Forest defenders staged a demonstration today at a southern Tasmanian timber mill to highlight two idle cable logging machines they say must be decommissioned. Two cable logging machines have been sitting idle at the timber mill in southern Tasmania for at least twelve months.

“These destructive machines must never return to forests. It will be a momentous relief for the forests and wildlife that these cable loggers are turned to scrap metal,” said Jenny Weber, Bob Brown Foundation Campaigns Director.

“Cable logging machines have caused decades of mass forest destruction. They have been used to destroy forests on steep slopes. In particular, across ancient forests in the Weld, Picton and Styx valleys, these atrocious practices of steep slope logging with these machines have had immeasurable impacts,” said Jenny Weber.

“There are still today 28 pieces of forest across the state, managed by Forestry Tasmania, that are earmarked to be logged using these archaic machines from a bygone era. The logging of our native forest shamefully continues apace, and these machines are just one part of the problem,” said Erik Hayward, Bob Brown Foundation Campaigner.

“These two machines have sat idle for over a year, rusting into the ground, and they should be buried. The Bennett’s logging company owns these cable logging machines and has been responsible for decades of destruction across the southern forests. Cable logging is history, as should be the logging of our native forests,” said Erik Hayward.