It was one of eight rallies the Bob Brown Foundation organised across several states. Mr Brown, the former high-profile Greens senator, said forests were needed more now than ever, but "we are still destroying them".

He said native forest logging was killing endangered species like the swift parrot, masked owl, koala and greater glider.

Paul Winn, a Hunter Community Environment Centre researcher, said "we need to value our forests more than we are".

"They're being degraded by logging and other extractive activities," Mr Winn said.

"At the same time, we're reducing the total area of forests through agricultural and urban developments."

He said forests were being degraded in "core areas" required for species to survive climate change.

"We need to transition out of native forest logging and into a plantation industry. That is happening, but too slowly," he said.

"The NSW government needs to accelerate it."

He was referring to state forests logged by NSW's Forestry Corporation.

He added that logging occurs in the Hunter in the Watagan Mountains, along with Olney, Buladelah and Chichester state forests.

Quarrying proposals that would harm forests in Port Stephens were a further concern, he said.

Mr Winn said intense logging increased fire risk and "we're facing Black Summer fires as a new normal".

"Eventually we'll see more species extinctions," he said.

NSW Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty said the government was "working hard to establish the Great Koala National Park".

"We have stopped timber harvesting operations in 106 koala hubs within the areas being assessed for inclusion in the park," Ms Moriarty said.

However, the government supported a "sustainable timber industry for mid and northern NSW".

"The NSW government is committed to protecting the environment and sustaining our state forests, while also supplying timber for our housing and construction industry."

She said this timber helped "provide homes for NSW families".

"We will continue to work with industry, workers and environmental stakeholders to develop a roadmap for the future of sustainable state forests and forestry across NSW."

Jonah Shabtay, who attended the Newcastle rally, said "forests are climate and ecological buffers".

"And we're at a point of climate and ecological collapse," he said.

"NSW native forests are dwindling and under so much pressure from logging."

He said the fight to stop logging was "increasing significantly".

Mr Shabtay, who is involved in voluntary grassroots action, said "I see the value of getting out into the forests for direct resistance".

"Direct action on the front line is what gets Forestry Corp out of native forests," he said. "Front-liners are often in quite precarious situations and have to respond quickly. It's hard to predict exactly when the machines will come. Campaigners often have to be in the forest ready to respond when that happens. Things can change very quickly."