The forestry industry has condemned the Wilderness Society for trivializing the scourge of illegal timber harvesting by trying to convince the US and Europe they are buying timber illegally harvested in Victoria, with their attack focussed on VicForests. Source: Timberbiz
The Wilderness Society’s appeal to regulators in the United States and the European Union to crack down on the importation of wood products they say may have been illegally harvested by VicForests has been strongly rebuked by the Australian Forest Products Association, VicForests and the Victorian Association of Forest Industries.
The claims were published in the Sydney Morning Herald, which was based on a media release distributed by the society and also published on its website.
Since then it has been removed from the site.
Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) CEO Ross Hampton said the Wilderness Society has taken its extremist campaign against the state’s sustainably managed native forest industries to an international audience and trivialised the global scourge of illegal logging.
The Wilderness Society has filed complaints with regulators in Europe and the US, saying that there is a serious risk product made from timber harvested by VicForests breaks local laws against the importation of illegally harvested timber.
In its complaint to authorities in Germany, Denmark and the US, the Wilderness Society claims that VicForests has repeatedly harvested in areas where it holds no right to do so, has breached legally mandated logging prescriptions, has illegally built roads and that the state regulator has failed to act as a sufficient deterrent or enforce the law.
VicForests CEO Monique Dawson, in a letter to The Wilderness Society before its press release went out, said that any complaint to EU and German regulators is confirmation that the Wilderness Society was more interested in conducting stunts than seriously addressing global issues surrounding the invidious trade in illegal timber.
“Since 2007, VicForests has been certified to Australia’s national forestry standard endorsed by the PEFC, the world’s largest forest certification program. This certification could not have been maintained if VicForests had been involved in illegal logging,” Ms Dawson said in the letter.
Mr Hampton said it was wrong of the Wilderness Society to be equating VicForests’ tightly regulated harvesting operations with the global illegal logging trade.
“The Wilderness Society effectively trivialises the global criminal trade in illegally logged forest products that leads to deforestation, poor working conditions and environmental vandalism, and it undermines the huge efforts of global agencies like Interpol in combating this scourge,” he said.
“Australia’s illegal logging laws are designed to prevent the importation and domestic harvesting of timber outside of legitimate regulatory frameworks.
“Australia is part of a global effort to stamp out the theft, laundering and trade of illegal timber, often by organised crime syndicates, particularly in developing countries. The Wilderness Society should not undermine these efforts for the sake of a cheap headline.”
Mr Hampton said it should also be noted that VicForests has flagged it will appeal the Federal Court decision in question, and that the judgment only related to a handful of forest coupes that were harvested between 2016 and 2018.
“VicForests uses the equivalent of just four trees out of 10,000 every year, and old growth trees are protected,” he said.
“It is certified to the world’s largest global certification scheme called PEFC (known as Responsible Wood in Australia). Every tree that is used is regenerated. It is completely sustainable environmentally and a vital driver of jobs in many regional Victorian towns.
“The Wilderness Society should not have to be told that now is not the time to be trying to close down an essential industry in Victoria,” Mr Hampton said.
The Chief Executive of the Victorian Association of Forest Industries Tim Johnston said that actions like this from the Wilderness Society embolden protestors who choose to disrupt legal timber harvesting operations and put themselves and others at risk.
