Logging Target Extended To Westco Lagan

At its national meeting of core activists last weekend on Matiu/Somes Island, Native Forest Action firmly decided to target the sawmillers Westco Lagan of Timberlands’ rimu. This is in response to last week’s announcement that Timberlands had signed an eight year contract to supply Westco Lagan with rimu.

“Westco Lagan is as bad as Timberlands by signing a spite contract in the knowledge that the government may soon change and the intention of a Labour-led government would be to halt the native forest logging,” said Native Forest Action spokesperson, Dean Baigent-Mercer.

“This is the longest contract Timberlands has signed with anyone over anything and was designed to keep native logging continuing.

“We will be targeting Westco Lagan with the same intensity that Timberlands has received over the past three years. Their actions deliberately aimed to continue native rainforest logging on public land against the public interest.

“This is Timberlands’ final spiteful dirty trick – not content with all the harm they have done environmentally, using anti-environmental PR tactics and attempting to silence opponents – they have aimed to lock into place both the Buller overcut rimu logging and the rimu logging of Okarito and Saltwater for another eight years.”

The Labour Party policy on Timberlands’ native forest logging states that existing contracts would be honoured, signed before 10 September.

“Native Forest Action is looking into other means to ensure that the days of logging rimu in public forests are numbered.”

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