The
Forest Products Commission, with the support of its
Minister, Hon. Kim Chance MLC, is trying to recommence
the woodchipping of marri for export. The FPC is seeking
buyers in China, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan and
in the meantime is selling job lots on the spot market
(e.g.17,000 tonnes to Italy).
a. Marri is a magnificent forest tree
found only in the south-west of Western Australia.
Scientists
have shown that marri is probably the most important
tree in our forests for birds and mammals. Marri
trees produce large amounts of blossom and nectar,
and mature trees often have the very large hollows
that are nesting sites for endangered species such
as black cockatoos, western ringtail possums and
owls.
When jarrah/marri forest is clearfelled
in gaps, only a small number of ‘habitat’ trees
is retained per hectare (three, later four, perhaps
now six), and they don’t have to contain hollows.
So retained ‘habitat’ trees cannot meet
the needs of all 26 species of birds and mammals
that must have hollows in standing trees to survive.
Besides having very specific requirements as to a
hollow’s location, size, shape and entry,
these species compete not only between and within
species
but also with feral European bees. Furthermore,
it is unlikely that habitat trees will survive
for the
centuries required for suitable hollows to develop
in the regrowth.
When in the past jarrah/marri forest
was selectively logged, the marri trees were usually
left standing
and so they are the last remnants of the original
forest. To fell them now would remove essential
habitat for the largest birds and mammals, make the
forest
even more immature and further degrade its natural
structure. This is not ecologically sustainable
forest management.
In jarrah/marri forest, the purported
threat of marri dominating the regrowth is used as
a pretext
to fell the marri. However, there is no proof that
in the long term (1000 years, which is the physiological
age of jarrah) marri if retained would overrun
the jarrah. Curiously, in mixed jarrah/marri forest
where
there are as few as two or three mature karri trees
per hectare, DCLM has had no compunction about
trying to shift the balance of species in favour of
karri
by clearfelling such forest and planting it with
karri seedlings, an experiment that is unlikely
to succeed.
Further, the methods of logging jarrah/marri
forest that involve the removal of marri (gap clearfelling
and shelterwood) are used largely for economic
reasons: they offer the cheapest way to fell and extract
the
maximum volume of logs. Because these intensive
logging methods would eventually leave large expanses
of
forest as very immature regrowth, they are not
ecologically sustainable.
b. Native forest
woodchipping began in 1975, with the first exports
in 1976. Since
then, 9.5 million
cubic metres (12 million tonnes) of marri chiplogs,
almost all from old growth trees, have been sold,
initially to WA Chip & Pulp Co Pty Ltd and, since
2000, to Marubeni Corporation of Japan. Karri/marri
woodchips were 7th of the eight grades of hardwood
woodchips bought by Japanese pulp mills. Of the two
species, karri and marri, karri is better for paper
production, which means marri is very low grade indeed.
For this reason Marubeni stopped buying marri woodchips
in November 2001, when plantation-grown bluegum woodchips,
which are high quality, began to come on stream.
Seeking to once again find markets for this low quality
product is not in line with the Gallop Government’s
policy of restructuring the timber industry towards
sustainability and value adding.
The recent recognition
of marri as an excellent furniture timber is ironic
after 12 million tonnes
of marri logs (including 2 million tonnes of logs
of sawlog quality) have been turned into woodchips
by the logging industry and forestry agencies,
which dubbed marri a “weed tree”! Given the
natural properties of marri, only one or two logs
in ten are considered suitable as sawlogs. Such a
low proportion of useable product would not be tolerated
in another industry. In our opinion, if a tree can’t
be used for a high value product, it should not
be cut done. Since even with current technology
it is
not possible to judge the timber quality of, they
should be left standing for all the ecological
benefits they provide. This is essential if ecologically
sustainable
forest management is to be achieved.
c. Western Australian
is exporting plantation-grown bluegum woodchips
in increasing quantities. They
are high quality woodchips and command top
prices. The exporters will surely not be pleased
to have
the FPC dumping low grade marri woodchips at
heavily discounted prices marri trees on the market
in
competition with their product. Therefore recommencing
woodchipping
marri for export is contrary to, and directly
undermines, the Gallop Government’s commitment
to boost the plantation industry.
d. It appears that
the FPC, supported by the Minister for Forestry,
Hon. Kim
Chance MLC, is offering marri
woodchips to overseas buyers at such a low price
that they are finding it difficult to refuse. This
runs counter to the Government’s commitment
to ensure that royalties reflect the true value of
native timber. As pointed out above, marri has values
in forest ecosystems that are beyond price. [It is
to be noted that the “immediate review of current
royalties for native timber” promised in the
ALP’s forest policy hasn’t even begun
and that after two years in office, the Gallop
Government continues to sell our native timbers
for bargain
basement prices.]
3. Many people are putting a great
deal of time and effort into helping develop the new
Forest Management
Plan. To enter into new contracts or even negotiations
(especially for such a generally disliked low-value
product as woodchips) while this process is still
under way shows contempt for both the process and
the people involved.
For these reasons there should
be no further attempts to ever again produce or export
marri woodchips.
1. There are many reasons why the
Gallop Government should not recommence the woodchipping
of marri for
export. First, we believe that this would breach
the Government’s “Protecting our old
growth forests” policy, which has wide community
support and helped the ALP win the 2001 State election.
The specific provisions in the policy we say would
be breached are the commitments to:
2. There has been no consultation
with the community about the proposal to recommence
marri woodchipping
or to extend the Marubeni (WA Plantation Resources)
chiplog sales contract, which is due to expire
at the end of this year. Opinion surveys have always
shown that Western Australians don’t like
their native forest trees to be woodchipped. It
is seen
as the unnecessary destruction of a much-valued
component of our natural environment for a very
base, low-value,
low-priced product. It is therefore not surprising
that the negotiations to recommence sales of marri
woodchips involving the FPC and certain foreign
companies have been kept secret and have only come
to light
as a result of our questioning of government activities.
Such lack of openness and transparency is unworthy
of the Gallop Government and contrary to its professed
standards. 
