Media release – Bob Brown Foundation, 22 August 2023

Forest defenders return to Florentine Valley for the fifth time in a week

Today, a group of ten activists has returned to Tasmania’s Florentine Valley, to protect these ancient forests from being destroyed by logging.

One protester, Rose Sheehan, 34, has locked onto logging machinery.

“Growing up in this beautiful bush in the Derwent Valley was such a blessing for me. However, the effects of climate change have already seen me lose my home to bushfire and suffer drought and flooding so why are we destroying these forests?” said Rose Sheehan.

This marks the fifth action organised by Bob Brown Foundation in a week, aiming at protecting these magnificent forests, their towering trees and the rich wildlife they nurture.

Over the past week, the collective efforts of over 50 concerned citizens have protested against the vandalism wrought by Forestry Tasmania’s industrial logging operations.

Confronting images of enormous logs have generated a wave of international outrage at the destruction of these great forests, felling another bulwark against climate change in the process.

“Bob Brown Foundation will continue to take action against this destruction and, once again, calls on Prime Minister Albanese and Premier Rockliff to act immediately to end native forest logging,” said Steven Chaffer, Bob Brown Foundation CEO.

“Despite government attempts to criminalise peaceful protesters instead of the forest destroyers, more and more people are heading into the forests to take action to stop this devastation,” Mr Chaffer said.