Victorian forests

From the towering Mountain Ash forests of the Central Highlands to the old-growth rainforests of East Gippsland, Victoria's native forests are truly awe-inspiring.

The forests are home to a vast array of unique and wonderful plants and wildlife – including Victoria's faunal emblem, the Leadbeater's Possum.

Victoria's forests are also some of the most carbon rich on Earth, and they act as natural water filters that deliver clean drinking water to millions of Victorians.

However, the past 200 years have seen almost three quarters of the state's forests cleared. This deforestation, combined with almost half a century of logging and three major bushfires in the past decade, means Victoria is now facing a biodiversity crisis.

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The issue

Victoria's forests continue to be logged at a rate of nearly 5,500 hectares annually – that's an area eight times the size of the Melbourne Cricket Ground logged every single day.

Logging in Gun Barrel coup off Sylvia Creek Road, Toolangi July 2011. Photo by the Wilderness Society

The wood is mostly woodchipped and turned into cheap paper products including Reflex – the flagship brand of foreign-owned paper company, Australian Paper.

Australian Paper is the largest purchaser of wood from Victoria's native forests, despite a ready supply of plantation timber that could easily satisfy domestic paper needs. Plantations provide more jobs, by tonne, than native forest logging, and the only reason native logging has remained profitable is because it's propped up by government subsidies.

Logging in Victoria's native forests poses a myriad of problems. For starters, logging and post-logging burns release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, contributing to dangerous climate change. Globally, 'logging and land-use changes' account for 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions.

At least 230 animal species and 860 plant species are listed as threatened in Victoria. Half these animals and a third of these plants occur in forest that is subject to logging. Populations of Baw Baw Frogs and Sooty Owls have plummeted in recent years, and a combination of logging and fire has pushed the iconic Leadbeater's Possum almost to extinction.

Clearfell logging impacts both the quality and quantity of the rainwater collected in our catchments and, as scientists have recently confirmed, it increases the risk of bushfires.

In rural Victoria, logging threatens a way of life that no longer depends on destroying native forests, and undermines modern forms of income generation such as responsibly managed plantations, agriculture and the tourism.

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Leadbeater's Possum

Victoria's Leadbeater's Possum, a marsupial so tiny it can be held in the palm of your hand, was declared extinct in the 1950s.

The Leadbeater's Possum is one of Victoria's species facing extinction. Photo by Dan Harley

This explains why Eric Wilkinson was so surprised to spot a Leadbeater's Possum in the bushland around Marysville during a field trip in 1961. The rediscovery of the Leadbeater's Possum was considered so miraculous that the creature was chosen as Victoria's faunal emblem.

Unfortunately, the Possum is once again facing extinction as its home in the Central Highlands forests continues to be ravaged by fire and logging.

The tragic Black Saturday bushfires of 2009 burned almost 50% of the Leadbeaters' habitat but, despite calls for change from leading scientists, logging in their forest home continues.

What is the Wilderness Society doing?

The Wilderness Society has been working to protect Victoria's remaining native forest for decades. We've seen some great successes over the years (in areas like East Gippsland, for example) but there is still much work to be done – especially in the state's east where logging continues at a ferocious pace.

At the 2010 Victorian election, after years of campaigning by the Wilderness Society and other environment groups, the Labor government finally acknowledged logging as an issue of public concern and committed to abolishing state logging agency, VicForests. But when the incoming Liberal-National coalition threw its support back behind the industry, we decided to take a different tack.

Hence the birth of the Ethical Paper campaign, which focuses on reducing the demand for native forest woodchips by educating consumers about products to avoid. At the heart of the campaign is the Ethical Paper Pledge – a commitment to stop purchasing Reflex paper until its producer, Australian Paper, stops sourcing pulp from Victoria's native forests.

Since the launch of the campaign, thousands of individuals and organisations have taken the pledge. As a direct result, the pressure is now building on Australian Paper, the Reflex brand, and one of Reflex's biggest suppliers, Officeworks.

In conjunction with the Ethical Paper campaign, we're continuing to work with communities at a grassroots level to protect Victoria's magnificent native forests for future generations to enjoy.

What can I do?

1 Sign the Ethical Paper Pledge

Sign the Pledge at www.ethicalpaper.com.au and join thousands of other businesses and individuals who have committed to stop purchasing Reflex paper until Australian Paper stops sourcing pulp from Victoria's native forests.

2 Buy recycled paper

When you must use copy paper, makes sure it's100% post-consumer recycled. Visit http://www.ethicalpaper.com.au/index.php?solution=solution#buyrecycledpaper for a list of products that fit this description.

3 Join the Wilderness Society

As a member, your small monthly contribution will go a long way toward protecting Victoria's forests and other wild places all over Australia. Check out www.wilderness.org.au/join to find out how.

Useful links

To stay up to date on all the latest wilderness news, follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/wilderness.society and Twitter: www.twitter.com/wildernesstweet

The Friends of Leadbeater's Possum website is a great place to learn more about Victoria's threatened faunal emblem: http://leadbeaters.org.au

Visit our friends at My Environment to learn about the historic Sylvia Creek court case: www.myenvironment.net.au