- There was an earlier unrelated environmental group called Native Forest Action Council. An unrelated environmental group called Native Forest Action formed at a later date
Native Forest Action (NFA) was set up protect the publicly owned native forests of the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand from logging. Naming To New Zealanders the term 'The Coast' generally refers to the West Coast of the South Island, and 'Coasters' to those that live there The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island
The West Coast has extensive stands of virgin native forests and numerous organisations had lobbied for their protection. In 1986 the West Coast Accord was signed between environmental groups and government agencies. Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) The West Coast Accord was an agreement signed on 6 November 1986 between government industry and environmental organisations concerning the forests of the West Coast of There was discord amongst other environmental groups since it was seen to be too much of a compromise towards the logging interests. This should be seen it light of the fact that New Zealand had lost approximately 75% of its original forest cover since human habitation.
In 1997 the NFA campaign involved protesters setting up camps in the forest and treesitting. Tree sitting is a form of environmentalist Civil disobedience in which a Protester sits in a Tree, usually on a small platform built for the purpose In April 1997, one of these sites by deliberately destroyed by swinging a tree from a helicopter into it without ensuring that it was fully clear of protesters. [1]
NFA had a campaign of non-violent direct action which gained it prominence in the media. Nonviolence is a philosophy and strategy for social change that rejects the use of physical Violence. Direct action is political action which happens outside normal political channels via indirect actions such as electing representatives. The New Zealand Labour Party made an election promise in 1999 to halt the logging. The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party One of the most controversial parts of campaign history was when a bomb was found on a helicopter used for logging. NFA, which had always maintained a policy of non-violence denied vigorously any links to the bomb, and no link was found.
It is claimed that the release of the book Secrets and Lies by Nicky Hager prior to the 1999 general election had an influence on the election of the Labour Party. Nicky Hager (born 1958 is an Author and investigative Journalist born in Levin New Zealand and now resides in Wellington. The 1999 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the 46th session of the New Zealand Parliament. The book made detailed claims about an organised smear campaign against NFA by public relations firm Shandwick on behalf of the National Government . A smear campaign, smear tactic or simply smear is a Metaphor for activity that can harm an individual or group's reputation by conflation with Public relations (PR is the practice of managing the flow of Information between an Organization and its Publics Public relations - often referred Weber Shandwick is the world's largest global Public relations firm The newly elected Labour/Alliance coalition government halted the logging and the land was transferred to the Department of Conservation. The Department of Conservation (In Māori, Te Papa Atawhai) commonly known by its acronym " DOC " is the state sector organisation
NFA, which as an organisation always had a very informal structure, is now dormant.
References
- Hager, Nicky, (1999) Secrets and Lies ISBN 0-908802-57-9
External links
Nicky Hager (born 1958 is an Author and investigative Journalist born in Levin New Zealand and now resides in Wellington.Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic