Gumbaynggirr Elders are leading a protest against logging on sacred sites

The protest began on Monday as Elders became aware of the planned works, which were guarded by police presence.

Sandy Greenwood and Uncle Bud Marshall. Gumbaynggirr Elders are leading the protest which they say is to protect their cultural heritage and sacred sites.

A protest against the logging of more than 2000ha of native forest nears Coffs Harbour has entered its third day.

Gumbaynggirr Elders are leading the demonstration, which began on Monday after locals were alerted to the imminent works in the Newry State Forest.

They were met with fencing and a contingent of police and fire officers, who doused a sacred fire lit by the protesters, before semi-trailers loaded with stripped logs drove out of the forest.

Uncle Bud Marshall, one of the organising Elders, said the sight of the log-bearing trucks leaving "broke his heart".

"It's devastating to see what they did," the Waambung man told NITV.

"There's tribal trees ... birds and everything, you name it. It's a beautiful rain forest."

Uncle Bud was born in Bellingen and grew up around the forest. In 2021 he was part of a camp established in the area to prevent logging. He said the fencing and appearance of the authorities was "distressing".

"There was about eight or nine coppers. There ... was a sacred fire which we lit, and the fire brigade put it out.

"It wasn't hurting anyone."

Fire officers doused a sacred fire that had been lit by Gumbaynggirr Elders in protest at what they say amounts to the destruction of cultural heritage.

The area is home to an active koala population and earmarked in the NSW government's Great Koala Protected Area legislation, an $80 million dollar conservation effort which will see state forests connected to National Parks.

The protest intensified on Tuesday as two young women chained themselves to on-site equipment used for logging.

Gumbayngirr custodian Sandy Greenwood said the area, which survived the Black Summer bushfires, was home to several significant sites for the local Aboriginal people.

"It's a sacred men's area, there's many dreaming trees and significant cultural heritage sites," she told NITV.

"It managed to escape the bushfires, so cutting down that unburnt forest destroys wildlife, because it's one of the last refuges that wildlife has."

'No consultation'

Officers were already on site when protesters arrived on Monday morning.

The logging is being undertaken by Forestry Corporation NSW (FCNSW), a state-owned organisation.

Greens MP and environment spokesperson Sue Higginson castigated the organisation and the Minns Labor government over the project.

"Forestry ... set up steel gates, locked them, and has 24-hour security blocking public access to a public forest," she told NITV.

"That is because it intends to log the forest. We're talking about industrial-scale logging. Newry State Forest is identified as ... critical koala habitat for the survival of 20 per cent of the state's koalas.

A spokesperson said "detailed environmental protections" were in place for all such operations in the state.

"A thorough planning process must be completed ahead of every operation, which includes ecological surveys and mapping to identify and protect environmental features," they said.

"FCNSW has implemented its Operational Guidelines for Aboriginal Cultural Heritage, a due diligence code of practice, for these operations.

"Our planning process for all operations includes consultation with the Aboriginal community and field surveys to identify and protect Aboriginal Cultural Heritage."

Ms Greenwood rejected that assertion.

"There's been no public meetings, there's been no public documents, no community meetings. We are all in the dark.

"The senior Gumbaynggirr custodians and Elders have not been consulted whatsoever."

Protesters have set up an encampment in Newry State Forest, where logging is currently underway.