Campaign of protest against beech use

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33774, 21 February 1975, Page 1

Campaign of protest against beech use

(Si/

KEN COATES)

A national campaign against the West Coast beech forest scheme is planned by a new organisation in New Zealand called Friends of the Earth, a conservation organisation strong in Britain and the United States.

The campaign will coincide with publication of a book, “Rush to Destruction,” a detailed analysis of the New Zealand beech forest controversy, by Graham Searle, director in Britain of Friends of the Earth. Mr Searle will make a leciture tour of 11 centres, startling on March 13 in Wellington. The tour will be sponsored by the Royal Forest ■and Bird Protection Society. [ The man behind the campaign will be Mr Lindsay Jeffs, a former Christchurch man. who has resigned from the post of head of the central planning department of Arthur Yates, Ltd, Auckland,; to become full-time director! for Friends of the Earth. Mr Jeffs, who was educated at St Andrew’s College and Canterbury University, said yesterday that after much reading about threats to the environment he had decided, he should do something about it. Mr Searle, he said, had come to New Zealand on his way to Tasmania, where he planned to investigate a controversy involving a lake threatened by a hydroelectricity scheme. “He never reached Tasmania,” said Mr Jeffs. “He stayed on in New Zealand for a year, travelling the country doing research irlto the beech forest scheme.” Mr Searle has an honours degree in geology from King’s College, London. He has

r ,; headed several major con-; Hservation campaigns for; [Friends of the Earth. These include the banning [[from Britain of imported; * I skins of a number of endan-; ’igered animal species; the ban-; [lning of all whale products ■ except sperm oil; and the r J halting of proposed mining in a national park. I ’ ‘Not settled’ .! Mr Jeffs said that Friends. ; of the Earth took a professional approach to fighting r important conservation r issues. “It has 12 full-time /'staff in Britain and has to be ■ as professional as the com-; lipanies it is fighting,” he said. ■[There were more than 150; Jgroups in 13 countries. s' Contrary to what many; si people believed, said Mr

Jeffs, the beech forest issue was by no means settled. Tenders for using the ’West Coast forests closed in March but the Government had agreed to the proposal only in principle, he said. “The issue is iar from closed, as detailed proposals will not be considered before the next forest-development conference in May,” Mr Jeffs said.

The details of the protest; campaign had not yet been! decided, “but it could well; become an election issue.” Mr K. Johnston, a director of Friends of the Earth in New Zealand, who has done some research into the beech scheme, said he objected to the proposed pulp mill which would involve maximum use .of the beech forest. He did not object to the present milling of native forests on the West Coast, although there was room for greater efficiency and less waste, he said.