Conservationists and a leading ecologist have accused the Victorian government of allowing a de facto native logging industry to emerge ‘under the guise of fire management’.Conservationists and a leading ecologist have accused the Victorian government of allowing a de facto native logging industry to emerge ‘under the guise of fire management’.
On Thursday conservationists and the Victorian National Parks Association expressed shock after discovering a dead greater glider in an area where trees had been felled by FFMV.of the Central Highlands, said: “This is endangered wildlife culling. We specifically told the government that greater gliders were nesting in this tree. Instead of stepping in, they chose to knowingly kill endangered wildlife. This is disgraceful, and has to stop.
VNPA said it had told FFMV, the state environment minister Steve Dimopoulos and his federal counterpart, Tanya Plibersek, that scores of old hollow-bearing trees were being destroyed along 250km of fire breaks in the Yarra Ranges national park.This was critical habitat, the association said, for threatened species including the gliders, Leadbeater’s possums, gang-gang cockatoos and swift parrots.
Lindenmayer said he was currently working on advice commissioned by the department on how to save greater gliders, which would include retaining old trees. Matt Ruchel, executive director of VNPA, said the Office of the Conservation Regulator should be moved to another department, which would allow it to regulate the forest fire management work – a suggestion echoed by the leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell.Sandell said any logging and storm “clean-up” works should be immediately halted and the OCR should be “empowered” to investigate.
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