VicForests has just started logging in the ‘Floater’ coupe near Toolangi, to the north east of Melbourne in the Central Highlands.
Earlier this week, volunteer surveyors from Wildlife of the Central Highlands (WOTCH) recorded a critically-endangered Leadbeater's Possum next to the coupe. WOTCH is now calling for the environment minister Lily D’Ambrosio to intervene and put a halt to the logging.
Floater is located just 500 metres south east of Tanglefoot picnic ground in the Toolangi State Forest. The boundary of this coupe goes right up to the much loved Tanglefoot Picnic Ground.
The Tanglefoot Picnic Ground is an iconic area in the heart of the Toolangi Forest to the east of Melbourne – complete with beautiful surrounds, an information stand, picnic tables and a toilet. It is also the gateway to the amazing Kalatha Giant which is 300- 400 years old, and the start of the wonderful and popular Myrtle Gully Walking Track . Its accessibility and rich ecology has led to it being visited by many thousands of tourists each year.
28th June Update
The clearfelling is continuing from the other side of the coupe. There has been recent media about the impacts on threatened species in other nearby coupes, and this helps to build the pressure in terms of stopping this one. With continued pressure there is still a good chance that we stop this destruction of our walking and local environment.
In these photos taken at the Tanglefoot Picnic area on Saturday – you can see the sign for ‘Timber Harvesting’ on the left and the signs for the Myrtle Gully and the Tanglefoot walks on the right. If the clearfelling continues, the trees to the back of this photo will be cleared – severely impacting the whole area.
Eventually the coupe will cover 51 hectares. This will greatly impact on the general beauty of the area and make it far less attractive to visitors. It will see the needless further destruction of precious native forest.
Don’t let this happen
Logging has only just started, so we can still stop this.
Please call the office of the Minister for the Environment, Lily D’Ambrosio and leave a message with the person who answers the phone. Just say you’re ringing with a message for the minister, that you’re concerned that the area behind the iconic Tanglefoot picnic ground near Toolangi is now being prepared to be clearfelled, and request her to intervene urgently to ensure this doesn’t happen.
Minister D’Ambrosio’s office: (03) 9637 9504
They will probably ask you to follow up with a quick email: lily.d’[email protected]
You can use social media to ask the minister to intervene (for instance you can re-tweet this) or write your own post, tag the minister and premier Daniel Andrews and the hashtag #SaveTanglefoot.
