Australia, Tazmania - The Federal Government has accused the Green movement of environmental treason for "poisoning" the reputation of Australia's sustainable timber industry overseas.
The latest attack on Green protesters campaigning against the export of woodchips from Tasmania's native forests comes as the Federal Government prepares to act against importation of illegally harvested rainforest timber into Australia.

Within three months, the Government plans to introduce strong measures to ensure that only legally and sustainably grown timber is imported.
Federal Forestry Minister Eric Abetz has labelled the Greens' campaign against the export of sustainably produced Tasmanian woodchips to Japan as "akin to treason".
Instead, he believes it simply encourages illegal harvesting of the world's rainforests elsewhere.
"The volume of illegally sourced wood products [coming into Australia] is equivalent to the total sustainable harvest from Tasmania's and Victoria's native forests," Senator Abetz told the national conference of Timber Communities Australia in Canberra.
"So while the Greens [here] attack organisations such as Timber Communities Australia, in countries like Indonesia up to 90 per cent of timber is being produced illegally.
"There is no doubt they are committing environmental treason because, by spreading lies overseas about our sustainable timber industry, the Green movement is promoting the continued unsustainable and illegal harvesting of the world's rainforests."
Senator Abetz said the world needed wood and paper, and if timber products were not provided by countries such as Australia which used world-best forest management practices, they would be obtained illegally from other less-scrupulous nations.
If the availability of wood products declined, there would be greater use of substitute products that were not renewable, recyclable or biodegradable.
He said clamping down on illegal imports of rainforest furniture and timber sent an important moral as well as environmental message to the world.
"Whatever people say about our forest products here -- and they say a lot of things -- they can't say it's illegally harvested," Senator Abetz said.
"Doing it so well here, it is morally hypocritical to allow wood imports from overseas which are not harvested either legally or sustainably."
A crackdown on illegal imports also should boost Australia's market for substitute products grown from local timber.