It’s first thing in the morning when I get the call.  “Camp has been attacked” the voice on the end of the line is telling me. “What do you mean… attacked?”” I asked. “Someone’s gone there and trashed it, burnt it down.”

She is talking about Camp Florentine, Tasmania’s longest running forest blockade. The camp is run by the group I’m part of: Still Wild Still Threatened. And it is a place that is very close to my heart, having spent many years spending so much of my time out there in the past.

Camp Floz, as it is known, is in the Upper Florentine Valley, the next valley to the west of where I am located in the Observer Tree (in the Tyenna). The Upper Florentine Valley is a large tract of ancient wilderness, that is surrounding on three sides by the World Heritage Area. Despite the protection for the surrounding mountain ranges, this valley remained unprotected because it contains such significant tracts of tall trees that the logging industry were hungry to get their hands on.  Almost six years ago now members of the local community became aware of Forestry’s plans to fell 15 logging coupes in the valley within three years and in response the camp was established to stop this from happening. Over those years, the constant presence of the camp has meant that the majority of those logging coupes have never been touched by a chainsaw and the forest remains standing. Hopefully it will continue to remain standing until it can take it’s rightful place as part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

As well as literally stopping the logging, the camp has a range of other important functions in the campaign. Being on a main tourist road, it acts an information center with people stopping in every day to find out about what is going on in the forest and having the opportunity to go on short guided walks. It has become a significant icon of the forest movement in Tasmania and is known to people all around the world who have stopped in on their travels.

When I saw the photos I realised it was even worse than I thought. The entire camp had been torched. The main house, kitchen area and information hut were nothing but ashes. And the camp car had been stolen. This was not the first time that such acts of intimidation had been committed towards the protesters and community involved in the camp.

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The wind rips through the valley. The trees are frantic, swirling this way and then that. Their branches waving wildly. I can hear the wind coming in gusts through the forest. A roar getting louder and louder and then bang… it hits my tree and off we go! My tree bends to the wind, my platform going with it. Although I’ve become used to the sway of my tree, these extreme winds still have me feeling like grabbing onto something and holding tight! The tarp buffeting and blowing against the force of the wind. The rain is pelting down. I hear the loud crack and crash of a tree falling somewhere in the forest. I know that my tree is strong. And so am I. And we will get through this. In moments like this you have to remember the way that the tree deals with it – just let it be, just allow yourself to go with the flow. And so I sit back and watch the beauty and strength of the forest.

Of course at times like this I just have to remember why I’m here and I know that I can get through it. I just think about all the animals that live in this forest and I am reminded of the importance of staying in this tree and being a voice for them. Yesterday was National Threatened Species Day. A timely reminder of the importance of looking after our threatened species. These forests are home to many animals that are on the Tasmanian threatened species list, including Tasmanian devils, spot tail quolls, masked owl, wedge tail eagles and goshawks.

A group of primary school children in Cygnet, in southern Tasmania, got together for national threatened species day.  It’s so inspiring to hear from young voices in the community about their ideas on how we can all help to look after wildlife and threatened species. Check out the media release below, from Cygnet Public School’s teacher aide Shaun Douglas:

NATIONAL THREATENED SPECIES DAY AT CYGNET PUBLIC SCHOOL

Yesterday at Cygnet Public Primary School a group of students gave up their lunchtime for National Threatened Species Day to talk about threatened and injured wildlife in Tasmania. While they were painting a banner with their messages for other students who don’t live near the bush, Shaun Douglas, a grade 6 Teacher’s Aide interviewed the group and this is what they had to say:

Why is it important to you to know more about threatened wildlife?
(Jaia, grade 2) “If you see an animal that’s injured you can look after it and help it get better.”

What are some ways that wildlife in Tasmania are injured or threatened?
(Imogen, grade 4) “When they try to cross a road sometimes they get hit and they don’t always die straight away and they might have a baby.”
(Maxi, grade 2) “If people burn hollow logs.”
(Somara, grade 3) “People might cut down too many trees near where the animals live and then they don’t have their homes anymore.”

What can YOU do to be more considerate of threatened species’ and their habitats?
(Amber, grade 3) “We can learn how to look after the injured wildlife. They need to be calm if they’re hurt so they don’t get scared and die.”

The group have decided to keep meeting after class when school gets back in Term 3. If you are down South and interested to get involved here are some links and organizations that may be of interest to you. Or you can call Shaun at Cygnet Primary School in two weeks on 62951241.

Banner made by Cygnet School students

Today is the anniversary of the day on which this tree was promised protection. One year on and the forests are still waiting.

On this day last year the Tasmanian Forest Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) was announced. Lara Giddings and Julia Gillard signed the document that promised an “immediate conservation agreement” would be placed over 430,000 hectares of Tasmania’s high conservation value forest. This was meant to be the first step towards eventual formal protection of that area and other high conservation value forests (572,000 hectares of proposed new reserves).

The tree that I am sitting in today should have been protected by that conservation agreement, yet it remains under threat.  As does the forest around me. Luckily this forest has survived so far. However, a lot of damage can be done in one year when it comes to industrial scale logging in Tasmania. And so, as we mark the anniversary of the IGA announcement today, it is a day of remembering the forest that could have been saved that has now been irreparably damaged. Globally significant forests like Butlers Gorge, the Picton Valley, the Tarkine…. the list goes on as the destruction continues around the state.

Forest negotiations have been going on now for well over two years. The question remains, when will this process lead to forest protection? With another deadline coming and going yesterday, and still no final outcome, it is very worrying. Because while they are talking the industry is still logging the very forests that are the subject of those talks, and every day that those talks are extended means more and more hectares of forest lost.

The signatories to the talks announced yesterday that they had come to no agreement as of yet, but that they were still hopeful. The sticking point appears to be that the agreed reserve area and wood supply data did not match. Two weeks ago the signatories submitted to Forestry Tasmania their agreed outcomes, to be modeled. While the public has been kept in the dark about the exact hectares and wood quotas that are on the table, it is clear that whatever was previously agreed has turned out to be unworkable. It is back to the drawing board, this time with the assistance of the government who will join in the negotiation process of Friday to help nut out the final outcome.

This new development is ringing alarm bells for the forests. Will the forests be made to suffer because of the over-cutting and unsustainable industry practices? Will the contract of an overseas company involved in corruption, human rights violations and environmental destruction be prioritised over Tasmania’s unique environment? The forests don’t have any “room to move” left, because the fact is that these ecosystems have been forced to compromise over and over again for decades. In that time, thousands and thousands of hectares of high conservation value forest, critical endangered species habitat and globally significant ecosystems have already been lost in Tasmania. And enough is enough. It is time for the full area that has now been scientifically verified as national and world heritage value to be reserved.

And so, this week will be a long week, as the forests stand by awaiting their fate. Let’s hope Tasmania’s world-class forests will receive the protection they deserve and so urgently need.

Click HERE to take part in the cyber action, and help protect Tasmania’s ancient forests.