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Resumo

The spiritual significance of forests is explored, based on interviews with people involved in disputes that led to the signing of the Western Australian Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) in 1999. Included are reflections from individuals involved in forestry, tourism, farming, and in the environmental conservation movement. Although the conflict between these groups has been emphasised in previous accounts of the RFA process, this analysis focuses on points of similarity, namely, ideas about Australian attachments to land. A significant proportion of interviewees compared their own feelings of spiritual or sentimental connection to the forests with the kind of attachments they thought Aboriginal Australians might have to their homelands. This leads us to consider feelings of belonging and attachment to place in relation to controversial debates about nature, culture and identity in settler‐descendant societies such as Australia. An understanding of such deeply held beliefs and values about land and identity provides insights into disputes over natural resource management.

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