Rainforest Timber Action

On December 1, the Brisbane Rainforest Action Group held an action at Brett's,
one of Brisbane's major timber retailers, to protest the continued sale of
imported rainforest timbers.  The action was a part of our long term campaign
to end tropical timber imports.

To many of us present, it was a small part of our long term plan to create
fundamental changes in the way human beings relate to each other and to the
environment.  As an activist group whose primary goal is to be effective, we
are becoming only too aware that rainforests will not be saved until these
fundamental changes are achieved.

As each action is designed to move us one step closer to our goal of creating
fundamental changes in human values, we employ tactics that hopefully
'humanize' the debate, drawing all parties into the conflict, in the search
for a nonviolent resolution.

In this respect, there were several aspects of the action that we considered
successful.  These include our relations with the company, the customers, the
police, the media and ourselves.

Liaison with the company began six weeks in advance when letters were written
to the general manager of the company, the manager of the targeted store and
the timber manager of the targeted store.  We asked the management to end
their support for the destruction of South East Asia's rainforests by refusing
to sell rainforest timber.  When the company refused our request, we informed
them of our intention to act directly to highlight their role in rainforest
destruction.  We told them we were going to occupy their timber yard and label
stocks of rainforest timber with signs such as 'Boycott rainforest timber" and
"Buy hoop pine instead".  After three letters, several phonecalls and a
meeting with the management, everyone was extremely clear of our intentions on
the day and of our commitment to nonviolence.  After declaring our intentions,
we told them there were many of us who would be deterred from this action only
if arrested by the police.  We made it clear that if they had us arrested, our
message would get across, and if they chose not to arrest us, our message
would still get across.  The company was given ample opportunity to chose
between an arrestable or non-arrestable action.  Finally they decided that it
would not be in the best corporate image to have us arrested and the timber
yard was free for our use.

The relationship developed with Bretts was extremely worthwhile.  Until now, 
the company had sourced nearly all of its information about this issue from
incredibly biased industry lobby groups.  We used this action as an
opportunity to provide the company with "the other side of the story". 
Education of our opponents is an important part of our strategy to create
conflict and doubt within the industry and within the minds of the individuals
themselves.

Liaison with the company affirmed our belief that these corporate giants will
only end their support for rainforest destruction when their sources of power
(the consumers) refuse to cooperate with this industry.  For this reason, a
positive relationship with the customers was a high priority on the day.  We
set up an information stall with the necessary information on alternative
timbers and distributed five hundred pamphlets.  The highlight of the day was
when one customer, after reading our information, exchanged a whole carload of
meranti he had just bought for plantation timber.

Liaison with the police began well in advance and it was clear that they had
no intention of interfering with our action unless so directed by the company.
On Saturday morning during our gathering before the occupation, we noticed
three plain-clothed police officers hanging around.  Our police liaison crew
said hello to them, explained the issue and told them exactly what we intended
to do.  They then left, presumably having learnt everything they needed to
know.  This relaxed attitude of the police enabled us to concentrate our
energy on the task of occupying the timber yard.

While it is necessary to understand the limitations of the mass media in
encouraging fundamental social change, it is always our desire to use the
media to its full extent in order to increase public awareness about this
issue.  For this reason we placed much emphasis on encouraging the journalists
present to accept their personal responsibility to help save the rainforests
through their role in the media.  As a result, the media we received for the
action was extremely positive and encouraging.

Perhaps the best aspect of this action was the fact that every activist
present had a good time.  There were many people who had never been to an
action before and this was a comfortable place to begin.  As we were free to
perform our action without resistance, the sixty to seventy people present
were in such high spirits despite being surrounded by a graveyard that once
used to be a magnificent rainforest ecosystem in Malaysia.  We entered the
timber yard, plastered the stacks of timber with our placards, spoke to
customers, sang songs and invented some colourful street theatre.

It is sometimes extremely depressing to accept the facts about the destruction
of our planetary environment.  It is even more depressing however when you
don't know what to do about it.  This action at Bretts has reassured me that
direct action is necessary, and can be effective, rewarding and great fun.

Len Constantini