Walk Against Woodchips

Keri
James and daughter Clover (6) have embarked on an epic 'Walk Against
woodchips' from Canberra to Tasmania. They will draw community
attention to the continuing destructive practice of woodchipping native
forests as they pass the Eden woodchip mill on their way to the Gunns
proposed pulp mill site in the Tamar valley (Tasmania).

They passed through Bairnsdale on the 26^th of October and reach Traralgon on the 6^th of November.

The
Walk has received a high level of community support along the way. In
Bega there was a fundraising concert for the local (South East Forest
Rescue) Bermagui Koala blockade, as well as a public forum on forests
and carbon.  It was very clear that native forests,
especially Old Growth forests, are worth far more alive as carbon sinks
and water filters than dead, where most of their carbon is released
back into the atmosphere through the waste and burning associated with
woodchipping. The woodchipping industry works against community
objectives to reduce impacts on global warming.

Since
leaving the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra on September the first,
Keri and Clover have been joined on various legs of the journey by an
array of supporters.

In
Eden the walkers conducted a vigil and log truck count at the South
East Fibre Exports (SEFE) chipmill, where enormous piles of native
forest woodchips, still largely sourced from East Gippsland Old Growth,
await shipment to Japan.

Over
200 trucks were counted, strengthening the walkers' resolve to stop
government 'Clearfell and Burn' policy in native forests. If SEFE's
biomass plant proposal were approved, woodchipping would skyrocket in
this region.

The
walk calls for the immediate end of woodchipping native forests and for
Australia to become a responsible global citizen with regards to
Climate Change, water and bio-diversity.

The walkers enter Melbourne on the 19^th of November and anticipate a send off party before embarking for Tasmania on the 22^nd.

For more information :

Keri James:  0458507083  /   0432990621

Website:   http://woodchipwalk.com/