Supreme Court shows wildlife protection laws are worthless
MyEnvironment’s court appeal to stop logging of the small pockets of habitat where the critically endangered Leadbeaters Possum still survives … was dismissed; they lost! The three judges found the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act is too weak to protect even the state’s faunal emblem from extinction!
MyEnvironment, a community group and local champions of the Leadbeaters Possum, may now cease to exist because they have to pay VicForests’ legal costs of around a million dollars. Worse still, if Premier Napthine doesn’t fix the law, if VicForests take their revenge and clearfell/burn the three stands of forest they were planning to last year, this amazing gliding possum will cease to exist on this planet.
Full judgment here http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/vic/VSCA/2013/356.html and the EDO’s summary here: http://www.edovic.org.au/blog/sad-day-leadbeaters-possum
Visit the MyEnvironment website www.myenvironment.net.au