Leards forest being fought for by protestors

More than 100 protesters have blocked access for work crews in the Leard State Forest as the campaign to block construction of the Maules Creek open-cut coal mine expands.

The Whitehaven coal project, one of three open pit coal mines proposed for Leard State Forest, would clear thousands of hectares of native habitat, including 500 hectares of critically endangered White Box-Gum woodland. It has recently been revealed that Whitehaven’s plan to safeguard this type of critical habitat, as required under law, is based on false and misleading information.

The campaigners want federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt to revoke approval to clear the forest for coal mining.

Read more: Anti-mining blockade steps up a notch at Maules Creek at http://www.smh.com.au/environment/water-issues/antimining-blockade-steps-up-a-notch-at-maules-creek-20140128-31jsg.html

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The project will clearfell a large area of Leard State Forest, including nationally critically endangered woodland and the habitat for 28 different endangered species, and is opposed by members of the local farming community. Now the blockade has brought farmers, Traditional Owners and environmentalists together.

"They have effectively handed over this important public forest, Leard State Forest, to the coal miners, and now they are trying to lock the public out so that the destruction of this priceless environmental area can go on unobserved" said Phil Spark, spokesperson with the Northern Inland Council for the Environment.