More than 20 community members belonging to Grassroots Action Network Tasmania (GRANT) have this morning disrupted the commencement of works in a Styx Valley logging operation.
The group, who remain in the newly active coupe since walking on at 8AM in a show of peaceful disruption, are calling for greater transparency regarding Tasmania’s forestry industry - declaring the industry the state’s biggest carbon emitter and climate change contributor.
The action comes as GRANT launches a new forestry campaign with the intent to exert direct political pressure on Tasmania’s forestry industry, which emits roughly 5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year - more than double the state’s entire transport sector combined. The emissions from just these two coupes planned to be logged in the coming months is 40 times the daily emissions for transport all over Tasmania.
According to GRANT spokesperson Casper Childs, the pressing issue of a climate emergency can’t be effectively addressed in Tasmania until the state’s forestry practices undergo significant change.
“Forestry is Tasmania’s climate issue.
“Half of Australia’s East coast is currently experiencing record flooding: this time two years ago it was record bushfires. The latest IPCC report update tells us clearly that the window to save ourselves from climate catastrophe is rapidly closing. Meanwhile, wet mountain ash forests - such as those in the Styx - which are the most carbon dense forests in the world are being logged by an industry that leaves about 60% of the timber behind to burn or rot.
“It’s mindboggling to see this happening during this chaotic time when Australians are literally drowning in the effects of climate change, effects which are taking lives as we speak.”
According to the recently published report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), ‘the scientific evidence is unequivocal: climate change is a threat to human wellbeing and the health of the planet. Any further delay in concerted global action will miss a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a livable future.’
“These findings are dire and the situation can be overwhelming but our communities will continue to rally together and persist in this fight for honesty and more sustainable practices,” said Childs.
“We will continue to fight this fight because there is simply no alternative.”
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