Boycott Boral campaign

August 21, 1996
Issue 

By Natal Banks

HOBART — The destruction of old growth, wilderness and high conservation value forest for woodchips continues despite public outrage. Multinational company Boral Ltd. plays a major part in obliterating these forests.

On June 27, the Boycott Boral campaign was launched with banner drops, demonstrations and meetings with Boral management around the country. Environment groups, including the Native Forest Network and the Wilderness Society, are urging consumers not to buy Boral products.

Boral is the second largest exporter of native forest woodchips in Australia. It is licensed to export 940,000 tonnes per year from Tasmania alone. In NSW, a Boral subsidiary, Sawmillers Exports Ltd (SEPL), is licensed to export 500,000 tonnes of woodchips annually.

In Tasmania, the federal government's new woodchip export regime, which allows a huge increase in woodchips sourced from private land, will benefit Boral particularly. A large proportion of Boral's logging operations here are on private land, as are many of Tasmania's endangered forests and animal species.

Boral operates two hardwood sawmills in Tasmania, feeding them with timber from the northern and southern forests. It has cleared forests adjacent to national parks and within the new boundaries of the proposed Western Tasmania World Heritage Area. Its operations include the controversial practices of cable-logging, clear-felling and burning large areas of forest. Boral also has a history of breaching the Forest Practices Code, the guidelines set down by the Forestry Commission.

SEPL holds more than 60% of NSW's timber quotas. It has logged old growth, wilderness and high conservation forests, including areas containing fauna and flora listed in schedule one of the federal Endangered Species Protection Act (1992).

SEPL has signed long-term wood supply agreements with the NSW forestry department, so it is assured access to the best timber and is able to force small sawmillers out of the industry. Because of its monopoly, timber workers often have no choice but to work for SEPL.

Boycott Boral groups are calling on Boral to stop immediately the woodchipping of native forests, halt logging in wilderness and old growth areas and transfer logging operations to its existing plantations (12,000 hectares in Tasmania alone that are not being utilised).

Until these demands are met, consumers are being asked to boycott all Boral products to express their disapproval of that company's role in forest destruction in the only language it understands — loss of profits.

Boral products include: tyres (Bandag, Barum, Khumo, Uniroyal, Michelin, BFG and Goodrich); bricks (Bringelly, Midland, Clark, Boral Country and K&D); cement (Blue Circle, Sunstate and Montard); asphalt (Bitupave); plasterboard (Unispan, Shaftline, Wet Area, Windsor and Basebond); windows (Wunderlich); gas and timber.

For more information on the campaign, phone (002) 349 366 or (002) 695 102.

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