Victoria’s forestry industry leaders met last Friday in Healesville and toured bushfire-affected regions to plan the industry’s recovery after it was devastated during the recent tragedy.
Victorian Association of Forest Industries (VAFI) CEO, Philip Dalidakis and VicForests Director, Cameron MacDonald, said they would be working together to oversee the commencement of salvage logging to recover as much value as possible from burnt trees and get the industry back on track.
“Victoria’s timber industry has suffered heavily through this tragedy,” said Dalidakis.
“Not only have workers lost family, friends, property and equipment, but their industries and livelihoods have also taken a hit through the destruction of mills, timber storages and large areas of forest designated for commercial management.
“Our priority is to assist these people to get back to work and get our industry back to full strength,” Dalidakis said.
The group reviewed the proposed salvage program, before traveling to Marysville and Andersons dump to assess potential storage sites for sawlogs produced from bushfire salvage.
“The correct management of burnt forest resource is incredibly important to the safety and security of local communities and workers,” said Dalidakis.
Next on the agenda is a visit to a harvesting operation at the Black Range to assess the quality assurance prescriptions for salvage harvesting.
“Our industry is made up of passionate and proud members of these regional Victorian communities, and it’s vital that we get this industry back up and running as quickly as possible.” said Dalidakis.
