Environmental advocates across Victoria are raising serious alarms, claiming that significant timber removal, including vital habitat trees, is continuing in state forests under the guise of fire management operations. This concern comes despite the statewide ban on native timber harvesting implemented earlier this year.

Standing amidst a diverse native forest near Forty Mile Break in Noojee, in Victoria's East, local observer Blake Nesbit points to a towering mountain grey gum. This ancient tree, with its prominent hollows, is a known refuge for critically endangered species, including Victoria's fauna emblem, the Leadbeater's possum, and greater gliders. “Our group and myself have personally observed greater gliders emerging from its hollows on various nights,” Nesbit explains. “Even a quick look confirms it has suitable large hollows that could be hosting numerous animals.”

Habitat Under Threat?

Since the cessation of native timber harvesting in January 2024, Nesbit and his fellow volunteers from the Wildlife of the Central Highlands (WOCH) group have noted a troubling increase in large, older trees being marked for removal by Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic). These removals are purportedly part of fuel break activities. WOCH members have even reported the tragic discovery of a dead greater glider following the felling of hollow-bearing trees.

This observation aligns with a growing chorus of environmental organisations asserting that timber is being extracted from state forests unnecessarily. Jordan Crook, a nature campaigner at the Victorian National Parks Association (VNPA), who has extensive experience in the timber industry as an arborist, voices concern that "unnecessary timber removal could be occurring out of sight." He points to the state government's recently published State Forest Timber By-Product Framework as a potential enabler.

Crook argues that the much-celebrated end of native timber harvesting has, paradoxically, failed to adequately protect the environment. The VNPA, he states, has witnessed an “intensification” in timber removal from Victorian public land in recent years. “This has been a part of fuel break operations, burn preparation, and other activities where, in the past, these logs would have been left within the ecosystem to play a crucial ecological role,” Crook elaborates.

The By-Product Framework Under Scrutiny

The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) introduced its State Forest By-Products Framework in April. This framework permits the removal, and in some instances the sale, of native timber debris from forests as an integral part of FFMVic’s broader forest and fire management strategies. For example, DEECA auctioned approximately 7,000 tonnes of timber by-product in May following a severe storm near Daylesford. Prior to the framework's formal implementation, substantial amounts of native timber were already being removed from state-managed forests post-native timber harvesting ban, including over 500 tonnes of firewood from a Gippsland fuel break, more than 1,400 tonnes of storm debris from public land near Mirboo North, and about 500 tonnes from Mallacoota after the devastating Black Summer fires. The framework specifies that any revenue generated from the sale of by-product is directed towards Traditional Owners.

The Victorian government has invested a significant $1.5 billion to support the transition away from native timber harvesting, a move influenced by years of devastating bushfires, the establishment of environmental no-logging zones, and various court decisions impacting the state's timber supply. According to DEECA, this program has successfully redeployed forestry contractors and their machinery into forest and land management roles, focusing on bushfire prevention, response, and recovery efforts.

Legal Battles and Expert Division

The controversy has escalated to the courts, with Warburton Environmental Inc filing a Federal Court case in May 2024. Their legal challenge seeks to halt the destruction of hollow-bearing trees within state and national parks. The trial's decision is pending, which has already led to restrictions on fuel break renewal works in the Central Highlands.

Adding weight to the environmental groups’ concerns, Australian National University forestry academic David Lindenmayer, a prominent critic of the state government’s approach to forest fuel load reduction, has labelled the current practices as "madness." “This whole absurdity of having to manage every square inch in the country for so-called fire management, it’s just ludicrous,” Lindenmayer asserts.

However, not all experts concur. Dr. John Raison, former chief research scientist at CSIRO, has co-authored a recent paper advocating for the sustainable management of native forests for both wood production and other ecological values. Dr. Raison challenges many of the prevailing environmental concerns, arguing that fears surrounding plantation timber efficacy, forest degradation from harvesting, threats to biodiversity, increased bushfire risk, carbon emissions, and impacts on water yield and quality are "almost all wrong." He firmly believes that forests require active management. “The reality is that our national, protected forest area is not in good shape,” Dr. Raison states, highlighting feral animals, weeds, and fire management as "major threats" to native forests. He contends that simply declaring more protected areas without effective fire management systems is insufficient. “One of the good things about the timber industry is that they had in place pretty good systems for trying to deal with fire,” he adds. “We want a good, well-managed forest. It’s not simply a matter of just saying we’ll no longer take timber out, we’ll put it all into a big protected area. How are you going to manage it? How are you going to finance it? I think that’s the big issue.”

Government Maintains Stance

In response to the allegations, a DEECA spokesperson has stated that any debris removed for reasons of safety, bushfire risk reduction, or forest health is directed towards "a range of commercial, community or environmental uses such as firewood, forest of visitor assets, fish habitat or animal bedding." The spokesperson further clarified that the independent Conservation Regulator is tasked with ensuring all forest and fire management activities adhere to relevant legislation. A Victorian government spokesperson unequivocally asserted: “Forest and fire management work is never conducted for a commercial purpose and is not logging.”

As the debate continues, the future of Victoria’s native forests hangs in the balance, with environmentalists pushing for stronger protections and government bodies defending their management strategies designed to mitigate fire risk and maintain forest health.