Chester Forest will turn out just 800 ton of low grade wood at the expense of a biodiversity hotspot ranked 10th out of 36 listed worldwide, according to group spokesman Simon Peterffy.

He reckons the block is worth about $56,000 on current logging returns, and it would cost more to pull the wood out of the forest.

The activists built their camp in the forest 12 months ago, and a core group of about six people wintered over.

They have installed a rainwater tank, a wind powered generator, a composting toilet and a lookout tower.

A vegetable garden has been established, fruit trees planted, a children’s play area developed and a ‘cafe’ built in prepartion for an influx of summer visitors.

However, the real work has been deeper in the forest where volunteers are preparing to risk their lives.

“We’ve got tunnels all through the forest, and a van buried and concreted into the road in,” Mr Peterffy said.

“People will be inside them, if a bulldozer goes over the top or a tree comes down they will be killed.”

He has spend the past 15 years at loggerheads with the big guns in an effort to save stands of native timber in Western Australia, but says it is the first time tactics such as tunnelling have been used in the State.

“Tunnels and blockades were used successfully in Tasmania and England,” he said.

This month the State timber agency blamed the economic downturn, bushfires and a gas explosion for an estimated revenue loss of $16 million over the past year.

The Forest Products Commission’s annual report, tabled in Parliament, revealed a $6m operating loss in 2008-09, and the $103.7m revenue earn was down $16m on forecast.

FPC general manager Paul Biggs admitted the agency’s financial performance was “much worse” than previous years.

Against this backdrop the activists have asked Mr Biggs to declare his hand with regard to Chester Forest.

“To annihilate 1500 acres for $56,000 would be an absolute disgrace,” Mr Peterffy said.

“There are species here not found anywhere else.

“Paul Biggs should come clean on whether Chester is to be logged – but the silence is deafening.

“We are asking for a moratorium on the block; if that happens we will move out tomorrow.

“We want to get back around the table but Paul Biggs won’t even entertain the idea.”