Book Details

The Forest Wars

Judith Ajani

The Forest Wars explains why it is vital to end the conflict over Australia’s forests and shows that there need be no divergence between development and environment.

Opinion

“This is the book to read if you want an informed perspective on the debate.” Canberra Times, 13/12/2007

About this Title

After four decades, the wars over Australia’s forests continue to collect scalps and to make strange bedfellows of politicians.

The forest debate played a role in ending the political careers of Paul Keating and Mark Latham, and led to the extraordinary instance of John Howard embracing the leaders of the CFMEU’s Forestry Division in the lead-up to the 2004 election.

And yet, as forest expert Judith Ajani contends, Australia is in the enviable position of being able to meet nearly all its wood needs from economically superior plantations. We have the potential to benefit fully from the value of native forests as carbon sinks, water catchments and wildlife habitat. There is no irreconciliable conflict between development and environment.

So why do the major parties not have coherent forest policies? Ajani reveals that standing in the way are silenced plantation interests, failing bureaucracies, destructive union behaviour and government-created super-profits from native forest woodchipping.

Forests will again play a major role in the 2007 federal election campaign. The Forest Wars explains why there is an urgent need to end the conflict, and shows us the way forward.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations
Introduction
1 Keating's Grenade
PART I: SOFTWOOD PLANTATIONS-THE ONLY SOLUTION
2 Softwood Solution
3 Federal Funding
4 Planting the Competition
5 Sawmilling Shambles
PART II: LOG-JAMMED ALLIANCES
6 Fight for the Forests
7 Common Enemy
8 Beattie's Solution
PART III: MULTIPLE ABUSE
9 Neither Frank nor Fearless
10 Surrendering Forest Protection
11 Eliminating Key Information
12 Parliament's Forestry Myths
PART IV: HARDWOOD PLANTATIONS-THE NEXT SOLUTION
13 Profit Piranhas
14 Woodchipping
15 What Should We Do?
Glossary
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index

About the Author

Judith Ajani (formerly Judy Clark) has 22 years of Australian forest industry research and policy experience. She contributed to the successful forest policy outcomes in Queensland and Western Australia and is currently based at The Australian National University. The Forest Wars is her first book.

Book Preview

978-0-522-85419-0