TASMANIA: NEWDEVELOPMENTS 3

Letters
Tasmanian action a threat to basic rights
Monday April 3, 2006
The Guardian

As British lawyers practising, advising and writing in the fields of international, constitutional, human rights and environmental law, we are writing to express our concern at the decision of Gunns, the Australian woodchip company, to sue 20 environmental campaigners, politicians and groups who have campaigned against its role in the logging of old-growth forests in Tasmania. Gunns seeks damages of A$6.8m for what it claims are the unlawful actions of the defendants in protesting about its alleged wrongdoing.

We believe that the use of legal proceedings against peaceful protesters amounts to an attack on basic civil liberties, in particular freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. If successful, the legal action would not only financially cripple the individual defendants, but would have a far-reaching and chilling impact upon the freedom of individuals to protest. We share the similar concerns of our fellow public-interest lawyers in Australia.
We also recommend that Gunns learn from the mistakes of another multinational corporation which sought to use litigation as a means of silencing protesters: McDonald's. Its libel action against a small protest group became the longest and perhaps most high-profile defamation claim in English legal history. The case was a PR disaster for McDonald's and served simply to underline the importance of the right to free speech and protest as a fundamental human right. We will continue to watch with concern Gunns' legal action.

Keir Starmer QC, Richard Hermer, John Beckley, Paul Bowen, Professor Bill Bowring, Ruth Brander, Nick Brown, Brenda Campbell, Professor Christine Chinkin, Stephen Cottle, Simon Cox, Owen Davies QC, Laura Dubinsky, Danny Friedman, Christopher Gibson QC, Richard J. Harvey, Phil Haywood, Henrietta Hill, David Hislop, John R.W.D. Jones, Robert Latham, Peter Lownds, Jeannie Mackie, Michael Mansfield QC, His Honour Bernard Marder QC,Rajiv Menon, Joseph Middleton, Peter Morris, Tublu K. Mukherjee, Andrew Nicol QC,Tim Owen QC, Stephen Reeder, Mai-Ling Savage, Smita Shah, Susan Sleeman, Michelle Strange, David Watkinson, Aswini Weereratne, Quincy Whitaker, David Wolfe

NATIONAL TRUST WOODLANDS CERTIFIED

(Left): Visitors at Stourhead enjoying the autumn colours with a magnificent tulip tree and the Pantheon in the background. Photo: Ian Shaw/NTPL. The grounds of Stourhead, billed by the Trust as 'one of the finest landscape gardens in the world', are open every day of the year from 9am-7pm. For full details about the house and grounds visit the National Trust site

The National Trust - the largest non-governmental owner of woodland in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - has successfully had its Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) certification renewed, following a thorough inspection by the Soil Association. The Trust was first accredited by the FSC in February 2001. The Trust, which acquired its first wood - Brandelhow in Cumbria - in 1902, now has 25,000ha (61,776 acres) of woodland in its care, of which 5,000ha (12,350acres) is some of the most important surviving ancient woodland in Britain

Amongst their many other properties, they manage Hatfield Forest in Essex, an ancient pasture woodland and an almost perfectly intact medieval royal forest. Once the hunting preserve of the Norman kings, its open grasslands contain many ancient pollarded trees, and its forest continues to be regularly coppiced today, as it has been for hundreds of years. The cattle which graze the forest are excluded from the young coppices by fences, but they are allowed back in when the coppice has matured.

Many of the landscaped parks surrounding the Trust's mansions are also ancient pasture-woodlands, emparked and stocked with deer as early as Saxon times. There are also important ancient yews on National Trust land at Ankerwycke (Buckinghamshire), on the Thames near Runnymede (Surrey), at Crom (Co. Fermanagh) and in Borrowdale (Cumbria).

The Trust runs two sawmills, one at Ashridge, the other at Boon Crag near Coniston (Cumbria). Wherever possible they use their own timber in estate fencing and building maintenance and they also sell timber and other forest products worth about £300,000 each year.

You can read the National Trust’s forestry policy here: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-chl/w-countrysideenvironment/w-woodland/w-woodland-management.htm

The Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international, non-governmental organisation formed in 1993 to help offer independent and third party verification of forest management and timber products. There are national working groups in 28 countries including the UK. FSC UK is a registered charity. FSC certified forests are managed to ensure long term timber supplies while protecting the environment. The FSC does not conduct certification itself but accredits certifiers to undertake this work on their behalf. Organisations have to comply with the standards set out in the UK Woodland Assurance Scheme (UKWAS) if they are to be successful in gaining accreditation. More information can be found at: http://www.fsc-uk.org/

HOW ‘GREEN’ IS YOUR FLOOR?

The darker shades of exotic hardwoods are the new fashion in flooring and manufacturing companies are turning to tropical countries to satisfy consumer demand. One of the more popular species used for flooring is merbau.

This species, a valuable hardwood only commercially available in Indonesia’s Papua Province and the neighbouring country of Papua New Guinea, is being ruthlessly targeted by illegal loggers to supply the demand from the booming western flooring markets.

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Telapak conducted an investigation into the global merbau flooring trade, the results of which are documented in the report ‘Behind the Veneer’. For more information on this and how to buy ‘green’ wood, please visit: http://www.eia-international.org/ or www.telapak.org

Many of the world’s biggest flooring companies do not check that the merbau they use comes from legal sources. Until they do and can provide evidence of its legal origins, consumers are advised not to buy it.

Note: There is currently no merbau certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). If supplies of merbau which have been audited by credible, independent assessors become available in future, EIA will provide information on its website.

Huge volumes of illegal timber go into hardwood flooring. Incredibly, there is no law banning the import of illegal timber. So until such time as governments of western consuming countries stop stolen timber from reaching the shelves, the only incentive for companies to stop using illegal timber is if consumers refuse to buy it.

London Trees

Its a wonderful life - for Lambeth trees. A few days ago, I was sitting at my desk here at home in Streatham, South London, daydreaming in a freelance writerish kind of way, which generally involves staring catatonically out of the window for several minutes before wandering downstairs for another reckless overdose of fresh coffee and chocolate digestives.

My first-floor office affords me a panoptic view of two intersecting streets in what is generally considered (mistakenly in my opinion) "a leafy South London suburb." But just as I began pondering the singular absence of trees in our road, I realised that at some point during the last couple of weeks someone had discreetly planted a few spindly young trees in designated holes in the pavement. This daring piece of clandestine arboriculture by the enlightened folks at Lambeth Parks and Gardens Department must have been achieved in one of those all too frequent moments while I was downstairs raiding the biscuit tin.

Then I noticed something dangling from of one of these anaemic saplings and so ventured outside to take a closer look. Now there are parts of South London where you need full body armour and a .44 Magnum to get you safely to Waitrose, but my street is more like a set from a Frank Capra movie.

The sign on the tree said: "When the weather is hot I will require extra water (recycled water is fine!). Watering first thing in the morning or at dusk is best. I am being watered by Council contractors but need extra help in the summer months." Lambeth Parks & Greenspaces (Tree Section) How fantastic is that?

Now I can gaze absent-mindedly out of the window and instead of nipping downstairs for regular infusions of coffee and calorific munchies, I can stroll jauntily across the street like Jimmy Stewart, my watering-can full of recycled bath water, and irrigate the Streatham saplings. I see a long, hot, glorious summer stretching ahead. Life is good.
Tom Flynn


Westminster City Council's parks service is intending to beat this summer's drought by planting trees normally found in sunnier Mediterranean climates, bringing a touch of Tuscany and Provence to the heart of London. So far around twelve palm trees (Butia (from Brazil) and Trachycarpus (from China)) have been planted in large pots on the traffic roundabout next to Marble Arch, half a dozen olive trees in Brooks Mews, Mayfair and half a dozen mimosa or acacia trees in Marylebone. All of these species do not require much water and can survive in dry conditions. Fears that global warming is leading to drier, hotter climates could now accelerate the trend for planting flora more suited to southern Europe or beyond and make such species a more attractive option for local authorities.

David Kerrigan, Westminster Council’s Head of Parks and Leisure Services said: “Trees and shrubs like palms and olives are ideal for planting in the centre of London as they require relatively little care and attention and are extremely water efficient. However, this does not mean we will be abandoning our traditional native trees, which we will continue to plant in appropriate locations."

Carrefour International du Bois

The 9th biennial Carrefour International du Bois (International Timber Trade Show) is to be held from 31 May to 2 June 2006 at the La Beaujoire exhibition park in Nantes, in western France.

The event will feature a special Timber Techniques & Solutions area, showcasing semi-processed timber products designed for structural work, wall panels, interior and exterior fitting and will demonstrate the sweeping changes that have affected timber products and the timber market in general.

The event is for architects and other construction-industry principals, carpenters, furniture manufacturers, sawyers, manufacturers of panelling, flooring and furniture components, producers of industrial components for the construction sector, buyers for DIY retailers, wholesalers, importers and distributors.

The trade show will also include a series of talks to present examples of how different timber products can be used. In addition, an entire evening will be devoted to timber architecture on Thursday 1 June, starting at 6:00 pm, with an overview of the latest timber construction projects in Europe (organised with AMC-Le Moniteur).

There will also be a presentation of cutting-edge projects, including a project designed by the French team of R2K Architects (Véronique Klimine) in partnership with Jacques Anglade (a structural engineer specialised in timber), and an international project designed by Anders Svensson of the White Firm (Sweden).

Carrefour International du Bois was founded in 1990 by Atlanbois - the inter-professional association for the promotion of timber in the Pays de la Loire region of France - and the Port Authority of Nantes/Saint-Nazaire. It has become the only European event dedicated exclusively to timber as a material.

For further information:
www.timbershow.com or http://www.nantes.port.fr/

AMAZON 1: Conservation Challenge/Soya bean destruction

Left) Map of US overlaid on Amazon basin [Woods Hole Research Center]

A Challenge to Conservation: 'The Amazon emerges as a rare opportunity for comprehensive conservation, because it remains mostly undisturbed. Eighty percent of the forest is still standing, and forest-dependent economies have proven themselves to be competitive with forest-replacing economies. It is not too late to devise ways of managing the Amazon rainforest to protect its biological diversity, its hydrologic functions, and its critical role in climate regulation, while also addressing the needs and aspirations of its people. '



Find out more about the work being done in Amazonia and other major forest regions of the world by the Woods Hole Research Center



The Guardian/April 6, 2006
A handful of the world's largest food companies and commodity traders, including McDonald's in the UK, are driving illegal and rapid destruction of the Amazon rainforest, according to a six-year investigation of the Brazilian soya bean industry.Read the full story by John Vidal here:http://www.guardian.co.uk/globalisation/story/0,,1747904,00.html

Read the original Greenpeace report here:http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/MultimediaFiles/Live/FullReport/7556.pdf

WOODS UNDER THREAT: Pencoedtre Wood, Wales

The Woodland Trust (Coed Cadw), the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, has launched an eleventh hour bid to save Pencoedtre Wood, an irreplaceable ancient woodland situated just north of Barry in Wales from being bulldozed to make way for new housing and industrial units. If granted, the planning application would destroy 9.4 hectares (23 acres) of the wood as well as fragmenting and degrading the 6.3 hectares (15 acres) remaining.

The Welsh Assembly’s key planning document - Planning Policy Wales – which came into force in 2002, granted ancient woodland protection under planning regulations. Paragraph 5.2.8 of this document clearly states that: “Ancient and semi-natural woodlands are irreplaceable habitats of high biodiversity value which should be protected from development that would result in significant damage.”

The Vale of Glamorgan’s Unitary Development Plan appears to be at odds with this national policy, as it has allocated this area of Pencoedtre Wood for development so there is a high risk that it will be approved.

One glimmer of hope centres around an ecological report on Pencoedtre Wood which the Vale of Glamorgan Council commissioned at the end of 2005. This habitat survey found no less than 46 different plant species that are specifically associated with ancient woodland, including greater butterfly orchid, wood sorrel and dogs mercury. In total, 126 different species of vascular plants were found, as well as 71 different kinds of mosses and liverworts and 22 bird species. This confirms clearly that the wood is ancient and of very high ecological value, contrary to claims by the potential developers.

Coed Cadw is now undertaking an evaluation of the woodland’s importance in the national context, a process which may lead to its notification as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
This would be by far the greatest loss of ancient woodland in Wales since the Assembly

Rory Francis of the Woodland Trust (Coed Cadw) says: “We understand that Pencoedtre Wood has a complicated planning history, but the latest survey shows clearly how special it is in wildlife terms. To destroy ancient woodland like this to make way for housing and business units would be the worst kind of vandalism, particularly when alternative, brownfield sites exist.

The Trust is concerned that the local authority decision-makers may have the impression that people in the area are not greatly concerned about Pencoedtre Wood. They are urging locals to write to the Vale of Glamorgan Council to voice their opposition.

Further news from the Woodland Trust in Wales can be accessed at: www.treeforall.org.uk/wales
The Trust adopted a new Welsh language name in 2000: “Coed Cadw”. This is an old Welsh term, used in medieval laws to describe protected or preserved woodland.