Tasmania Woodchip Industry

Even though eucalyptus trees are abundant in Tasmania, the wood chip industry has slowly collapsed, due to the combined forces of campaigning environmentalists and shifting global demands. Last year, one of Tasmania’s last big wood mill in Triabunna closed down, which came to no one’s surprise. Gunns, a major forestry company based in Tasmania was declared insolvent in 2012 after the company was forced to close all of its woodchipping mills and sawmills. Gunns was one of Australia’s oldest companies and used to be the largest export woodchip operations in the Souther Hemisphere. Because Gunns specialized in selling wood from native, old eucalyptus trees, it had been under the attack of many environmental groups. 

Ironically, the pride of Gunns, woodchips made from beautiful old eucalyptus trees, also became their downfall. As South East Asia, South Africa, and South America started planting eucalyptus trees, they also started selling wood chips and pulp to the paper industry. These large plantations grew eucalyptus trees in large plantations quickly, and more importantly, cheaply. Research just published in Biodiversity and Conservationshows that global wood production from natural forests peaked around 1989 and has been declining since.

In 2010, then CEO of Gunns, Greg L’Estrange wanted to pivot Gunns from the dying woodchip industry to a pulp industry, with pulp created from non-forest eucalyptus. However, because of the ensuing “forest wars” between environmentalists and pro-industry politicians, the idea was killed, even though a pulp mill with pulp made from non-forest eucalyptus would have been more environmentally friendly than a woodchip mill. 

5 years later, it doesn’t seem like politicians have listened to L’Estrange’s proposal. While politicians are worried about the dying wood industry, their proposed policy changes do not reflect the growing global demands of the wood industry nor environmental concerns of forest logging. Instead of trying to stimulate the wood processing or plantation industry, Australia is proposing to open up more of the Tasmania Wilderness World Heritage sites to logging. Not only will this hurt the environment, it will hardly help the wood industry, which makes it a mind-boggling policy change. 

Sources: 

http://theconversation.com/tasmania-defers-logging-plans-as-timber-industry-resists-free-for-all-25396

http://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2014/july/1404136800/john-van-tiggelen/destruction-triabunna-mill-and-fall-tasmanias-woodchip-