Australia’s Wilderness Society and the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) have come under fire from conservationists over a move in support of Ta Ann. Source: World-Wire
Last week, representatives of the two Australian groups travelled to Japan for a trade mission organized by Ta Ann. Apparently, the conservationists hoped to gain the Malaysian group’s support for a Tasmania forestry deal in exchange for promoting their timber sales in Japan.
“I would no sooner be going to Japan to say that woodchipping Tasmanian forests is OK than I would to say that killing whales is OK,” former Australian Greens leader and senator Bob Brown commented.
Jenny Weber, spokesperson for Tasmania’s Huon Valley Environment Centre said: “Ta Ann’s Tasmanian product is coming from proposed reserves where the forests have extraordinarily unique conservation values. This is not acceptable to the market.”
Last November, Japanese environmentalists lodged a protest against Ta Ann when Taib Mahmud attended the International Tropical Timber Organizations’s 48th annual conference in Yokohama. Ta Ann is headed by Taib’s cousin Hamed Sepawi.
