Click on the links below to read media stories

2021

Last of the large trees: a day at the Errinundra forest blockade - The Guardian - February 28

'Two years after 19 of the threatened Greater Gliders were recorded in remote forest, the area was listed for logging - ABC News - December 8

2020

'The forest is now terribly silent': land set aside for threatened species entirely burnt out - The Guardian - March 22

Victoria's plans for logging in bushfire zones 'grossly irresponsible' - Sydney Morning Herald - April 1

Loggers return to native forests burnt in summer bushfires - The Age - April 30

Alarm raised over logging near 'Lazarus' frog - The Age - October 17

VicForests allowed to resume logging despite risk of ‘irreversible damage’ in fire-hit Gippsland - The Guardian - December 8

Dismay as VicForests allows logging of unburnt forest in East Gippsland for TAFE training - ABC - December 12

2019

Labor stalls on action plan as greater glider slides towards extinction - The Age, July 1st

Damning logging report finds Victorian department neither 'effective nor respected', The Guardian, March 25th

Labor's 'sea to summit' hike trail being clearfelled before it's built - The Age, February 13th 

2018

Logging of old growth forests should stop, Victorian environment department says - The Guardian, December 19th

Victorian election round up: Forests - The Guardian, November 22nd 

Questions over logging of Victorian state forests - ABC Australia wide program, November 22nd

Government owned logging company accused of illegally logging state forests- 7:30 ABC, November 21st

Australia's endangered forests are being stolen and sold in hardware and office stores - ABC News, November 21st

Possum protection zones could be chopped in coalition timber plan - The Age, November 18th

Victorian election round up: how logging policy could fell Labor - The Guardian, November 1st 

Vic logging review after prosecution fails - AAP, September 27th

Environment minister demands explanation after logging charges thrown out of court - ABC News, August 31st

Logging that kills gliders done so intensively it 'may have breached law' - ABC News, July 31st

Greater Glider at risk from Victoria logging - Sydney Morning Herald, July 30th 

The Dark of night - Special Investigation into VicForests Greater Glider experiment - ABC TV, July 29th

VicForests says experiment 'very likely' to kill threatened glider, continues research - ABC News, July 29 

Quoll-ity viewing: Rare native predator found in Victorian forest - The Age, May 12th 

A new start (story about our campaigner Dave and his move to Gippsland) - Gippslandia Magazine, April 20th

Greater Glider hotspot logged against Victorian government's own advice - The Guardian, April 10th

Kuark Forest and old growth trees to be protected as Victorian Government extends forest agreements - ABC news, March 27

Forestry agreements extended in Victoria but big trees get protection - Sydney Morning Herald, March 27th

Victoria calls on federal government to fund fresh reviews of forestry agreements - The Guardian, March 27th

Coalition accuses green groups of misleading public on forestry agreements- The Guardian, March 23rd

VicForests charged over alleged illegal logging in Gippsland forest - The Age, March 8th

VicForests charged over alleged illegal logging of rainforest near Cann River in East Gippsland - ABC news, March 9th

The forest wars: loggers v greenies in Victoria, NSW - The Australian, March 1st

Andrews government accused of 'impotent approach' to logging breaches - The Age, February 25th

Police get a lift as they try to remove high-rise logging protesters - The Age, January 31st

2017

Saved! Victoria's Kuark Forest Has Been Spared... For Now - Huffington Post, November 1st

The Desperate Fight To Stop These 500-Year-Old Aussie Forest Giants Becoming Office Paper - Huffington Post, October 31st

Conservationists win court battle to stop clearing of old-growth Victorian forest - The Guardian, November 1st

'Extreme step' as conservationists halt Kuark forest old-growth logging in far east Gippsland - ABC News, November 1st 

Supreme Court shuts down Andrews government plan to log untouched forest - The Age, November 1st

Logging of Victorian old-growth forest ‘cannot proceed’, lawyers say - The Guardian, October 26th 

Logging trucks on collision course with protesters over old-growth forest- The Age, October 31st

Northcote byelection: Greens tap into groundswell of support for forest protection - The Guardian, November 15th

Pressure on Andrews as Northcote voters back push for Great Forest National Park - The Age, October 25th

Endangered animals threatened by logging, environment groups allege - The Age, September 10th

Green jobs not timber - Green Left Weekly, July 7th

Mixed reaction to mill news - Gippsland Times, July 6th

Heyfield workers push for greater supply despite fears forests 'running out of wood' - The Guardian, July 4th

VicForests apologises for dead koala, continues logging threatened possum area - The Age, July 1st

Dead koala found in logging coupe reignites push for new protected national park - The Age, June 25th 

Scientists warn greater glider faces extinction and want it protected from logging - The Age, June 2nd 

Environmentalists who exposed logging have charges thrown out - The Age, February 26th

Battle lines drawn in new round of the 'forest wars' -ABC RN Breakfast, February 9th

East Gippsland Regional Forest Agreement given last-minute extension - ABC News, February 3rd

2016

Logging suspended in Victoria's east after reported discovery of rare 'clumsy possums'- ABC News, January 28th

Environmentalists accuse state logger of forest survey conflict of interest - ABC News, AM program, February 17th

Greater glider discovery prompts call for change to pre-logging surveys - ABC News, February 17th

The Department has failed to put in the proper protections for a Large Brown Tree Frog detection on Mt Jersey. We're sick of the Department failing to regulate the rogue loggers, they need to charge VicForests and start acting to protect forests and wildlife, not look after the interests of the logging industry.

Take action now, email Minister D'Ambrosio to push her Department to take action

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 groups.  

• Survey shows Victorian public say future of industry is in plantations
• Victorians support protecting forests and improved forest recreation opportunities
• Results show no need to continue with failed Regional Forest Agreements 

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 was listed as threatened under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act highlights how government inaction and failing environmental laws are having dire consequences for forest dependent threatened species in Victoria.

Goongerah Environment Centre (GECO) and Friends of the Earth are today calling on the next Victorian government to abolish state owned logging agency VicForests and formally protect Victoria’s forests from logging after a special investigation by ABC news has revealed hundreds of areas of native forest have been logged in areas that VicForests is not permitted to operate.

Tonight on 7:30 the ABC will detail widespread and systematic unlawful logging occurring across eastern Victoria under successive governments. 

Logging in one of the areas not allocated to VicForests

In late July ABC news exposed a shocking experiment being conducted by state owned logging company VicForests. The agency is logging the habitat of Greater Gliders, an animal already threatened with extinction, to see how many survive. 

VicForests released a lengthy statement justifying the so called 'research' that has been labelled the terrestrial equivalent of so called scientific whaling.  

Click here to view the ABC news TV story. 

The Victorian government’s logging agency VicForests is conducting a controversial experiment in East Gippsland that it says is ‘very likely’ to kill Greater Gliders, a forest species listed as vulnerable to extinction.

Originally published in The Age - By Farrah Tomazin, 25 February, 2018

The Andrews government has spent years investigating claims of unlawful logging against its state-owned timber company without enforcing any penalties.

Documents reveal Victoria's environment department is currently probing 27 alleged forest breaches against VicForests, reported by the community between January 2016 and December 2017 - including multiple claims involving rainforests, where timber harvesting is prohibited.

again earn credits for generating clean energy, but there's dispute about whether burning native forest waste for energy is 'carbon neutral'. Background Briefing reports.

Originally published on the ABC website 

Confidential documents reveal the VicForests has been exporting whole logs to China for rock bottom prices. In the absence of a viable market for so called 'residual' timber, after the collapse of the export woodchip market, VicForests are stopping to new lows here by exporting unprocessed timber and exporting jobs. Our forests are worth so much more standing than they are as unprocessed logs heading to China for rock bottom prices.

The Andrew's government appears to have relaxed restrictions on the the export of unprocessed materiel. It's a move that has angered environmentalists and the Unions. Looks like the rogue agency VicForests has the government wrapped around their finger. 

The story broke in The Age newspaper this morning. GECO's Ed Hill spoke with the ABC, explaining that in the language of VicForests, 'residue' actually means whole trees from high conservation value forests. Click read more for media.