Protesters are occupying an area of forest about to be logged on the Errinundra Plateau in East Gippsland. One local community member has taken residence in a tree-sit suspended 40 metres up a giant Eucalypt tree to halt destruction of the area. The tree-sit is located in one of the last unburnt areas of forest in East Gippsland for endangered wildlife heavily impacted by last year’s bushfire.
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View from the tree-sit over the Errinundra Plateau
Government owned VicForests have ignored advice from the Government’s Environment Department that logging in the area should not go ahead, in what scientists call the ‘best of the best’ habitat remaining for bushfire affected wildlife like the Greater Glider. In October last year, the Department released a damning assessment reaffirming the dangerous threat logging has to the survival of a number of threatened species impacted by
the devastating bushfires.
Despite the horrific impacts of the bushfires there have been no changes to logging schedules and additional areas have been added to logging plans since fires raged across eastern Victoria last year. The Errinundra Plateau, which survived the catastrophic bushfire, now has more than 60 areas earmarked for logging.
Statement from East Gippsland local occupying a tree-sit structure in the forest:
“Sometimes the most extreme actions are needed to expose the wrongs that our society keeps repeating. Today I climbed 40 metres on an ancient tree about to be logged in the unburnt Errinundra Plateau of East Gippsland by VicForests and the Andrews Government.”
“This business of logging native forests makes no environmental, social or economic sense. What’s more, in East Gippsland the crime is even crueler. Just a year after losing 80% of all forests in our worst bushfires in history, the Andrews government is allowing logging in this
precious unburnt area.”
“The Errinundra Plateau needs immediate protection. We’re fighting for the last refuges for wildlife, flora, and people’s wellbeing. That’s why I ask Daniel Andrews directly to step up to the occasion and protect the Errinundra Plateau. This is the place where people come to sooth the wounds of a burnt heart. This is the place where wildlife still can thrive. This is the place we need to save. From someone that lives and loves these forests, please protect the Errinundra Plateau.”
Media contact:
Chris Schuringa
0418 912 625