Editing Chaelundi National Park

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type                   = protected
| name                   = Chaelundi National Park
| state                  = nsw
| iucn_category          = II
| image                  = 
| caption                = 
| image_alt              = 
| coordinates            = {{coord|29|56|39|S|152|30|39|E|display=inline,title}}
| relief                 = 1
| map_alt                = 
| nearest_town_or_city   = [[Dorrigo, New South Wales|Dorrigo]]
| area                   = 191.74
| area_footnotes         = 
| established            = 1997
| established_footnotes  = 
| visitation_num         = 
| visitation_year        = 
| visitation_footnotes   = 
| managing_authorities   = [[NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service]]
| url                    = http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/nationalparks/parkHome.aspx?id=N0104
}}
'''Chaelundi National Park''', a [[national park]] comprising {{convert|19174|ha}}, is located in the [[Northern Tablelands]] district of New South Wales, Australia.

==Features==
Chaelundi National Park is north-west of [[Dorrigo, New South Wales|Dorrigo]] and [[Grafton, New South Wales|Grafton]], approximately {{convert|600|km}} by road north of Sydney.

Comprising {{convert|7500|ha}} of [[old-growth forest]] and {{convert|11000|ha}} of declared wilderness, the park creates a habitat for 187 (indigenous and non-indigenous) species according to the Atlas of NSW Wildlife.<ref>{{cite web|title=New South Wales Government Office of Envormnet & Heritage|url=http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/wildlifeatlas/about.htm|website=About BioNet Atlas|access-date=2 February 2018}}</ref>

The park was proclaimed in January 1997, on land formerly designated as a State-owned production forest.

===Litigation===
A series of cases were brought in the [[Land and Environment Court of New South Wales|NSW Land and Environment Court]] between 1989 and 1991 by members of the North East Forest Alliance in order to protect the forest located near Dorrigo from continued logging. One key case concerned the interpretation of s.99 of the {{Cite Legislation AU |NSW|act||National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974}}, which stated that it was an offence to "take or kill any endangered fauna". Such were the habitat values of the forest that in ''Corkill v Forestry Commission'', [[Judge|Justice]] Paul Stein referred to the old growth forest as a "veritable forest dependent zoo". The ruling was that "take" included indirect taking by means of the habitat modification/destruction associated with logging:''Corkill v Forestry Commission of New South Wales'' (1991) 73 LGRA 126. That decision went on appeal to the [[Supreme Court of New South Wales|Court of Appeal]], and the interpretation was upheld: ''Forestry Commission v Corkill'' (1991) 73 LGRA 247.

These legal cases were combined with an on-site blockade of logging work, the blockade being undertaken by experienced and inexperienced green activists and locals many of whom camped in the forest; using techniques such as chaining protesters inside concrete pipes and up {{convert|6|m|ft|adj=mid|-high|spell=in}} tripods.<ref>{{cite book |author=Cohen, Ian |author-link=Ian Cohen |title=Green Fire: An account of the Australian environmental protest movement |publisher=Angus and Robertson |year=1997 |pages=181–202 |chapter=Chaelundi: wild forest spirit }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ricketts |first=Aidan |date=2003 |title=Om gaia dudes: The North East Forest Alliance's old-growth forest campaign |url=https://commonslibrary.org/om-gaia-dudes-the-north-east-forest-alliances-old-growth-forest-campaign/ |website=Commons Social Change Library}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|New South Wales}}
* [[Protected areas of New South Wales]]
* [[Guy Fawkes River National Park]]
* [[Boyd River (New South Wales)|Boyd River]]
* [[Guy Fawkes River]]
* [[Sara River]]
* [[High Conservation Value Old Growth forest]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{National Parks of New South Wales}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:National parks of New South Wales]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1997]]
[[Category:1997 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Northern Tablelands]]


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