Defend Errinundra
A post-fire blockade for an irreplaceable refuge
The forests of Errinundra are unique. They are a refuge to numerous endemic plants and threatened species like the Errinundra Shining Gum (E. denticulata) and the Southern Greater Glider (Petauroides volans).
Amongst the towering high-altitude wet eucalypt forests of the plateau is nestled the largest tract of cool-temperate rainforest in mainland Australia.
High yearly rainfall and low night temperature averages makes the Errinundra Plateau a climate refuge for high altitude forests and species. It has been named 'the wettest place in Victoria' by senior botanist and rainforest expert David Cameron.
It's special.
Due to its high environmental values, the Errinundra Plateau has been a site of struggle between conservationists and the logging industry for many decades.
Protests in 1983 led to the creation of the Errinundra National Park only a few years later. However, the odd-shaped boundaries of the park left many important areas still at the mercy of chainsaws.
Since our foundation in 1993, preventing logging and attaining permanent protection for the Errinundra Plateau has been a primary the focus of GECO.
The Black Summer bushfires on 2019 - 2020 hit 81% of the forested area of East Gippsland. The Errinundra Plateau remained a critical high elevation unburnt refuge. Despite this, the Victorian Government allowed logging to resume.
In early 2021, GECO launched the Defend Errinundra blockade. It lasted for 4 months, resulted in 15 people being charged, and included the Bidewell-Maap Traditional Owners successfully preventing logging within the Bidewell reserve.
On the 13th of May 2021, Environment East Gippsland secured an injunction that stopped logging in East Gippsland. This court case in the end provided the tipping point for the state government to announce the end of logging by 2024, 6 years earlier than planned.
Protest meant the plateau survived to see this important win. Take action here to protect the right to protest.