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Welcome to the news - that rarely makes the news!Win for forests in Supreme CourtIn a landmark decision today, the Supreme Court has found that the government has a responsibility to look for and protect endangered wildlife before logging in the contentious Brown Mountain forests of East Gippsland. To access the judgment click here Or you can read the full transcript (PDF) of the Judge’s words here “This judgment has implications for all native forests that are set to be destroyed by logging,” said EEG spokesperson Jill Redwood. “If we hadn’t sued VicForests, Brown Mountain would have been illegally logged by now. And Brown Mountain is just one area. The government is logging publicly owned forests every day without endangered species surveys.” “We are calling on the government to respect the judgment by stopping logging in native forests that may contain rare wildlife, until the full implications of this judgment are examined.” “VicForests, the Government-owned logging monopoly, has a legal responsibility to protect endangered wildlife. They can’t just go in and log blindfolded.” “Victorians have always known native forest logging is immoral, uneconomic, unaccountable, unsustainable and unpopular. Today we’ve proved that where endangered species are present, or likely to be present, it’s potentially illegal as well”. “This extraordinary court case isn’t just about protecting Brown Mountain’s rich and ancient ark of rare wildlife; it’s about forcing the government to abide by its laws as anyone else would”, said Ms Redwood. “This represents a win for the state’s rare forest dependent wildlife. It’s also a win for all Australians who are concerned about the environment.” Environment groups are now concerned that the government may attempt to alter the laws to allow the destruction of endangered species habitat, as happened in Tasmania in 2008. “The government must now honour the law, not alter it”, said Ms Redwood. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR ALL YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT. JILL, LIZ AND THE TEAM
More photos from Parliament House 12th August 2010 available here -------- Mr BARBER -- The environment movement in fact had to do the minister's job for him by taking this matter to court, and therefore I ask: will the minister honour the findings in that judgement, or will he simply, as has happened in past instances, make changes to that legislation and its related regulatory framework in order to exempt VicForests or get VicForests out of its responsibilities? Download a PDF of the question and answer session with highlights here. -------- For those of you who may have missed the media coverage of the judgement.... -------- EEG’s Valley of the Giant’s Walk is NOT authorized by DSEIf any of you plan to wander through this wonderland of tree giants, just be aware it’s extremely treacherous! Or so says the government. We have formally been told by DSE that our old growth walk at Brown Mountain must not be promoted (download your own self-guided walk booklet here). The government even went so far as to hire an engineering consultant to write a 6 page report with lots of bad photographs to prove it doesn’t comply with walking track standards. This is despite it fitting more than adequately into DSE’s definition of a class 6 walking track. Of course the track is not ‘officially sanctioned’. The government doesn’t want the public to see this type of beautiful forest that it is systematically clearfelling. The report claims there are potential trip/slip hazards and branches way above are a safety concern. Not to mention the new threat of ‘quickly changing weather’. A forest is a very risky place. But what is authorized is clearfell logging. This may only cause escalating climate change, biodiversity loss, water reduction and general planetary collapse. However, tourism is dangerous and so is not authorised as it may cause a bumped knee. Enjoy this magnificent forest at your own peril! -------- St Patricks River slaughter
This map shows the unparalleled mapping of logging coupes planned to wipe out an entire landscape. VicForests plotted these coupes on the map just after the Brown Mt Court case earlier this year. If we didn’t know them any better we’d say this was an act of revenge. This area is just to the west of Goolengook, near a known Potoroo habitat site. The same survey crew used the movement sensing cameras to locate four different sites throughout the area where the endangered Long-footed Potoroos were detected. See the red dots on the map. DSE or VicForests never surveyed for the presence of rare wildlife before they ticked off on the complete annihilation of this area. VicForests is staunchly denying that they have any evidence of LF Potoroos being present despite them having the report with the footage and GPS readings. The battle of letters between them and Lawyers For Forests continues GOOD NEWS UPDATE Potoroo habitat coupes removedThe huge stand of forests near the St Patricks River that were earmarked for clearfelling (see map above) has been removed from logging plans. VicForests claim it is removing them due to ‘community concerns’. We claim it is removing them as a result of the Supreme Court judgment reminding VicForests of its legal obligations towards endangered species. In response to community concerns, 18 coupes proposed for the Rich Forest Block, on the Errinundra Plateau north of Orbost have been removed from Timber Release Plans (TRP). A further eight coupes have been removed from the approved TRP to meet protection requirements for the Long-footed Potoroo according to a media release from the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) circulated last week. (Snowy River Mail 25/8/10) The court judgment was handed down on the 11th August 2010. --------
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