Latest News
Vic 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 MoreEnvironment Department Takes Axe to Environment Protections
September 23, 2019
Nature conservation groups are alarmed at proposed changes to critical rules to protect forest wildlife and cultural heritage from logging. The Code of Practice for Timber Production (the Code) is the key regulatory tool used to manage native forest logging in Victoria. Proposed changes...
Read MoreEnvironment department plan to cut forest protections
September 23, 2019
UPDATE: The Minster has announced the Code review consultation has been withdrawn and acknowledged there are legitimate concerns around the draft changes. We raised our voices and she listened. It's really important that future changes to logging regulations strengthen environmental protections, not weaken them as...
Read MoreGov’t survey shows public support forest protection, not logging
August 01, 2019
Results of a public survey conducted by the Victorian government show overwhelming support for protecting native forests from logging and provide the Andrews Labor government with a strong platform to protect forests and transition jobs out of the native forest logging sector, say environment...
Read MoreCottonwood range Greater Glider habitat getting the chop
July 30, 2019
An important hot spot for the threatened Greater Glider is being logged. Logging by VicForests in the 'Shazam' coupe in the Cottonwood range on the Errinundra plateau near the town of Bendoc in East Gippsland begun over two weeks ago. The forest supports many...
Read MoreReport shows damning destruction of Greater Glider habitat
July 02, 2019
Our latest report has been published documenting logging of more than 600 hectares of Greater Glider habitat since the species was listed as vulnerable under Victorian legislation in June 2017. Gliding towards extinction - an investigation into Greater Glider habitat logged since the species...
Read MorePressure on Labor to protect forests as flying possum glides towards extinction
July 01, 2019
More than 600 hectares of known Greater Glider habitat has been logged since the animal was listed as vulnerable to extinction under Victorian law and thousands of hectares are planned to be logged, research by environment groups has found.
Read MoreAndrews government logging plan to accelerate extinction and old growth forest destruction
April 25, 2019
The Andrews Labor government’s release of a new logging plan will hasten the decline of Australia’s largest gliding marsupial the Greater Glider, says Goongerah Environment Centre Office (GECO). In June 2017 the Greater Glider was listed as vulnerable to extinction under the Victorian...
Read MoreRainforest illegally logged at Tonghi creek
March 27, 2019
Protected rainforest and rainforest buffers have been illegally logged by VicForests near Tonghi Creek in far East Gippsland. Logging by VicForests in coupe 868-506-0009 "Granton Road" has impacted on rainforest in numerous locations a several hectares of forest that should have been protected in...
Read MoreResponse to independent review of logging regulation GECO / TWS / FoE
March 25, 2019
The Wilderness Society and Goongerah Environment Centre and Friends of the Earth Independent Review of Timber Harvesting Regulation joint response
Read MoreDamning logging report finds Victorian department neither 'effective nor respected'
March 25, 2019
First published in The Guardian by Lisa Cox Victoria’s environment department has been so ineffective at regulating logging in state forests that the government-owned forestry enterprise VicForests has effectively been left to self-regulate, according to an independent review. The report, quietly released on the...
Read More9 out of 10 trees woodchipped on Labor's proposed hiking trail
March 18, 2019
Most trees currently being logged along the route of the proposed Sea to Summit hiking trail are being wood chipped and exported. Planning documents produced by government logging agency VicForests reveal 88% of logs from the 'Smoko' coupe are pulp grade. In February concerns were raised over...
Read MoreGovernment fights to continue old growth logging as Supreme Court trial continues
February 18, 2019
This morning, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) will defend the Government’s continued logging of old growth forests in the face of vehement community opposition, as the trial Fauna and Flora Research Collective Inc v The Secretary to DELWP and VicForests...
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