This piece written by Xavier Rudd originally ran in the September-October 2007 issue of the magazine.

Here I am in North America, where I have been gifted another joyful year of music travels and connections in places far and wide. A couple of days ago, I was in old-growth fir and cedar woods in Oregon alongside a beautiful river of the deepest blue glacial waters. Nice to feel the energy of nature after spending many days in big cities. Nice to feel that energy and compare the ecosystem here to that of my home: the earth here is soft and moist beneath my feet as opposed to hard and warm; the trees grow very straight and the foliage below is very structured and even whereas the trees back home are very twisted and have different sitting spots amongst their limbs. Here the trees seem to be spirits that are reaching toward the Sky World for answers. The bush is considerably quieter: less reptiles and much softer sounding birds. The lava flows represent the ancient existence of this particular land, which leads me to reflect on the spirit of the ancestors that seem to be with me as I ponder all of this.

These feelings of spirit in me represent their descendents of which here in North America I have been gifted the opportunity to connect with a powerful few. As I reflect on this place I can imagine them living here in harmony with these ancient woods. I can see healthy children, happy families and incredibly well-crafted moccasins moving through their existence. Through the songs of the birds this place, right now, at this time, seems unchanged and in complete harmony. I feel extremely lucky to be gifted this moment here in the USA at this time during this current earth cycle. As I draw in this deep breath I reach for my home, the smell of the eucalyptus, the connection to the earth and with the vision of these old-growth forests I am reminded of my brothers and sisters in the Huon Valley in Tasmania, standing up for some of our most ancient ecosystems that are still being ruthlessly clear-cut.

Much of my music comes up through the land – Australia is a powerful place. In Tasmania there are a group of protesters that quite often go unnoticed by most of Australia and the rest of the world. In the Huon Valley and many of the surrounding forests in Tasmania there is a huge injustice going on with wood chipping. A large percentage of old-growth forest, some of the biggest timber in the world, is being clear-felled and wood-chipped to be sold as pulp to make paper. In the re-growth areas they are using a chemical called 1080 to keep away animals from the re-growth, which is ruthlessly killing marsupials, including kangaroos and wallabies, and other creatures.

If these forests were treated as more of a tourism protected area the situation would be far more beneficial for Tasmania in every way but because of the financial game between members of the government and the companies involved, the devastation of the forest continues. There is no reinforcement for the government or the wood chipping companies to stand by their future environmental proposals so, at this point, the whole scene is pretty much a web of lies.

There are a group of forest soldiers down there that I have a huge amount of respect for who are fighting a David and Goliath type battle to protect some of Australia’s most ancient and special ecosystems.

People who devote their lives to fight for environmental causes have hugely inspired me on my musical journey and a true example of this are the people in the Huon Valley.

For more information please visit the Huon Valley Environmental Centre at www.huon.org.