ABOVE: Valerie Thompson in a tree at Doubleduke State Forest protesting against the logging of old growth trees. Photos: Contributed
A woman who camped in a tree in Doubleduke State Forest to stop logging faces court tomorrow, Thursday, April 20.
North East Forest Alliance protester Valerie Thompson tied herself up a tree in Doubleduke at Bungawalbin where she prevented logging for 30 hours on March 9–10.
Ms Thompson said her concerns were for the koalas, yellow bellied gliders, the powerful owls and masked owls that live in Doubleduke.
It’s shocking that we need to break the law to point out that Forestry Corp are logging giant trees they have not even mapped, Ms Thompson said.
“We have also noted over 100 ‘accidental’ fellings of trees that should be protected, and many more instances of damage to important habitat trees.”
For her action, Ms Thompson faces court tomorrow. She has been charged with breaching three forestry regulations relating to entering a closed forest and stopping work by being tied to forestry equipment suspended from a tree.
Lawyer Eddie Lloyd said Ms Thompson engaged in an act of civil disobedience to protect the trees.
The EPA recently issued a stopwork at Doubleduke State Forest because Forestry Corp NSW had not correctly mapped old growth forests. Forestry Corp has been instructed to map all giant and habitat trees in Doubleduke so they can be protected from logging.
“We all want these magnificent old trees to continue to exist in this native forest that is right on our doorstep – along with the diversity of wildlife they are home to,” Ms Thompson said.
Read about the logging protests at Bungawalbin here.
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