BY LEIGH HUGHES
CANBERRA — For months "Fort Badja" has been a base of operations for environmentalists seeking to stop the logging of New South Wales' south-east forests. But that changed on November 20, when 30 police removed six forest campaigners from the structure and then had it bulldozed.
In the two weeks since, forest department 2020 — where the fort was situated — as been "crawling with cops, logging trucks and guys with chainsaws", according to activists attending an emergency meeting in Canberra.
It is estimated that, at the current rate of logging, Badja forest will disappear within seven weeks. During logging, the forest will face burn-offs and be sprayed with Tordon — a poison also known as Agent White — so that only trees suitable for logging regrow.
According to forestry industry plans, the logs will be made into woodchips at the Nippon Unipac mill in Eden or even possibly burnt for charcoal at an Australian Silicon plant proposed for Mogo.
Environmentalists say that the departments being logged are biodiversity hotspots and that they are being targeted because their destruction would weaken opposition to further logging of departments of lesser importance. In the forest are 12 endangered animal species and trees 300-500 years old, which forest campaigners say are more valuable if left in pristine condition and not destroyed.
Since the attack at Badja, the most well-known of old-growth forests in line for clearfelling, the NSW government has prohibited public and media access to significant parts of the South-east Forestry Region. There is a maximum fine of $2200 for anyone who enters any of these forests.
Annie Coleman, a campaigner for The Wilderness Society, opposes the move saying, "These are the NSW peoples' forests, they have a right to monitor how they are managed. The decision to close these forests is part of an active policy to remove the rights of the public to affect the management of their own forests."
On the south coast, opposition to logging has grown markedly in past months, with large street marches in Bateman's Bay of over 1000 people, condemnation of the actions of the forestry industry by the peak body for local shire councils, and a surge of support for the pro-forest Greens in the seat of Eden-Monaro, where Badja is situated.
South-east Forest Rescue is now calling on activists to engage in direct action to stop the logging of Badja forest. One campaigner, who asked not to be named, said, "We are not just fighting for our holiday destinations here, we are fighting for our right to have clean air and water and an end to the destruction of the world's environment — and we need help".
To get involved, call the Badja hotline, 0407 496 019.
From Green Left Weekly, December 5, 2001.
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