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Markets for Change, Huon Valley Environment Centre and The Last Stand have responded to today’s announcement from Ta Ann Tasmania by reiterating their calls for native forest protection, with a letter to the company and a public statement outlining their joint position.

“We have been stressing that Ta Ann can choose to be part of the solution or continue to be part of the problem for Tasmania’s high conservation value forests. We have exposed Ta Ann for green-washing their Japanese markets about their wood supply source, advertising it as plantation-based when it is actually sourced from unacceptable logging in irreplaceable world-class forests” said Jenny Weber, for the Huon Valley Environment Centre.

“There is a path forward for Ta Ann Tasmania, and a resolution is achievable for the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) on forests, if steps are immediately taken to ensure forest protection which will also secure jobs in the long term” said Tim Birch, CEO of Markets for Change.

“We have asked Ta Ann to insist that they will not take wood from inside the 572,000 hectares of high conservation value forests identified by environment groups. Unfortunately, the values of those magnificent natural forests are still being compromised by ongoing logging that official reports state is driven by the wood supply requirements of Ta Ann. We are also asking Ta Ann’s support in ensuring the IGA process puts in place a transition process for the native forest industry into plantations; this will ensure long-term profitability and employment within the industry” said Mr Birch.

“We have asked the Japanese corporate customers of Ta Ann to require the company to provide a genuinely eco-friendly wood supply, or else forfeit their sales. Ta Ann have a very clear choice to make: they can move into the 21^st century and sell sustainable products that the global market is demanding, or they ignore the future for their workers and for our forests and continue to try and sell products that are sourced from forest destruction and which the market rejects” said Ula Majewski, Campaign Manager of The Last Stand.

Markets for Change, Huon Valley Environment Centre and The Last Stand propose, as a matter of urgency, that Ta Ann should take the following actions; and additionally, should make a clear public statement to that effect:

1. Immediately refuse to take wood supplied from the ENGO identified 572,000 hectares of high conservation value (HCV) forest

2. Simultaneously make a strong public call for all those forests to receive legislated, formal protection as soon as possible;

3. Publicly commit to a rapid transition out of native forests and into plantations. Ta Ann should make clear that this transition should be achieved without requiring or allowing a corresponding intensification of logging in the native forest estate outside the 572,000 ha of HCV forest; for example, there should be no watering-down of or exemptions to the Forest Practices Code during the transition period and planned changes to improve the biodiversity and water provisions of the Code should also be implemented

4. Publicly abandon the requirement of Ta Ann for a legislated  wood supply

5. Publicly commit to abandoning forest furnace plans using native forests

It is unacceptable for Ta Ann to continue to entrench themselves in native forests for the long term and they should live up to their international advertising, which promotes their products as environmentally friendly and says that eucalypt plantations are a significant contributor to their veneer product.