Enough is Enough!

End old-growth native forest logging.

Jan 17, 2025

Enough Is Enough!

End native forest logging.

I’ve just spent a few days in the Takayna rainforest of Western Tasmania on a training convergence to sharpen skills in Non-Violent Direct Action to be part of future actions by the Bob Brown Foundation to protest against, and halt, old-growth native forest logging in Tasmania.

What will my role be? I’m 75 years old. I hate heights. Tree climbing is out. I no longer have strong upper body strength. I won’t be pushing up bush poles to form a tripod to block the road, or carrying a pack with tent and supplies for a week. I’m not a cook. I won’t be cooking for the protesters.

What I quickly discovered is that there is a job for everyone. The group is incredibly accepting of differences. There is respect for all. There is no pressure to take on any role you don’t feel comfortable with. I am here to learn.

Initially twenty of us are camped on the site of a forestry clear felling area from 2020 that was halted by forest defenders. The designated coupe was 40 ha. But only 5 ha. was logged before contractors packed up and left due to the disruption. Hectares of pristine rainforest remain, but also many 350-year-old trees - Eucalyptus Obliqua, that were in the original 5 ha. and had been targeted to be felled after the surrounding area was cleared. They stand as silent sentinels to the destruction around them, but also as survivors. This area was never burnt after the felling, which may allow a diverse eucalyptus forest to return but it is unlikely to return to true rainforest status. Trunks and detritus of our specialty timbers, Sassafras and Myrtle, scatter the ground.

Nearby is the location of a proposed tailings dam for a Chinese mining company operating out of Rosebery. It’s existing two tailings dams are full and leaching and rather than go for the more expensive option of concreting sulphide sludge, that remains after the processing, into mine tunnels, they propose to pipe the sludge over our pristine Pieman River. They will clear a huge area to build a tailings dam – 140 ha. dam, 140 ha. infrastructure, 50 metres deep, 25,000,000 cubic metres of toxic acid - in the middle of the remaining rainforest. The initial road and drilling were stopped as the start of work was illegal. Australian environmentalists are ready to protect the area if the government gives the approval to proceed.

To keep any Bob Brown Foundation protest-action non-violent and controlled, all protesters attend a training seminar, and rules are strictly enforced. No alcohol or drugs, an inclusive environment for all, clear consent. And, so it is! More people keep arriving for this convergence, maybe 70 or 80 from all walks of life, education, experience, physical capabilities.

There is a sense of community, of common purpose. New connections and friendships are formed. There are people who have been activists for years, some who have played a small past role, and newcomers who have made the decision to be involved.

We walk in the rainforest marvelling at the shear beauty and power of the forest from 500 year-old Myrtles (One protester spent 72 days up ‘Mother Myrtle’, a magnificent elder of the forest, to protect it when the miners came in previously and started work illegally.), to the wonderful scented leaves of the Sassafras, to huge Eucalypts, and the under-story of a myriad of ferns, fungi, mosses and lichens. Animals and birds are rarely visible, but we know from night-time observations and recordings the endangered Tasmanian Masked Owl (Tytonovaehollandiae castanops) calls this forest home. Even though there was not a lot of rain on the West Coast over winter , the forest is still cool and damp.

All this is destined for wood-chips, pulp, waste, and some cut timber. Only 11% will be designated for timber for housing and furniture, 7% will be lost during processing and only 4%will be used in the building and joinery trades. In Tasmania less than 1% of jobs are involved in logging old-growth forests. The government subsidises logging with millions of dollars each year to continue this abomination. In effect, Tasmanian taxpayers pay loggers to cut down our unique old-growth temperate rain forests.

We will defend this rainforest forest if the loggers return!

What can I do? I’m not new to ‘light’ protesting. I love forests. I have to play my part. I am very familiar with camping and bush-walking. I am still standing. I am one more body to stand tall for the forests, to show that no matter what age I care deeply enough to put myself on the front line. I can go to coupes that are being logged to show moral support, or support others who are doing actions like tree-climbing, or chaining themselves to gates and machinery, or I can take on that role myself and with Tasmania’s new anti-protest laws risk big fines or gaol. I think I’ve found my role – cannon fodder/collateral damage. The same people can’t be continually arrested day after day or they will spend their lives in prison. New people are required each day to take on an arrestable role. As Bob Brown says: ‘Takayna is an arresting place’. Bring it on. I’m ready. Enough is enough.