news, local-news, Tarkine, Bob Brown Foundation, protest, forestry

Two activists have attached themselves to logging machinery as protest actions heats up in the Tarkine. The Bob Brown Foundation has called for an immediate halt to logging operations, with Jenny Weber saying "ancient rainforests will be lost today unless the Premier steps in and calls the loggers off". "Right now it is the citizens who are defending these wildlife rich carbon stores," she said. The Bob Brown Foundation said another 'Tarkine Defender' had attached themselves to the gate of a forestry road. RELATED: Brown and Britton at loggerheads over climate change report Britton Timbers on Monday said the Bob Brown Foundation was trying to prevent activity in an area that had been selectively harvested around 70 years ago and was part of the Tasmanian Forest Agreement. The company said only around 60 of 25,000 trees would be taken from a 54 hectare coupe "to produce high value decorative veneer panels for a new high-profile Hobart-based development". Managing director Shawn Britton said the alternative to selective harvesting was "likely to be an engineered product made of plastic imported from overseas, most likely China". "To ship a plastic product from overseas instead of using a locally produced renewable natural material is madness, and hardly a good environmental outcome," he said. The lock-on protest follows police action to remove tree sitter Atalaya Ferrari on Monday night. A Tasmania Police spokesperson said the female protester was arrested in the Tarkine south of Waratah. "The 26-year-old woman from Hobart was arrested for trespassing on Sustainable Timber Tasmania (STT) land, an act which restricted the lawful activities of STT," Tasmania Police said in a statement. "She was taken to the Rosebery Police Station where she was charged and bailed to appear before the Court on 24 February 2020." Tarkine campaigner Scott Jordan on Monday night the Bob Brown Foundation was "grateful to the brave defenders who have stood on the front line today, and to all our supporters of the campaign". "Because of them, no tree will fall unfought," he said. MORE TO COME

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