Goolengook Forest Campaign Update

Spotted-tailed (Tiger) Quoll photo: Jeni McMillan

On the morning of March 5, forest campaigners across the country woke to the shock that the Bracks government had sent the chainsaws and log trucks into Goolengook, arguably the most precious and contentious area of forest on the Australian mainland. What ensued was a 5 week forest rescue campaign against a huge police operation.

Into the Forests of Goolengook

In the far south east of the Australian mainland lies Goolengook, one of the oldest and most spectacular forests to be found anywhere on earth. Some of the largest trees and flowering plants on earth, along with some of our most unique and threatened animals survive here.

In the heart of far East Gippsland north east of Orbost, Goolengook has become a forest icon through intense media attention during the forest rescue blockades since 1996. This is Australia's longest ever running forest rescue blockade.

But on March 5, the day after the blockade's fifth anniversary, over one hundred police and Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) staff moved in as part of a huge operation to remove conservationists, the scale of which has never been seen before in Australia's forests.

Over $550,000 in public money was spent by DNRE alone, in staff and resources to ensure ninety hectares of Goolengook was destroyed. The bill of the police operation is expected to add up to same amount again. The revenue derived from the logs extracted from Goolengook are estimated to be a paltry $80,112.

There were seventy-five arrests over the five weeks of logging, adding to the hundreds who were arrested when the chainsaws were last heard here in 1997, including Greens Senator Bob Brown and mountaineer Brigitte Muir, the first Australia woman ever to climb Mount Everest.

The story of the committed people who spent time in Goolengook during March and early April, would include emotional chapters of courage, determination and an unwavering commitment to the protection of our native forests. Access to the forest rescue blockades involved a five hour trek through remote terrain, from the top of the Errinundra Plateau, down into the upper reaches of the Goolengook catchment and then into the back of the four logging coupes.

Food, climbing equipment, communication gear and shelter all had to be carried in on foot, in one of the largest and most resource intensive forest rescue camps ever seen.

Myself, four other TWS volunteers and Victorian Greens Forest Spokesperson, Adrian Whitehead were led in by some experienced locals over Easter. It's a trek I'll never forget, through some of the most remote and spectacular forests in Australia, from tall old growth forest of the Errinundra Plateau, down into the cool and warm temperate rainforest gullies of the upper Goolengook catchment.

Long before we reach the logging sites, we can hear the sound of the chainsaws, the roar of the logging machinery and the screech of the trees as they fall, hitting the ground with such force that the ground shudders beneath your feet.

As we get close to the boundary of the logging coupe, seeing and feeling the destruction of these ancient forests brings a whole range of emotions to the surface; despair, anger, determination. Then one of the most chilling sounds any of us had ever heard, the final screech of a pair of Yellow-bellied gliders as the tree that was their home is felled and crashes to the ground.

Goolengook encapsulates everything that is rare and breathtaking about East Gippsland. These forests are of World Heritage value, and contain an unrivaled assemblage of flora and fauna which includes a multitude of rare, vulnerable, threatened and endangered species and plant communities.

The Slender Tree-fern is nationally rare and close to extinction in Victoria. The Long-footed Potoroo, only discovered in 1980, and one of Australia's rarest mammals, will suffer from increased mortality from habitat destruction. The Spot-tailed Quoll, the largest marsupial carnivore on the mainland, and related to the Tasmanian Tiger, is threatened with extinction and will suffer from loss of habitat and increased competition. Goolengook is also a strong-hold for the threatened Powerful and Sooty Owls.

Environmental organizations are campaigning to have Goolengook added to the adjacent Errinundra National Park, as the only way to guarantee the protection of old growth forests, endangered species habitat and a variety of rare rainforest communities. This is a most reasonable demand, protecting a tiny area of the best of East Gippsland's forests. The proposed 5000 hectare addition, accounts for less than 0.3% of the East Gippsland Forest Management Area, and half the area is unavailable for logging.

While 90 hectares is gone, Goolengook is still worthy of protection. Over the next three years, no less than 23 further areas (coupes) are scheduled for destruction. Only the declaration of a national Park for "Gook" will stop the chop. The campaign to save these forests will continue to be a priority for The Wilderness Society.

Gavan McFadzean
Victorian Campaigns Manager

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