Latest News
10-year legal exemptions rolled over, State and Federal govs fail to protect threatened species
April 01, 2020
Legal exemption for the logging industry from federal environment law was signed off on Monday for another ten years in spite of the horrific impacts of the bushfires on forests and wildlife. Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) are agreements between State and Federal governments...
Read MorePhotos reveal Kuark forest devastated by recent bushfires
March 22, 2020
After a five year long community campaign, the iconic Kuark forest in East Gippsland was finally protected by the Victorian government. Tragically, Kuark was severely impacted by the devastating fires of 2019/2020. Kuark forest was one of the most bio-diverse forests in Victoria, rich...
Read MoreEnvironment Dept. allow VF contractors to go rogue on roadside clearing
March 03, 2020
Roadside clearing operations on the Princes Highway are complete, and now along hundreds of kilometres of tracks through burnt and unburnt forests, roadside logging is well underway. VicForests cowboys have been contracted by the Environment Department for hazardous tree removal, and they've been given...
Read MoreLogging industry 'suspended' pending closure in East Gippsland
February 07, 2020
VicForests has cancelled logging contracts in East Gippsland following the catastrophic bush fires this summer. It's estimated that around 50% of forests previously scheduled to be logged have been burnt by the fires, forcing VF to rethink its plans and suspend logging until at...
Read MoreEmail the Premier to protect forests, and rule out salvage logging
February 03, 2020
In November 2019 the Daniel Andrews government announced a commitment for all logging in native forests across the state to stop by 2030. Now this summer’s fires have added an urgent need to protect what remains. The ecological devastation of the bushfires has been...
Read MoreRainforests turned to ashes and logging industry calls to loot burnt forests
January 27, 2020
Below is footage of Martin's Creek, the largest area of warm temperate rainforest in Victoria that burnt in the bushfires in East Gippsland. Meanwhile the logging industry has been asking for government funding to salvage log in burnt areas. This is essentially further destroying...
Read MoreUrgent action for the Greater Glider
January 20, 2020
GECO along with our friends at Wildlife of the Central Highlands (WOTCH) have put together an email action for the the threatened Greater Glider. According to a leaked government report 25% of the remaining population of Greater Gliders is estimated to have perished in...
Read MoreTown of Goongerah devastated by fires
January 07, 2020
The small community of Goongerah in East Gippsland has been horribly impacted by fires still raging across the country. All residents are safe and accounted for, but 10 people have lost their homes. The town remains cut off, and the impact these fires have...
Read MoreMassive year for East Gippsland's forests!
December 23, 2019
We want to say a huge THANK YOU to all the people who wrote to politicians, made submissions, donated, signed petitions, and shared our posts. Thanks to you we’ve had some important wins, and we’re gearing up for another year of campaigning for permanent...
Read MoreHave your say, scrap the draft old growth forests tool
December 12, 2019
The government announced the protection of 90,000ha of old growth forests, but VicForests' have been left in charge of finding and protecting them using an inadequate field verification tool which declassifies old growth forest. The Environment Departments' Office of Conservation Regulator (OCR) are currently...
Read MoreOld growth forests still being logged, take action now
November 21, 2019
The Premier and Environment Minister promised to protect old growth forests, but old growth forests are still being logged right now. We need to know how they're going to stick to their commitment and ban old growth logging for good. Send the premier and...
Read MoreBreaking down the gov’s announcement; What does this actually mean for Victoria’s forests?
November 09, 2019
It’s been an emotional few days following the Victorian government announcement that logging native forests will end in 2030. The government has also committed to state-wide protections for 90,000ha of old growth forests, and 96,000ha of new protected areas, 48,500 of which are...
Read MoreVic govt takes positive and welcome first step to protect native forests
November 07, 2019
Goongerah Environment Centre and Friends of the Earth have today welcomed the Victorian government announcement of protection of 96,000 hectares of forests in eastern Victoria and complete and immediate protection of 90,000 hectares of old growth forest, but say more details and maps are...
Read MoreMinister abandons dodgy code review
October 25, 2019
Last month the environment minister Lily D’Ambrosio abandoned alarming proposed changes to the ‘Code of Practice for Timber Production’ after huge concerns were raised by environment groups. Over a thousand people emailed the minister to scrap the proposed changes, which would have taken an...
Read MoreRare Satinwood under threat from logging at Mt. Buck rainforest
October 03, 2019
Geco citizen scientists have discovered the rare Satanwood (Nematolepis squamea subsp. Squamea) plant within a rainforest site of significance about to be logged by Vicforests in East Gippsland As we write, Less than 2000 individual Satinwood plants are known to exist in Victoria. With...
Read More