By Francesca Davidson
On January 29, 200 angry young people gathered in the city mall in Brisbane to protest against the decision by the federal government to extend woodchipping licences. Chanting "Jobs, not woodchips", they marched up and down the mall, conveying the community outrage at the decision. Organised by the socialist youth organisation Resistance, this was just one of many actions that followed the decision, as young people in particular decided to take to the streets.
Resistance has been organising speak-outs, actions and rallies around the country. According to Trish Corcoran, Sydney Resistance organiser, "We organised the protests because we felt there was a real need for action around this issue and we had so many young people ring up who wanted to get out on the streets in public protest".
Australia has only 5% of its old growth forests left, yet the federal government ignored the recommendation to protect 1300 areas of high conservation value. Initially, it decided to protect only 32.
While there has been an attempt to justify this lack of concern about our disappearing forests on the grounds that workers will lose jobs if we protect the areas, this is untrue. Woodchipping destroys jobs. Because woodchipping is highly mechanised, fewer workers are needed as compared to other forest industries. During the period that woodchip production increased by 40%, employment in the industry dropped by the same amount. Reforestation and work on plantations could provide those workers with jobs, and the companies, which have been making record profits, could provide retraining.
Resistance plans to continue the campaign to save our old growth forests. "The mass actions called by the Wilderness Society will be a great way to involve people in action and show the government they must be held accountable. But we will need a long, sustained campaign that includes many of these types of actions if we want to win", says Corcoran. Resistance has been taking contingents of young people along to the actions and will continue the campaign leading up to World Environment Day on June 5.
Many of the people who have participated in the rallies have been young. More than 500 people gathered in Sydney for a rally initiated by Resistance and organised by the group Concerned Citizens, and many of them were high school students.
"It's not surprising that young people really want action around this issue" says Resistance national coordinator Natasha Simons. "We're the ones who are going to be around when the destruction and pollution of the planet take full effect. For the past couple of years it is young people who have taken over the organising of World Environment Day, with Environmental Youth Alliance and Resistance playing key roles. Young people are conscious that woodchipping is not only an Australian problem or a single issue."
Deforestation is a global issue. Twelve million hectares of the world's forests are destroyed each year. As forests disappear, species become extinct, deserts expand and millions of tonnes of fertile soil are washed into the sea. Pollution is poisoning our seas, rivers and air. The ozone layer is being depleted and global warming threatens catastrophe. Scientists predict that by the year 2030 sea levels will rise and there will be increased skin cancer and respiratory problems.
The environmental conditions under which many people live are already unacceptable. Campaigns against urban environmental degradation are growing. More than 10,000 residents regularly turn out to demand the closing down of Sydney's third runway. Lies by the government about the impact of the flight path have left thousands subject to unacceptable noise levels every few minutes. In Victoria there has been a huge campaign against the government's decision to locate the Grand Prix in Albert Park, destroying the park's historic trees and causing high levels of noise and pollution for residents in the area. Beach pollution, toxic waste dumps, oil spills and workplace pollution are everyday problems.
Young people need to act now to turn the situation around. Resistance wants to build an environment movement that fights for real solutions — a strong, diverse movement that can win on issues like woodchipping. It also has link up with green and social rights activists across the world. This is especially so because most environmental destruction takes place in the Third World.
The developed capitalist countries export much of the ecological crisis to the Third World by dumping toxic wastes and establishing the most environmentally destructive industries in Africa, Latin America and Asia. In Mexico City, one in a hundred children is born mentally retarded because of the lead levels in the air. Transnationals run thousands of factories which spew out poisons and exploit cheap Mexican labour.
There is a clear connection between environmental destruction and social injustice. Only 200 companies control 80% of the world's economy, so decisions about the economy and natural resources are made by a small minority of the earth's population, leaving the needs of the rest unaddressed. It is more profitable for these corporations to invest in arms than in environmental restoration, education, food or housing.
For example, on the island of Bougainville, people have been fighting against the Papua New Guinea government and the Australian company CRA for self-determination. CRA's copper mine has devastated the area and the local villagers' traditional way of life. Not only has CRA created a huge crater, but it has emptied tailings and wastes into the river, killing the fish and poisoning the water. The people decided to fight back, demanding that CRA leave and they be compensated. They have taken up arms to demand self-determination. The Australian government is supporting CRA and the PNG government because of the lucrative profits to be made.
Fighting back
All around the world, people are fighting back. The urban poor in India are fighting for their right to water and sewerage facilities in the slums. The proposal for a huge dam on the border of India and Nepal, which would have dislocated thousands of people and devastated the local environment, caused a political crisis in Nepal and led to mass demonstrations. In Indonesia and East Timor, people are fighting land evictions by Australian and Indonesian companies.
What is needed to stop environmental destruction is democratic control over our resources. Corporations should not have the right to pollute, destroying our resources and people's lives. People should be making the decisions about how and for what our environment is used. While we have private ownership of the economy by a rich few, this is not possible.
That is why fighting for an end to environmental destruction means fighting for an end to capitalism. The lack of democracy means that private profit rather than human need drives our society.
Woodchipping is a clear example of this. Our old growth forests are being destroyed so the timber companies can make profits. And the government is actually subsidising them to cut down old growth. This subsidy is the reason the companies don't want to move to plantations, which would provide a sustainable industry and secure jobs. Plantations would not provide such high profits.
Resistance will continue to campaign around the environment in 1995. World Environment Day is not far away, and woodchipping is sure to be a major issue taken up there. We plan to play a big role in organising for the day. If you are interested in being active around the environment, join Resistance and help us sell Green Left Weekly, build for World Environment Day and continue the campaign to stop woodchipping in old growth forests.