Otway Ranges Environment Network

 

 

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5. The Otways and Kleenex today.


5.1 The Otways after Kleenex

Kimberly Clark Australia which is now 100% owned by the parent company in the USA, still does not want to openly acknowledge the Aussie consumer power backlash against them over the Otway forests.

In November 2002 the Victorian public voted to elect a State premier who plendged to end all logging in the Otways by 2008.

In May 2008 all native forest logging in the Otways came to an end. The Otways native forests on public land is now woodchip free. It is illegal to clearfell log the Otways now. Many thousands of native trees that were saved from becoming Kleenex have now been included into a new 102,000 ha “Great Otways National Park”.

However for the the few years after Kimberly Clark quit the Otways, and before the State Government made the pledge to protect the Otways, the question was often raised, why did OREN conduct a consumer awareness campaign when it was never going to result in the end of Otway native forest clearfell logging?

The answer was OREN wanted to make a point. That being, the general community does in fact value the natural environment and when people are made aware and given a competitive, environmentally acceptable alternative, they will buy that alternative.

Hence the consumer awarness camapign was a demonstration of community consumer power over a very big multinational corporation that was putting its profit ahead of the environment.

5.2 Kimberly Clark logging North American Boreal native forest

Today Kimberly Clark Australia does not use native forest sourced from Australia.

However overseas in North Canada, large scale clearfell logging(clear cut) and woodchipping of Boreal native forests is occurring to make Kleenex for the North American market.

For this reason the parent company in North America is being targeted by conservationists though Greenpeace in a campaign with goals similar to those sought by OREN.

For more information see the Greenpeace north America campaign website www.kleercut.net

 

 

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