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449 - Oceania Tree News

--Today for you 30 news articles about earth's trees! (449th edition)

http://forestpolicyresearch.org

--To Subscribe / to email format send blank email to:

earthtreenews- OR

earthtreenews-

 

Index:

 

--Indonesia: 1) Unilever steps up to greenwash its use of Palm Oil, 2)

Tree planting fantasy, 3) Palm Oil or Bust! 4) Gold mining approval

may bring war from the forest defender, 5) Flood & Landslide disasters

from deforestation, 6) Restorationists losing their land to

preservationists, 7) 42,000 tribal protected hectares in Kalimantan,

--Solomon Islands: 8) Shift from logging to restoration is claimed,

--Papua New Guinea: 9) Biggest logger gets new coat of green paint,

10) REDD does not address irresponsible forest management, 11) Head of

the Department of Environment and Conservation a no show at village,

12) NGO's forest protection efforts are being used as substitutes for

government aid programs, 13) They sent the largest pacific delegation

to climate conference, 14) logging continues on with no one stopping

it,

--West Papua: 15) Forest continue to vanish:

--Australia: 16) Forest harvest data signifies there are in the last

stages of native forest depletion, 17) 3 protesters arrested in east

Gippsland, 18) Lifestyles of Tassie Forest defenders, 19) Senator

Brown visits logging site, 20) Call in day to save the old growth, 21)

Extinction of rare possums goes unaddressed, 22) Government official

resigns over carbon sink tax credit dispute, 23) Many Foresta are in a

big Photo contest in Sydney, 24) Ancient Jarrah and Karri trees still

being logged, 25) What a pro logging Government mindset is like, 26)

Save Brown Mountain, 27) Save Tucker's Nob State Forest, 28) Finger

Lime is caviar of the rainforest, 29) RFID will save the forest, 30)

Cops apologize for trainings themselves to deal with mass

murder-suicide-bombing oriented environmental activists,

 

Articles:

 

Indonesia:

 

1) Unilever developed a draft resolution calling for a moratorium on

logging, but it was not included on the agenda. A draft resolution

calling for an immediate moratorium on logging in areas of high value

protected forests did not even make it on to the agenda. Before their

recent annual meeting in Bali there was hope that the new resolution

would have forced members to cease logging in important areas of

forest as determined by new digital maps. " The rapid loss of forests

in Indonesia and the current climate crisis needs strong leadership

from the global business community, " said Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace

southeast Asia forest campaigner. " However the RSPO has failed

dismally to take up the challenge. " 'Sustainable palm oil' continues

to be a farce while RSPO stands exposed as a weak and ineffectual

industry body. " The coalition of members that make up the RSPO include

NGO's such as WWF and Oxfam along with both producers and major users

of palm oil. Unilever is one of the world's largest purchasers of palm

oil and has been under pressure from Greenpeace not to deal with

companies who are destroying critical areas of rainforest. Unilever's

sustainable agriculture director, Jan Kees Vis, is also president of

the RSPO executive board. Unilever did recently pledge to purchase

only sustainable palm oil by 2015 but the argument over how this is

certified continues. Following pressure from Greenpeace, Unilever

developed a draft resolution calling for a moratorium on logging in

areas of high value forest that was due to be voted on in Bali last

week. However, to the dismay of many conservationists, the resolution

was removed from the schedule of the RSPO meeting. " If the RSPO had

any integrity then it would have taken urgent action. For Greenpeace

it is clear that the current RSPO standards are too weak, are not

implemented and are clearly failing to address this rampant

deforestation, " said Tim Birch, Greenpeace international forest

campaigner. Recently a shipment labelled 'sustainable' palm oil

arrived in Holland to coincide with the annual general meeting of the

RSPO. http://naturealert.blogspot.com/2008/11/palm-oil-round-table-farce.html

 

2) Indonesia, which has been losing forests at a rapid pace in recent

years, plans to plant 100 million trees across the country this year

in an effort to limit deforestation, a forestry official said

Wednesday. Indonesia has lost an estimated 70 percent of its original

frontier forest, but it still has a total forest area of more than 225

million acres (91 million hectares), with a host of exotic plants and

animals waiting to be discovered. The richest forests are found in

Borneo -- the world's third-largest island shared among Indonesia,

Malaysia and Brunei -- which is home to about 2,000 types of trees,

more than 350 species of birds and 210 mammal species. The United

Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said in a report

that Indonesia was suffering the fastest forest loss in the world at

almost 1.9 million hectares per year. In 2007, Indonesia succeeded in

planting more than 100 million trees, surpassing its planting target

of 79 million, said forestry ministry spokesman Masyhud. " The

realization of planting in 2007 shows that the public is enthusiastic

.... we hope it can become the culture of the community, " Masyhud said.

Indonesia plans to start planting on Nov 28 and continue through

December to coincide with the rainy season or planting season, Masyhud

said. Southeast Asia's biggest economy is also among the world's top

three greenhouse gas emitters because of deforestation, peatland

degradation, forest fires, according to a report sponsored by the

World Bank and Britain's development arm.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKTRE4AI2S920081119

 

3) Palm oil companies are facing increasing pressure from green groups

who fear the conversion of forests into plantations could cost the

country its rich biodiversity. The Center for Orangutan Protection

(COP) said Monday that in Kalimantan alone, at least 236 plant species

and 51 animal species

were facing extinction due to the massive conversion of forests into

oil palm plantations. These comments came just a day before the

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) holds its sixth annual

meeting in Bali. Oil palm growers, processors, traders, consumer goods

manufacturers, retailers, investors and Environmental and

developmental NGOs will meet to discuss the various issues affecting

the palm oil industry during the Nov. 18-20 meeting. Some issues

include the role of small-scale palm oil growers, the RSPO and the

government, market standards and biofuels. " The ignorance and

questionable morality of the oil palm industry and the government have

put Kalimantan forests in danger. They already know the impacts of

forest conversion, but do not consider the long-term effects they may

have, " COP executive director Hardi Baktiantoro said. Indonesia

allegedly has 1,170 native species facing extinction, the highest

number of any country in the world. Environmental damage in Kalimantan

largely stems from the activities of the palm oil industry.

http://bio-fuel-watch.blogspot.com/2008/11/biofuelwatch-palm-oil-industry-faces.\

html

 

4) An alliance of pro-environment organizations and residents of

Banyuwangi and Jember have pledged to wage an all-out war to oust a

gold mining company seeking approval to mine the abundant deposits of

gold, copper and platinum in protected forests in the two regencies.

Kappala Indonesia, Green Curve and Street Legislature for Democracy

(Derajad) have already had the Banyuwangi regency legislature drop its

recommendation of PT Indo Multi Niaga (PT IMN)'s planned exploitation.

Now they are joining forces with residents in the two regencies to

press Banyuwangi Regent Ratna Ani Lestari to follow suit and prepare a

nationwide movement to persuade the government to review the work

contract awarded to the company. " Our movement is still focusing on

political pressure on the Banyuwangi regency until its recommendation

is dropped and the company's exploration license, which expires in

July 2009, will not be extended, " coordinator of Kappala Indonesia for

the Banyuwangi region, Rosdi Bachtiar Martad, said recently. The

Banyuwangi legislature dropped its recommendation for the exploration

of the mining sites at the Gunung Tumpang Pitu protected forest in

Pancer village, Pesanggaran, Banyuwangi and at the Meru Betiri

National Park in Jember when more than 5,000 residents and activists

occupied its building last week. Rosdi said the mining would bring

more suffering than good to both the environment and the local people.

" The mining activities will destroy two protected forests, home to

several Java tigers and other rare species, and the water catchment

areas for the two regencies, " he said. Furthermore, he added, the

mercury and cyanide toxic waste that would be disposed of into the

Banyuwangi Bay would not just pollute the waters but also threaten

maritime resources and people living in coastal regions. Secretary of

the Banyuwangi Green Curve Zaki A.R. said activists and residents of

the two regencies were preparing their departure to Surabaya and

Jakarta to use the election as an effective political moment to press

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to review the issuance of the

mining permit. The President, Zaki said, should evaluate the permit as

it had breached the 1999 forestry law -- which prohibits mining

activities in protected forests -- and the standard procedure. " He

should also censure Forestry Minister M.S. Kaban, who issued a special

ministerial decree just for IMN, " he added.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/12/05/ngos-want-miners-quit-protected-fo\

rests.html

 

5) Floods and landslides following heavy rains have forced well over

15,000 persons to flee their homes in the province of Aceh, on the

northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra Island, media reports said

Thursday. An official of the local disaster management service said

more than 3,000 houses were under water since December 5 and more than

15,000 residents have taken shelter in emergency tents. However, there

were no casualties reported. The Indonesian authorities are sending

humanitarian and medical aid to the affected region. They blame

man-made climate change and widespread deforestation for the

protracted flooding in the area. Aceh loses around 20,000 hectares of

forest each year.

http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=800898 & SMap=1

 

6) Sarwadi Sukiman, an Indonesian farmer, tells the story of what

happened to the forests and farmland of his village, Tanjung Lebar, in

Sumatra, Indonesia. First the forests were logged to produce timber

and paper. When the loggers had destroyed the forest they left and the

villagers reclaimed their land. They recently lost their land to a

conservation project, the Harapan Rainforest project, run by Yayasan

Burung Indonesia, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)

and BirdLife International. John Lanchbery, head of Climate Change

Policy with the RSPB, is in Poznan. At a side event last week he

emphasised the importance of involving local people, " otherwise it

just won't work " . REDD-Monitor looks forward to Lanchbery's response

to Sarwadi's testimony. Sarwadi comes from Tanjung Lebar village in

Muara Jambi regency. In his area, during the eighties, the development

of industrial forest exploitations (for timber, paper…) stole the

forest areas from indigenous people. Private companies logged forests

to exhaustion. When their concession from the government had expired,

the companies went away, leaving behind a devastated area. In 2002,

when the concession had expired in Sarwadi village forest, the land

remained barren. Peasants and indigenous people reclaimed it to

produce food such as rice, beans and fruits. 1500 families organised

in the Indonesian Peasant's Union (SPI) occupied an areas as wide as

101.365 hectares, where they tilled the land, they built their houses,

and created their territories and communities.

http://www.redd-monitor.org/2008/12/12/via-campesina-and-an-indonesian-farmer-de\

nounce-the-harapan-rainforest-project-in-indonesia/

 

7) Covering 42,657 hectares, the Gunung Lumut Protected Forest (HLGL)

spreads throughout East, Central and South Kalimantan. In East

Kalimantan, it is situated in Paser regency in Long Kali, Muara Komam,

Batu Sopang and Long Ikis districts. But it is not an easy forest to

get to. From East Kalimantan's Balikpapan, visitors cross to North

Penajam Paser by ferry or speedboat and travel by car for hundreds of

kilometers on good and not-so-good roads — roads which are slippery

when wet. During the rainy season, only four-wheel-drive vehicles can

reach it. The biologically rich HLGL is home to a vast range of animal

species endemic to Kalimantan such as the bekantan proboscis monkey,

orangutan and honey bear. Designated protected status in 1982, it also

contains a variety of timber species, including the ulin, bangkirai,

red meranti and sandalwood, plus a wide range of herbal plants. The

Paser indigenous group, believed to have originated from the Dayak

tribe in Central Kalimantan, resides in the area, spread throughout

the Paser and North Penajam Paser regencies. One of them is Muluy

hamlet, Suan Slutung village in Muara Komam district, Paser regency.

" They have been living in the preserved forest and protecting it for

the past 13 generations, " program manager of the Paser Traditional

Community Association (Pema Paser) Syahrul M. told The Jakarta Post.

However, the HLGL and the isolated Paser tribe are threatened with

extinction following reports that the Paser regency administration

will turn it into a national park and relocate the surrounding

communities, as was said at a press conference in Muluy hamlet,

facilitated by the Kawal Borneo Community Foundation (KBCF), an

environmental NGO operating in Kalimantan. " The KBCF is pushing for

the implementation of effective forest resource management and

sustainability, thereby enabling the protected forest to remain

intact, " said KBCF project officer Abdul Ismail.

http://redapes.org/take-action/isolated-paser-tribe-maintain-protected-forest-en\

clave/

 

Solomon Islands:

 

8) The Government says it will shift it focus from logging to

reforestation and down-stream processing starting next year. A

consultation workshop on this started in Honiara yesterday. Minister

for Forestry Job Dudley Tausinga said the unsustainable harvesting of

the timber resources is no comfort to the government. " Therefore the

various major changes that are reflected in the priorities and policy

statements are evidence of government programmes, " he said. Mr

Tausinga said under the Forest Resources and Timber Utilisation Act

(TAC), the focus is on 'forestry and harvesting'. The minister said

this is inadequate for purposes of sustainability of the forest

resources. " It is therefore important that we transit from the

'forestry and harvesting' concept into a new direction which focused

on 'forestry in development'. " And it is on this concept that the

government sets out its forestry development programmes, namely the

national reforestation and downstream processing projects. " Mr

Tausinga said these two activities start next year. He said the

workshop will be used as a vehicle for consultations that would assist

in effectively implementing the projects.

http://solomonstarnews.com/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=5133 & change\

=71 & changeown=84 & Itemid=26

 

Papua New Guinea:

 

9) For years, the Malaysian owned Rimbunan Hijau has been accused of

sourcing its timber illegally in PNG, but the company hit back. It has

hired the world's largest inspection company SGS to assess its PNG

operations. " Both the logging and saw milling operations of Saban have

been assessed by SGS and found to be in compliance of the SGS TLTV

program, " Bruce Telfer from SGS Inspection and Verification said. The

independent verification scheme tells importers the timber they are

buying has been legally sourced. The project was set up with the help

of the International Tropical Timber Organisation. Rimbanan Hijau

managing director James Lau is confident the scheme will withstand

external scrutiny. " I think what we are doing is very clear, what we

are doing is proper and we have no problem in getting an independent

party to come in an look at the forestry sector in detail, " he said.

The company's enthusiasm to back the certification scheme comes ahead

of an anticipated move by importers such as Australia to introduce

requirements for timber companies to demonstrate legality and

compliance. However environmentalists such as Greenpeace's Tiy Ching

are sceptical about the verification scheme. " We've looked at exactly

the same schemes in Russia and Africa and we have found those schemes

to be lacking in credibility and substance, " he said. But Mr Lau

dismisses the Greenpeace claims. " Their accusation is based on their

own agenda which, if you look at the factual element, is distorted, "

he said. The Malaysian logger aims to get certificates of compliance

for all its operations in PNG.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/02/2435784.htm

 

10) PNG's forestry industry has a woeful track record. No logging

concession is able to meet the International Tropical Timber

Organization's (ITTO) criteria for sustainable forest management and

the World Bank estimates that up to 70 of all logging in PNG is

illegal. Greenpeace is concerned that SGS is far from being an

independent, neutral and objective body in the implementation of its

TLTV verification scheme, as it is too close to the PNG logging

industry and is an advocate of industry views. Being objective and

neutral is a key requirement for third party independent verification

schemes. There was also minimal input from NGOs on the process. " SGS'

involvement of NGOs has been minimal. NGOs were shut out of the

verification process through not being able to have an observer

participate in the audit, " said PNG Eco-Forestry Forum (EFF)

spokesperson Effrey Dademo. " If they had nothing to hide they would

have been open and transparent with the organisations that are trying

to insure that PNG's forests are being managed in an environmentally

responsible and legal manner. " SGS' reputation on legal verification

schemes has much to be desired. " SGS verified as legal Swiss logging

company Danzer in the Congo but we found Danzer was carrying out

massive transfer pricing and tax avoidance, " said Greenpeace

spokesperson, Tiy Chung. " The TLTV system did not pick these failures

up. " Greenpeace International has also looked at two TLTV schemes in

Russia and Africa and found that neither was able to fully meet the

criteria needed for a credible legality verification system. " The

primary concern with this scheme is that it does not address

responsible forest management, " said Yati Bun of the Foundation for

People and Community Development. " How can this scheme be taken

seriously when it does nothing to stop destructive practices by the

logging industry. " Malaysian logging giant, RH, has operated in PNG

for 32 years and is the largest logging company in PNG. They have been

accused of illegal logging, gross human rights violations and logging

without prior and informed consent of landowners. " Increased

international demand for legally harvested timber has forced RH to

fast track this verification scheme, " Chung said. " Given RH's woeful

track record in PNG we are sceptical that this will be little more

than a greenwashing exercise. "

http://www.pacificmagazine.net/news/2008/12/02/ngos-in-png-sceptical-of-new-timb\

er-legality-scheme

 

11) The sound of men beating kundu drums heightened the villagers'

excitement as they waited for the bigpela mangi (''big man'' in the

tok pisin language) to disembark. But they were to be disappointed.

The long-awaited minister from the Department of Environment and

Conservation never boarded our flight from Port Moresby, the capital,

to come to Itokama village. Later that night, as we slept in Itokama's

stilt houses, the kundus' beat seemed to echo more bitterly. I had

traveled to Itokama, one of 75 isolated villages on the Managalas

Plateau, to join my co-workers from Partners with Melanesians. Based

in Port Moresby, the NGO is run almost entirely by Papua New Guineans

and has worked for more than 20 years to promote conservation among

the villagers of the plateau, an 890,000-acre area of diverse

rainforest. We were in Itokama to plan a forum for the villagers, and

to celebrate the completion of a proposal for the government to

declare the plateau a conservation area. The minister was meant to

have received the proposal during his visit, but then made a

last-minute decision to go to Australia instead. Apart from the pilot,

I was the only foreigner in the village, and certainly the only wait

meri, or white woman. Children in the crowd stared and giggled. I

flashed back to seven months earlier when I was worlds away, working

an office job in Cambridge. I have discovered that this experience

isn't just about me living my dream of working abroad, nor is it

exclusively about the few untouched rainforests remaining in the

world. It's mostly about the forgotten faces whose lives revolve

around the ecological gems we are trying to protect. Often when we

speak of conservation, we think of rich forests, exotic plants, and

endangered animals. Rarely do we think about the rainforest

communities -- the actual people, like the villagers of Itokama.

Conservation lies in their hands.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/blog/2008/11/forgotten_faces.html

 

12) I recently attended a lecture by American anthropologist Paige

West in Port Moresby, and she observed that in the absence of

government support, rainforest communities in Papua New Guinea look

toward conservation initiatives as substitutes for government

programs, and expect NGOs to provide them with what the government has

not. Because of conflicting expectations, the local communities become

disheartened, and occasionally angered by the organizations' programs

and are less likely to cooperate. As much as the villagers on the

Mangalas are aware of the benefits of protecting their forests, it is

nearly impossible to have good schooling and healthcare or to

transport their products to a market outside the plateau. The day

after the forum it was raining heavily as I boarded the 15-seat plane.

Despite the dreary weather, the runway was once again lined with

hundreds of faces. The plane took off with my co-workers feeling

disillusioned. We were leaving behind the plateau and its people, who

continue to question whether anyone will answer their pleas for a

better standard of living. To find out more about Partners with

Melanesians, go to www.pwmpng.org.pg. For information on how you can

contribute to the Passport blog, contact the Globe's assistant foreign

editor, Kenneth Kaplan, at k_kaplan.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/blog/2008/11/forgotten_faces.html

 

13) Papua New Guinea's 13-member delegation at the UN Climate Change

talks in Poznan, Poland is the largest from the Pacific. Due the

country's membership of many governmental groups at the conference,

they intend to field people at all levels of talks to make their

agenda known. The country intends to " take something home " from this

conference that will help the nation address pressing climate change

issues. The large delegation is a strong force behind their main

priority being the reduced emissions from deforestation and

degradation (REDD) initiative. " We hope to increase the momentum so

that REDD is recognised, " said Joe Pokana, Executive Manager of the

newly-formed PNG Office of Climate Change. " We are a member of the

Alliance of Small Island States and Group of 77 and China, so we need

to compromise between these countries and make sure they understand

what PNG wants to take home, so that's what we are doing and are

talking to other countries that will help us in our push. I think we

have a lot of friends at this climate change meeting. " Papua New

Guinea is also a member of the Coalition for Rainforest Nations, an

inter-governmental organisation established by forested tropical

countries to collectively reconcile forest stewardship with economic

development. The five Pacific islands country members are Fiji, Papua

New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The PNG country

delegation currently in Poznan, Poland will be joined by their

Minister of Forests, Belden Namah who will take part in the high level

segment of the 14th Conference of the Parties. " We have five million

plus people back home. We need to bring something home for them, so

that's the main thing we are here for. If there is another opportunity

like voluntary markets or the clean development mechanism, we will

work with them, we are optimistic. We need to bring something back

home for them. "

http://www.pacificmagazine.net/news/2008/12/05/pngs-13-member-team-largest-from-\

the-pacific-at-climate-summit-

 

14) I am sad to see that day by day Papuan forest continues to shrink

rapidly. While timber companies enjoy high profit from this wood

business, the indigenous people only received very small fraction of

the revenue their forest creates from logging. Actually, there is no

revenue sharing in logging business in West Papua. What the indigenous

people receive is tiny compensation compared to the price of wood in

national and international market. Besides threat from logging, the

increasing influx of migrants in West Papua creates increasing demands

in wooden planks and blocks for housing material. More people mean

more houses. The price of 1 cubic meter of merbau wooden blocks can

reach up to 120 US dollars in local market. This amount of money is

considered high. As a result more people decide to enter the logging

business. To get higher profit, they prefer to bribe the security

personnel and smuggle the logs to towns late at night. By doing this

they don't have to pay contribution to the forestry agency. It is not

surprising to see that the illegal loggers have never faced severe

punishment. Another threat to Papuan forest is conversion to Palm oil

plantation. National companies began opening Palm or Sawit oil

plantation in around 1990s in Arso and Prafi Manokwari. Again very

little compensation was paid to the land owners. In recent video

interviews made by Kevin and Darcy from Canada, the tribal chief in

Prafi expressed his regret of giving up his land for the sawit

plantation. He said that the local people do not get significant

benefit from that business. Many return to their vegetable and sweet

potato patch. Although the sawit plantation run by PTP 2 - a state

owned palm oil company in Prafi Manokwari, has shown its failure,

another company named Medco has entered the region and began leasing

thousands of hectares of land in Manokwari only for Rp. 450,000 or 36

US dollars per hectare for 35 years. The company will enjoy millions

of rupiahs from logging the huge land areas that is rich of natural

biodiversity before converting it into monoculture sawit plantation.

This does not include the possibility of selling carbon offsets once

the sawit seedlings start to grow. The pristine tropical rainforest in

Sidey Manokwari will soon be jeopardized and converted into massive

palm oil plantation with very little benefit to the local people.

According to Cahaya Papua, a local newspaper in Manokwari, Medco has

began paying 850 million rupiahs for the leasing of 1,896 hectares in

Sidey of Manokwari West Papua. In 9-11 December 2008, it will pay 1.3

billion rupiahs for the leasing of 2,890 hectares in Masni of

Manokwari. There will be another leasing of 280 hectares of land area

in Pantura of Manokwari West Papua. Through this posting in my blog, I

appeal to Green Peace, Down To Earth and any green groups around the

world to take serious actions to prevent this pristine Papuan forest

from being converted to Palm Oil Plantation. Charles Roring is an

active blogger from Manokwari West Papua. His blog can be seen at

http://charlesroring.blogspot.com/2008/12/new-threat-to-papuan-tropical-rain.htm\

l

 

West Papua:

 

15) Papuan forest continues to shrink rapidly due to irresponsible

logging. We definitely have to stop this. Here in Papua, logging is

legal if loggers have got the license to do so. To obtain a license

letter, loggers must pay certain amount of money to forestry agency as

contribution to the state for every log they cut. Being a legal logger

does not mean that somebody is a responsible one. In recent days the

demand for wood in local market is getting higher caused by rapid

increase of population in Papua. Such increase is not caused by the

improvement in birth rate of native people but more on the massive

influx of migrants from other parts of Indonesian islands. I said

earlier that the higher the population, the higher the demand for wood

as construction material. According supply and demand law, the price

of wooden blocks and planks in local market is going up.Another factor

for the increase of logging activities in Papua is the practice of

logging companies that continue their operation using the reason of

opening roads to remote villages in the isolated interior region.

While the width of the roads is only four meters, in practice, the

width made by the cutting of the trees can reach up to twenty or

thirty meters.In my previous article I emphasized my rejection on the

conversion of Papuan tropical rainforest into massive monoculture

Sawit Plantation using a leasing scheme. The continuous rising of the

price of fossil fuel has triggered the use of palm oil for making

biodiesel. Supporters of biodiesel say that by increasing the

percentage of bio-fuel such as bio-ethanol and bio-diesel in our

vehicles, we can reduce our dependence on fossil fuel thus making

significant reduction in CO2e emissions. I don't think such perception

is true. I don't reject bio-ethanol and bio-diesel projects. What I

reject is the deforestation of the pristine rainforest both in West

Papua and Brazil and many other regions around the world where there

are forests. Sawit is a native plant of Africa.

http://charlesroring.blogspot.com/2008/12/irresponsible-logging-main-cause-of.ht\

ml

 

Australia:

 

16) Loggers have been tearing through WA's native forests at their

fastest rate for six years, new figures reveal, with more than half of

the precious wood being used for woodchips, firewood and charcoal. The

Forest Products Commission's latest annual report reveals more than

660,000 tonnes of logs were harvested in 2007-2008, making it the

biggest haul since about 812,000 tonnes was harvested in 2001-2002.

The report shows last financial year's harvest included more than

330,000 tonnes of sawlogs, up from 260,000 tonnes the year before. The

other 332,000 tonnes harvested last financial year were used for

firewood, charcoal and woodchips. Timber industry leaders say

increased logging is sustainable and necessary if WA's struggling

timber industry is to survive. But Conservation Council vicepresident

Beth Shultz dismissed arguments that current logging levels were

sustainable. " The native timber industry is in its last throes,

they've been overcutting the forest for so long and the forest grows

so slowly that it's nearing the end, " she said. " To have this agency

come out and brag that it's managed to drag more logs out of our

over-cut, over-burnt and over-cleared forest, just shows where they

are coming from, " she said. The commission said the figures

represented only a 5.6 per cent increase over five years and was well

below the 1.3 million tonnes of native timber it was allowed to

harvest each year. General manager Paul Biggs said the increase in

logging represented no threat to the environment. " There's no

compromise on the environment at all with this, " Mr Biggs said.

http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77 & ContentID=108201

 

17) Police have arrested three forest protesters at a blockade at

Brown Mountain in East Gippsland. The conservationists are trying to

stop clear-fell logging in an old-growth forest coupe earmarked for a

nature walk. Another protester is occupying a tree platform in the

coup. Search and rescue police are expected to remove the tree-sitter

today. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/02/2435680.htm

 

18) In 2006, a group of grassroots environmental activists

representing forests and communities in Southern Tasmania joined

together in recognition of the continuing threat to Tasmania's ancient

forests. Since this time the Still Wild Still Threatened (SWST)

campaign for Tasmania's Southern Forests has garnered significant

attention and dramatically raised the public profile of forests such

as the Styx, Weld, and Upper Florentine. The Southern forests are home

to some of the worlds most pristine last remaining tracts of old

growth forest. These precious habitats are being systematically

eradicated by industrial style logging fueled by the greed of big

business. Tree species such as eucalyptus and myrtle soar to heights

of ninety meters providing shelter to the many endangered species such

as the Tasmanian devil and wedge-tailed eagle making these carbon rich

forest some of most unique and important on the planet. Camp

Florentine is a direct action, protest camp set up to halt the logging

of the Upper Florentine valley. A diverse range of tactics have been

implemented to blockade access to some of the 20,000 hectares of

threatened habitat. The blockade, now in its second year, is also used

as a base to initiate actions to delay logging in other areas such as

the Weld and Styx Valley home to the tallest hardwood trees on the

planet. The camp attracts direct action volunteers from across the

globe to participate in tasks ranging from the every day running of

the camp to community outreach, media liaison as well as building and

maintenance necessary to implement various blockading tactics. From

scratchy directions I arrived at camp Florentine late one evening, to

find a welcoming crew huddled around a fire with the silhouettes of

giant trees surrounding them. With plans to only briefly visit the

forest, i wasn't to know the next year or so of my life i would spend

helping to protect these precious forests and the animals that dwell

within them. The camp is home to activists, locals, tourists and

people from all walks of life from all around the globe giving to the

campaign how they can. Everyone living amongst what they are

protecting, building connections with the land and the native forest

and mostly realising just how important it is to fight for these last

remaining lungs of the planet that may soon be cut, chipped and burnt.

I soon found myself sleeping up the tree-sits, attending actions in

other valleys and getting to know this truly beautiful little island.

Waking up to those sorts of views, smells and sounds is inspiration

that truly grabs your heart. The longer i stayed, the deeper the

connection i formed with the life there, not a day passed without

something amazing happening whether it was, the sounds of the

wedge-tailed eagles circling above or comrades from across the world

visiting camp and sharing their skills and amazing stories. Every

night there are people in that forest in Tasmania sleeping under the

stars working hard so this precious eco-system isn't turned into

wood-chips.

http://www.lasthours.org.uk/archive/interviews/the-story-of-the-upper-florentine\

-blockade/

 

19) Before the meeting in Bermagui, Senator Bob Brown inspected the

forest area that was being logged. In drenching rain and accompanied

by one of the organisers of his visit, Dr Helen Caldicott, and Daniel

Tuan, planning manager southern region of Forests NSW, Sen Brown saw

first-hand the result of the recent and ongoing logging

activities.Bega District News was prohibited from entering the site

with the group but later spoke to Sen Brown about what he saw.Sen

Brown said this was a spectacular part of Australia and that many

people from throughout the world would " give their eye teeth to walk

through, but both visitors and locals are excluded while the logging

is happening " . " What's going on here? " Sen Brown asked. " There are 1.5

million hectares of plantation forest in Australia, which is more than

enough to meet all our wood needs but we continue to log these native

forests. " The forests are home to hundreds of species - and are

especially important for koalas already under threat from climate

change. We all know that fragmenting habitat leads to species

extinction. " Native forests in south-eastern Australia are among the

most carbon-dense in the world; they are our best carbon stores and

should be left to contribute to cooling the planet. " Sen Brown said he

understood that " some people's well-being will be affected so we need

to retrain and help them into the plantation industry or other jobs " .

" In the global financial crisis, some contractors are going to the

wall and if and when the woodchip companies say `well we don't need

you any more' they lose their jobs and it's seen as economic

misfortune, " he said. " But when they lose their jobs and go to other

skilled trades for the national good and the future of the planet then

it's seen as a crime. We have to get past that. "

http://bega.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/keep-our-forest-brown/13750\

66.aspx

 

20) Those people aren't carrying signs, but they aren't standing idle.

They're all making a telephone call to the same office at once - the

office of someone named Premier Brumby. They are literally calling

upon Premier Brumby to stop the logging of old growth forest on Brown

Mountain in East Gippsland the border of Errinundra National Park,

about 150 miles from the city of Melbourne, as the kookaburra flies.

I'm telling you about this protest from just about all the way around

the world from where these events took place yesterday. I'm in the

northeastern United States, but it matters to me that the old growth

forest in Australia is under attack. It matters to me because the

problem of ecological degradation is a global one both in cause and in

effect. In order to combat this problem, we need a stronger global

grassroots media. That grassroots media needs to call attention to the

incidents of ecological collapse, such as the old growth forest

logging on Brown Mountain in remote Victoria, Australia. The

grassroots media also needs to call attention to the work of people to

solve the problems - work such as the cell phone protest on the steps

of Parliament in Melbourne. CNN didn't report on the protest. Neither

did any large media organization outside of Australia. They're all too

busy covering the same few stories over and over again, because

they're trying to make a profit, and they've fired most of their

reporters in order to do that. An activist site called Melbourne

Protests did report on the protest. I wouldn't have found the

information if they hadn't written about the protest. To those people

who say that blogging doesn't make a difference, I ask if it doesn't

make a difference to spread the word about this protest. Does that

kind of independent news not matter? Bull. Of course it matters.

http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2008/12/03/aussies-call-in-against-\

old-growth-cutting/

 

21) WA's Kimberley region is remote and untouched - one of our last

unspoiled wilderness areas. Incredibly, the far north-west Kimberley

sub-region is the only part of Western Australia - and one of very few

in Australia - that appears to have retained its complete native

animal species diversity without extinction since European settlement.

But plans for massive industrialisation by mining giants such as Norsk

Hydro and Rio Tinto threaten to fragment and degrade this stunning

landscape, which includes mound springs, 'dry' rainforest patches,

vine thickets, mighty rivers, and savannah woodlands. If the bauxite

mining goes ahead, literally thousands of hectares of pristine

wilderness will be cleared. Bauxite mining is so utterly devastating

that mined areas can never be fully rehabilitated. Furthermore, the

Kimberley's role as a valuable carbon store will be diminished, and

the project will be a massive carbon polluter. There is still hope.

With your support we can persuade the new WA government to adopt a

sustainable plan for the Kimberley - one that protects the region's

unique natural and cultural values and our climate and also fully

addresses Indigenous rights and interests. Please help us ensure that

the new WA government protects the Kimberley by making a donation

today. Your generous donation will enable us to keep the pressure on

the state and federal governments as well as corporations to change

their 'development at all costs' approach. It's crucial that we take

immediate action. Your donation will help to ensure the natural values

of the Kimberley don't disappear overnight. members

 

22) Scientists say a white possum native to Queensland's Daintree

forest has become the first mammal to become extinct due to man-made

global warming. The white lemuroid possum, a rare creature found only

above 1000m in the mountain forests of far north Queensland, has not

been seen for three years.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24742053-952,00.html

Experts fear climate change is to blame for the disappearance of the

highly vulnerable species thanks to a temperature rise of up to 0.8C.

A bureaucratic bungle has left one of Australia's rarest animals the

lemuroid ringtail possum unprotected by federal environment laws.

Scientists fear climate change has already caused a mass die-off among

the species, which lives in only two pockets of high-altitude

rainforest in the Wet Tropics World Heritage area near Cairns, in Far

North Queensland. ''We haven't seen lemuroids at one of these two

sites for the past three years,'' the director of James Cook

University's Centre for Tropical Biodiversity, Steve Williams, said.

''We used to see one around every 45 minutes when we were doing

spotlight surveys on Mt Lewis.'' In a paper published in 2003 in the

internationally published journal Science, DrWilliams warned more than

70 of Australia's tropical rainforest species faced extinction if

temperatures increased by one degree. ''Lemuroids don't pant, sweat or

come down from the trees to drink. It's been estimated around four to

five hours of temperatures above 30 degrees will kill an animal,'' he

said. '' If you had a day where temperatures were above 30 degrees for

eight hours, it would be enough to wipe out the entire species.'' The

possum, which has two colour forms white and chocolate brown is listed

as globally threatened in the 2008 Red List issued last month by the

International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Although the brown

lemuroids have been known to science since 1884, the much rarer white

lemuroids which are not albinos were discovered by Queensland parks

staff only in the 1980s, during protests to save Mt Lewis from

logging. A federal action plan to protect the possum has lapsed, and

it is not listed as a species at risk under the Environment Protection

and Biodiversity Conservation Act. The action plan, which runs to just

over a page of nine dot points, was not updated since it was published

in 1996, despite more than a decade of scientific research specifying

the risks of climate change. According to advice provided by the

Department of Environment, the possum would need to be nominated for

protection under federal law by next March.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/possum-species-left-hang\

ing-by-a-tale-of-neglect/1377822.aspx?storypage=2

 

23) Deputy Leader of the Nationals in the Senate and Duty Senator for

the North Coast, Fiona Nash, was forced to resign from her shadow

portfolio after she voted against the Liberal Party on the issue of

giving tax breaks to private forestry carbon sinks. Senator Nash, who

was the shadow parliamentary secretary for water resources and

conservation, and four other National Party Senators voted with The

Greens to oppose the legislation because they believe it will cut food

production on prime agricultural land and destroy rural communities.

" I've got no problem with carbon sinks going in, but we don't believe

there should be tax breaks for the big end of town, which would lead

to an uneven playing field when it comes to competing for prime

agricultural land, " she said. Senator Nash admitted she was

disappointed to lose her shadow portfolio but believed taking a stand

was " the right thing to do " . " It gives big business a tax break, while

farmers get nothing and country jobs disappear – there is no way I

could wear that, " she said. " We feel really strongly that this is bad

legislation and will have significant effects on regional

communities. " Greens Senator Christine Milne also raised concerns

about the effectiveness of the scheme to deliver effective carbon

sequestration. " You would expect a genuine carbon sink to be

permanent. There is nothing in the bill that requires these trees to

be permanent. It says it has to be your intention to have a

carbon-sink forest and that you cannot get the deduction unless your

intention is that you are not going to cut trees down. But there is no

penalty if you do, " she said. At the moment most reputable carbon

offsetting companies will supply their customers with a guarantee that

any tree plantings will be maintained for a minimum period of 100

years. Lismore's Mark Jackson, who is the director of a carbon

consultancy business called The Carbon Store, said the tax breaks

would lead to less biodiversity in forestry planting. " If there isn't

some way of ensuring long term sustainable reforestation, then you end

up with a massive expansion of industrial monoculture plantation

forests, " he warned.

http://www.echonews.com/index.php?page=News%20Article & article=24483 & issue=376

 

 

24) Logging companies are being allowed to clear-fell ancient jarrah

and karri forests in the South-West because of a manipulation of the

definition of " old growth " that allows logging in areas where as

little as one tree per hectare has ever been cut down. The

Conservation Council has labelled the protection of all oldgrowth

forests a " big fat lie " . It claims the definition of old growth has

been " fudged " since the introduction of the National Forest Policy

Statement in 1992. The statement commits governments to an agreed

approach to conserving and managing native forests, including

old-growth forest. It defines old-growth forest as unlogged forest or

forest with " negligible unnatural disturbance " . However, in WA finding

one stump in a hectare of karri or wandoo forest could consign the

native trees to the chainsaw. Conservation Commission assessment

criteria require karri and wandoo forests to be " uncut " to qualify as

old growth. For jarrah forest, finding one or two stumps in a hectare

may ensure it is identified as old growth. Jarrah forest with more

than two stumps per hectare, but fewer than 10, is subject to more

analysis by the Conservation Commission before it is categorised as

old growth or open for logging. " For all intents and purposes this is

old-growth forest, " Conservation Council vice-president Beth Schultz

said last week. Last month, the Forest Products Commission released

its timber harvest plan for next year, which listed areas of native

forest open for logging. Dr Schultz said logging companies would now

have their sights set on the best areas of forest, including forest

she believed should be protected as old growth. She questioned a

recent study by CRC Forestry Limited that found that of the 5570

people employed in the southern WA forest industry in 2005-06, more

than half worked in the native forest sector. According to the

Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, in WA that

year six times the amount of logs came from plantations than from

native forest. " How can the native forest industry possibly employ

more people than the plantation sector? " Dr Schultz said. The

Conservation Council has called on the State Government to ban logging

in all native forests after the Forest Products Commission's annual

report revealed the timber industry has been tearing through native

forests at the fastest rate in six years. Environment Minister Donna

Faragher believes logging at current levels is sustainable. Earlier

this year, Conservation Commission chairman John Bailey said logging

of WA native forests would have to be reduced in response to worsening

climate change but nothing was likely to happen for six years because

of a lack of scientific data. Mr Bailey said sustainable logging rates

would be a focus of the mid-term review of the 2004-2013 Forest

Management Plan due by the end of the year. Forest Products Commission

general manager Paul Biggs said it was " completely naive or dishonest "

to suggest WA could magically switch from native hardwood to

plantation hardwood.

http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=146 & ContentID=111983

 

25) As an environmental threat, the government's Australia State of

the Forests Report, regards logging as insignificant. Despite this, it

has become politically incorrect to support native hardwood production

as a sensible and responsible use of a naturally renewable resource.

Those who do so are routinely vilified as I was last week when a

letter I had published in The Age newspaper drew responses that

scorned me as an " industry apologist trying to keep us in the dark

ages " and a " spin doctor " who " relies on the public being fools " . In

the past, I have also been described as a " mouthpiece for the logging

industry " or the " pro-logging lobby " , which is apparently " blind to

the bigger picture of global crisis " . I have been called a " forest

raper " and a " pro-logging, anti-life person " . Others believe I am

" motivated by short term greed " and " headed towards my own demise " . I

am apparently one of those " people who can chop, hunt, maim, kill,

exploit, dominate and destroy in the name of progress and jobs " and I

have been likened to " the captain of the Titanic refusing to believe

that your enterprise is fatally flawed " . When I have made the point

that wood production is planned and controlled by foresters on a

scientific basis, my professional discipline has been described as an

" anti-science rooted in greed and domination " and a " science that

fosters death " .

http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/2008/12/the-cult-of-celebrity-and-tasmanian-for\

estry/

 

26) I am writing to express my strong disapproval of the logging of

old growth forest in progress at Brown Mountain that VicForests has

approved. This area of forest, designated as old growth forest by the

Department of Sustainability and Environment, should be protected in

accordance with Labor policy released in 2006. The policy in question

stated that: " In addition to the Goolengook Block, a Labor Government

will immediately protect remaining significant stands of old growth

forest currently available for timber harvesting by including them in

the National Parks and reserves system. " There are more than 50 trees

over 300 years old in this area of forest, which is adjacent to

Errinundra National Park. This forest also provide habitat for

threatened species such as the Powerful Owl, the Spot Tailed Quoll,

mainland Australia's largest marsupial carnivore, and the Long-footed

Potoroo, Victoria's rarest marsupial. This forest provides water for

the depleted Snowy River catchment. This forest also stores over 1000

tonnes of carbon per hectare, much of which is released as carbon

emissions when the forest is clear felled and burnt. Locals had also

recently constructed East Gippsland's first old growth forest walk in

this forest, which the Department of Sustainability and Environment

confirmed during site visits. Much of this has now already been

destroyed, which is jeopardising tourism in the region. Your

parliamentary website lists your interests as bushwalking, camping,

cycling, swimming. All these activities would be enhanced if this

Brown Mountain forest, and the rest of Victoria's remaining old growth

forests were protected. VicForest's reports indicate that over 80% of

what is logged when these forests are destroyed ends up as low value

woodchips. There is much greater long term economic gain for Victoria

if this forest is protected, thereby realising its ecotourism

potential and its role in carbon storage and water production. Can you

please instruct VicForests to immediately cease the logging of Brown

Mountain and all other remaining old growth forest in Victoria?

http://petercampbell.blogspot.com/2008/12/please-ask-john-lenders-to-stop-loggin\

g.html

 

27) Council is opposing the clear felling of a State Forest near

Bellingen.Scheduled for March 2009 is the clearfelling of Compartment

79 – Tuckers Nob State Forest, by Forests NSW. The area comprised

123ha of native hardwood plantation, which was planted in 1967 and had

been thinned twice. The plantation creates the backdrop for the

cemetery, abuts a number of residential blocks and a privately owned

block of 16ha that has been identified for re-zoning in Bellingen's

Growth Management Study. In a letter to Council from Dale McLean, the

Acting Regional Manager of Forests North East Region, said the purpose

of this operation was to harvest high quality sawlogs to meet the

government's commitment to the forest industry Hydes Creek resident,

Pia Dollman presented her concerns to Council in a comprehensive

report. " Tuckers Nob State Forest is increasingly used by local

residents for recreational purposes as it provides walking tracks of

varying length and difficulty within easy assess of the residential

area, " said Ms Dollman. She feels that plantation harvesting is

incompatible with residential living and the area will be of no value

for recreational activities for a period of some years following the

clearing.Three options were presented to council. The first was

conversion to native forest management with selective logging only.The

second was to create a buffer zone between the town boundary and

Frenchmans Creek. " This option would not only create a visual buffer

for the town and ajoining properties but also protect one side of

Frenchmans Creek from damage, " said Ms Dollman. The third was a 20

metre buffer zone along the boundary of the compartment.Cr Gordon

Braithwaite who was a logger for 50 years supported Ms Dollman in her

view on selective logging and suggested a 50 metre buffer zone would

be sustainable. In conclusion Ms Dollman proposed that Bellingen

Council initiate and engage in negotiations with Forests NSW to change

the management regime from plantation management to native forests

management.

http://bellingen.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/council-opposes-clear-\

felling-of-state-forest/1381523.aspx

 

28) Finger Lime: The subtropical rainforest fruit is endemic from

about Ballina, in northern NSW, to Mount Tamborine, in southern

Queensland. As the name implies, they are shaped like a finger and

taste like a lime. What distinguishes them from Tahitian and desert

limes is their interior, which is packed with small, juicy bubbles.

" They're little caviar-like balls which explode in your mouth when you

bite them, " says Georgie MacDougall of Wild Fingerlime, which markets

the fruit for about 20 growers. " So you get this lime explosion in

your mouth. " She's aware of about 65 varieties of finger lime, though

most are unpalatable. The rest are not only edible but colourful -

" and each colour has a different flavour " . A green variety has a

pungent lime flavour while a yellow one has a more subtle taste. Both

are a good accompaniment for salmon, MacDougall says. Other varieties

are pink, which, as the most delicate of the limes, is suitable with

oysters, and a red type that contains a raspberry-lime taste.

Traditionally, finger limes have been enjoyed as bush tucker but Wild

Fingerlime has exported the fruit in the past two years. Among her

converts, MacDougall claims Spanish chef Ferran Adria and, locally,

Christine Manfield at Universal, Sean Moran at Sean's Panaroma and

Martin Boetz at Longrain. The limes are easy to use. Simply slice

across them and squeeze out the bubbles. " You add them at the end of

your cooking process because if you cook them, you get the flavour

that infuses the food but you don't get that wild explosion when you

bite into those caviar crystals, " says MacDougall, who puts them on

top of laksa to cleanse the palate. " Different chefs have different

preferences. They either use them more for the colour or they want

them for the flavour as well to enhance different foods they use them

with, " MacDougall says. Now, though, the proselytising will turn to

consumers. " This year, we're trying to move into the retail market, "

says MacDougall, who formed Wild Fingerlime four years ago with

business partner Sheryl Rennie. The finger lime season runs from

January until June and the limes will last two to three weeks once

they reach Sydney shelves. Confirmed retailers include Antico's in

Northbridge, Top Fruit outlets in Double Bay and Rose Bay and David

Jones greengrocers in the city and Bondi Junction. The price, still

being confirmed, is expected to be about $45-$50 a kilogram.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/good-living/caviar-of-the-rainforest/20\

08/12/09/1228584826058.html

 

29) A group of scientific organizations are deploying a network of up

to 200 RFID-enabled sensor nodes that measure such things as

temperature, humidity, soil moisture and wind speed, as well as

identify animal species. The group has deployed 10 wireless

solar-powered sensors in the Springbrook National Park, to measure

such environmental factors as temperature, humidity, light, soil

moisture and wind speed, and to relay that information to a central

database located in Brisbane, Queensland. Springbrook is part of the

Gondwana Rainforest, which is included on UNESCO's World Heritage List

for areas with outstanding heritage value. Up to 200 wireless sensors

will be deployed over the next three years, including models with

video and sound recorders, to provide details regarding the health of

the ecosystem, fauna and flora. Aila Keto, president of the Australian

Rainforest Conservation Society (ARCS) and an adjunct professor at the

University of Queensland's School of Agronomy and Horticulture, says

the WSN could revolutionize environmental monitoring and provide a

cost-effective method for protecting and restoring environmentally

sensitive rainforests. " This is a wonderful, internationally

significant project, " Keto says. " The WSN will allow us to measure

environmental conditions from climate change to soil moisture and

water flow, and see the impact on plants and species. There is an

abundance of life in the area, and we will be able to look at factors

such as where species live, how they grow and what we can do to

preserve them. "

http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/4506/1/1/

 

30) Police have been forced to apologise for mounting an

anti-terrorism exercise in which a forest campaigner hijacked an

aircraft and threatened to crash it into a pulp mill in Tasmania.

Heavily armed police responded to the " hijack " at Devonport Airport,

and a threat to the nearby Wesley Vale mill in the exercise on

Tuesday. It came at a time of deep community division over plans for

the $2.2 billion Gunns pulp mill in the Tamar Valley, and followed a

recent incident in which forest protesters' vehicles were beaten with

a sledgehammer and firebombed. Wilderness Society campaigner Vica

Bayley said forest campaigners had shown absolute adherence to the

concepts of peaceful community protest. Tasmania Police acting

Assistant Commissioner Steve Bonde apologised to those offended by the

scenario. " We deliberately draw up a scenario unconnected with events

in history, unconnected with current events, or what police expect in

the future, " he said.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/green-terrorist-apology-20081210-6vw6.html

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