VicForests fudges the numbers… again

VicForests has been caught out using very dodgy arithmetic to blame the small endangered Leadbeaters possum for its predicament. These were presented to the VEAC investigation and the Parliamentary enquiry as kosher – and too complicated for the average Joe to understand. But their bamboozling tactics didn’t fool Greens MP Samantha Dunn. VicForests is exposed …

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VicForests to face timber supply inquiry

A parliamentary inquiry into Victoria’s forestry body won’t be a “witch hunt” because it is simply designed to get some answers for the state’s ailing timber mills, Victorian MP Jeff Bourman says. Mr Bourman, an MP for the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, has established a parliamentary inquiry into VicForests, who manage the state’s timber …

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Legal and scientific basis for an Interim Conservation Order

Legal and scientific basis for an Interim Conservation Order under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 to protect Leadbeater’s Possum – Summary Acting on behalf of Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum Inc., on 24th April Environmental Justice Australia submitted a letter and supporting documents to the Victorian Environment Minister, the Hon. Lily D’Ambrosio requesting an …

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Will forest shredders stop fires?

Putting VicForests as the overseer of these trials has discredited the trial’s integrity right from the start. Trials are currently underway to assess ‘mechanical fuel reduction’ in our public forests. The details are sketchy but seem to be based on a US practice of using heavy machinery with mulching/shredding capacity to run through native forests …

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Victoria’s logging industry faces supply dilemma

In 2009, 75,000 ha of Victoria’s forests were burnt in the Black Saturday bushfires. Over a 3rd of that was forests earmarked for the logging industry. The prospect of bushfires are never calculated into long term planning or log contracts with mills. Couple this situation with other bushfires and a history of overlogging and the …

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How did the environment fare in the Vic budget 2017?

All up it has $306M was allocated to our environment (sport managed $308M). This is less than half of what the M80 Ring Road has been allocated, and less than half the schools’ budget. Biodiversity Plan 2037 – $86M for reveg and pest control. Parks – $32M for new rangers over 2 years and a …

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Greater Glider – recently listed as threatened

Bad news: The Greater Glider, Australia’s largest (and fluffiest) gliding possum is under threat of extinction. Good news: It has recently been added to the threatened list of Victoria’s Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (FFGA) After decades of decline and zero government interest or surveys, the clear evidence is that local extinctions of the Greater …

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The minister, the possum and the sawmill

Sometimes it takes a cute and furry species on the brink of extinction to get people thinking about nature protection laws. And when a federal politician recommends the furry creature’s threatened species status be downgraded to allow its dwindling forest habitat to be logged, well that’s sure to get the public’s attention. There has been …

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