“Just this morning, a new group of tree-climbers entered a different part of the endangered forest to set up a sky-high camp,” said Greenpeace spokesperson Julie Macken.
The new forest rescue team continues the stand-off with Whitehaven Coal after five Greenpeace activists were arrested yesterday and removed from a giant rope web.
“This brings the total number of arrests in ongoing community protests against Whitehaven Coal’s mine to over 160,” said Julie Macken.
A rally outside the ministerial offices of Pru Goward and Rob Stokes – Government Macquarie Tower in Sydney - is planned for Wednesday at midday, as community outrage over winter clearing at a time when native animals are hibernating to make way for a coal mine, boils over.
Greenpeace Senior Campaigner Nic Clyde spoke from his tree-sit, 10 metres off the ground in the Leard State Forest:
“Whitehaven Coal’s bulldozers are destroying the homes of animals while they sleep. Their coal mine at Maules Creek – the largest coal mine currently under construction in Australia – has been given permission to break the most basic of mining rules - stop clearing during the winter months - when many threatened species are hibernating.”
“The state government - Environment Minister, Rob Stokes and Planning Minister Pru Goward - must intervene.”
Some of the hibernating species in the Leard State Forest include:
- The feathertail glider, sugar glider and squirrel glider (all hibernating most of winter)
- Barking Owl (nesting and listed as ‘vulnerable’ under state law) and Barn Owl (nesting)
- Corben's long-eared bat (‘vulnerable’ under federal and state law), the yellow-bellied sheath-tale bat (‘vulnerable’ under state law) and white-striped free-tailed bat and little pied bat (‘vulnerable’ under state law). All the bats are hibernating for most of winter.
- Coral snake and spiny tailed gecko (both hibernating)
For interviews with Greenpeace Senior Campaigner from the forest tree-tops:
Contact, Elsa Evers 0438 204 041 or Julie Macken 0400 925 217
Images and video:
http://www.greenpeacemedia.org
Username: photos Password: green
Via FTP (you will need an FTP client such as Filezilla):
Host: greenpeacemedia.org
Username: media
Password: greenpeace
Folder: Maules Creek
Additional images from the Leard Alliance can be found at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/leardstateforest/