VicForests has strongly rejected allegations Melbourne’s drinking water is being put at risk by “widespread” illegal logging near water catchment areas. In Victoria, regulations prohibit logging on steep slopes — usually more than 30 degrees — to protect the integrity of critical water catchments used for drinking and agriculture. Source: Timberbiz
But the ANU’s Chris Taylor and David Lindenmayer claim to have found 231 hectares of steep slopes in Victoria’s Central Highlands have been clear-felled — an area larger than Melbourne’s Docklands.
VicForests said that its harvesting in water catchment areas complied with relevant regulations, including complying with slope limits.
CEO Monique Dawson said the Code for Timber Production allowed harvesting on slopes in water catchments, provided no more than 10% of a coupe’s harvestable area exceeded the slope limit.
“We have complied with this rule,” said Ms Dawson. “We determine slopes by using the latest LiDar (light detection and ranging) technology, which has almost 30 times better resolution than the methods cited in recent media reports.”
Any concerns about our practices should be referred to the Office of the Conservation Regulator, which is the responsible authority for determining allegations of a Code breach.
Ms Dawson said VicForests did very little harvesting in catchments, where restrictions are in place.
In the Thompson catchment, VicForests only harvests on average 150ha a year out of about 44,000ha in the catchment – which is 0.3%, or around 3 trees in 1000.
Ms Dawson said VicForests only asks contractors to harvest on slopes if it complies with regulation.
