The Forest Activist Network (FAN) is a loose collection of activists working on the NSW Forests Campaign. It was set up in 1998 when the NSW Forest Alliance realised that negotiations with the government were about to fail badly unless there was active network of grass roots forest activists in Sydney. The Forest Activist Networks main role in the NSW Forests Campaign is to act as a grass roots link between the campaign and people concerned about the forests. To make sure activists have access to the resources, skills and information they need, support people in their roles as activists and help people to become more active. Basically to help people, learn how to help the forests. This makes us slightly different to other groups whose core functions are to campaign around particular issues or areas. Our long term objectives are: Protecting Native plants, animals and ecosystems Old growth forests Wilderness Rainforest Water, and Soil Helping to instigate the use of Ecologically Sustainable Forest Management Contributing towards the evolution of a sustainable society and culture. To create a network that sustains itself and looks after the people within it. In the short term FAN's goals are: To keep as many people as possible informed about the campaign, how it is going and where it is up to. To expand the network To create a more formal system of communication within the network To have more regular social contact within the network To create a more supportive group environment To educate people about the logging industries plans to burn native forests for electricity To force State Forests to comply with the Integrated Forestry Operations Approvals (IFOA - the laws for logging) To try to get the IFOA to comply with the experts recommendations for ecologically sustainable forest management To stop logging of old growth forests in NSW To stop logging of wilderness forests in NSW To become more regular and organised in our fundraising To set up and run regular Forest Tours To create and publish an activists guide to the NSW forests campaign To improve the code of logging practice for private land FAN has little or no organisational structure and is more of a network of people who communicate than a group. At any given moment in time FAN is defined by what the people who identify as being part of the network are doing. Anyone can become a part of FAN, by communicating regularly with other members of the network. Communication is the key to our network. There is currently one FAN email discussion group, fan@forests.org.au which acts as an organisational and information distribution list. This list is for active members of the network, anyone already on the list can add others to it. In the next 6 months FAN hopes to formalise it's phone network and set up a second discussion group, nsw@forests.org.au to keep people more peripherally involved up to date with what is happening in the campaign. The FAN website is currently under construction... if you have any content to donate ... pictures especially then email them to nick@webdweller.com