Greenpeace and the Wildness Society activists in their "tree sit" installed in one of the Styx's 84 m high Eucalyptus regnan trees.
To commemorate the five month long tree-sit, environmentalists
unveiled a plaque at the base of the tree with a message in
English, Japanese and German.
The Wilderness Society spokesperson Geoff Law said, "We have
chosen to remove the Global Rescue Station after having firmly
placed the issue of Tasmania's forests on the national political
agenda, and will be expanding our campaign activities around the
country.
The tree-sit began in November 2003 and has been manned by
Australian and international activists from Germany, Belguim and
Japan. The Global Rescue Station was installed in one of the Styx's
84m high Eucalyptus regnan trees.
The Styx is logged by Gunns Pty Ltd (1) and turned into
low-value woodchips for the manufacture of paper in Japan by Oji,
Nippon and Mitsubishi.
Greenpeace campaigner Rebecca Hubbard said, "We will continue to
intensify the international campaign and maintain the heat on Gunns
Ltd. We are continuing our dialogue with Nippon Paper, Oji Paper
and Mitsubishi Paper Mills, the Japanese buyers of Styx woodchips
in Japan, urging them to stop sourcing chips from Tasmania's
ancient forests.
"Reports in UK newspaper The Guardian, the LA Times and on BBC
TV have brought this issue to a global audience - Tasmania's
threatened forests are already on the international agenda," she
said.
Major international media outlets have visited the Styx, airing
the story in countries such as Japan, Germany, the US,The
Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and the UK, and Opposition Leader
Mark Latham's visit to the Styx last month further built on the
campaign's momentum.
Ms Hubbard said, "Tasmania's 400-year-old threatened forests are
now an election issue in Australia, and the international community
are now aware of what is happening in the Styx Valley.
"Today we are also launching a tourism charter for the
protection of Tasmania's ancient and wild forests, which is calling
on the federal government to intervene and prevent further
embarrassment to our burgeoning, sustainable tourism industry.
"Greenpeace will be contacting UK tourism operators to express
their concerns about the effect of logging of Tasmania's ancient
forests on the country's reputation as a prime tourism destination.
The government can no longer ignore the rampant destruction of
Tasmania's World Heritage-quality ancient forests," she
concluded.
Note to Editors:
Notes: (1) GUNNS Ltd is a Tasmanian woodchip company and is the biggest and one of the most destructive hard-woodchip companies in the world. Gunns exports over five million green tonnes of native-forest woodchips each year, mostly to Japan. Gunns is both logging ancient forests and buying timber from ancient forests in Tasmania. Gunns continues to do this despite the persistent opposition of all Australia's environmental groups and 70% of the Tasmanian people. Gunns has refused all calls from civil society in Australia to stop sourcing timber from ancient forests.