Direct action protests can be hard work to sustain but time and again direct action has proven itself to be the flame that boils the pot when it comes to successful social change strategies. Employed within the framework of a credible campaign in which it is aligned with political, legal, economic, media and public awareness strategies it is the power tool of social change. The power of each blockade lies not in winning on the ground on that one site, but in forcing the government and the companies into a self-defeating cycle of displays of overwhelming force as they go about imposing an unwanted industry on unwilling populations by force.The important dynamic for communities involved in these campaigns is to remain optimistic and persistent. Success should not be measured by how many individual blockades are breached by masses of riot police but only by the persistence of resistance of local communities.