On Monday, a “tree-sit” suspended 30metres high was connected by steel cables to three machines, halting the operation.  

South East Forest Rescue (SEFR) spokesperson Scott Daines said logging had been stopped for the whole day. He said police made no arrests when they arrived to dismantle the cables late in the afternoon.

It followed a protest on November 22, when with anti-native forest logging protesters held a “tree-sit” where they chained themselves to machinery. 

A spokesperson for the activists said they were “99 per cent” sure logging was occurring within a rocky outcrop exclusion zone. However, Forestry Corporation production supervisor for Eden Amba Addinsall said they were “confident” all rocky outcrops within the compartment were being protected.

On Thursday, SEFR audited a small area of compartment 2433, located off Tin Mine Rd in the state forest, and reported three alleged rock outcrop breaches.

Mr Daines said it followed the three alleged breaches they had found in the same area before the first protest. 

“I’ve only looked at maybe five per cent of the area they’ve logged and I’ve found that already. This is a small part of what the final outcome would be,” he said.

“We are not allowed to take Forestry to court, so the only option left for us is to stop the operation ourselves.

“It is clear that the Forestry Corporation are totally incapable at identifying and protecting these areas.”

In talks with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) last week, SEFR demanded the EPA suspend the operation and the remaining area be protected as compensatory habitat for the damage already done.

A spokesperson for Forestry Corporation of NSW said before its workers touch a tree they spend several months completing detailed environmental surveys to identify features that need protection.

“Our staff are well trained and highly experienced in identifying rocky outcrops and have individually assessed and measured potential rocky outcrops on the site,” they said. 

“In this particular compartment, about a third of the area available for harvest has been set aside specifically to protect rocky outcrops following on ground assessment by our staff. 

“This process is completely transparent and our plans for this operation have been on our website for over a year.”  

The spokesperson said a Forestry Corporation production supervisor had given her number to the protesters on site on November 22 and offered to meet with them to discuss their concerns.