Forest activists have blocked the main access road leading to the Forestry Corporation of NSW headquarters in Pennant Hills on November 21.
Forest Defence NSW, South East Forest Rescue and the Bob Brown Foundation are fighting to end logging in native forests in NSW to protect threatened and endangered species.
Sue Higginson, Greens MP, said the direct action was taken in response to Forestry Corporation’s “dangerous and damaging logging of our public forest, vital refuges for koalas”.
Forestry Corporation was given a stop work order on November 15 after it failed to identify greater glider den trees in Flat Rock State Forest on the NSW south coast.
It further exposes the Forestry Corporation’s failures to safeguard threatened species and raises concerns about its ability and interest in managing forests.
Dr Lisa Searle, who attached herself to the gate, said: “The destruction of Australia’s remaining native forests has to stop.
“Threatened and endangered species like the greater glider and the iconic koala are being pushed further and further to the brink of extinction every day, at the hands of FCNSW and the government.”
The Land and Environment Court on November 20 rejected an application to stop logging in two bushfire-affected forests in northeast NSW.
The devastating Black Summer bushfires significantly damaged the Braemar and Myrtle state forests which are crucial koala habitats: the population has plummeted by 70%.
Research indicates that logging these forests could completely eradicate the species in this region.
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The forest defenders are urging Premier Chris Minns to take immediate action.
“Our forests are worth so much more than wood chips and low-value products like firewood, pallets and fence posts. The laws around logging and our environment are broken and the Minns government knows it,” Higginson said.
Searle said she was prepared to be arrested “for standing up for precious native forests”.