Bushfire forces anti-logging protestor to come down from her tree after record-breaking 457 day sit-in Eco hero Miranda Gibson cheered after climbing down from 100ft gum tree Protest held in the Styx Valley, 60 miles north west of Hobart,Tasmania Her sit-in started when she learned ancient trees were due to be felled Had been using a solar-powered laptop and phone to communicate An environmentalist has been forced to come back down to earth following a record-breaking 457 day treetop protest after the forest she was trying to protect was threatened by a bushfire. Miranda Gibson, 31, climbed down from the 100ft tall, 400-year-old eucalyptus tree in Tazmania to a hero's welcome, as the fire raged just two kilometres away. So long was her stay on a platform in the tree in the Styx Valley, 60 miles north west of Hobart, that she had missed a close friend of hers becoming pregnant and having the baby. Down to earth: Environmentalist Miranda Gibson got a hero's welcome after climbing down from a 100ft Eucalyptus tree after her record-breaking 457 day protest "I missed a lot of things while I was up there," 31-year-old Miss Gibson said when her feet finally touched the ground again to applause from a group of supporters. "It was a difficult decision to evacuate, but necessary," she said, fighting back tears. The fire is only about two kilometres from where I am so it's quite close and potentially a high level of risk if it comes this way. Her sit-in was an Australian record for a tree protest, which started when she and her conservation group Still Wild Still Threatened learned ancient trees in the valley were due to be felled by logging companies. Smoke rises in the background from the approaching bush fire as protestor Miranda Gibson prepares to come back down to earth after her record-breaking protest Ms Gibson abseils back down to earth after spending well over a year protesting in the 100ft tall gum tree Last December she celebrated a year in the 400-year-old gum tree in a campaign that generated world-wide attention. She used modern technology - a solar-powered laptop and phone - to send her conservation message into classrooms, boardrooms and lounge rooms across the world. In an earlier interview with The Mercury newspaper of Hobart as she marked a year sitting in the tree, she said she did not know what to expect when she first hauled herself up to her treetop home, erected under canvas. I don't think I would have expected to be up here for a whole year - I really hoped there would be that protection (of trees) in place before now. Coming to terms with isolation and coping with Tasmania's harsh winter weather were her biggest challenges, she said. "A friend of mine fell pregnant and has had a baby since I was in the tree and I didn't get to be part of that," said the former teacher. Ms Gibson gets a hug from a well-wisher after touching down on the forest floor She pointed out that a lot of people didn't know about the threat to Tasmania's forests and she had received a large number of emails thanking her for making the world aware. Among those congratulating Miss Gibson for her Australian record-breaking sit-in was former Australian Greens leader Bob Brown who told her as her feet touched the ground: "You're our hero of the forests." She has yet to say whether she will return to the tree top once the fire threat has passed. But friends said that whatever her decision is, she will continue to press the government to push through a World Heritage listing for the Styx Valley as well as the Florentine and Weld forests. Her sit-in beat the previous-longest tree-top protest in Australia, set by Manfred Stephens who sat in a tree in north Queensland for 208 days in 1995. The world's longest record was set in the US between 1997 and 1999 when Julia Butterfly Hill sat in a 180ft-tall California Redwood tree for 738 days to prevent loggers cutting it down. Her protest was successful.