A Government investigation into the ancient Goolengook forests could mean permanent protection as an addition to Errinundra National Park.
On 30th October 2002 the State Government announced that the Victorian Environment Assessment Council (VEAC) would be conducting an investigation into the possibilities for protecting Goolengook.
This investigation represents an historic victory for the campaign to protect Victoria’s old-growth forests, and will have a significant impact on the climate for forest conservation in the State.
The draft Terms of Reference for the investigation are unfortunately narrow and fail to adequately address many environmental issues. VEAC is being asked to carry out an investigation to find other areas of old-growth forest to be made available for logging as a ‘trade off’ for protecting Goolengook. If alternative areas are not located Goolengook will be logged after the 12 month investigation. This is an unacceptable scope for an investigation into one of the most important forests in East Gippsland and Victoria.
Under the draft Terms of Reference VEAC is being asked to:
· investigate alternative forests within the current reserve system;
· assess the potential of these forests for logging;
· assess the ability of these forests to provide equivalent amounts of timber (species, quality and quantity) to that found in Goolengook; and
· investigate the protection of Goolengook at the expense of these forests.
Under the draft Terms of Reference Goolengook’s outstanding biological values and the area’s importance for then conservation of many rare and threatened species will not be assessed. This is unacceptable.
VEAC should be investigating:
· Goolengook’s biological values,
· the adequacy of the existing reserve system to viably protect these values; and
· the ecological impacts of logging old-growth forests such as Goolengook.
Community Response
The public was invited to comment on the Government’s Proposed Terms of Reference, with the deadline for submissions being 4 December 2002.
400 submissions have been received by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, with the overwhelming majority supporting an inquiry that will see the Upper Goolengook Catchment added to Errinundra National Park, as set out in our Recommended Terms of Reference.
Minister for Environment John Thwaites now faces one of his first forest tests in deciding the final terms of reference for the VEAC investigation.
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Related Links
Goolengook National Park Proposal
Related Documents
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