Olivia to PM: Our Forests are in Danger
Our Livvy is not happy, John. As the face of Planet Ark’s National Tree Day, she wants John Howard to know how “very sad” she is that Australia is still chopping down old-growth forests. She’s asked the PM to help loggers re-train as guides “who could enable people to view the trees that will otherwise be destroyed”. “I’m not a political animal, and I know very little about Mr Howard’s environmental policy,” Livvy said. “I only know what I feel in my heart, and my passion is to say to him, ‘We need to preserve these old-growth trees because they’re up to 500 years old’. “Even if we were to re-plant them, our children’s children would never see such magnificence.” The 53-year-old is urging volunteers to help National Tree Day organisers plant one million trees across Australia on July 28. Promotional material for National Tree Day will show Newton-John visiting a ravaged, old-growth forest in Tasmania’s Styx River Valley. “It’s tragic unforgivable,” she said. “And the thing is, we don’t need to do it. It’s not necessary.” When Newton-John saw the devastation in the Styx River Valley, she described it as “a war zone”. “I was heartbroken. There were two black cockatoos and a hawk circling above, crying out as they looked for their homes. “Why haven’t we learnt from the rest of the world? We have planted enough plantation trees. We don’t need to do this.”