Media release – Tuesday March 27, 2018

National environment group Friends of the Earth (FoE) has welcomed the announcement by the Andrews government that it will increase protection of the Kuark forest in East Gippsland.

The state and federal governments have extended the Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) for another two years and announced protections for East Gippsland.

Friends of the Earth is calling on the Andrews government to place a moratorium on logging in sensitive areas under new forestry arrangements that are expected to be announced this week and publicly reject logging industry calls to log Victoria’s National Parks.

Old growth forest scheduled for logging in East Gippsland

Friends of the Earth has welcomed New South Wales Labor’s announcement that they will not sign off on Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) unless a full assessment of the science underpinning the decades-old Agreements is completed.

NSW Labor has demanded that climate change be considered as part of a full scientific and environmental impact assessment of the RFAs[1].

Friends of the Earth is calling on the Victorian Labor government to assess impacts on biodiversity and climate change of logging under the existing RFAs.

The community charter of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) states that DELWP will work with regional communities to support liveable, inclusive and sustainable communities and thriving natural environments and that the charter is only as good as its implementation on the ground.

Talk to regional communities experiencing the implementation of logging on the ground from Victoria's Central Highlands to far East Gippsland and you will hear the same story over and over again . . .

As Victorian’s head to the polls this November, the issue of native forest logging is looking increasingly likely to feature as a major environmental issue in the state election campaign.

The overwhelming majority of Victorian voters support protection of native forests, in fact over 90% of Victorian’s want public forests protected for wildlife, tourism, recreation and a safe climate, and only 7% believe public forests should be logged for wood and paper products![1]

Friends of the Earth’s forest campaigners have been hitting the streets in several suburban electorates recently and in our conversations with voters we’re finding people are concerned with economic issues relating to logging and the industry's reliance on public money.

November State Election – We’re Off and Running

In November 2018, Victorians will head to the polls. With community concern about climate change on the rise, it's an issue that all political parties must address in detail.

Our state is undergoing profound change as the population grows, entire industries go to the wall, and climate change starts to really impact on our landscapes, economy and lifestyles. Yet Melbourne continues to sprawl, as low density development covers valuable farmland and remnant vegetation, supported by transport infrastructure that will perpetuate our current reliance on cars.

An election provides all parties with the opportunity to demonstrate leadership on the interconnected issues of climate, energy, social justice, and the economy.

FoE has launched an ambitious election campaign, with policy in the realms of forests and biodiversity, transport and sustainability, and energy, climate and renewables.

We have huge plans for the year! We will be holding a major campaign launch on May 24. 

In the meantime, check our website for full details on our campaign and policy agenda.

You can take action and support our campaign by sending email to the political Party Leaders here.

If you can support our work with a donation, that would be fantastic.

IMAGE: Mt Torbreck - part of the proposed Great Forest National Park. Photo: Justin Cally

Melbourne will soon pass Sydney as Australia’s most populous city. The urban sprawl that is happening to accommodate this growth is putting enormous pressure on transport, public services, and other infrastructure, and making congestion worse.We need big ideas to solve a big - and growing - problem. Here are 3 ideas.

AN ACCESSIBLE CITY

A big part of ensuring our city continues to be livable in coming decades will be the need to build a world class public transport system that is adequate to the needs of a city larger than 5 million people. Infrastructure Victoria has recently warned that, without government intervention, Melbourne will have an extra five hours of peak traffic by 2030.

Check our Get on Board transport plan, available here for our top order priorities for fixing our transport infrastructure.

A COMPACT CITY

Urban sprawl needs to be reined in. We need to ensure there is increased population density around transport corridors, but in a way that meets community needs and expectations, not just the profit imperative of developers.

WORLD CLASS PARKS

This sprawl poses a major threat to remaining open space around the fringes of Melbourne. We are running out of time to protect these landscapes.

In an election year, we need political parties to commit to a world class park system that will protect our city against future sprawl and provide breathing space for the community and protection for key habitats.  

Last year we exposed the Green Building Council of Australia’s (GBCA) dodgy ‘Green star’ ratings. The GBCA award green star ratings for buildings made with timber sourced from unsustainable logging operations in Victoria’s native forests.

Wood certified under the so called 'Responsible Wood' certification scheme (formally Australian Forestry Standard) is being used in so called ‘Green’ buildings that te council has awarded their green tick to. This includes wood from old growth forests, endangered species habitat and critically endangered Mountain Ash forests within the proposed Great Forest National Park

Old growth forest logged in East Gippsland, 2015

As conservationists from the Goongerah Environment Centre (GECO) entered their tenth consecutive day of successfully preventing logging of old growth forest at Granite Mountain in remote East Gippsland, twenty government officials have today arrived on site to break the blockade.

Around fifteen people are at the blockade, established on Monday 22 January. One person is suspended from a tripod structure blocking the logging road.

The Rubicon Forest Protection Group has detected logging in a very important area in the Rubicon Valley right next to the Rubicon Valley Historic reserve and on the Royston River.

The natural heritage, ecological values and tourism value of this beautiful place are being decimated.