Sixty people converged in the Kuark Forest over the weekend to learn and practice survey techniques for protected forest species. GECO forest campaigners presented educational presentations and workshops on species ecology, the East Gippsland forest campaign, survey report writing and rainforest biogeography. Valuable data was collected on the presence of rare, threatened and protected species in VicForests logging coupes. We also completed two forest carbon accounting plots adding to our forest carbon assessment data.

Another great result for East Gippsland's forests today! Legal action by Environment East Gippsland combined with our threatened species surveys has forced VicForests to halt logging in an area of #‎KuarkForest and survey for threatened species!

Watch this short film telling the story of the blockade in this forest subject to legal action and our surveys that recorded endangered species. A lot of the forest has been lost, but VicForests have been forced to not log significant sections of the coupe and protect habitat of the critically endangered East Gippsland Galaxias fish, which is found nowhere else on earth.

20 conservationists from Goongerah Environment Centre (GECO) have re-established a forest blockade in the Kuark forest to the north east of Orbost in East Gippsland.

Last week logging was stopped for four days by a person in a tree platform tied to logging machinery. This morning a person is positioned 8m above the ground on a timber tripod, blocking access to the contentious logging coupe. Another person is positioned up a large timber pole attached to logging machines, which is preventing logging from continuing.

Conservationists have halted logging in the Kuark forest in far East Gippsland this morning.  A person is positioned on a tree platform 30m above the ground. Ropes from the platform are attached to machinery, preventing logging from continuing.

The contentious logging coupe contains high quality habitat for threatened species. State owned logging company VicForests has not conducted a pre-logging threatened species survey, as required by law.

Citizen science surveys conducted by GECO have recorded two listed endangered species in the area. An endangered Long-footed potoroo was recorded on a remote fauna camera two weeks ago and last week a population of critically endangered East Gippsland Galaxias fish were photographed in streams bordering the logging coupe.

Images: Protesters in the forest this morning. 

Our citizen science program has made a really exciting discovery! Earlier this year we conducted an intensive rainforest survey of an area of rainforest in Kuark and identified a species that has never been recorded in East Gippsland. We sent the fern to the Melbourne Herbarium and they confirmed it as Bristly Shield Fern (Lastriopsis hispida). The closest known occurrence of this species is 250kms to the west of Kuark forest. It' s a highly significant discovery and a huge geographical range extension for the species. It shows that we don't know what species we could be losing when VicForests log these areas without doing adequate pre-logging surveys for special values and threatened species.

ABC's AM program came out to the Kuark forest with us and reported on this unique discovery. Click read more to see the media stories.

We've submitted a detailed report to the government on the rainforest survey we conducted and the presence of this rare fern in the proposed logging area. We're calling on them to cancel planned logging operations in the Kuark forest and protect Kuark's biodiversity and rainforests.

We were thrilled to tour Senators Janet Rice and Scott Ludlam through Kuark forest last weekend. Kuark forest is rapidly making a name for itself and the Senators wanted to see some of the spectacular forests that need urgent protection and bear witness to the destruction caused from past and current logging in the area.

The Senators are lobbying against the roll over of the Regional Forest Agreements as the Tasmanian and Victorian agreements come up for review this year. The RFAs are 20-year agreements between State and Federal governments that grant the logging industry access to public forests.  The RFA’s are being reviewed and the federal government want to roll them over and lock in another 20 years of native forest destruction.

Renowned wilderness photographer Rob Blakers was also in Kuark on the tour, see his amazing photos at the Kuark Forest gallery here.

We launched our beautiful new film "Saving Kuark" at Bar 303 in Northcote this week. The film by Melbourne based cinematographer David Franjic was shot at the Camp Kuark citizen science camp in March this year and tells the story of our community based citizen science program in the Kuark forest. Watch the film here