Forest Resources
Survey of Vegetation and Vertebrate Fauna in The Ada Forest Block
This document was was developed by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources 1995.
It was with drawn from public prior the the Regional Forest Agrements until it was released to MyEnvironment thorugh freedom of information.
As such the information that it contains was not considered during the Regional Forest Agreements and the calculation of sustainable yield
Despite the significant findings of rare, threatend and endanged species the sites have been heavily logged by VicForests and continue to be logged.
Ada Block Report.pdf 6.95 MB
Timber Industry Action Plan
The Timber Industry Action Plan recognises the significant role the Victorian native and plantation timber industry plays
in our State’s economy.
A central theme of the Plan is that for this important industry to have a successful future, it requires greater policy certainty to deliver a secure investment environment. The Victorian Government is providing leadership in this area.
Regional Forest Agreements
Details of the regional forest agreements
On The Ground 2011 - The controversies of PEFC and SFI
International Report Reveals Global Failure of PEFC Forest Certification Standard
Today, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, The Wilderness Society and My Environment have released an international report detailing repeated failures of the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) forest certification standard. The report is being released globally today.
The report, On the Ground 2011
, is a joint project between NGOs in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. It uses case studies from the US, Canada, Australia, Indonesia, Europe and Malaysia to show that PEFC certified products are being sourced from areas where high value forests are being destroyed and human and community rights are being abused. The PEFC stamp and its Australian affiliate AFS is displayed on a wide range of forest products sold in Australia from toilet paper to timber flooring.
An Australian supplement to the report by Victorian conservation group My Environment also details problems with the ongoing certification of Australian Paper, maker of Reflex paper, under the local PEFC standard the Australian Forestry Standard (AFS).
“Forest certification is supposed to provide assurance to consumers that the products they are buying are sourced from responsibly managed forests,” said Reece Turner, Forests Campaigner for Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
“But as this report shows, behind the green-looking label, the PEFC in many cases signs-off on the destruction of tropical rainforests in places like Chile, Borneo and Indonesia and ignores the concerns and complaints of indigenous and environment organisations.”
“ Certification standards rely on credibility in the market place. It is increasingly clear that the PEFC and AFS logos cannot be trusted by consumers to deliver high environmental and social standards for forest products,” said Warrick Jordan, National Forest Campaigner for The Wilderness Society.
“PEFC and AFS must fundamentally change their approach if they are to become anything other than greenwash for bad forestry practices. If consumers are given the choice, they will choose highly credible certification standards such as the Forest Stewardship Council every time over untrustworthy schemes such as AFS.”
“The PEFC standard is greenwashing bad forestry practices all over the globe, from the tropical forests of Indonesia to the majestic ash forests of Victoria’s Central Highlands,” said Sarah Rees, spokesperson for My Environment.
“In Victoria Australian Paper continues to produce its Reflex paper brand from wood from core habitat of the endangered leadbeater’s possum, and AFS and PEFC have failed to address community complaints on logging and consultation (see attached supplementary report). Our experience is that these standards are not responding to legitimate community concern over destructive logging practices.”
Newly discovered landscape traps produce regime shifts in wet forests
David B. Lindenmayer,1, Richard J. Hobbsb, Gene E. Likensa,c,1, Charles J. Krebsd, and Samuel C. Banksa
aFenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia; bSchool of Plant Biology, University of Western
Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia; cCary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, 12545; and dDepartment of Zoology, University of
British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4
Contributed by Gene E. Likens, August 4, 2011 (sent for review May 28, 2011)
Monitoring of Annual Harvesting Performance
Monitoring Annual Harvesting Performance (MAHP) was a former government initiative to ensure that commercial timber harvesting operations are undertaken in Victoria’s State forests on a sustainable basis.
The recent MAHP outlined breaches by VicForests to the allocation areas. VicForests has over logged 305.4 hectares according to exceptions reports prepared by VicForests
DSE Mountain Ash File
A chart that shows how much original Mountain Ash forest remains unburnt and unlogged. A meagre 1.2%
BAER logging overlay
BAER LOGGING OVERLAY MAP - Logging of the habitat of the Barred Galaxias and the Leadbeaters Possum. This mapping was hidden from the public until 2010 when MyEnvironment Inc. was leaked a copy, the DSE will provide it to members of the public NOW if they ring up. We, however, believe everyone should have access to the data our taxes pay for.
Logging overlay BAER.pdf 4.75 MB
FSC Article - Fifth Estate
A summary of the challenges facing third party wood certification in Australia.