Activists from the Bob Brown Foundation congregated at a live logging coupe at Wentworth Hills at the Central Highlands early this week to defend the old growth forest.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Two were arrested, one on Monday, the other on Tuesday, for locking themselves onto a gate, preventing workers and log trucks from entering the forest.
This is part of the foundation's broader campaign to raise awareness of old growth and wilderness forests. The foundation is calling for the government to intervene and grant protection to Wentworth Hills.
Bob Brown Foundation native forests campaign organiser Lisa Searle said the forest had been evolving for hundreds of thousands of years, and if logging continued much of the biodiversity contained within it would be lost forever.
"We're in the middle of a climate crisis. We're in the middle of a biodiversity crisis. These forests are home to numerous threatened and endangered species and these forests are disappearing," Dr Searle said.
"The science tells us that we have enough plantation forests in Tasmania to meet all of our timber needs, and we do not need to be cutting down native forests."
Wentworth Hills is home to nine threatened fauna species, including the Tasmanian devil, grey goshawk, spotted-tailed quoll and wedge-tailed eagle.
Protests at the site are not new, with the foundation targeting Sustainable Timber Tasmania in January 2021 for logging operations.
Dr Searle said that forest degradation was one of the biggest driving forces of climate change, and that logging in Tasmania was a global issue.
"The more forests that we cut down, the hotter the planet gets, it's really as simple as that."
STT general manager operations, Greg Hickey, said the company was conducting partial harvest operations at the site and was following certified Forest Practices Plans, which included prescriptions to protect special values, including old growth and wedge-tailed eagles.
Mr Hickey said less than nine per cent of Tasmania's old growth forest was located on STT managed Permanent Timber Production Zone land, of which only four per cent was available for operations.
He said coupes containing more than 25 per cent old growth were not clear-felled.
Mr Hickey condemned the protest, saying it created unnecessary safety risks to protesters and contractors.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.examiner.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @examineronline
- Follow us on Instagram: @examineronline
Follow us on Google News: The Examiner
