Veteran environmentalist Bob Brown will fight a criminal charge stemming from a protest against the logging of land claimed to be home to a critically endangered parrot.

Dr Brown appeared in Hobart Magistrates Court on Thursday and pleaded not guilty to trespassing on November 8, 2022.

It alleged the former federal Greens leader remained on land at Royal George in Tasmania’s east.

“We have one of the most critically endangered creatures on the planet, in the swift parrot, on the verge of extinction and they’re cutting down the trees they’re nesting in,” he said outside court.

“We’re proud to have defended the swift parrot.”

Two other protesters, Kristy Alger and Karen Weldrick, also entered pleas of not guilty to trespassing charges relating to the same protest.

Dr Brown will return to court on September 7 ahead of an expected two-day hearing at a date to be determined.

“We believe we were wrongly arrested in our forests, protecting our wildlife,” he said.

Dr Brown’s lawyer Roland Browne hit out at an eight-week adjournment in the case, saying the prosecution has had more than enough time to complete the file.

It is estimated there may be as few as 750 swift parrots in the wild, with a declining population trend.

Dr Brown’s court appearance comes after an activist from his foundation was jailed last week for three months after breaching a suspended prison term during separate anti-logging and mining protests.

– AAP