Former Australian senator Bob Brown was yesterday charged following a protest at a logging site in north-west Tasmania.

Brown is said to have tried to stop Malaysian timber firm Ta Ann, linked to Sarawak Governor Abdul Taib Mahmud, from further destroying the Lapaoiya forest exlusion zone.

He was arrested while walking towards a bulldozer, the drive of which stopped at the sight of of the wiry 67-year-old, news channel ABC reported.

"The police arrived and directed us to leave and three of my companions did, but Roger Bradley... and I stayed there and we were arrested," Brown ( photo ) said

"They gave us the choice of deciding whether we obey a direction to leave a so-called business access area. To me, it's leaving an area of totally unnecessary forest destruction to feed an over-wealthy Malaysian forestry corporation.

"If you leave that, you abandon it and I wasn't prepared to,” he is reported as saying.

The ABC reported that this followed two days of protests at Lapoinya, where two other protesters were also arrested.

Brown, who retired as a senator in 2012 after 12 years of service, was released and issued a summons to appear at Burnie Magistrate’s Court in March.