An Old-Growth Forest Wilderness
Chaelundi State Forest forms part of the Guy Fawkes River wilderness in north-east New South Wales. The forest contains dense stands of old eucalyptus including New England blackbutt, silvertop stringybark, diehard stringybark, tallowwood and Sydney blue gum. The area is also home to numerous threatened species, including the Regent honeyeater. At the time of the protests, campaigners argued that more than 20 endangered animal species were known to live within the Chaelundi forests.
The Campaign
When further logging was proposed for Chaelundi State Forest, the Wilderness Society participated in two major blockades in 1990 and 1991 aimed at preventing logging operations. Campaigners used protests, non-violent direct action and public advocacy to oppose continued logging in the forest. The Wilderness Society also encouraged supporters to write to then-Premier Nick Greiner calling for the protection of Chaelundi. The campaign extended beyond direct action. Environmental groups including the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) pursued legal action to challenge logging approvals. NEFA member John Corkill took the Forestry Commission to court, arguing that endangered species within the forest required stronger protection.
Protection Achieved
In September 1991, three compartments of Chaelundi State Forest were protected from further logging by the New South Wales Forestry Commission. However, the broader campaign for long-term forest protection continued for more than a decade through protests, legal action and ongoing advocacy. In 2003, Premier Bob Carr announced an additional 65,000 hectares of forest protection in north-east New South Wales, including areas connected to the Chaelundi campaign.
Legacy
The Chaelundi campaign became one of the defining forest protection struggles of north-east New South Wales during the 1990s. It highlighted the growing use of legal challenges alongside direct action campaigns and reinforced national attention on the impacts of logging in old-growth forests. As former Wilderness Society forest campaigner David Burgess later reflected:
“Old growth forests like Chaelundi […] will finally be able to exist for their own sake without the onslaught of industrial logging. It was in that 1991 Chaelundi blockade, that I was able to lie in my sleeping bag under a canopy of stars. […] However, I could not have imagined then that it would take until 2003 to reach closure on this forest.”