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Save Mt Macedon snow gums

Photo credit: Tanya Loos

This action is now complete. Thank you to all our supporters. We encourage you to sign our petition calling for Snow Gums to be listed as a Threatened Ecological Community by the federal government.

Snow Gum woodland is being cleared this week at Mt Macedon! Email Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny and Environment Minister Enver Erdogan now to demand that the clearing stop immediately.

Right now, native forest is being cleared at the Mount Macedon Memorial Cross to restore ‘views’ for visitors. These works, led by Parks Victoria, began on April 13 2026 and include the removal of Snow Gums from a rare and sensitive ecosystem.

Despite opposition from community members and Macedon Ranges Shire Council, Victorian Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny has overridden local decisions and given the green light to clear high-value biodiversity on public land.

People do not come to Mt Macedon for views of Melbourne’s sprawling outer suburbs. Many come from Melbourne to have a break from the city and enjoy the quiet tranquillity of the forest. There are already several viewpoints of the surrounding land from the top of Mt Macedon, so we do not need to clear any more forest for another view - especially around the Memorial Cross which is a place for quiet reflection.

 

Why is this happening?

The Mt Macedon Memorial Cross Committee has been pushing to cut down Snow Gums to ‘restore’ historic views of Melbourne from the Cross. The works will clear almost 0.8 hectares of a nationally significant and highly threatened ecosystem - Montane Grassy Woodland - simply for aesthetics.

The proposal was rejected by Macedon Ranges Shire Council in 2023, after strong community opposition. Instead of respecting that decision, the project has been pushed through using a state-level planning pathway behind closed doors.

 

Why this must be stopped

Loss of a rare ecosystem: The clearing targets Montane Grassy Woodland, an ecological community that is incredibly limited in central and western Victoria. These Montane Snow Gum forests exist in only a handful of locations; support native wildlife and biodiversity; and provide natural climate refuges. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.

False offsets: Suggestions that planting Snow Gums in former pine plantations could “replace” what’s destroyed show a lack of ecological understanding. The complex web of species in Montane Grassy Woodland cannot be recreated. Normal native vegetation laws do not apply and instead use the opaque Crown Land Procedure.

Climate pressures: With Snow Gum woodlands already at risk from climate change, every remaining stand is vital for resilience. Cutting down these trees undermines their survival. A significant number of trees were removed on the north face of Mt Macedon by Parks Victoria in 2014 for the café view scape. 

Community values: The Macedon Memorial Cross was created to honour those lost in war. Damaging living memorials of nature undermines the very spirit of remembrance and peaceful contemplation. 

 

The bottom line: This is a test of whether nature protection in Victoria is real, or just rhetoric. As a community, we must make it clear that cutting down rare native forest for a better view of Melbourne’s sprawling suburbs is not acceptable.

Send your email to Sonya Kilkenny, Mary-Anne Thomas and Enver Erdogan now!

The most effective thing you can do is write your own email using the text in the form letter on the right. Grab the text, modify it as you want to, and email them directly with your contact details:

If you are using our form letter, please modify the subject line so it is more likely to get through the spam filters in the minister's email account. 

You can also call Minister Sonya Kilkenny's office on 03 8684 1111 and repeat the points above.

Thanks to our friends at the Victorian National Parks Association for the background materials.

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