Brumby Government to continue logging Victoria's 500-year-old forests

Friday, August 21, 2009

Media release

To the disappointment of Victoria’s leading conservation groups, the Brumby Government today announced that the remaining areas of Brown Mountain old growth forest in Victoria’s east will be logged, mostly for woodchips to be exported to Japan to make paper.

Megan Clinton from the Victorian National Parks Association said the Victorian public deserved to see the ALP’s 2006 election promise to protect Victoria’s last remaining stands of old-growth forest fulfilled.

“We are very disappointed at the government’s decision to continue to log the beautiful Brown Mountain area in the face of community opposition. The Brumby Government needs to now release to the public its long promised 41,000 hectare old growth reserve plan,” she said.

Amelia Young from The Wilderness Society said this was the tragic fate of yet another area of Victoria’s ancient forest that will now be gone forever.

“Today’s announcement means the Brumby Government has handed Brown Mountain back to the loggers. And as long as VicForests remains the driver of the state’s forest policy, the public can be assured that Victoria’s old-growth forests will continue to be destroyed for woodchips,” she said.

“With only eight per cent of Victoria’s old growth forests left, conservation groups are today calling for all remaining old growth forest, including Brown Mountain, to be protected.”

Ms Young said although today’s protected area announcement includes a mix of important stands of old growth forest as well as areas that have been logged, it was dressed up as a new protection reserve that will not in fact deliver permanent protection for all of Brown Mountain’s ancient forests.

Lindsay Hesketh from the Australian Conservation Foundation said protecting Victoria’s ancient forests was critical to tackling climate change.

“Victoria’s old-growth forests have recently been identified by the Australian National University as some of the largest carbon stores on earth and critical to avoiding dangerous climate change. They area also vital for securing the future flow of water into our rivers and dams,” he said.

The areas to be logged will be subject to tougher rules, including wider buffers around creeks and no logging of old hollow bearing trees.

The minister also acknowledged that VicForests is failing to undertake pre-logging assessments and there should be a new system established to ensure that the Brown Mountain decision is not repeated across East Gippsland.