Bob Brown, activists fight protest trespass charges

Bob Brown (left) was arrested at a protest at a Sustainable Timber Tasmania forestry coupe in 2022. (HANDOUT/THE BOB BROWN FOUNDATION)

A "habitat" tree was cut down for safety reasons after being used for a sit-in logging protest involving environmentalist Bob Brown, a court has been told.

Brown and two other activists have pleaded not guilty to trespassing over a protest at a Sustainable Timber Tasmania forestry coupe in the state's Eastern Tiers on November 8, 2022. 

The trio are facing an expected two-day hearing in Hobart Magistrates Court. 

Sustainable Timber Tasmania forest officer Dion McKenzie told the court when he arrived at the site on November 8 he saw about 10 people who weren't authorised to be there.

Kristy Alger (L), Bob Brown and Karen Weldrick claim they were defending the swift parrot's habitat. (Ethan James/AAP PHOTOS)

Mr McKenzie said he deemed their presence unsafe and forestry operations were unable to continue.

He said two activists had attached themselves to machinery, making it impossible to use, while another was involved in a tree sit. 

Mr McKenzie said Brown was sitting on a tree stump, not obstructing any machinery.

"I asked the people on site whether they would leave primary production timber zone land," Mr McKenzie said on Monday. 

"I did that in small groups making sure people there could hear me. Some chose to leave, three chose not to." 

Brown and the two other accused trespassers, Kristy Lee Alger and Karen Lynne Weldrick, claim they were defending habitat of the endangered swift parrot.

Mr McKenzie told the court a "habitat" tree was felled on safety grounds on November 8.

"The tree in question was the tree the tree-sit was in," he told the court.

Mr McKenzie said the tree was over-mature and had features likely to make it suspect to falls. 

He also agreed with the suggestion from activists' lawyer Kathleen Foley SC that the tree was meant to be retained but wasn't.

Mr McKenzie said no one was in or near the tree when it was felled and he wasn't aware of any other harvesting at the site on November 8. 

He said there was a November 14 entry in the coupe notes saying logging had ceased following a confirmed swift parrot sighting. 

Constable Christopher Richardson told the court Weldrick and Algar had attached themselves to machinery. 

Const Richardson said Brown was asked if he was going to leave, informed he would be arrested and then moved to a different area.

The hearing continues.