Why I live 60 meters up a tree
October 30, 2012 -- Updated 0351 GMT (1151 HKT)
Miranda Gibson lives on a 60-meter high platform in a 400-year-old tree in Tasmania, Australia
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Activist Miranda Gibson wants to protect 572,000 hectares of old-growth forest
- Talks between environmentalists and loggers have broken down
- Vows to live in the 400-year-old tree until a deal is reached
Editor's note: For 10
months, Australian environmental activist Miranda Gibson has been living
on a platform in a Eucalyptus tree 60 meters above the ground in
Tasmania's southern forest. She's vowing to stay there until the forests
receive greater state protection from logging. Gibson writes a blog
from her Observertree.
Tyenna Valley, Tasmania (CNN) -- Like many I have been anxiously waiting the outcome of the Tasmanian "forest peace talks."
But unlike most, I have
done so 200 feet (60 meters) above the ground, perched at the top of an
old growth tree whose fate depends upon them. A tree I climbed 10 months
ago and vowed not to leave until the forests were protected.
And then on Saturday the news hit -- the talks had collapsed.
The two years of talks
between environment groups, unions and industry representatives failed
to find the resolution to bring the industry out of crisis and protect
Tasmania's high conservation value forests. No deal means clear-felling
of old growth forests is set to continue.
The tree that has been my
home since December 14 last year is a part of 572,000 hectares at the
center of the debate. Verified by scientific experts to be of world
heritage value, it should have have been on its way to formal
protection. And I should have been on my way out of this tree and into a
long hot bath!
Environmental activist Miranda Gibson
Unfortunately the forestry industry had other ideas, digging in its heels when it came to final crunch.
Neither the science nor
the economics seem to have won out. The Tasmanian forestry industry is
in crisis and being propped up by tax payer funds. There are some who
may want to put their heads in the sand, but we cannot go on ignoring
today's market realities of a worldwide trend towards environmentally
friendly products.
From my tree top
platform, I have Skyped my way around the globe, speaking to thousands
of people. And the message is clear, people don't want to buy furniture
and flooring made from the destruction of endangered species habitat,
community water catchments or globally significant carbon sinks.
The failure of the talks
has created uncertainty for the future of the forests here. And with it,
uncertainty for me. With no end in sight, who knows how long it will be
before I set foot on the ground again?
I have already become
the Australian record holder for the longest time spent in a tree, after
I reached 209 days back in July this year. I hope, for the sake of the
forests, that I will not need to break the world record held by Julia
Butterfly Hill, who sat for two years in a Californian Redwood.
In the upper branches of
this 400-year-old tree I have endured high wind, snow, hail and extreme
conditions. It's been a tough winter, that's for sure. And the weather
isn't the only challenge.
Living on a three meter
platform suspended in the tree tops adds difficulty to every daily task
that I once took for granted. No turning on the tap for hot water or
going to the shops if you run out of milk! I have to bathe in a small
bucket. And I haul up everything I need on a long rope, relying on
support from the community for donations of food and supplies.
Luckily support has
flooded in, from all walks of life, locally and internationally. The
many people who visit the base of the tree to say thank you have been
overwhelmingly inspirational. And it has helped me get through what is
the hardest part of this experience -- the loneliness of being separated
from my loved ones.
Yet, no matter how
challenging, there are constantly moments when I am awe-struck by the
beauty of this forest. The coating of snow across the forest in winter,
the star speckled skies of summer nights or watching endangered
wedge-tailed eagles soar in the skies above.
I have watched the
seasons come and go. And with it, new life in the forest.
Conservationists placed hidden cameras in the forest below, capturing
footage of a mother Tasmanian Devil, the day before logging began. This
iconic Australian species is listed as endangered in both federal and
state legislation.
Luckily, the media
spotlight from my action had the loggers packing up and leaving after a
week, giving these young devils a chance of survival. In February 2012,
to our delight, footage was taken of the juvenile devils exploring the
world. Sadly, with the collapse of the talks, logging of their habitat
could begin again any day now.
Many people ask my why I
am willing to sacrifice everything in my life, give up my chance to
spend time with family and friends, and put my career as a high school
teacher on hold, in order to sit in a tree.
But when I look around
me at this unique and irreplaceable ecosystem the answer is simple: I
sit in this tree because from here I believe it is possible to save this
forest once and for all.
Of course, it takes more
than one woman perched 60 meters above the ground; it takes an
international community. And I have been able to share my story with the
world, powered by solar panels and blogging about my tree top life.
I hope my action will be
a catalyst, inspiring others to say no to wood products that come from
unsustainable forestry practices. And say yes to the protection of the
world's globally significant forests.
Despite the cloud of
uncertainty that now looms over the future of these forests, I am one
hundred percent committed to staying in this tree for as long as it
takes to see this forest receive the protection it deserves.
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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Miranda Gibson.
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