Media Release 12th August 2010
Wildlife wins, loggers loose Victorian Supreme Court rules A land mark Supreme Court case yesterday found the Victorian Government has a responsibility to look for and protect endangered wildlife in areas scheduled for logging. The court found the State government failed to meet obligations under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, by pressing ahead with logging the contentious Brown Mountain despite conservationists proving the presence of endangered species in the area, using infra red camera surveys.
The case echoes the famous Wielangta case of Bob Brown vs. Forestry Tasmania. Initially won by Brown but appealed and overturned after the Lennon and Howard governments amended the Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement to allow logging in endangered species habitat.
Tasmanian conservation group Still Wild Still Threatened have been conducting an endangered species survey program in proposed logging areas using similar techniques to those used at Brown Mountain.
The program has revealed the presence of several healthy Tasmanian devils and spotted tailed quolls in the forests of the Upper Florentine and Weld Valleys. Spokesperson Ed Hill says the decision vindicates community conservation work.
The Brown Mountain decision is a victory for threatened species and native forests. It is also testament to the importance of community monitoring of biodiversity. Without the survey efforts and the legal challenge, Brown Mountain would have been illegally logged by now, said Mr. Hill.
State and federal governments have allowed the mass destruction of threatened species habitat through legislative loopholes that exempt logging operations. Endangered species habitat is legally logged on a daily basis in Tasmania, and will continue to be logged until high conservation value forests are protected said Mr. Hill.
The logging industry is currently exempt from the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
Go to www.youtube.om/tassieforests to see threatened species in proposed logging coupes
See attached still images of threatened species in proposed logging coupes in the Upper Florentine
Edited video footage of endangered devils and spotted tailed quolls from SWSTs survey program in the southern forests available on request.
For comment: Ed Hill 0414 199 645
Still Wild Still Threatened is a grassroots community organisation campaigning for the immediate protection of Tasmania’s ancient forests and the creation of an equitable and environmentally sustainable forestry industry in Tasmania.
www.stillwildstillthreatened.org
[email protected]
Ed Hill Still Wild Still Threatened
