The importance of our world heritage listed forests
Image courtesy of salon.com
A letter to The AIMN from, Mark Pearce – Balangara Films.
I write in relation to a concerning environmental issue we face here in Australia at the moment.
In June later this year, the World Heritage Committee will consider
the Australian Government’s request to de-list 74,000ha of Tasmania’s
newly added World Heritage forests. In 2012, industry and
conservationists agreed to protect these forests through the hard-fought
and historic Tasmanian Forest Agreement (TFA).
These forests include large expanses of the beautiful flowering
leatherwood trees. The leatherwood tree is essential for the health of
the Island State. In fact, not only does the leatherwood tree contribute
to 70% of Tasmania’s honey, the health of Tasmania’s forests touches
all facets of society.
In collaboration with The Wilderness Society Inc, Balangara Films has
created a 5min micro doc with a local perspective on this global issue
about honeybees and the sustainability of our western food supply.
Released on Tuesday 6th May, via the Wilderness Society’s Facebook
page, this video has amassed almost 3,000 shares in just 4 days with an
audience reach of over a quarter of a million people. The video has
smashed all previous social media records for one of Australia’s oldest
conservation organisations. It’s clear from these stats and the comments
coming through that people all over the world are both engaged and
enraged about this issue.
The corporate media here in Australia simply refuses to cover the
real issues about the importance of our Tasmania’s old growth forests. I
was hoping to get this message out there via The Australian Independent
Media Network, allowing for another wave of consciousness to hit people
all over the planet.
Our film “Looking After Our Food” features Tasmanian beekeepers Bob
Davey and Hedley Hoskinson who are fighting for the preservation of
these forests. Please take five minutes of your day to watch as they
explain why these leatherwood trees are essential for Tasmanian
apiarists.
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