30 January 2023 – Two women who grew up in the Manning Valley staged a tree-sit protest suspended from trees with ropes connected to, and stopping, logging in Yarratt Forest north of Taree.
Yarratt State Forest is the only high quality koala habitat in the Taree Forest Management Area that wasn’t severely burnt in the Black Summer fires of 2019.
The two women, mother Juliet, and daughter Luca, hope their action will focus attention on the NSW Government’s negligence and lack of concern about koalas, forests and climate change.
Juliet Lamont was arrested about 2:30pm and taken to Taree police station. The Police Rescue then worked to bring down her daughter Luca. All protesters were ordered to leave the Yarratt Forest by police or face arrest.
UPDATE: 18 June 2024 – Mother and daughter appeared before the Taree Magistrate. The magistrate said civil disobedience was to be encouraged! No conviction was recorded for Luca and a 12 month good behaviour, and a conviction and $200 fine for Juliet.
“We were all traumatised by the fires in 2019/2020 and the numbers of koalas and other animals that perished. The NSW Government was logging, and continues to log koala habitat, despite the change of government. Yarratt is a state forest that koalas have always lived in, probably for millions of years, and now they are in danger of being wiped out for good,” Juliet said.
“One of the few things we could do was put our bodies on the line to raise the alarm and get some attention to the issue”, Juliet said. “It is deeply disturbing to see that both Labour and Liberal-National governments are singing from the same song sheet. Both are prepared to sacrifice our wildlife and forests for a handful of logging jobs that will be gone in a few years anyway.”
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UPDATE 22 February 2023: Isla Lamont, another daughter arrested for a similar protest earlier in January, appeared in Taree Court – She was given a 9 month good behaviour bond and no conviction or fine was recorded.
“It’s such a relief to have our voices actually heard without being punished. The climate crisis is so real and urgent that standing up to the madness that is destroying our native forests is the only thing to do. Today showed me who the real criminals are. The NSW Government and the Forestry Corporation need to act humanely now.” – Isla Lamont said after her court appearance on 22 February.
Forestry Corp posted a notice on their website announcing that Yarratt State Forest will be partly closed between 10:00 am Monday 30 January 2023 and 7:00 am Monday 7 August 2023.
See also: Knitting Nanna blocks saw mill & stops logging trucks & Forest defenders and climate activists arrested in Bulga State Forest
Live streams during the protest: Juliet Lamont on her tree-sit, and negotiating with police
Protester & film-maker, Juliet Lamont, posted this on the Save Bulga Forest facebook group
“I grew up in this area in the 70’s and both of my daughters were born here. The magic and power of these forests have deeply shaped our lives and I’m horrified to see their utter destruction as we find ourselves in this global environmental crisis. I’m here with my 24-year-old daughter Luca to call out this madness and say that we all have a human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment”
“There is a lot of criticism about taking direct action to protect our environment as being RADICAL.
Climbing a native tree to stop logging to bring attention to the insanity of destroying our publicly owned state native forests isn’t radical. Tax payers dollars that subsidise this industry at a loss of $30 million over the last two years, that’s radical.
Yarratt Forest is the only forest in the lower Manning Valley that wasn’t burnt in the 2019 fires and the Government’s own experts recommended there be no logging in the Taree area for three years.
Instead, the Forestry Corporation went straight in and they have utterly obliterated half of it, and now started on the other half! That’s radical. Destroying endangered koala habitat is radical.
“I think we all know in our hearts what a dire situation we are in. That if we really look at ourselves in the mirror and ask what we are we doing to protect our kid’s future, then we’d all be here. And that the time to do something is now.
We can do this together. With our families. Our communities. With visionary leadership in our governments. Standing up to protect what’s left of this fragile earth isn’t radical, it’s an act of love. And love entails us finding the courage deep within us. Then we can look our kids in the eyes and say, “I love you.” And really mean it” – Juliet Lamont, film-maker
Juliet’s daughter, Luca Lamont, said:
“My name is Luca Lamont. I’m 24 years old and I’m here with my mother to highlight the facts about the harm that forestry is causing and to call them out.
“Even though the actual experience of getting arrested and the consequences aren’t things I am looking forward to, I feel that doing nothing is far worse than the horror of the reality that we are all facing in this catastrophic climate emergency.
“I think we need more people to stand their ground and take action as our leaders and the people making decisions obviously have no idea and completely disregard the laws of nature. We all need to stand together to protect our native forests even if it means we have to sacrifice our personal comfort. Because inaction in this climate crisis will be much more uncomfortable” Luca Lamont, said
We will update this page as the story unfolds. For more info see the Save Bulga Forest facebook group
Greens MP joins forest protestors on the battlefields of the Government’s koala wars
30 January 2023 – Forest protectors have once again stopped the industrial logging of our public native forests, this time in Yarratt State Forest near Taree. Contractors arrived this morning to two peaceful activists who have stopped the logging operation by suspending themselves in tree sits above logging machinery.
Yarratt State Forest is identified koala habitat and has known significant koala occupancy, indicating clusters of resident populations. It is the only State Forest in the Taree Management Area to have survived the 2019/2020 Black Summer bushfires.
After the fires the NSW Government’s own independent expert forest advisory body, the Natural Resources Commission, advised that logging in the Taree Management Area must be suspended for 3 years from the time of the fire because of “the risk of serious and irreversible harm to environmental values from the cumulative impact of fires and logging”.
Instead, the Government has buried the report, blatantly ignored the Natural Resources Commission advice and has already logged the southern half of Yarratt State Forest.
Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment, Sue Higginson, joined the forest protectors this morning at the site of the action. She said:
“it’s unfathomable what is happening here, I am on the battlefield of the Liberal National Coalition Governments Koala Wars.
The Government is running its own protection racket, allowing Forestry Corporation to trash the forests and destroy koala habitat against its own rules. If it wasn’t for these brave forest protectors the Government would be out here again today destroying more koala habitat against their own expert advice,
“We witnessed the koala wars play out in Parliament House and now I am seeing them here on the frontlines, right here in our precious public native forests. The Natural Resources Commission gave specific advice not to log this forest.
The nearby Kiwarrak State Forest was severely burnt in the fires and there have only been 5 records of koalas since. Whereas here in Yarratt there have been 31 koala records since the fires. Last year koalas were listed as endangered with extinction. We have been warned the koala will be extinct in the wild by 2050 unless we protect their habitat,
“This is an absolute racket. The Government is ignoring science, industry and communities by destroying koala habitat and our public native forests,
“Native forests, especially those that are recovering from the Black Summer fires, like Yarrat, are vital refuges for native species and act as massive carbon sinks in the struggle to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change,
“It is galling that this is happening on our watch and to think it is costing taxpayers to fight this war. Last year logging our public native forests cost NSW taxpayers $9 million and $28 million dollars over the past 2 years.
“I’m calling on the Government to stop this nonsense and announce their plan to transition out of the unprofitable logging of native forests and into a 100% sustainable plantation industry model that will benefit communities and the environment” Ms Higginson said.
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