The Camp Florentine forest blockade in southwest Tasmania, which has just passed its third winter, continues to protect ancient wet Eucalypt and rainforests. Since November 2006, the community group Still Wild Still Threatened has blockaded the area.
Eighty people have been arrested in 2009 and more than 1000 have attended rallies in the forest.
Ten kilometres of new road is to be built in the pristine forests of the Upper Florentine Valley to access old-growth coupes — large areas to be clear felled and burned. Up to 90% of the timber extracted will end up as woodchips and low-value products.
The Upper Florentine Valley is almost entirely surrounded by World Heritage Area. It contains untouched forests that should be protected. In July 2008, the World Heritage Committee called for the protection of globally significant forests such as those in the Upper Florentine, Styx and Weld valleys.
This year, there has been a much heavier police presence as Forestry Tasmania grows more frustrated with the blockade. In January, a 50-strong police operation lasting three weeks took place.
Forestry Tasmania managed to construct enough roads during this period to commence logging the first coupe. After three weeks of resistance, including tree sits, dozens of arrests and hundreds attending rallies, Forestry Tasmania was forced to pull its bulldozers out.
In May, the biggest police operation seen in the area occurred, with 60 police maintaining a presence until Forestry Tasmania logged what it wanted to. Every log truck that left the area was accompanied by a dozen or more police officers running alongside the truck until they got enough speed up so they couldn't be stopped by protesters.
Logging occurred at an unprecedented rate — 12 logging machines were at work compared to the usual four or five.
Twenty-two people were arrested on May 10 when they walked into the exclusion zone to demonstrate. Many were local Derwent Valley residents who have been lobbying governments for years for the protection of the valley.
As soon as the loggers pulled out, the camp and blockade were re-established. Half the coupe was logged, the rest is expected to be logged this summer.
The controversial logging road in the Upper Florentine is still blockaded and the remaining hundreds of hectares of old-growth forest remain safe for now.
An international day of action in protest against the continued woodchipping of world heritage value forests was held in the first week of September. In Hobart, conservationists abseiled from the roof of state parliament displaying banners, including "World heritage no woodchips".
Actions also took place in Canberra, Adelaide, Newcastle and Melbourne, as well as at Australian consulates in Ireland, Scotland, Switzerland and Italy.
A community open day is being held on October 11 at Camp Florentine. Please come along. There will be bird watching, botanical walks, a picnic and speakers who will provide information about the campaign and the forest.
[Ed Hill is a spokesperson for Still Wild Still Threatened. Visit http://www.stillwildstillthreatened.org.]