Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Archives for May 15, 2005

Rethinking Environmentalism

By

Following is an extract from my speech to the Timber Communities Australia Conference in Launceston, Tasmania:

“It is a fact of life that if you don’t have your own clear plan, your own vision, you will likely be recruited into implementing someone else’s plan.

Organizations such as WWF and Greenpeace don’t undertake much tree-planting or grow any organic food themselves. These organizations exist to recruit others to implement their plans, their vision of what is best for the environment.

The Federal Coalition Government has been bankrolling these organisations to promote their vision. For example the federal government provided grants to WWF of over $15 million during the period 1996-2003.

We need a new vision. We need a new environment organisation within which we can start discussing and debating the principles I have outlined.

And there is a new environment group just starting up, and working from a radically different value-set than the established groups. The Australian Environment Foundation (AEF) has just formed and embraced the following 6 values based on my five principles:

1. Evidence – policies are set and decisions are made on the basis of facts, evidence and scientific analysis;

2. Choice – issues are prioritised on the basis of accurate risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis;

3. Technology – appropriate and innovative technological solutions are implemented.

4. Management – active management is used when necessary, acknowledging that landscapes and ecosystems are dynamic;

5. Diversity – biological diversity is maintained;

6. People – the needs and aspirations of people are balanced against environmental issues.

Working logically from these basic values and from my principles, could result in some radical outcomes. For example, if we value evidence, and if we are concerned about reducing our ecological footprint, then it logically follows that it is actually better to buy GM than organic. It might actually be better to support the Australian timber industry than to import timber from Malaysia and Indonesia.”

For more information on AEF and its soon to be launched website watch this web-blog.

Newest Tassie Forestry Deal

By

Yesterday the front page of Tasmania’s Examiner read “End of war in Tassie’s forests?”. Today it is “Policy cut down: Environment groups attack forestry plan.”

The war was meant to end in 1997 with the Regional Forest Agreement (RFA). But the campaigning never stopped.

In the deal signed on Friday between Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon and the PM something like 90 per cent of the forest in the northwest know as the Tarkine will now be ‘protected’ from logging.

The campaigners, however, are complaining because the area won’t be World Heritage listed – not even given National Park status. I understand that while logging is now banned there is still potential for cattle grazing and mining.

The timber industry gets money for restructuring etcetera. In fact the $250 million package promised by the PM on Friday is a lot more than the $110 million which came with the 1997 RFA.

There are a whole lot of other components to the deal including banning the use of the poison 1080 in state forests from January. There is apparently no alternative effective control for ‘browsing’ animals who can destroy seedlings in new forest planting, but $4 million has been promised for research.