VicForests stops logging 24 hours after EEG legal action!

Just one day after our lawyers presented a ‘please explain’ letter to the CEO of VicForests (see our media release), logging has been stopped and machinery will be pulled out of a high habitat value stand of forest where tree felling had commenced, north east of Orbost. We believe the logging was unlawful – VicForests …

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Protest halts VicForests illegal logging operation

GECO MEDIA RELEASE Conservationists from Goongerah Environment Centre (GECO) have halted logging operations in high conservation value forest on the St Patrick’s River in East Gippsland today due to multiple breaches of the law. A person is positioned in a tree platform 30m off the ground. The platform is tied off to logging machinery which …

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VicForests facing legal action again

The state government owned logging company VicForests, is in the legal crosshairs of environmentalists yet again.  Lawyers acting on behalf of Environment East Gippsland have this week formally requested an explanation as to why a rich habitat site suited for rare forest-dependant wildlife was not surveyed before logging commenced last week. “We believe this is …

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Victorian Government Thanks Conservationists For Exposing “Disturbing” Logging Practices By Fining Them

Conservationists says the government is trying to hush them after exposing dodgy practices. Thom Mitchell reports. The Victorian government has fined a conservationist who exposed what the Environment Minister described as “very disturbing” and “extremely poor practice” logging, despite reports he helped prepare becoming a catalyst for substantial reform of industry guidelines. In April this …

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Environmental regulator to examine greater protection for large old trees in East Gippsland

The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) is examining ways to adjust Victoria’s forest management framework to increase safeguards for large old trees, while providing greater certainty for the timber industry around harvesting operations. DELWP Land Management Policy Executive Director Peter Beaumont said a recent review of the state’s regulatory framework for native …

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Victorian environment department to remove ambiguity from logging definitions after VicForests cleared of logging near Bendoc State Forest

The Victorian Department of Environment, Land Water and Planning will change logging regulations after clearing VicForests of illegal logging in East Gippsland. The state-owned VicForests has been cleared of logging cool temperate mixed rainforest in the Bendoc State Forest, near the NSW border. VicForests general manager Nathan Trushell said the organisation was pleased with the …

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Logging activists fined despite their surveys revealing flaws in the law

Three environmental activists have been fined for surveys they carried out in a logging coupe in East Gippsland, though the state government conceded it needed to bolster timber harvesting rules following the activists’ report. The activists from the Goongerah Environment Centre are facing fines of $440 each for entering the coupe in late April, which they say they will likely …

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Victorian government threatens environment group honoured by UN

Last week, the Gippsland environment group Goongerah Environment Centre (GEC) was shortlisted for the prestigious United Nations World Environment Day Awards in the Habitat Restoration and Biodiversity category. The announcement came as the Victorian government was threatening to prosecute GEC volunteers for exposing an illegal rainforest logging operation. Members of the East Gippsland group entered …

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