The groups participated in a series of workshops and eco-activities relating to what they describe as unsustainable logging in South West native forests.

Almost 30 people attended the activities, including a number of international students from Italy, Germany, Sweden, India and America.

PEG spokesman Peter Murphy said the weekend event was a wake-up call for all politicians, especially new Minister for Logging, Terry Redman and Opposition Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, Mick Murray.

He reminded them the forest issue had not gone away and any plans to increase logging quotas would be fought vehemently.

“We want to see an immediate end to all logging and thinning in native forest, as the native logging industry can now source all of its timber requirements from plantations which are already in abundant supply,” Mr Murphy said.

Activities throughout the weekend included bushwalking, bush tucker gathering, wildflower and wildlife spotting.

Murdoch University student and guild representative Vicki Edwards said the protest aimed to raise awareness of what she said was unacceptable logging of old growth trees. “We mainly went down as a learning tool and to see for ourselves how it affects the local community,” Ms Edwards said.

“There were 15 guild members who went down and we feel it is important for people to be aware of the unacceptable logging.”

Mr Redman is currently not speaking to the media.

A representative said he was undertaking briefings to familiarise himself with his new portfolio. Mr Murray said he did not see an immediate end to native logging in the short term.

“The logging industry has its own problems,” he said.

“We have to look at the timber industry and logging practices.

“Waste needs to be controlled, if we were able to control wastage we wouldn’t need to cut as much native timber as we do.”

Well-known local documentary filmmaker Kim Redman was also onhand to deliver a presentation showing what he described as third world logging operations in the South West.

Weekend activities concluded with a guided tour of a logging operation in the Yabberup forest near Lowden, where members of the local community met with the visiting groups to discuss the affects of logging.