2023-03-13
Forest advocates and defenders from across NSW have united in Sydney to shut down Forestry Corporation’s headquarters in Pennant Hills this morning). With more than 40 areas of NSW forests currently closed due to logging operations, activists have closed both roads leading to Forestry HQ to raise attention to the wanton and profitless destruction of public native forests across NSW.
Greens MP Sue Higginson and spokesperson for the environment said “Forestry Corporation has been closing public native forests all across NSW to keep communities in the dark about the damage that is being caused in these precious places.
“I have been on the frontline of forest defence myself and I have represented countless other forest defenders through the courts as they seek to protect the environment from senseless destruction.
“The actions by forest defenders this morning is a natural and noteworthy reaction to their experiences of being locked out of public forests while the Forestry Corporation destroys the environment, pollutes the waterways and directly drives the climate crisis.
“NSW has the highest rates of extinction in the country and the Forestry Corporation is directly driving these extinctions through destruction of habitat in forests that are either struggling to recover from the 2019/20 bushfires or are the last remaining unburnt areas in the landscape.
“Forestry Corporation needs to see and hear the community opposition to their operations in NSW public native forests, this is why their headquarters are this morning being blocked by protestors in tree sits.
“If the Government and Forestry Corporation don’t start to wind back logging operations in public native forests then they have to be prepared for communities to take matters into their own hands.
“When governments don’t listen and ignore the facts, brave people will engage in legitimate and nonviolent direct action to protect the environment. The Forestry Corporation is vandalising our public native forests estate and people have had enough. For action on climate and to reverse the extinction crisis, we must end the logging of our public native forests now and do whatever it takes to preserve these forests for the future,” Ms Higginson said.
For media comment contact Sue Higginson on 0428 227 363