VicForests – destroying the rare Glossy Black Cockatoo this time
VicForests is at it again and the dust has barely settled on the Brown Mountain legal case. While the Gliders and Potoroos remain in an uneasy limbo while there’s a ceasefire, other habitat of rare wildlife is copping wholesale destruction elsewhere. So another court case is brewing.
This time the rare species of the far east forests around Wallagaraugh, Genoa and Mallacoota have had the bulldozer and burn treatment. This was despite wildlife surveys being carried out (as the court ordered) and rare species were identified!
The Glossy Black Cockatoo is one of those threatened by logging and burning. This friendly parrot only exists in Victoria’s far east and relies totally on the casuarina trees for its food. Hence its rarity. It’s recognised as being threatened under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act. No one knows how many survive – maybe as few as 200.
How does VicForests justify destroying hundreds of hectares of its prime habitat? It claims that as there is no Action Statement (‘how-to-protect’ instructions) written up, they aren’t obliged to protect it. This is despite it being recognised as threatened by Victorian legislation.
So – we need to take the state government to court again to force it to protect our wildlife.
Other wildlife that was likely to have shared these recently destroyed forests with the ‘Glossy’, could have been the slow-moving and non-venomous Diamond Python, also threatened and very vulnerable to logging and prescribed burns. This is also listed and DOES have an Action Statement to describe protection measures. 
So again – we are handing around the hat. We’re trying the new trick called ‘crowd funding’. It’s where we ask a lot of people to donate $5-$10, or even $50. This can be easily done via the GiveNow page (here) or directly into the Environment East Gippsland account. Email us (here) for the details and we can send a tax deductible receipt.
Yes – we did recently receive some costs from VicForests and we have used it to take them straight back to court for rainforest logging (to be heard in late November). That money is spoken for. This case is expected to be much cheaper and more straightforward.