The survey results are in!
95% of Werribee constituents surveyed support the proposal for a new Great Forest National Park!
Today, volunteers from the Friends of the Earth Forest Collective delivered hundreds of community surveys about Victoria's native forest to Werribee MP and state treasurer, Tim Pallas.
In total, 292 surveys were collected from constituents of Werribee and surrounding districts including Tarneit, Altona, Laverton, Bellarine and Melton. 231 of respondents were from the district of Werribee itself.
Read a summary of the survey data here
The community surveys were conducted by local volunteers and volunteers from Friends of the Earth and asked members of the public if they were aware that Victoria's native forests are being logged by the state government, how they believe native forests should be used, and if they support the creation of a Great Forest National Park. You can read the full list of questions here.
Above: local volunteers prepped for street surveys with question sheets, maps and record sheets.
Over 95% of the people surveyed in the Werribee electoral district said that forests should be a place where wildlife, trees and nature are protected, and where people can go for recreation. Victorians want forests protected for their value as carbon stores and for the water they supply to our catchments.
These forests add $310 million in value to Victoria's water supply, $260 million to tourism, and $49 million to carbon sequestration, but we're logging them for paper, and logging only contributes a measly $12 million in value to our economy.
We are logging our native forests at a loss to the state. Logging is heavily subsidised by the taxpayer and the state logging company VicForests rarely returns a dividend to taxpayers.
We're calling on Treasurer Tim Pallas to listen to his constituents and invest in the future of Victoria by creating a Great Forest National Park.
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