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Writer's pictureThe Beagle

Wrap-In around Big Spotty towards a “Preserved Forest Area”

Big Spotty is a giant spotted gum. 72 metres high, and with a girth of 12 metres, Big Spotty may be the tallest and oldest spotted gum in the world. Dated at around 500 years old, Big Spotty was a sapling when Leonardo Da Vinci was painting the Mona Lisa, and already 100 years old when the Dutch made landfall on the Cape York Peninsula in 1606.

But the majestic forest of tall spotted gums where Big Spotty lives has been identified for logging.

Giving a desperately needed voice to Old Spotty are a group of women called the Knitting Nannas who have joined to support Takesa Frank, local Aboriginal woman and forest guide for the Nannas, Brooman State Forest Conservation Group and other South East activists calling on Forestry to reconsider their callous destruction of native forests with Old Spotty, along with others, in their sights. Takesa Frank lives in the area near Big Spotty (North Brooman State Forest) and is a founding member of the Brooman State Forest Conservation Group and is a key advocate of Old Spotty as she talks about her first hand observations of logging operations in the forest and her involvement in actions to protect native forest, giving deputations to the Shoalhaven City Council on this issue and supporting resolutions by Councillors to promote protecting native forests from logging. Old Spotty is located in Compartment 50A of the North Brooman State Forest west of Termeil on the South Coast, between Ulladulla and Bateman's Bay. Logging was due to start in September this year. The Forestry Corporation has recently announced it is delaying logging from September 2023 to the middle of 2024 (Batemans Bay Post 29 May 2023), most likely as a response to the coverage the tree has received, and the focus being applied to the failures and shortfalls in the ongoing deforestation of the region led by the questionable rationale of the previous NSW Government.

The Knitting Nannas offer “This means the Forestry Corporation want to take the heat out of the issue. Our Nannas however will not have the wool pulled over our eyes! Locals are alarmed, as they know the logging schedule can be changed at any time. "Our Nanna’s objective is to raise awareness about the need to make Compartment 50A a state forest "Preserved Forest Area". This means that no logging whatsoever

can occur in the spotted gum forest around Big Spotty” said Dr Larraine J Larri, SpokesNanna (Knitting Nannas in the Milton Ulladulla District).

On World Environment Day, Monday 5 June, an intrepid team of around 20 Knitting Nannas

representing loops (what we call our groups) from Newcastle, Sydney, Illawarra, Shoalhaven and Eurobodalla trekked into Compartment 50A. Dr Larraine J Larri said "We were guided by Takesa Frank to wrap Big Spotty and the surrounding native forest with Nanna love.

“The Nannas will have some crafty tools up their sleeves including a 12 metre woollen crocheted ribbon in the Nanna’s favourite colours – yellow, black and red. Our Nanna colours symbolise sunflowers, love hearts, solidarity with Lock the Gate and first Nations peoples”. said Dr Larraine J Larri, SpokesNanna.


NOTE: Comments were TRIALED - in the end it failed as humans will be humans and it turned into a pile of merde; only contributed to by just a handful who did little to add to the conversation of the issue at hand. Anyone who would like to contribute an opinion are encouraged to send in a Letter to the Editor where it might be considered for publication

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