Tree Removal And Woodchipping in Melbourne

Tree removal specialists in Melbourne will almost always follow up with a  chipping service to make use of an important natural resource. The history of   the wood chipping industry in Australia is a scary one indeed, and serves to   showcase the terrible ignorance and money mongering of foresters.

John Dargavel’s book on Fashioning Australia’s Forests (1995) describes the   wood chipping industry in Australia and abroad. In his review of Dargavel’s work,   Warwick Frost provides us with some great insight. According to Frost (1997),   The export of woodchips from Australian native forests over the last few decades has been one of Australia's greatest economic and environmental disasters.” Frost provides an easy timeline of what happened to the forests of Australia. 

“The   export of woodchips began in 1968... in Eden NSW and quickly spread to other   states. In those heady days of the 'Resources Boom', it was hoped that exports   and jobs would finally begin to flow from Australia's unique and difficult forests.”   Interestingly enough, “the woodchip industry developed in Australia due to   strong concerns for the environment in Japan.” 

In order to keep our economy   at its break neck levels of the late 1960s, “wood chippers were given access to   publicly-owned forests.” This does not mean that all Australians were happy with   government decisions. In fact “the introduction of wood chipping coincided with   a growing concern for the environment and an increasing dissatisfaction with   government policies of development at all costs.”   

Foresters did not care. In order to “keep costs low in woodchipping, forests were   clear-felled, that is, all trees and vegetation cleared, the best logs were chipped   and the remainder burnt. At Eden, early clear-felling took place close to town and   was visible from the busy Princes Highway. Public outrage led to woodchipping   joining the farming of the Little Desert, sand mining on Fraser Island and the   damming of Lake Pedder as the key environmental battles of the 1960s and   1970s. 

However, while these others have been primarily resolved, woodchipping   continues to be one of the major environmental issues today.”   The saddest part of the woodchipping industry is that the chips were exported   at a low value and all processing was done overseas, which meant no jobs for   Australians. Ray Hammond was the man tasked with the development of the   wood chipping industry. Ray had 35 years of experience in timber plantation   management. Unfortunately reflects Ray, “Any affect on the environment was   completely subordinated to the desire to get this going. If that came about it   would be fixed up.”

Foresters simply had no foresight, or if they did, they ignored it. Ray continues,  “the foresters raison d’être was to provide timber and products for the nation in   perpetuity, not really to provide aesthetic pictures of nature in perpetuity. The   Forestry Act will tell you to ... look after flora, fauna and soil. You can’t muck   around with the Act but it is the reasonable application of it that runs foul of   politicians and forestry heads now”.  

For Tree Removal in Melbourne, call Pro Cut Tree Services on 0412 533 682.   These small companies are not tarnished by the nastiness of commercial   woodchipping industries. To find out more visit their website on 

http://pctreeremovalmelbourne.com.au/.