Plea for trees

By Kath Gannaway
WARBURTON community members opposed to native forest harvesting rallied at Cement Creek on Sunday to drive home their message for change.
Environment group Warburton Environment organised the Picnic to Protect the Forests which spokesman Christian Nielsen estimated was attended by around 150 people.
The picnic was attended by Greg Barber MLC, Victorian Greens spokesman on the environment, Yarra Ranges councillors Samantha Dunn and Tim Heenan, and representatives of environment groups My Environment, The Wilderness Society and Save Mt St Leonard Group, all currently involved in the battle to save the Sylvia Creek forest in Toolangi from logging.
Mr Nielsen said the forests of the Cement Creek catchment were now also under threat with four logging coupes re-activated in VicForests’ timber release plans approved by DSE earlier this year.
He said after 10 years of campaigning and a rally in Warburton that over 1000 people attended, Cement Creek was deferred from logging in 2008.
He said the four original coupes were now back on the plans, as well as an additional two coupes, which he said had alarmed local conservationists.
“They feel heart-broken and disregarded, particularly after narrowly escaping Black Saturday in which over 400,000 hectares of the Central Highlands was burnt,” he said.
“VicForests are saying they have no immediate intention of logging in the area, but I think what we saw on Sunday with 150-plus people, the majority of them local people, was part of a momentum across Central Highlands towards ending logging in native forests,” Mr Nielsen said.
“This is not about old growth forest it’s about high conservation forest, and the fact that there are alternatives to logging.
“These forests are high conservation, with high biodiversity mass; it’s about water and food security, carbon storage, tourism and biodiversity and they should be protected on that basis.”
Mr Nielsen said the debate was not as polarised as it had been in the past and that it was people power that was going to have to change public policy.
“We are now seeing ecosystems showing stress and people are no longer supportive of what is happening in our forests.
“When you do the economics, it makes no economic sense to log these forests when the cost is far greater than the gain of sending these forests to pulp and paper. This type of gathering is very much targeted at the State Government and it is a clear call for them to start engaging with communities and industry to find alternatives,” he said.
Mr Nielsen said environment groups across Central Highlands would soon be initiating a forest rescue plan which would outline an alternative vision for the forests.
“A lot of conversations will take place between groups and business on building economic strength by maintaining these forests,” he said.
David Walsh, Communications Manager, VicForests said there are no plans to harvest in the Cement Creek area during this year or next.
“However, we have been in discussions with local conservation groups for some time to understand their specific concerns around harvesting in the region and look at ways to address these concerns,” he said.