Today a woman in her 70s attached herself to a locked gate, recently installed by the NSW Government’s logging company, the Forestry Corporation. 1St October, 2024
News update 1st October, 2024
The first arrest for 2024, was made today at Bulga State Forest, 65 km west of Port Macquarie. Locals are desperate to protect the forest and the endangered Greater Gliders and Koalas they have found there during citizen science surveys over the last year or so.
Today a woman in her 70s attached herself to a locked gate, recently installed by the NSW Government’s logging company, the Forestry Corporation, so they could carry out their destructive practices away from public scrutiny. She was supported by about a dozen forest protectors.
Forestry Corporation, logging contractors and more logging machinery arrived in the forest with a police escort. Police warned all the forest protectors they would be arrested if they failed to leave. Most chose to do so…today.
“We know these endangered animals are in this part of the forest, we know that many of them will die if logging continues,” said spokesperson for Save Bulga Forest, Susie Russell.
The logging comes after almost 2 years of impasse, with the previous 3 arrests in December 2022 and January 2023. Locals from the Bulga Plateau have been trying to convince the NSW Government that if they actually want to save Greater Gliders and Koalas from extinction, they need to not destroy their homes.
“The message is falling on deaf ears. This Government is wiping out thriving communities of Greater Gliders while suggesting they have a ‘Nature Positive’ agenda.
“Noone knows what they mean by Nature Positive if it doesn’t include protecting the known homes of our most iconic and endangered fauna.
“The Greater Glider just won a competition for Marsupial of the Year. The public are getting to know and love this special and unique animal, but there are several Greater Glider hotspots currently being logged and most of the Greater Gliders get zero protection from NSW and Commonwealth environment laws.
“It’s a bloody disgrace. We shouldn’t have to put our bodies on the line to get the Government to do the right thing and take their obligations to a future livable planet with healthy forests, rivers and wildlife, seriously.
“The real criminals are those authorising the destruction,” Ms Russell said.
Note: Greater Gliders are only found in forest that is relatively intact with lots of big old trees with hollows they can shelter in during the day, before they come out to feed on gum leaves during the night. They are a bit like a nocturnal Koala, and also very cute. 20 years ago they were common, now they have disappeared from many forests. Bulga is one of the dozen or so places that a healthy breeding population has been identified by conservationists.