Agriculture department spent $95,000 on campaign that encourages people to ‘look up at the trees, think about wood’
A government promotion for the forestry industry that encourages
Australians to “look up at the trees, think about wood” should be taken
down after a recent federal court ruling on native forest logging, the
Greens say.
The department of agriculture paid a production company $94,875 last year to produce a series of videos aimed at promoting Australia’s logging industry as environmentally sustainable.
The videos appear on the department’s web page and YouTube and have been distributed through the forestry industry and state governments but have not been used as part of a broader advertising campaign.
The department of agriculture paid a production company $94,875 last year to produce a series of videos aimed at promoting Australia’s logging industry as environmentally sustainable.
The videos appear on the department’s web page and YouTube and have been distributed through the forestry industry and state governments but have not been used as part of a broader advertising campaign.
It describes timber as a “material so versatile, so extraordinary that if it didn’t exist, we’d have to invent it”.
The narrator of the three-minute video says the industry uses cutting-edge technology and is committed to a sustainable future “where every tree we use is regrown and replaced”.
“With this infinite capacity for renewal and its incredible variety of uses, it’s no wonder we call wood the ‘ultimate renewable’,” she says.
The video says the industry is committed to forest stewardship and protecting wildlife and the environment.
“So next time you look up at the trees, think about wood and everything we use it for,” it concludes.
“And remember the forests it comes from, and the people who care for them. Australian forestry, planning for tomorrow, today.”
A second video features interviews with forestry workers and public servants.
Recent responses to written questions from the Greens senator Janet Rice show the former department of agriculture and water resources commissioned the videos as “one tactic” in a range of communication activities meant to develop a “new narrative” for the forestry industry.
“The video/s are planned to help initiate this discussion, and to disrupt the negative messaging and imagery of forestry that is commonly portrayed in, for example, the media,” a request for quote document states.
The document says the project is a “hearts and minds product” with “wow factor” that showcases sustainably managed forestry in Australia.
It suggests animation or CGI could be incorporated to show the regrowth of well-managed Australian forests.
“Did you know that some species of fauna and flora require disturbance such as a wildfire event to regenerate and grow,” the document says.
“When completed under the right conditions, a native forest harvesting operation can replicate a wildfire event.”
Rice said the videos ignored the “scientific reality” of the environmental damage caused by native forest logging and were “propaganda”. She compared the videos to the Australian Minerals Council’s “Little Black Rock” campaign for coal and said the material featured no footage of native forest logging actually happening.
“They are extraordinary. They would be worthy of something the Chaser would produce. It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so serious,” she said.
“If it was the industry producing and paying for them that would be one thing. But not our taxes at work, our government doing it. It’s outrageous really.”
Rice said she was concerned the videos made no distinction between native forest logging and logging that was managed in plantations.
She said much of what was in the videos could be applied to plantation logging – which accounts for almost 90% of Australia’s timber industry – but not to ongoing native forest logging in states including Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales.
Last week, the federal court ruled that logging by VicForests in Victoria’s central highlands had breached state and federal environmental laws, including laws meant to protect threatened species.
Justice Debra Mortimer delivered a 444-page judgment that found VicForests had breached the code of practice in its regional forestry agreement and, as a result, was not exempt from national environmental laws. She found past and planned logging would significantly affect the vulnerable greater glider and the critically endangered Leadbeater’s possum.
The judgment was scathing of numerous practices undertaken by VicForests and described the state-owned logging agency as having “insufficient regard” for greater glider habitat.
Rice said in light of the judgment and the recent bushfire disaster the agriculture department should take the videos down.
“It’s clearly an inaccurate depiction of the impact of the forestry industry on our forests,” she said.
“Think about it, that $100,000, it could have been put towards an under-funded recovery plan and species issues that we haven’t properly funded.”
An agriculture, water and environment department spokesperson said the total project had six videos and seven social media cutaways that were intended to “raise awareness of the Australian forestry industry and forests as a sustainably managed resource”.
“The videos refer to current sustainable forestry practices. The videos also highlight that with innovation and new technology the forest industry is continually looking at ways to improve,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added “on average every tree harvested by the Australian forestry industry is regrown”.
The federal government has said it is carefully considering the implications of last week’s federal court decision. Final orders have not yet been issued and VicForests and Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum, which brought the case, are due to make submissions later this week.
Amelia Young, the national campaigns director for the Wilderness Society, said there was one aspect of the videos she agreed with – “that Australia’s forests are amazing places”.
But she said the “oft-touted ‘wood is the ultimate renewable’” fell short of reality.
“The reality is that extracting wood from our native forests to the detriment of our unique wildlife, our water catchments and clean air is strip mining forest ecosystems,” she said.
“The recent, landmark case against VicForests which found VicForests’ logging operations break both state and federal environmental laws – and significantly impact our endangered species – lays bare the extraordinary greenwash our taxpayers’ dollars have funded on behalf of the logging industry.”
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