# data[].attributes.body
This point of view could come about because the Australian people not understand the Japanese customs and traditions and so they feel that these logging methods will harm the environment in these alien methods.

# data[].attributes.body
The Styx forest is a major heritage site in Tasmania and contains the oldest most tallest trees in the world, many people believe it needs protection from logging

# data[].attributes.body
This point of view could exist because these people are very passionate about the environment in Australia. They want to protect the environment, and to do this they believe that the environment needs to be protected by someone who can handle the responsibility for keeping the trees healthy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Markets for Change have been targeting customers in Japan and encouraging people to click on a weblink which automatically spams multiple email addresses in Japan telling customers that PEFC certification (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) is "totally inadequate for Australian wood products".

# data[].attributes.body
This escalation will help get the message out to the Japanese woodchip buyers that Gunns' logging methods are ecologically destructive and unacceptable to the Tasmanian community

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Environmentalists have built what they say is the world's highest treehouse in an attempt to stop the logging of old-growth forest in Australia.

Greenpeace and the Wilderness Society used ropes strung from tree tops to suspend two platforms 65 metres (over 200ft) above the forest floor in Tasmania's Styx valley. The platforms are intended to accommodate six people in tents, along with a kitchen, a washroom, and a computer with satellite dish to relay pictures of the protest.

Woodchip logging in the valley consumes up to 600 hectares (1,500 acres) a year. Many trees are over 400 years old and well over 90 metres, approaching the height of St Paul's cathedral. "We hope this treehouse will save these trees from logging," said Greenpeace spokesman Danny Kennedy. "The activists camped in it are telling the world that woodchip exports are killing one of the world's most valuable forests." Most timber is likely to go to Japan's paper industry, he said.

The eucalyptus regnans in the Styx valley is the tallest hardwood tree in the world, with some reported specimens even taller than the redwood sequoias of America, thought to be the world's largest plants.

Nearly 60,000 hectares of Tasmania's forests have been logged in the past five years, and environmentalists want a national park set up along the Styx.

The treetop protest was dismissed as a stunt by forestry representatives, who said that 40% of Tasmania's forests were protected. And federal environment minister Ian Macfarlane said the government had already made concessions to campaigners. "This was all determined six years ago and the federal government won't be revisiting its decision," he said.

Protests over the Styx have been the biggest in the state since the Franklin campaign of the 1980s against a dam. An arts festival this year was boycotted by prizewinning novelists Peter Carey, Tim Winton and Richard Flanagan, because of its sponsorship by Forestry Tasmania.
Topics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Environmentalists have built what they say is the world's highest treehouse in an attempt to stop the logging of old-growth forest in Australia. Greenpeace and the Wilderness Society used ropes strung from tree tops to suspend two platforms 65 metres (over 200ft) above the forest floor in Tasmania's Styx valley.

# data[].attributes.body
Protests over the Styx have been the biggest in the state since the Franklin campaign of the 1980s against a dam.

# data[].attributes.body
between 300 and 600 hectares of the Styx Valley have been logged each year. The Styx Valley is just one of the forest areas around Tasmania that The Wilderness Society has been campaigning to protect.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Eucalyptus regnans forest, Styx Valley, Tasmania (Photo by Geoff Law)

The Styx Valley contains the tallest hardwood trees on Earth. Many of the trees are taller than a 25-storey building, over 400 years old, and up to five metres wide at the base. The Styx is only 70 kilometres west of Hobart (about 90 kilometres by road) and is on the edge of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area - one of the great temperate wilderness areas on Earth.

However, between 300 and 600 hectares of the Styx Valley have been logged each year. The Styx Valley is just one of the forest areas around Tasmania that The Wilderness Society has been campaigning to protect.

The last few years has seen the profile of the Styx Valley raised dramatically. Thousands of people around Australia wrote letters and took part in rallies, public meetings and marches, all demanding protection of the Styx Valley. People from around the world have joined the call. Tasmania's forests became a major issue during the federal election of October 2004. Immediately before the election the Prime Minister promised to protect Tasmania's oldgrowth forests, including the Styx Valley.

In May 2005 a number of forest areas were protected, including parts of the Styx Valley. This was a great result. A heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone who was involved in the campaign. However, much more needs to be done. The campaign continues: for the protection of all of Tasmania's threatened oldgrowth forests; the protection of the remainder of the Styx Valley's oldgrowth forests, and the permanent protection of the Styx Valley as National Park.

Click here to find out more about the campaign to protect Tasmania's threatened oldgrowth forests.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Styx Valley, about 90 minutes from Hobart, is home to the world's tallest hardwood trees - majestic Swamp Gums which can grow up to 95 metres and over 400 years old. The Wilderness Society has been campaigning to protect the giants of the Styx Valley for many years.

# data[].attributes.body
This BBC report released on 10 December 2003 recounts how the largest eucalyptus tree in Australia named El Grande died. Environmentalists in Tasmanian where The Greens Party has 20% of the vote, blames this death on the inability of the authorities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
El Grande was a national icon

Australian forestry officials have admitted to killing the nation's largest tree, by mistake.
The tree, a eucalyptus known as El Grande, was damaged earlier this year when a burning operation designed to regenerate surrounding woodland got out of control.

Conservationists pronounced the tree dead in May but Forestry Tasmania was waiting to see whether the eucalyptus would recover in the spring.

Forestry Tasmania general manager of operations, Kim Creak, admitted on Wednesday that their hopes were misplaced.

"A group of forest scientists has conducted an assessment of the condition of the tree. Unfortunately, it is deceased," he said.

Although there are taller trees on Tasmania, El Grande - which stood at 79 metres (260 feet) - is thought to be the largest tree in Australia in terms of volume.

Environmentalists in Tasmania, where the Greens' party attracts 20% of the vote, have accused the authorities of being unfit to protect one of the world's most diverse rainforests.

"It is significant that Forestry has confessed to killing the largest known living thing in Australia," said Geoff Law, a spokesman for the environment group Wilderness Society.

"They have confessed to killing it through their own incompetence," he said.

Mr Creak said the tree's death was a "learning experience" and that the department had written new guidelines for woodland clearance exercises.

The fate of El Grande has intensified scrutiny of the burning of Tasmania's forests to provide wood chip for export. Fires are started to clear the undergrowth.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Forestry officials admit killing biggest tree

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
El Grande was a national icon Australian forestry officials have admitted to killing the nation's largest tree, by mistake. The tree, a eucalyptus known as El Grande, was damaged earlier this year when a burning operation designed to regenerate surrounding woodland got out of control.