Community members in the Northern Rivers have once again begun getting organised to stand up for the unprotected native forests across the region. This year, public protest and marches are being supported by more diverse tactics – including citizen science.

Preparations have begun for the 2026 March in March for Forests, this year to be held in Lismore at The Quad at 10am Sunday 22nd March. A wide array of local musicians and performers will join the stage with some of Australia’s finest forest experts for a morning of entertainment and action.

The 2026 March builds on the huge crowds of recent years where hundreds of people marched in Byron, Mullumbimby and Lismore calling for the protection of our precious forests.

Northern Rivers March in March Coordinator Valerie Thompson said that it’s time to bring the march back to the heartland of our region, and onto the doorstep of many native forests still vulnerable to the ongoing pressures of industrial scale logging.

“Right now, when we need forests the most, they are still being destroyed”, says Bob Brown. “Around Australia, native forest logging is killing endangered animals like the koala, Greater Glider and Swift Parrot’.

Alongside the region’s iconic koala, it’s also the Greater Glider impacts are really hitting home for concerned locals. They have begun to venture out into regional forests at night to search for the homes of these elusive, silent creatures on the brink of extinction.

Lismore resident Daisy Nutty went out for several nights of looking for Greater Gliders in state forests west of Lismore, and was delighted to spot the impossibly cute species. ‘I strongly recommend getting out there and being the eyes for our beloved gliders, quolls, frogs and owls when Forestry Corp just can’t seem to see them. That’s the power of community protecting our local native forests” Daisy said.

This year forest marches will be held in Lismore, Adelaide, Bega, Bellingen, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Sydney and Ulladulla. There will be opportunities to join local citizen science efforts at the Lismore March in March.

Northern Rivers March in March Coordinator Valerie Thompson said the Northern Rivers region is home to many native forests - right on Lismore's doorstep - that are still vulnerable to the ongoing pressures of industrial scale logging.

“We are calling on an immediate end to the needless destruction of native forests, the homes of our iconic endangered species such as the Koala and Southern Greater Glider”, Ms Thompson said. “Forestry Corp logging practices also make our forests more susceptible to catastrophic fires, which is something this region most definitely could do without”.

March in March for Forests is coordinated by the Bob Brown Foundation.