The Forest Wars: the Ugly Truth about What’s Happening in Our Tall Forests by David Lindenmayer, Allen and Unwin, 2024
Leading Australian ecologist David Lindenmayer is internationally respected for his meticulous research and has written an impressive number of books and refereed journal articles. As well as numerous Australian awards, he has been recognised with the Whittaker Prize of the Ecological Society of America. But Lindenmayer is no ivory tower academic. His book The Forest Wars clearly demonstrates both his theoretical competence and his personal passion for forests, and his commitment to action based on his findings.
Australians are becoming more comfortable discussing the term ‘war’ as a broad concept. While war might usually occur between groups of people, it can also be waged against the environment. I can remember a Coonabarabran orchardist who had his property proclaimed a wildlife sanctuary explaining that there were still blokes whose attitude to the bush was simple and nasty: ‘If it moves, shoot it. If it doesn’t move, ringbark it.’
Lindenmayer’s examination exposes this kind of violence as a disturbing characteristic of the way we have treated (and still treat) our forests. The Forest Wars also reveals how vested interests make life difficult, perhaps even hazardous, for the scientists and activists who attempt to defend the forests and the environment more broadly. Indeed, this war is continually waged through deforestation on one hand and through deception and obfuscation on the other.
In this a readable and engaging book, Lindenmayer has ensured that his work is accessible to all readers by minimising scientific references throughout. (Anyone doubting the thoroughness of Lindenmayer’s research should note that his bibliography occupies some 37 pages. Lindenmayer’s own name appears 77 times in citations for works produced in collaboration with other scientists.) There are also numerous coloured photographs and illustrations to clarify explanations of various impacts on the forests. This list of works might at first seem to be a little egotistical, except that Lindenmayer’s critics in the forestry industry have sought to discredit him and undermine his integrity. He quotes Brandolini’s law which says that it takes much more energy to refute misinformation than is required to produce it.
Lindenmayer notes a derogatory comment by the CEO of VicForests: ‘We do not accept the published opinions of Professor David Lindenmayer as reflective of evidence and do not consider him to be an authority in these matters.’ Lindenmayer replies that his is ‘evidence-based research’ and the