CLIMBING a tree cost one Helm Forest protester $5700 in fines and reparations.
Claire Anderson pleaded guilty to two charges of committing a nuisance after preventing logging in the area by climbing a tree in the area and refusing to come down when instructed by police.
She was ordered to pay a $200 fine for causing a nuisance and $500 for obstructing police.
The $5000 in reparations will be paid to the Forest Products Commission.
Ms Anderson believed everybody had a responsibility to stop forest logging and felt their voices weren’t being heard through any other method.
“It came to the point where this is what I had to do to stop it,” Ms Anderson said.
“I did this because all other avenues have failed and without these sorts of peaceful protests our forests and wildlife would be lost.”
Magistrate Scadden acknowledged Ms Anderson wished her voice to be heard and said she showed understanding that there are lawful ways to do so in the future.
“I accept as a young person you want to move ahead with your life,” Magistrate Scadden said.
‘There’s nothing wrong with having a voice… it’s the way we go about it.”
The magistrate ordered the fines to be paid but stopped short of issuing criminal charges which she said would hamper Ms Anderson’s career.
Ms Anderson is studying an undergraduate in sustainable development and expressed the action as a way for her to try to create a better community through conservation.
“It’s empowering to know that with just my body I can prevent destruction,” she said.
