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 …
Victoria’s low grade native timber could soon be packed into shipping containers bound for China and other cut-price countries for processing under a plan to help ailing state timber company VicForests. In response, a rule requiring local processing before export has now been relaxed in a bid to open up new markets for the struggling state-owned …
A planning blunder has led to the destruction of almost 900 towering old native trees after VicRoads severely underestimated the environmental impact of a highway project it is managing. Road safety is our utmost priority and roadside trees can be a hazard in run off road accidents. VicRoads chief executive John Merritt The Western Highway is being …
Years ago the govt announced trees over 12.6m circumf would be protected. All those 6-700yo trees under this size have been felled. At last the the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) is looking to increase safeguards for large old trees. maybe just protect all old growth is the answer. Giving one tree …
The Royal Commission recommended burns to over 5% of our natural landscape annually have finally been shown to be a waste of time, money and horrifically damaging to our biodiversity. The recent review of the burn targets used 12 criteria to measure how effective the blunt hectare-based target is compared to the proposed risk-reduction target. …
The head of Victoria’s zoos says the scale of logging in the state’s central highland forests is environmentally unsustainable and has backed the creation of a new national park as giving key endangered species the best chance of survival. A letter sent by Zoos Victoria chief executive Jenny Gray to the state-owned timber company VicForests in January …
The next 12 to 18 months promise to be very busy for myself and my colleagues at EJA, with a significant number of reviews now underway. These reviews are the result of hard work over many years by us and other environment groups concerned about the outdated and inadequate legal framework for protecting and restoring …
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 …
Logging in East Gippsland is not commercially viable and cutting down native forests across the region is racking up losses of up to $5.5 million a year, internal government documents reveal. A leaked briefing by Victoria’s Department of Treasury and Finance to the former Napthine government says East Gippsland logging is being cross-subsidised by profitable harvesting in the state’s Central Highlands. The Highlands logging has come …
Groups like the Gippsland Environment Group and environmentalists like Ross Scott and health professionals like Dr. Jo McCubbin have been raising concerns about the mercury levels in fish in the Gippsland Lakes for many years. DELWP Media release A study to assess mercury levels in fish of the Gippsland Lakes will commence from tomorrow, followed …
