stop-walking-on-tasmania-s-ancient-forests/