News

Here’s our press release from yesterday …

Huon Valley Environment Centre, Markets for Change and The Last Stand have reiterated their calls for Ta Ann Tasmania to stop misleading their global markets by advertising their product as being plantation grown, and to stop driving the ongoing logging of high conservation value forests in Tasmania.

‘Ta Ann need to publicly commit to stop buying products that come from the ongoing destruction of Tasmania’s high conservation forests. There is no economic or environmental future in a business as usual scenario’ said Tim Birch, CEO of Markets for Change.

‘What we saw yesterday was trenchant denial of the reality of the situation – Japanese consumers want genuine eco product and as in all markets if you don’t sell product that the consumers want, they simply won’t buy it.’

‘Vested interests and their supporters in Tasmania are far too comfortable with the politics of blame and name-calling to acknowledge that the way to peace in a world that wants eco product is to get serious about actually meeting those market claims. Ta Ann, the Tasmanian logging industry and the Legislative Councillors can provide people with job security by backing forest protection and a transition out of native forest destruction, with words and actions’ said Jenny Weber, Campaign Coordinator of the Huon Valley Environment Centre.

‘We fail to see how it is a problem to want a peace deal that actually stops logging the key forests in question. It is entirely reasonable that Ta Ann’s Japanese customers, who have been misled as to the source of the wood, would insist on the product meeting its claims, or else refuse to buy. The global market does not want to buy Tasmanian forest destruction and Ta Ann’s workers have been placed in jeopardy by this reckless advertising’ said Ula Majewski, Campaign Manager for The Last Stand.

• TAGS:
• environment
• Huon Valley Environment Centre
• logging
• Markets for Change
• Ta Ann
• Tasmania
• The Last Stand