November Pain - Lose you Exclusion II
In January this year, forest campaigners from the Huon Valley Environment Centre and Still Wild Still Threatened, accompanied by a number of independent activists, conducted a successful week long event in Tasmania's Southern Forests. The event - "Gunns ‘n' Dozers - Lose Your Exclusion" was focused on addressing the proliferation of exclusion zones in the Southern Forests.
Forestry Tasmania, the state owned Government Business Enterprise responsible for management of State Forests and merchandising of timber, has a policy of restricting access to state forests by the general public. This is done through measures such as exclusion zones and locked gates. There is much community disquiet with this approach, as State Forests are publicly owned and Forestry Tasmania is mandated to manage for multiple uses.
The aim of the event it to facilitate public access to areas of unique value that are closed to public access, and to prevent the destruction of ancient forest in these excluded areas through the use of direct action. The first Gunns ‘n' Dozers event encompassed two public open days, three direct actions and a number of walks over a week long period. Forests visited included the Arve, Picton and Weld valleys in the Huon Forestry District, and the Upper Florentine and Styx Valleys in the Derwent District. The event resulted in the opening of the Weld Valley, which had been inaccessible to the general public for a period of 14 months previously.
"November Pain" will be conducted from the 23-30 November 2008, and will encompass visits to threatened forests in the Weld, Upper Florentine and Styx Valleys, with other potential areas the Arve, Little Denison, Esperance, Tyenna, Picton, Wedge, and Counsel areas. The event will encompass two open days, with experts on hand to discuss particular aspects relevant to a specific forest, a visit to the permanent blockade camp at the Upper Florentine, a fundraising benefit gig and in-forest or city based direct actions (contingent on circumstances).
We are aiming to have participants from interstate, as well as local community members and forest campaigners, and are hoping to ensure the event continues as a regular fixture.
