22 May 2006

"Behold: Eco-timber!" - The first shipment

The barge is ready to be loaded
© Greenpeace

"Forest is my life ... my blood! Land without forest is like human beings without blood. Lukautim Bus." That's the message Bonti, one of the foresters, wrote on the banner we all decorated for the timber barge in preparation for the first landmark shipment of eco-timber.

Everyone’s excited about the shipment. As the timber is carried from the sawmill site to the water by the men, women, and children of the village, there’s a buzz in the air.

Today we’ll all bear witness to the realisation of years of hard work by Sep and other community leaders, and of months of learning, planning, practice, and commitment on behalf of all the clan members. We’ll mark the beginning of a new life for the people of Lake Murray, one that’s full of independence and hope.

Timber is carried to the barge
© Greenpeace

Since I last saw it, the barge, a dreary old piece of military equipment, has been transformed into a celebration of eco-forestry. The top and sides are covered in long green palm fronds tied in place with vines, and colourful banners grace the sides.

One, painted with the bright red sap of a rosewood tree, reads: “Em Nao: Eco-Timber!” (roughly, “Behold: Eco-Timber!” in Pidgin). The other, a large white banner with a rainbow across it, says “Save the Paradise Forests” in English and Chinese. That’s the one all the locals, foresters, and volunteers contributed to.

We drew catfish, butterflies, canoes, paddles, wallabies, crocodiles, snakes and even mungi (the spider mites that are driving us all crazy with itchiness). All the creatures and plants and things that are part of this forest, all the wonders of Paradise that will live on under the stewardship of the people.

The barge sets off with the first shipment
© Greenpeace

This may be the first time in history that Greenpeace activists will jump on a timber barge to celebrate the shipment instead of protesting against it, and I must admit it feels kind of strange. But after having lived and worked with these people for just a couple of weeks, having seen with my own eyes their love of the forest and their oneness with it, it makes perfect sense.

I feel lucky to be here, and lucky to have been even a small part of the effort that led from destructive large-scale industrial logging, to the selectively harvested, community controlled eco-timber we’re sending off today.

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