VicForests urged to follow the law in 2016
At the start of the 2016 logging year, Environment East Gippsland is urging VicForests to adhere to the laws that protect rainforests and rare wildlife.
“Since the government created this logging entity in 2004, we believe VicForests has consistently broken laws possibly to help cut its costs and increase profits”, said Jill Redwood of Environment East Gippsland. “We have been forced to take legal action against the government and VicForests on six occasions since 2009 exposing multiple breaches of the law. This reckless disregard has to end.”
“The latest legal action we have taken is over likely illegal logging of a large area of rainforest where logging recently started”.
“Before the landmark test case over Brown Mountain, we believe Victoria lost thousands of hectares of rainforest and threatened wildlife habitat thanks to VicForests.”
EEG is currently considering legal action on three fronts that will hopefully force VicForests to adhere to the law as we are all expected to.
“We need a commitment from both Minister Jaala Pulford and VicForests’ Robert Green, that in 2016, they will start afresh and guarantee compliance with all logging laws, especially given the formation of the Victorian Forest Taskforce to look at solutions to the decades long logging controversy.”