TIWI ISLAND FOREST DESTRUCTION
The Environment Centre of the NT is very concerned about the current Sylvatech forestry project on the Tiwi Islands ( Melville Island ), north of Darwin . We are even more concerned about major expansion plans for the same project. Sylvatech Pty Ltd has gained approval from the Territory and Commonwealth Governments to clear up to 26,000 hectares of old growth forest on Melville Island and replace it with an exotic acacia species, acacia mangium. The acacia plantations will be used for a new large scale woodchip export industry supplying Japan and other Asian countries. There are many reasons to be concerned about this project, which appears to currently have the backing of the Tiwi Land Council. Making matters worse, in an advertisement in The Australian newspaper in May this year, Sylvatech referred to its “aggressive expansion plans” which would, if approved by Government and Tiwi Islanders, result in the clearing of a massive 100,000 hectares of Tiwi Island forests.
SOME OF OUR CONCERNS:
– The forests being cleared are unique and magnificent and contain several endangered species;
– The traditional owners and indigenous communities have not been fully informed as to the risks and dangers of this project, or the impacts of the proposed “aggressive expansion”;
– There have been many failed plantation forestry projects in the NT and this one could well fail too, leaving the local Indigenous people in a very serious situation;
– Establishing largescale monocultures of exotic species grown as short rotation commodity crops entails many dangers including the use of large quantities of toxic chemicals and fertilisers which can harm local species and pollute waterways and ultimately impact on the health of local communities;
– The price received by the company, and hence any income for the Tiwi Indigenous community, may turn out to be far less than expected given the worldwide glut of pulp plantations and the general decline in commodity prices.
The Environment Centre fully supports Indigenous self-determination, but this must be based on informed consent. Companies and Governments seeking to sell projects to Indigenous communities have a heavy burden of responsibility to make sure the community is made fully aware of the impacts, costs, risks and trade-offs involved. We do not believe that has occurred here. ECNT is calling on the Territory Government to undertake, in co-operation with the Tiwi Islanders, a full, independent, expert audit of the existing project to ensure that all environmental and community protection conditions are being fully complied with and that no significant environmental or community problems are emerging. We are also calling on Territory and Commonwealth Governments to rule out the proposed aggressive expansion to 100,000 hectares, which can never be sustainable.