A legal battle between an environmental group and VicForests has ended after a court found the government-backed enterprise had failed to correctly survey for greater gliders and yellow-bellied gliders that may be present in local forests during timber harvesting.
On Friday 11 November, Justice Richards handed down her orders in Kinglake Friends of the Forest vs VicForests, ruling that surveys must be carried out to detect endangered greater gliders and yellow-bellied gliders in forests scheduled for logging, that ”home ranges” of the two species must be excluded from timber harvesting operations and VicForests must pay for the costs of the court proceedings.
Andrea White from Kinglake Friends of the Forest said Australia leads the world in mammal extinctions and Victoria is the most cleared state in the country.
“We have environmental laws for a reason: to protect what is left. Today’s court orders show that VicForests have been breaking these laws,” she said.
“No industry should be allowed to operate if the cost is the extinction of species.”
In the case against Vicforests, Environment groups Environment East Gippsland and Kinglake Friends of the Forest claimed that VicForests’ logging risks these threatened species; that the required surveying for greater gliders is not carried out before logging; and that required protections of greater gliders and yellow-bellied gliders in areas being logged is not being implemented.
Justice Richards said in her conclusion that VicForests is not meeting its obligation to identify whether and when the greater gliders and yellow-bellied gliders are present and spotlight survey protocols leave most of the coups unsurveyed.
A VicForests spokesperson said VicForests has “received the final Orders and is currently analysing the impacts on its operations.”
“In the meantime, VicForests will continue to pay stand-down payments to contractors who are impacted by these Court actions,” the spokesperson said.
“VicForests is also providing access to compensation for all mills who are not receiving contracted levels of supply.”
Ms White said as a result of the orders, Greater Gliders and Yellow-bellied Gliders will now get some protection, but other endangered species that live in our forests still get nothing.
“It’s a ridiculous scenario that volunteer community groups are having to fight the state government every step of the way to stop endangered species being killed by logging.”
