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For an island about the size of Britain, Tasmania has forests covering most
of the state, possibly as Britain did a thousand years ago.
Tasmania’s woodlands are predominantly cold climate rain forests and contain
a biodiversity as complex as any other rain forest. They are unique however,
because these cold climate forests sequester 5 times the carbon of any other
forest on earth.
There are many people working together on many different approaches, to combat
the destruction. You can help any or all of these organizations by attending
rallies, writing to politicians, or donating either money or expertise.
See the contacts page for links to the many organizations affiliated with this site.
Alternatively, you can purchase the DVD, the book or both, which will help
recover the massive costs involved in producing this film. In most cases,
government funding agencies finance films. The criteria is strict and many films
never see the light of day because the subject matter does not suit the agenda
of the government.
A Worm in the Apple shows government in a bad light and
so never received any funding from those sources.
Philanthropists and the director/producer financed it from their own pockets.
Some gave accommodation, food, transport, while others gave cash. The crew
donated both money and time in order to bring this story to you.
The decision was made from the outset that this is far too important a story not to make and
funding became secondary to the all important truth. Any money received from
the sales will go towards the next project because this story has not ended yet
and we are not going to give up until it does.
Photographs on this page show the Tarkine Wilderness Area, a protected region
in Tasmania's North West. Giant Myrtle trees, which are unsuitable for paper
production, are clear-felled and taken the the wood chipper in Burnie, for electricity
generation in Japan. These forests are replaced with hybrid eucalypt plantations for
paper production.
A rain forest can only be called a rain forest in Tasmania if it has less than 5%
Eucalypt in the species mix. This is the rule set out by Forestry Tasmania. Clearing
myrtle, Blackwood and sass-a-fras and replacing those trees with Eucalypt plantation
alters the balance. Once it is no longer called rain forest it can be logged, without
Forestry being accused of environmental damage to old growth, high conservation forest.
Used as timber, myrtle is one of the most beautiful woods to work with. With
colour varying from soft pink to deep red, this timber cuts and finishes well. It is
worth thousands of dollars per cubic metre, seasoned and yet Gunns Timber
Ltd. Pays as little as $7 per ton and wastes this valuable resource.
The real crime is that the Tasmanian Government not only advocates this practice
but actively works to conceal it from the world. The Australian Federal Government
also knows about it and not only chooses to look the other way but pays for the destruction
to continue.
The same government is seen to be green by paying millions of dollars to
Indonesia to stop doing the logging of those forests. In Indonesia it is for palm oil
plantations. In Tasmania it is for paper. The world needs to know this and you can help pass
it on.
TELL AS MANY AS YOU CAN ABOUT THIS SITE
The object of this site is to encourage you to get involved. The destruction
of Tasmania’s forests are a concern to all of us and will impact greatly on our
lives, no matter where we live on the planet.
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