Australia: Arrests in Another treesit campaign, this time in E. Gippsland
Police have climbed two 35-metre trees in a Victorian forest and
arrested two protesters locked to the canopy. The search and rescue
squad officers scaled the trees in old-growth forests in Victoria's
east on Tuesday and used angle grinders to cut free the men, aged in
their 20s. The two men were protesting against logging that started in
the state forest a week ago, Kate Reynolds, a spokeswoman for a group
of about 30 protesters at the scene, said on Tuesday. "The men were
perched on seat platforms suspended 35 metres high in the forest
canopy chained to the trees and logging machinery immobilising
logging," she told AAP. "They were up there yesterday, all night and
in the heat of the day today also locked to the trunk with steel
tubes. "I understand it was a peaceful engagement with no conflict."
The men were charged by the Department of Sustainability and
Environment (DSE) with breaching the forestry act and were bailed to
appear in court at a later date. Ms Reynolds said the search and
rescue unit arrived in the remote logging coupe about 11am (AEDT) on
Tuesday. Since Sunday about 30 protesters have been blockading loggers
who are trying to cut down old-growth forests at Stoney Creek, in East
Gippsland. Victoria Police confirmed four search and rescue officers
had flown to the area on Tuesday. The protesters claim Stoney Creek
and its state forest, located adjacent to the protected Snowy River,
is an unusual example of a dense rainforest that includes stands of
both mountain ash and alpine ash trees. "It is better, in the face of
climate change, to maintain the integrity of the parks system so it is
not fragmented and nature can be more resilient with species able to
move, water flows more intact," Ms Reynolds said. She said the Labor
state government had broken a 2006 election promise to protect 41,000
hectares of old-growth and iconic forests in East Gippsland.
http://news.theage.com.au/national/vic-police-arrest-two-in-forest-protest-20090113-7fou.html
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