Community halts logging for second time this week in Orara East State Forest
Coramba, NSW 18 June 2024
Happening Now- 18 June 2024!!
Location : Orara East entry, next to Eastbank Fire Brigade, Coramba
This morning at 9am, a peaceful community walk-on involving 40 people entered Orara East State Forest, halting logging operations for three hours. During the action, tradesperson, Micah Weeks, also locked onto a harvester, immobilising the machine, and is still currently in position.
He shares, “I’m here today inside the boundaries of what is supposed to be the Great Koala National Park — the long-promised national park that still hasn’t been delivered. Instead, we’ve got logging equipment in here tearing down the forest. It’s absolutely disgusting. The only option we have left is to come in ourselves, take direct action, and stop the logging with our own hands.”
“These forests are worth more standing than on the back of a logging truck. This is about protecting something that cannot be replaced – for the wildlife that lives here, for future generations, for the climate. I’m here because we can’t afford to lose any more.”
This is the second time this week that logging operations have been interrupted by community members. Upon leaving the site, 30 participants were detained by police but later released without charge.
The latest action reflects growing local concern that Forestry Corporation NSW is conducting a “snatch and grab” on the last remaining native forests, before the GKNP announcement, in the midst of a climate emergency and extinction crisis.
The current logging plans target 363 hectares of forest, including habitat for around 50 koalas and 18 other nationally and state-listed threatened species. It would also destroy 10 hectares of endangered rainforest.
This community is determined to protect this forest, not only because it is a place of deep local significance, but because it holds immense ecological and cultural value.
This is being sent to media on behalf of the individuals and local groups taking action.
Bellingen Activist Network is an informal network of people dedicated to challenging ongoing colonial destruction. More information on upcoming local actions and events can be found at facebook.com/
