The campaign to protect the old growth forests of East Gippsland has been going on since the early seventies when the Japanese owned woodchip plant and export facility was built at Eden in Southern NSW. Since then, the ancient forests of East Gippsland have been systematically clearfelled to provide the "waste" needed to feed the Daishowa chip mill. Logs are selling for as little as 11c a tonne royalty to this market.

   The area logged each year has doubled since the signing of the Regional Forest Agreement in 1997. Woodchip volumes have increased tenfold. In East Gippsland the rate of forest destruction equals about 20 football fields a day.