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Byron Shire
August 29, 2026

Multi-generation protest halts Coffs Coast logging

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Two HSC students have locked themselves to a cement filled barrel and a third HSC student has locked on to logging machinery to prevent logging operations in Orara East State Forest in Coffs Harbour.

A few kilometres away in Boambee State Forest two grandmothers have halted logging machinery by locking themselves to the arm of a harvester.

Two HSC students have locked themselves to a cement filled barrel at Orara East State Forest in Coffs Harbour. Photo supplied

A tree-climber has also erected a tree-sit with the intent to stay for as long as it takes to protect Boambee State Forest from logging.

The Bellingen Activist Network says these direct actions are a response to ‘both a climate and species extinction crisis’.

‘Communities are increasingly turning towards brave acts of direct action, putting their bodies in the way of irreversible destruction as a last line of defence,’ the network said in a media statement this morning.

‘Almost everyone wants to see native forests protected and Bellingen Activist Network (BAN) is currently experiencing more and more everyday people requesting to be upskilled to take direct actions locally to protect the forests.’

A HSC student has locked on to logging machinery to prevent logging operations in Orara East State Forest in Coffs Harbour. Photo supplied

BAN is calling for an immediate end to all industrial logging in NSW native forests. Western Australian and Victoria have committed to ending native forest logging. More information on upcoming local actions and events, including the upcoming Forest Fest on July 8 can be found at facebook.com/bellingenactivistnetwork

Two grandmothers halted logging machinery by locking themselves to the arm of a harvester in Boambee State Forest. Photo supplied



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