[Greens-Media] North Coast pulps wasteful woodchipping

[David Shoebridge]

North Coast pulps wasteful wood-chipping
Media Release - 20 June 2013

The Greens NSW welcome the long overdue move by Boral Timber to end export wood-chipping of native forests on the North Coast.

Wood-chipping in NSW has been responsible for the clear-felling of native forests on the North Coast to produce only minimal profits despite taxpayer subsidies.

Greens MP and Forestry Spokesperson David Shoebridge said:

"Boral has finally come to its senses and started the move away from damaging and unprofitable wood chip exports of our native forests.

"The increasing global preference for woodchips that come with ecological accreditation is at least partially responsible for the move.

"Boral has applied to the Forest Stewardship Council for ecological certification of its products on the North Coast but many consider it unlikely that a fair audit of their operations would allow the award of such a certification.

"This step shows that Boral considers its operations are unlikely to meet even the relatively modest requirements for "controlled wood" certification by the Forest Stewardship Council.

"This move by Boral only comes after decades of work by forestry activists and conservation groups placing pressure on Boral on the North Coast.

"It is now time for the Government to act and protect our native forests from any further wood-chipping operations," Mr Shoebridge said.

Media contact: 9230 3030 | 0433 753 376


David Shoebridge
Greens MP in the NSW Legislative Council
P: (02) 9230 3030 |Media: 0433 753 376 |T: @ShoebridgeMLC<http://twitter.com/#!/shoebridgemlc>
SIGN UP TO STAY IN TOUCH at davidshoebridge.org.au/sign-up<http://davidshoebridge.org.au/take-action/sign-up/>