Coming off the back of last year’s successful bid to stop aerial spraying by NSW Forestry Corporation in the Bellingen Shire, we have been overwhelmed by the continuing support from the community in protecting the Tarkeeth State Forest.

Clean forests equals clean water, our most precious resource. If Forestry Corporation clear-fell logs in this forest we stand to lose a lot more then we could ever possibly gain.

Greens candidate for Cowper, Carol Vernon, is among those behind the grass roots action to save the Tarkeeth Forest from logging. The publicly owned NSW Forestry Corporation says the whole Tarkeeth Forest is a plantation just because they have planted some parts of the forest with a single species, Ms Vernon said.

To pretend that the whole forest is a single species or even a mixed species plantation is to deliberately confuse sustainable logging practices used by our local loggers and timber mills with the size and the scale of the Forestry Corporation operation. It’s like comparing a local fishing boat with the super trawlers.

Forestry Corporation has a 20-year exemption that prevents legal action being taken on the basis of objection. This means they are “literally above the law”. They are a government-run department that has no watchdog mechanisms in place to keep them honest.

We are told via the media that the logging and burning will be spread over several years. We need to preserve this beautiful forest and its rich cultural heritage. The environmental, cultural and tourism benefits for local towns and visitors are obvious.