WHIAN WHIAN BLOCKADES

THE following history has been pieced together from the Rosebank website, NEFA website and oral communications with protesters who attended some or all of the blockades over the last 3 decades.

The Whian Whian protests began an ongoing campaign to save the then Whian Whian State Forest from unsuitable logging practices in the water catchment for Rocky Creek Dam. There are high numbers of threatened species and Aboriginal  artefacts known in these forests.  It is  one of the largest remaining Big Scrub remnants left in NE NSW.

Dec 1994 Press Release — ‘Federal Police Call to Stop Forest Vandals’. The environmental independent candidate for the NSW Upper House, Mr Bob Cummins called upon the Federal Government to provide Federal Police in the Whian Whian State Forest logging dispute near Lismore. Mr Cummins said “cultural vandalism of sacred Aboriginal sites was being perpetrated by NSW Forestry. He consulted with Nuilungah Lands Council chairman at the time,  Mr Reg King, and former chairman Mr John Roberts who had asked for the immediate protection of major song lines, middens, stone carvings, crystal springs and artefacts.”

Mr Cummins said “song-lines along vital trading routes from Broken Hill to Brunswick Heads were now being trashed for woodchip and street bollards. These song-lines were evidenced by shell middens & stone axes... & he called for the NSW Government to apologise forthwith to the Aboriginal people for the gross devastation of an outdoor cathedral. The Federal laws provide monetary restitution for damages and criminal sanctions — all of which are now needed.”

These were great words that fell on deaf ears and unfortunately didn’t achieve anything.

The Whian Whian Blockade continued for years before logging was finally halted. No monetary restitution was ever forthcoming. 

The Big Scrub Remnants of the Whian Whian are now protected in the National Parks Estate, thanks to the efforts of the local Rosebank Community and surrounding environmental groups.

1988 saw the beginning of the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) commence their ongoing campaign to stop logging of old growth forests. The community rallied and acknowledged that the remaining magnificent old growth forests exerted a powerful influence on their lifestyles. An inevitable conflict arose between conservationists and the timber industry. The timber industry claiming these forests as the nation’s best timber resource. The Whian Whian was again under threat but the highly organised WWHEN (The Whian Whian Heritage Environment Network) and NEFA outmanoeuvred the loggers and government on many occasions through direct action, blockades and protests. 

A 2 way radio communications network was established between organisers and protesters which gave them a leading advantage in blockading logging activities.

In 1989 almost 5,000 hectares of Nightcap National Park was given World Heritage status when it was added to the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of Australia.

Even with this listing Whian Whian still remained a State forest and therefore able to be logged. A peaceful picket line was formed.

On 30th Aug 1997 a Community Picnic day was held at the Protesters Camp at Telephone Rd in the WWSF where over 1000 people attended a forest party, to oppose logging.

The protesters actions contributed to the passing of the ground-breaking Endangered Species Act of 1991.

1999 marked the signing of the Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) This placed the spotlight on the host of endangered and threatened plants and animals of the Nightcap Ranges and established a rigorous regime for ecological surveys.

 As a result parts of the Whian Whian State Forest were finally added to the adjacent Nightcap National Park as part of the Regional Forest Agreement process.

In 2003 the rest of Whian Whian State Forest was gazetted as the Whian Whian State Conservation Area as part of the State Government’s ICON parks initiative. The gazette of the SCA completed the reservation of the important bio-geographical area of the Nightcap and Kooynum Ranges. This provided additional protection to the forests of the Nightcap Range, its high biodiversity and threatened species, Aboriginal significance and water catchment values for the regional water supply. The Big Scrub Rainforest was saved and is now the largest remaining Big Scrub remnant left in NE NSW. 

 LOGGING ON PRIVATE LAND

In 2013 a Whian Whian resident opened private land to be logged and the Environmental Protection Authority did an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Logging was carried out on private land that didn’t adhere to the threatened species protection act and the guidelines in the Environmental Impact Assessment. A blockade was hosted outside the private landowners property  of concerned residents for weeks and in that time protesters were assaulted and arrested.

The blockade and the logging stopped when an Workplace Health and Safety regulation failed to be complied to and resulted in an accident where  a logger was killed. The cause of the logger’s death was misrepresented by some people in the pro-logging community, implying it was somehow linked with the protesters.  This caused a flurry of text messages to be sent, organising an angry group of  people to go out to the blockade and  assault the group of  protesters.  Motivated by the misinformation that the logger was killed because of something protesters did, up to 12 people  assaulted a lone protester sleeping on private property adjoining the logging site on Whian Whian Road causing head trauma and bleeding

The private land was sold and the new owners in 2016  opened up the land to be logged once again.  In September 2015 the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) found the Forestry Corporation guilty of constructing an illegal road through what were meant to be exclusion zones around a koala high use tree and eleven threatened plants. They fined them $11,000 for two of the offenses. Forestry Corporation  refused to pay. 

See below vimeo...