Spirits and voices were nearly as high as Sunday’s rain clouds over Lismore when people took to the streets calling for greater forest protection.
Annual ‘March 4 Forests’ marches and rallies were held around the country but Lismore’s event holds significance as the broader region continues to attract both loggers and activists.
Organisers said they had over 1,500 people participate throughout the day in the Lismore march and events despite the heavy rain showers and soaring heat on Sunday.
Plenty of colourful umbrellas featured in this year’s event owing to inclement weather, adding to a spectacle of Northern Rivers protesters putting passion to the pavement and singing in the rain.
It was a family affair, with people small and tall bearing handmade placards.
President of the North East Forest Alliance, Dailan Pugh, expressed concern about the impact of logging on the koala populations in local forests, including Cherry Tree Stat which was one of very few that escaped the 2019-20 bush fires.
‘From my surveys in Cherry Tree State Forest I found Koalas to be widespread due to a density of 18 preferred feed trees per hectare,’ Mr Pugh said. ‘These are trees over 30 cm diameter and 90 years old of Small-fruited Grey Gum, Tallowwood and Forest Red Gum.’
‘The NSW Forestry Corporation are allowed to log some 80 per cent of these preferred feed trees, which across the 737 ha proposed for logging totals over 10,000 mature feed trees, the loss of which will have a massive impact on this Koala population for the next century,’ Mr Pugh said.
Across 14 locations nationwide, over 15,000 people marched in the streets on Sunday, as the Bob Brown Foundation mobilised its largest-ever annual call for an end to native forest logging and mining.
Photo supplied
The march started outside Lismore’s Quad area before the crowd filed past the offices of both elected representative members of parliament, Janelle Saffin from the NSW Labor government and Kevin Hogan, still in opposition at a federal level.
Tree protectors, as the activists are often called, also gathered together to hear speeches, with Echo contributor and well-known local comedian and political candidate Mandy Nolan.
In NSW, where the Forestry Corporation is illegally logging native forests right across the state, former Magistrate David Heilpburn spoke at the Bellingen March: ‘Apart from a March for our forests, this is also a gathering for victims of crime. We know who the criminals are: Forestry Corporation, and we know who the victims are: ancient trees, animals, riparian zones. But also us: the residents of NSW who waste our resources on these criminals and these crimes.’
Thanks to Dee Tipping for sharing the following video with The Echo: Lismore March 4 Forests
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