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| A face in the forest. This used to be in Mt Field National Park. It has now been logged. |
Ever wondered what the world would look like without
people? I once answered that question by
walking solo through unbroken old-growth forest for five days on a compass
bearing. Those forests are gone. Forty years of industrial logging have taken
their toll on the great forests of the world and Tasmania’s forests are no different. I spend the better part of a decade fighting
to save them. We are now in the end-game fighting over what’s left and there is
still much to gain. This photo essay is
as relevant as ever since these sorts of forests are being logged as I
type.
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| This is the East Picton forest, now logged. |
So am I against logging?
Where is the balance? I’ll just
say that after 200 years of land clearance and four decades of industrial
logging it is time to protect what’s left of world heritage value and transition
to plantation and re-growth, with some small scale carefully managed logging
for furniture/craft timbers. Meanwhile
the timber industry is experiencing the collapse that academics and
environmentalists predicted 20 years ago.
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| This wasn't protected by the Feds. Can you spot the lady? |
Note that the Tasmanian government has actively suppressed
development of industrial hemp as an agricultural industry in Tasmania.
Now even the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association is asking for
those restrictions to be removed so they can found a new industry. We did it before with poppies and essential
oils. Only ignorance keeps us poor.
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| Forestry Tasmania felt the need to regenerate this patch of old growth forest that had been there since the last ice age. |
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| Where the road ends. Logging road pushing west into virgin forest. |
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