And it’s not just the local environmentalists who are calling for native forests to be left untouched, their call for broad support is resonating with fellow campaigners throughout the region.

First up is the Greens party, and to this end a bevy of politicians came to town on Saturday to talk strategy.

New Greens MP Dawn Walker alongside colleagues MLC Jeremy Buckingham, Carol Vernon and councillors Dominic King and Jennie Fenton met with local forest protectors to lend their weight in the battle to end logging in native forests – in particular the upcoming logging scheduled for Kalang.

“Our native forests are vital to the survival of many endangered species of plants and animals and our forests play a vital role in reducing the effects of climate change, such as the record heatwaves that hit the Mid North Coast this summer,” Ms Walker said.

“The Greens stand with locals calling on NSW Forestry Corporation not to log in Kalang’s biodiverse headwaters where the land is steep and prone to erosion.

“This area of old growth eucalypts and rainforest is rich in biodiversity. It should be preserved as part of a new Great Koala National Park, not logged for a short term profit.

“It is time to recognise that the greatest values of our public native forests come from preserving them, not logging them. Our National Parks are the second most popular tourist attractions after NSW beaches with immense recreational, cultural and tourism value.

“Now is the time to end logging in our public native forests and completely move the forestry industry into a sustainably-managed, plantation sector.”

Ms Walker also said that not only is native forest logging unsustainable, it's unprofitable – “it is not just about the environment, this is an economic situation too” and she’s called on the Government to completely reconfigure its timber policy.

“For most of the past decade NSW Forestry Corporation’s native logging division has operated at a loss, while the plantation division has continued to operate profitably,” she said.

“Figures obtained by the Greens in 2015 show that NSW taxpayers lost more than $40 million from logging in NSW’s native forests over the previous four years.

“No one wants to run unprofitable industry … so this is a matter of looking at the industry and planning a way forward.”

With respect to plantations like the Shire’s Tarkeeth State Forest, Ms Walker said it was also important not just where logging is done, but also how it is done.

“Sustainable logging means we have to look at the mechanisms for taking wood out,” she said.

“Clearfelling operations on steep slopes is retrogressive and needs to be stopped.

“We also need to improve the community consultation process ... meet with the local people to hear directly their views and their experience.

“The whole industry needs an overhaul.”

The local get-together follows last week’s protest outside Forestry Corporation’s HQ in Coffs Harbour for International Day of Forests.

The United Nations General Assembly has designated March 21 as the International Day of Forests to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests and of trees outside forests.

Kalang River Forest Alliance spokesperson, Catherine Jones, said during the morning the group delivered a letter to Forestry Corporation on behalf of the headwaters of Kalang River.

“The letter was to the NSW Forestry Corporation board of directors and head of Forestry Coffs Harbour,” Ms Jones said.

“It read, Forestry Corporation’s stated objective is: To have regard to the interests of the community in which it operates. It is not in the interests of the Kalang Community or the wider Bellingen Community to log in the headwaters of our rivers. We have overwhelming support from the extended community on this. Forestry Corporation has no social licence to log in our headwaters.”

In response to claims made by the local campaigners, a spokesperson for Forestry Corporation of NSW:

“Native forest operations in NSW are carefully and sustainably managed and operate at a profit. Forestry Corporation of NSW has returned a multi-million dollar dividend to the people of NSW every single year since 2009-10 and has declared more than $40 million in dividends in the past two years alone.

“Forestry Corporation’s Hardwood Forests Division, which manages native forestry, not only returns a profit, but it also provides timber to a vibrant forestry sector made up of sawmills, timber processors and companies involved in the transport of logs and timber products throughout the state. The forestry sector as a whole directly employs 22,000 people in NSW and more than 4000 on the north coast, where native forestry is dominant. Hardwood timber is a product Australians love and plantations do not provide enough timber to support our needs.

“Economics aside, Forestry Corporation also provides a broad range of community services including firefighting and fire prevention, pest and weed control, road maintenance, camping and picnic areas and environmental conservation in two million hectares of State forests, including around a million hectares of native forest that is set aside solely for conservation, is not harvested for timber and never will be.”