By Zanny Begg
Eighty-six environmentalists were in court on October 27, facing charges for protesting to save Wild Cattle Creek State Forest from logging operations.
The arrests were a result of a protest that involved more than 200 people over three weeks. During that time environmentalists erected tripods in front of bulldozers, chained themselves to machinery, buried their arms in logging tracks and entered the forest to stop logging going ahead.
David Julian, from the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA), was part of the protest and was concerned about the treatment of those arrested. "The police were very violent", he told Green Left Weekly. "I saw a man being pulled off a tripod and falling about five metres onto the road. I saw another being pushed off a bridge into a river three metres below. Both these people sustained back injuries. It was pretty scary."
Julian found it ironic that 86 people are facing charges for attempting to save wilderness areas when the company logging the area, Boral, is getting off scot free for breaking forest policy agreements. "The logging was taking place under constant police protection despite the fact that there was quite a lot of concern that it was actually illegal. Boral is in breach of the National Forest Policy Agreement on several counts."
According to NEFA, Boral has not retained sufficient habitat trees, is logging on slopes steeper than 30 , had not ensured the protection of koalas and other endangered species and is destroying rainforest under-story.
Julian described the wilderness values of Wild Cattle Creek as "extremely high". Wild Cattle Creek, near Dorrigo in north-east NSW, is pristine old growth forest. According to Julian, there is "a high density of old growth trees, many over 1000 years old. There are also quite a few endangered species in the area, including the sphagnum frog, the sooty owl and the koala."
The discovery of the sphagnum frog, which is a protected species, halted logging operation for a few weeks earlier this year. But a buffer zone was simply left around the frog's immediate habitat, and logging continued.
The koalas in the region suffered a similar fate. According to the harvesting plan it is legally binding that pre-logging koala surveys are carried out. This did not happen.
Wild Cattle Creek is also important for its role in water catchment in the Coffs Harbour region. With a drought affecting 95% of NSW, the area around Dorrigo is low on water. Julian feels that the logging will do "significant damage to the water catchment of Coffs Harbour".
"The area was mainly clear-felled, leaving no trees to stop soil erosion. A lot of logging occurred on slopes steeper than 30 , which escalates the potential for erosion. The area was also burnt out after logging, which removes any possibility for the rainforest under-story to regenerate."
The people who live near Wild Cattle Creek State Forest receive few benefits from the logging. Julian pointed out that many of the local sawmillers are very bitter about the logging operation because the timber is shipped out to Grafton and not processed locally. Only a handful of jobs are provided in the region by Boral.
The first blockade of Wild Cattle Creek began two and a half years ago. After the most recent protest, however, NEFA has called off any further protests in Wild Cattle Creek because most of the area has been destroyed. Around 80% of the forest has been logged.
Julian tries to remain optimistic about the experience. "The only thing we can do is make sure that enough people know about what happened to Wild Cattle Creek to make sure that it does not happen anywhere else."
The 86 people in court face charges of resisting arrest, trespassing on enclosed land and interfering with workers' lawful activity. They face fines of up to $200.