A win for Owls

This article was written for the VNPA’s September 2015 Parkwatch magazine and summarises the legal case we launched on behalf of the three threatened forest owl species after the 2014 bushfires. The agreed settlement terms, as of late September 2015, were still being worked through by DELWP.Thanks to the VNPA for permission to reproduce it …

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Environment group wins legal battle to protect habitat for threatened powerful, sooty, masked owls

The Victorian Government has agreed to set aside 2,000 hectares of forest in East Gippsland to help protect three threatened species of owl. Environment East Gippsland took legal action against the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and state-owned VicForests over the issue. An agreement was reached on Friday between the parties …

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Over 2000 ha set aside for owls! EEG’s 4th successful legal case

EEG’s fourth Court case challenging the government’s non-adherence to its own environment laws has been settled (17.7.15). This time it was for the owls. EEG, DELWP and VicForests have agreed that the environment department (DELWP) take action to adhere to legal obligations and increase owl protected areas as well as assess the damage done to …

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Endangered owls have legal win

The day after the national Threatened Species Summit ends, a Supreme Court case brought by Environment East Gippsland has reached an out of court settlement The case challenged logging in threatened owl habitat by the state government’s Environment Department and VicForests, which have now agreed to set aside over 2,000 ha. This 10 month case …

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Environment East Gippsland settles with Victorian DELWP over owls

LOGGING will be put on hold in parts of Victoria’s forests to protect three species of threatened owl. In an out-of-court settlement today, green group Environment East Gippsland, VicForests and the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning agreed to terms that will see increased protection of owl species that are threatened under the …

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VicForests extends moratorium on logging in East Gippsland owl habitat

State-owned timber company VicForests has agreed to extend its moratorium on logging in certain areas of East Gippsland. An environment group is suing the timber company and the Victorian Government, over the logging of old-growth forest that is home to endangered owls. After further legal wrangling, VicForests has agreed to halt any logging of the …

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VicForests backs out of 81 planned logging areas

  VicForests has agreed not to log 81 of its planned logging areas as part of our court case for the owls – at least until mid December. These stands of forest have been identified as areas known to contain, or are adjacent to areas that contain threatened species of owls. After last summer’s fires …

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Suing government to save the owls

EEG is suing the state government for a fourth time. Legal papers were filed and served on Monday 22nd Sept. Both VicForests and DEPI are being sued. Within the 170,000 hectares of forest that the Goongerah-Deddick summer fires burnt out, were 46 protected zones set aside for threatened owls. These areas would also have supported …

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Suing the government again – for the owls

Environment East Gippsland is suing the state government for a fourth time! We lodged the legal papers on Monday 22nd Sept 2014. The summer fires destroyed thousands of hectares of critically important habitat for East Gippsland’s threatened wildlife. This region is the stronghold for large forest owls yet DEPI refuses to urgently review the protection …

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Rezoning owls to extinction?

Being our ‘eagles of the night’, owls are rarely seen. Our most mysterious owls are those that live in forests, and even more cryptic are those that can only thrive in old growth forests. They are becoming increasingly endangered. Our state government is currently reviewing owl protection zones (June 2012), but they are using out …

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