The government’s own logging corporation has been caught red-handed cutting down giant trees that were earmarked for protection in Wild Cattle Creek State Forest near Coffs Harbour.
This outrageous destruction shows NSW Forestry Corporation can’t be trusted to obey already weak forest protection laws. It’s clear we need to end native forest logging.
This is not the first time Forestry Corporation has been busted breaking the rules but this time it is different. The Environment Protection Agency (EPA), which usually lets Forestry Corp off with a slap on the wrist, has issued the first stop-work order in 20 years. That means logging in Wild Cattle Creek has stopped, at least for the time being. And if the EPA decides to prosecute, Forestry Corp could be fined up to $5 million. It’s that serious.
Sadly, even if the EPA does prosecute, Forestry Corporation will just move into another forest and start the cycle of destruction all over again. We cannot let this continue.
The only way we can save our forests and the koalas, gliders, and owls that depend on them is if people like you and me take action. We cannot save our forests unless we unite and fight.
Communities across the state are rising up against logging destruction. The Gumbaynggirr Conservation Group recently filed a court case against Forestry Corporation and stopped logging in Nambucca State Forest.
But then Forestry Corporation moved its machinery into Wild Cattle Creek State Forest and cut down two ancient, giant trees that were protected by law.
I am so inspired by the activists that locked on to machinery in Wild Cattle Creek State Forest. Protesters stopped the logging for the day before they were forcibly removed, saving hundreds of trees.
We need to use every tool at our disposal to defend our forests, especially the power of stories to motivate people to demand change. Sharing this story with your family and friends could inspire others to take action. The more of us taking action, the closer we can get to saving our forests from logging.
We know decision-makers — from Environment Minister Matt Kean to the managers at Bunnings — are watching the public reaction to these events very closely.
When hundreds of people take action to highlight the atrocities of logging, we show decision-makers that we are powerful together. This is the story they do not want people to read, and that’s exactly why we need to make sure it goes viral.
Thank you for being part of it,
Shirley Hall
Nature Campaigner
Nature Conservation Council
P.S. Since the bushfires we’ve been ramping up the pressure on the EPA. The fact that they issued this stop-work order shows our pressure is working. This is a tribute to all the forest protectors across the state who have been struggling to stop the carnage and make the public aware of the destruction that is being done by our government.
