I don’t normally do reblogging, I think it can be cheating and plagiarising other peoples’ hard work. But I’m reblogging this post because anyone who is prepared to live at the top of a tree to make such an important point deserves to be publicised as widely as possible. Please view and redistribute to ensure Miranda gets the support she needs! And if you want to read about all of her arboreal experiences look here ‘http://observertree.org/’
Click above for the video made by Australian environmental activist Miranda Gibson, who has been living on a platform in a Eucalyptus tree in Tasmania’s southern forest. She has vowed to stay there until the forests receive more protection from logging. She writes about it at Observertree:
Observer Tree needs your help!
I’ve been at the top of this tree for over 300 days now. I think it’s time for the world to know I’m here. The more people who find out and add their voice to the call for forest proteciton… the sooner we can save Tasmania’s forests and I can get down!
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The Naturephile 
As a fellow Tasmanian I am right there with you on her story. We have a very archaic and corrupt governmental system here in Tasmania and the loggers and their heirachy have ruled the roost for too long. Only the other day we finally got a degree of forest peace with the signing of an historic forest peace deal but already there are rumblings in the wings from the extreme segments of each of the signatories and peace seems to be a long LONG way off. Having moved to Tasmania from Western Australia 6 years ago it is difficult for me to understand the local disregard for trees, wildlife and anything natural. It’s all about “profit” and “jobs” and its discouraging to have to fight the bureaucracy when all governmental parties in Tasmania are hell bent on destruction. Thank you for supporting Miranda and our beautiful and unique cold climate Australian wilderness forests 🙂
It’s a pleasure, as well as an obligation, she’s doing an amazing and important job. I just hope she can raise enough publicity to make the political scumbags actually represent the people that elected them rather than the suicidal interests of the corporate logging scumbags!
I just swapped coments with my fellow blogger, Terry, from ‘Montana Outdoors’ (http://montucky.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/beyond-the-lookout/) as the same problem is prevailing over in the US too.
So the more folk like Miranda, who bring this to the attention of the wider world, the more likely we may be able to strike a balance… before it’s too late!
Much like when our local government tried to dam the Gordon river our politicians seem to think that the population of Tasmania are to be completely disreguarded. It may have been that way in the past but since an influx of mainlanders looking for a seachange (we are included in that group) accompanied by the advent of social media it is a whole lot harder for corrupt politicians to herd the population where they want them to go. Not so long ago most Tasmanians went straight from year 9 (the last year you HAVE to stay in school legally) to the forestry industry and one in two native born Tasmanians can’t read or write. The population has effectively been controlled and directed by the forestry industry for 100 years and the forestry industry has both major political parties in it’s pockets. A very interesting thesis could be compiled regarding this situation that has forced mines, pulp mills and various other detrimental industry through parliament using nefarious means but with social media we now have a means to share this corruption with the rest of the world and Miranda is showing just how passionate most of us really are about this tiny little island of incredibly unique and precious forest, flora and fauna and what lengths we will go to to stop the mass deforestation and complete disreguard for anything other than profit margins and “jobs” at all costs. Thank you for sharing Miranda’s plight and I am heading to that website now to read about your fellow bloggers situation. THIS is where we can do something about these situations…we can educate ourselves and we can stand up and be counted.
Hats off to you guys for taking on the loggers, I really hope you succeed and I wish you all the best!
Those statistics are shocking. It’s hard to believe that the politicians and the corporations could have everything so comprehensively sewn up. It’s cruuptiion on a grand scale. Sounds like you need a third party to represent the people!
We voted the greens into a position where they had to be appeased because our state government had to combine with them to form government because neither political party had the numbers to form their own government without the greens. This is what has given us recently our historic forest peace deal and has locked up a large proportion of our remaining forests from logging. The forest industry is archaic and on it’s last legs but they are quintessential bully boys and won’t go down without a fight! If it wasn’t for social media and a wonderful support base Miranda’s tree would have been chainsawed down with her in it long ago!
Wow, she’s a brave lady. It’s really good to hear that those thugs are on their last legs, also that the natives of Tasmania are sufficiently motivated to vote in the Greens to protect their environment.
The natives didn’t vote for the greens, we mainland imports did 😉 The natives are affiliated with the forestry and the loggers and could care less about the trees
Good for you. Keep it up.
It’s really odd to think that the natives are apparently so disinterested, after all when the trees are gone the jobs are gone too. It’s a very simple equation!
The predominate reason that it has been so very easy to hoodwink the Tasmanian populace is that 1 in 2 Tasmanians can’t read or write and education is completely negated here. It’s easy to keep your populace compliant when you don’t teach them to think for themselves. We mainlanders have the benefit of real educations and can’t be hoodwinked as easily.
I can’t get my head around that, it’s absolutely shocking. It’s the kind of Machiavellian scheming one might expect from one of those nasty right wing dictatorships that prevailed in South America in the 1970’s and 80’s, not in modern day Australia. Bastards!
Tasmania was once a penal colony for a reason! It’s easy to herd a population if you can subjugate them into thinking that they don’t need an education and that an industry is going to be their lives. Native Tasmanians are also loath to complain to authority about anything. It’s amazing how things change when a few noisy bolshie mainlanders turn up and say “What’s going on here then!” 😉
Good one to reblog, Finn.
Thanks Scott, I think Miranda’s making a globally relevant point, we’ve got to stop destroying the forests. I guess if she’s prepared to spend a whole year up a tree, the least I can do is a blog post 🙂
You’re welcome…and agreed. 🙂