Campaign to Save Native Forests

The Campaign to Save Native Forests (W.A.), commonly abbreviated as CSNF, was a grassroots environmental organisation that emerged in Perth in 1975 in response to plans to establish a woodchipping industry in the south-west of Western Australia. Its immediate concern was the proposed Manjimup woodchip project and the associated clear-felling of jarrah and karri forests. The proposal generated opposition among residents, conservationists, and members of the public who believed that government and industry plans placed commercial exploitation ahead of adequate protection for the region's distinctive hardwood ecosystems. The organisation combined public campaigning with research, submissions, publishing, and cooperation with other conservation bodies. During the first phase of its work, CSNF helped bring the Manjimup proposal and the wider question of native-forest management into public discussion in Perth and the South West. Its public profile was strengthened by rallies and media appearances involving Beth Schulz, Basil Schur, and Neil Bartholomaeus. The group also worked alongside the South West Forests Defence Foundation, with the two organisations cooperating on selected issues and joint publications while maintaining separate identities. CSNF later broadened its attention beyond woodchipping. A major strand of its work concerned bauxite mining and alumina development in the jarrah forests of the Darling Scarp. The organisation protested Alcoa's proposed development at Wagerup, holding rallies and demonstrations outside the refinery construction site in February, May, and August 1979. It also scrutinised questions of mine rehabilitation, water resources, forest ecology, burning, disease, land clearing, salinity, and the conservation of remnant vegetation. These campaigns reflected a widening understanding that the protection of Western Australia's forests involved interconnected decisions about logging, mining, catchments, reserves, and regional economies. The organisation produced a substantial body of public-interest material. Its publications included submissions to Australian Senate and Western Australian inquiries, ecological and conservation studies, critiques of bauxite-mine rehabilitation, proposals for karri and wandoo conservation, walking and educational guides, and policy documents on forest management. It also published the journal C.S.N.F. news from July 1978 to April 1991. The group's archival records, covering 1975 to 1992, document its campaigns, internal organisation, conservation philosophy, forestry disputes, threatened areas, and proposals for reserves and parks. During the late 1980s, CSNF participated in submissions concerning forestry policy, regional management plans, and timber strategies. It contributed to joint proposals including Karri at the Crossroads, which advocated stronger protection for remaining karri forest and the creation of Shannon Karri National Park, and Redirection of the Karri Forest Economy. The organisation's activities formed part of a broader Western Australian conservation movement that influenced public debate and government decision-making even though it did not achieve the same national prominence as some campaigns elsewhere in Australia. Many people associated with CSNF later participated in organisations such as the West Australian Forest Alliance, Great Walk Networking, and groups linked to the Conservation Council of Western Australia. The organisation's current legal or operational status is not established by the supplied sources, but its surviving publications and archive provide evidence of an important role in Western Australian forest-conservation advocacy from the mid-1970s through at least the early 1990s.

The Campaign to Save Native Forests was established in Western Australia during a period of growing public concern about the industrial use of the state's south-west hardwood forests. The immediate trigger was the proposed Manjimup woodchip project, which threatened to expand commercial woodchipping and clear-felling in jarrah and karri forest country. The campaign began in Perth in 1975 and soon developed into a more durable organisation with activity in both the metropolitan area and the South West. CSNF's early work involved public education, political advocacy, and formal submissions. Its campaign challenged the assumption that forest exploitation could proceed without stronger conservation safeguards. Public rallies at Wagerup and other locations brought the organisation into local media coverage. Beth Schulz, Basil Schur, and Neil Bartholomaeus were identified as prominent public faces of the campaign during this period. CSNF also shared some objectives and publications with the South West Forests Defence Foundation, another organisation concerned with the future of Western Australia's native forests. The organisation's agenda expanded during the late 1970s. In addition to woodchipping, it opposed or scrutinised mining activity in the jarrah forest, particularly bauxite mining associated with Alcoa's Wagerup alumina project on the Darling Scarp. CSNF staged demonstrations at the refinery construction site in 1979 and prepared a submission on the project's draft environmental impact material. Its concerns included the direct loss of forest, the effects of mining on water resources, and the adequacy of rehabilitation practices. CSNF developed a research and publishing role alongside direct protest. It issued the journal C.S.N.F. news between July 1978 and April 1991 and published or helped publish material on forest ecology, conservation, historic vegetation, mine rehabilitation, walking access, catchment rehabilitation, and alternative approaches to the forest economy. Examples include Eucalypts of the Perth Area, An Old Look at Trees, Forests on Foot, Forests of Western Australia: Ecology and Conservation, and Jarrah Forest or Bauxite Dollars? The organisation also participated in collaborative publications advocating greater protection for karri forest and proposing the establishment of Shannon Karri National Park. In the 1980s, CSNF continued to engage with official inquiries and planning processes. It contributed to federal and state reviews of forestry and helped prepare submissions on draft regional management plans and timber strategies. Its archive records concerns extending across logging, woodchipping, fire, forest disease, land clearing, salinity, threatened forest areas, heritage, reserves, parks, and the conservation of wandoo woodlands. This breadth indicates that CSNF had evolved from a single-issue response to a broad forest-conservation organisation. The organisation's influence was primarily regional rather than national. It did not receive the same country-wide political attention as the Tasmanian Wilderness Society's Franklin River campaign, but its activities contributed to sustained local scrutiny of environmentally contentious decisions. Former participants later became involved in the West Australian Forest Alliance, Great Walk Networking, the Conservation Council of Western Australia, and related groups. Records held at the J. S. Battye Library cover CSNF files from 1975 to 1992. The sources supplied do not establish whether the organisation remains active today.

• 1992

  End of documented archive period

  [1]Campaign to Save Native Forestsen.wikipedia.org

  The Battye Library archive contains CSNF records dating from 1975 through 1992; the supplied sources do not confirm activity after that period.

• 1987

  Submissions on forest management and timber strategy

  [1]Campaign to Save Native Forestsen.wikipedia.org

  The organisation joined submissions concerning draft regional management plans and the Western Australian timber strategy.

• 1982

  Joint karri-forest conservation proposal

  [1]Campaign to Save Native Forestsen.wikipedia.org

  CSNF participated in the publication of Karri at the Crossroads, a proposal for stronger protection of remaining karri forest and a Shannon Karri National Park.

• 1979

  Wagerup demonstrations against bauxite and alumina development

  [1]Campaign to Save Native Forestsen.wikipedia.org

  CSNF held protests outside the Wagerup refinery construction site in February, May, and August over mining impacts on the jarrah forest.

• 1978

  C.S.N.F. news begins publication

  [1]Campaign to Save Native Forestsen.wikipedia.org

  The organisation's journal began publication and continued through April 1991, providing a record of its campaigns and conservation arguments.

• 1975

  Campaign begins in response to the Manjimup woodchip proposal

  [1]Campaign to Save Native Forestsen.wikipedia.org

  A Perth-based campaign formed to oppose the proposed woodchipping industry and clear-felling of jarrah and karri forests near Manjimup.

Grassroots environmental advocacy focused on protecting Western Australia's native forests from logging, woodchipping, mining, and inadequate land-management policies.

• Journal · 1978

  C.S.N.F. news

  The organisation's periodical, published in Perth from July 1978 to April 1991. It documented campaigns, forest policy debates, conservation concerns, and organisational activity.

• Conservation and educational guide · 1985

  Forests on Foot: 40 Walks in the Forests of the South West of Western Australia

  A 1985 guide produced to encourage public engagement with the forests of south-western Western Australia through walking routes and place-based environmental education.

• Environmental publication · 1985

  Forests of Western Australia: Ecology and Conservation

  A conservation-focused study prepared for CSNF that presented ecological and protection issues affecting Western Australia's forests.

• Mining-impact critique · 1985

  Jarrah Forest or Bauxite Dollars?

  A 1985 publication by Basil Schur examining the consequences of bauxite mining and questioning the adequacy of rehabilitation in the jarrah forests of south-western Australia.

• Forest-management policy proposal · 1987

  Time for Change

  A 1987 set of proposals advocating conservation and improved management practices for the forests of south-western Western Australia.

• 1987Forest-management and timber-strategy advocacy

  Western Australia

  CSNF contributed to policy submissions calling for conservation-oriented regional management plans and changes to timber policy.

  Source
• 1982Karri at the Crossroads and Shannon conservation campaign

  Western Australia

  CSNF worked with other conservation organisations on proposals for adequate protection of remaining karri forest and the creation of Shannon Karri National Park.

  Source
• 1979Wagerup and Darling Scarp forest campaign

  Western Australia

  The organisation opposed the effects of Alcoa-associated bauxite mining and alumina development on the jarrah forest, including through rallies and protests at Wagerup and a submission on environmental-impact documentation.

  Source
• 1975Manjimup Woodchip Project campaign

  Western Australia

  CSNF grew from opposition to the proposed Manjimup woodchipping industry and its associated clear-felling of jarrah and karri forests. The campaign used public advocacy and submissions to challenge the balance between timber exploitation and conservation.

  Source

• 1979

  Escalated direct action against Wagerup developmentStrategy

  Background

  CSNF regarded bauxite mining and alumina development in the Darling Scarp jarrah forest as a major conservation threat.

  Action taken

  The organisation staged rallies and protests outside the Wagerup refinery construction site and submitted comments on the project's draft environmental-impact material.

  Aftermath

  The campaign increased local media attention on mining impacts, rehabilitation, and water-resource concerns.

  Source

• 1975

  Adopted a combined protest, research, and submissions strategyStrategy

  Background

  The organisation faced proposed industrial development in native forests and the need to influence both public opinion and government decision-making.

  Action taken

  It combined public rallies and media activity with technical publications, Senate submissions, environmental-impact commentary, and cooperation with other conservation groups.

  Aftermath

  The campaign expanded from opposition to one woodchip project into a broader programme addressing forestry, mining, catchments, reserves, and forest ecology.

  Source

1. 1Campaign to Save Native Forestsen.wikipedia.org