VicForests refutes claims made by ABC regarding illegal harvesting saying the ABC has based its story on a narrow interpretation of the Sustainable Forests (Timber) Act 2004. Under the Act, VicForests must comply with the terms and information described in the Allocation Order as gazetted. Sources: Timberbiz, ABC News
The ABC stated in its story “Australia’s endangered forests are being ‘stolen’ and sold in hardware and office stores” that thousands of hectares of state forest appear to have been logged or earmarked for logging illegally … amounting to what some say is the mass “theft” by a government-owned for-profit logging company.
The ABC also stated that endangered ecosystems are being felled and that the ‘apparently’ illegal logging is also threatening the habitats of animals such as Leadbeater’s possum.
However, the ABC’s story relies on words such as ‘apparently’, ‘appears to be’ and ‘planning of logging’, and quotes such as this which is stating the obvious without adding any substance.
“If VicForests is logging timber that hasn’t been allocated to them, then they’re taking and selling timber that doesn’t belong to them,” said Danya Jacobs, a lawyer at Environmental Justice Australia. “And another way of putting that is, it’s tantamount to stealing timber from public forests.”
The Victorian Government determines where VicForests can log in state forests by creating what is known as an “allocation order”.
According to the Sustainable Forests (Timber) Act 2004, only trees within that allocation can be harvested for sale — and all other timber in state forests remains the property of the Crown. But the ABC says that VicForests appears to be taking trees from outside its allocation at hundreds of locations across the state.
“It’s theft. Essentially these forests belong to all Victorians and by logging them, VicForests is stealing from all Victorians,” said Ed Hill, an environmental activist employed by Friends of the Earth. According to the ABC he was one of the first to notice VicForests was regularly planning logging of timber it did not own.
VicForests says it is confident its operations are consistent with the Allocation Order including the forest zoning scheme. This matter was subject to an investigation by DELWP and no action was taken against VicForests.
VicForests takes its obligation to responsibly harvest native forest timber seriously. All timber harvesting and regeneration operations have and will be conducted in conformance with Victoria’s strict environmental regulations and the State’s Forest Management Zoning scheme.
VicForests continues to support improvements to harvesting regulations and practices and will work with responsible agencies towards this goal.
