Vic: Anti-loggers set up protest in tree

AAP General News (Australia)
12-08-2003
Vic: Anti-loggers set up protest in tree

MELBOURNE, Dec 8 AAP - Anti-logging campaigners have vowed to spend the next week perched
20 metres up a tree in Melbourne's Treasury Gardens to protest against woodchipping in
Victorian and Tasmanian native forests.

Melbourne Tarkine Action Group spokesman Adam Van Veen said the protest aimed to raise
awareness about the plight of some of Australia's most precious rainforests.

The protesters have made a platform in the canopy of a red eucalyptus their home until Friday.

About 10 people will participate in the action on a rotating roster to ensure at least
one person resides on the platform which is the size of a double bed.

"Victoria and Tasmania are the homes of some of our most pristine rainforests," Mr Van Veen said.

"And loggers are continuing with hacking away and destroying them and then dealing
with the consequences later."

Mr Van Veen said the action coincided with the beginning of logging on the fringe of
Australia's largest unprotected rainforest, the Tarkine in Tasmania.

He said the logging threatened native animal species and eco-tourism in the region.

The group also wanted to alert the public about its concerns about logging in Melbourne's
water catchments and the old growth forests of East Gippsland in far eastern Victoria.

Banners and an information table had been set up at the base of the tree.

Police said they were not taking any action against the protester but would "monitor
the situation".

AAP mf/gfr/sco/br

KEYWORD: TREE

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