A bulldozer was also stopped in the Leard Forest when farmer Annette Schneider and childcare worker Sarah Sargan locked on for more than five hours on Saturday, before they were taken to Narrabri Police Station.

Also on Saturday, homemaker Emil Dacy-Cole scaled and stopped a locomotive for four hours, and was taken to Muswellbrook Police Station and later released.

These actions follow allegations that Whitehaven has cleared during extreme heat in breach of the conditions of their Biodiversity Management Plan. 

Activists said Whitehaven was clearing the environmentally and culturally significant Leard State Forest, on Gomeroi/Gamilaraay Country, for the expansion of the Maules Creek Mine. 

“Whitehaven are clearing critical habitat for over 35 threatened and endangered species,” ecologist and Leard Forest Alliance spokesman Phil Spark said.

“When it is too hot, animals hide in their hollows to conserve energy. Clearing during this time ensures that not only will these animals’ homes be destroyed, they will not have the opportunity to flee.”

Yesterday, the Environmental Defenders Office, on behalf of its client, South East Forest Rescue (SEFR), wrote to Whitehaven Coal and Department of Planning 

calling for an immediate investigation of the alleged non-compliance and stricter measures to prevent Whitehaven coal ignoring the rules.

“There needs to be certainty in whether or not Whitehaven is complying to its BMP,” Mr Spark said.

“We demand that there is an independent monitoring process, and that Whitehaven disclose their on site readings.”

Gamilaraay Nation spokesmen, Uncles Paul Spearum and Allan Talbot, said they were about protecting the land, which was their connection to country, song, dance, story, knowledge and 

culture.