Supreme Court Orders VicForests to put endangered species before logging interests

Media Release
The Wilderness Society Victoria Inc
12 August 2010

In a landmark decision today, the Supreme Court has found that the government has a responsibility to look for and protect endangered wildlife before logging.

Environment East Gippsland took state logging agency VicForests to court to prevent logging of the old growth forests at Brown Mountain in the far east of the state. In the case, local environment group, Environment East Gippsland (EEG), demonstrated the gross inadequacies of Victoria’s pre-logging flora and fauna surveys, capturing video footage of the endangered Long Footed Potoroo, just hours after the state government declared that surveys of the area had found no threatened species, and that logging would proceed.

Yesterday’s judgment found the area to be critical habitat for the potoroo and other threatened species, the greater gliders and yellow-bellied gliders, the spot-tailed quoll and two species of endangered frogs, the giant burrowing frog and the large brown tree frog.

The court ruled that if it had gone ahead, logging at Brown Mountain would have been unlawful because it contained habitat for endangered species, and that the VicForests is not complying with the law if it allows logging to occur in endangered species habitat.

“It’s appalling that a local environment group has to resort to using the courts to hold the state government’s logging agency VicForests accountable for not doing it’s job. Conservationists have brought case after case to the state government of VicForests ignoring evidence and scheduling logging in endangered species habitat,” said Victorian Campaigns Manager for The Wilderness Society, Gavan McFadzean.

“It’s time for the Brumby government to act, by protecting Victoria’s high conservation value native forests from logging. It is a lack of leadership that has meant that these issues are now being resolved in the courts.”

“This judgment has implications for all native forests that are set to be destroyed by logging,” said Environment East Gippsland spokesperson Jill Redwood.

“If we hadn’t sued VicForests, Brown Mountain would have been illegally logged by now.  And Brown Mountain is just one area.  The government is logging publicly owned forests every day without endangered species surveys.”

“We are calling on the government to respect the judgment by stopping logging in native forests that may contain rare wildlife, until the full implications of this judgment are examined.”

“VicForests, the Government-owned logging monopoly, has a legal responsibility to protect endangered wildlife. They can’t just go in and log blindfolded.”

“This extraordinary court case isn’t just about protecting Brown Mountain’s rich and ancient ark of rare wildlife; it’s about forcing the government to abide by its laws as anyone else would”, said Ms Redwood.

Environment groups are now concerned that the government may attempt to alter the laws to allow the destruction of endangered species habitat, as happened in Tasmania in 2008.

“The government must now honour the law, not alter it”, said Ms Redwood.