Woodchipping and Conservation: A Case for Timber Workers

This paper examines the predicament of timber workers in the woodchipping industry, with particular reference to Western Australia, but existent throughout Australia. Of distinctive interest is the conflictual situation, and on occasion violent confrontation, which has arisen between timber workers and conservationists. It is concluded that continuing conflict between timber workers and conservationists will, at best, simply displace the environmental problem of logging old-growth forests by the creation of another problem of inequitably distributed resources. Resolution of the conflict requires these two main players to achieve empathetic communication and a negotiated settlement - if, given their very different world views, it is feasible