The Victorian Supreme Court has ruled that logging could resume in the region’s Gun Barrel forest coupe, and has dismissed claims that proposed logging projects in two further coupes posed a threat to the environment.
Environmentalists had claimed the logging of forest near Toolangi, northeast of Melbourne, posed a serious threat to the Leadbeater’s possum, whose numbers halved to 2000 in the 2009 bushfires.
Logging at one of three proposed sites began last year but was stopped following a legal challenge from the MyEnvironment group, which wanted state-owned timber company VicForests to permanently halt logging in the forest.
Justice Robert Osborn found the logging did not breach the forest management plan that governs the area.
The judge ruled that the outcome MyEnvironment was seeking was disproportionate to any threat posed by the logging.
“MyEnvironment has not established that the very limited logging now proposed within Gun Barrel by way of variable retention harvesting constitutes a threat of serious or irreversible damage to the environment,” Justice Osborn said.
Victorian Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh said the decision endorsed VicForests’ sustainable forestry practices and the MyEnvironment legal action was a deliberate tactic to tie up resources.
“Forest protest actions aimed at stalling lawful logging activities in the Central Highlands to the end of January has cost government hundreds of thousands of dollars in protest management and legal fees this year,” the Minister said in a statement.
VicForests spokesman Nathan Trushell said there remained a need to remove ambiguity in the rules which govern the native forest timber industry and VicForests supported the court’s suggestion of a review of the zoning system for the possum following the 2009 bushfires.
The Victorian Association of Forest Industries (VAFI) has also welcomed the findings of the Supreme Court.
VAFI CEO Lisa Marty said the finding showed VicForests made significant efforts to balance the ecological, social and economic values of Victoria’s forests.
“Conservation of biodiversity and in particular for threatened species is vital for sustainable forest management, and this needs to be conducted in a transparent and accountable way,” Marty said.
“This case shows this accountability exists, and that advocacy groups can go beyond public compliance audits and investigations by the regulator, the Department of Sustainability and Environment, to question the activities of VicForests in court.
“This clearly demonstrates the extent of regulation, scrutiny and safeguards under which VicForests operate.”
Marty said it was unfortunate in excess of a million dollars was spent on legal action, rather than My Environment choosing constructive engagement with VicForests for improved conservation of threatened species and other ecological values.
“VicForests continues to make significant investments in monitoring and reporting on the status of threatened species through its survey work,” she said.
“We support the effective conservation of threatened species and other ecological values, and we hope that all parties look for opportunities to collaborate for positive ecological, social and economic outcomes.
“We also need to look beyond the 0.07% of our public native forest harvested annually for timber production and work together to ensure the entire forest estate is well managed.
“This includes the 60 percent, or 4.8 million hectares, of forest in National Parks and other formal conservation reserves.”