Mirboo North wins while industry loses

Grace Griffith

THE battle is finally over for environmentalists, with Mirboo North’s forests being declared exempt from logging – effective immediately.

The announcement came last Thursday as part of a wider move by the State Government to shutdown the native timber industry by 2030.

But not everyone is happy, with the future of the timber industry at stake.

The logging of all old growth native forest and selected threatened species habitat in Victoria has been ceased immediately.

In Mirboo North, 96,000 hectares is included in the immediate protection area in a bid to protect the Greater Glider and other endangered wildlife.

This includes the three coupes: Oscine (55ha), Samson (26ha) and Doug (31ha).

A further 90,000 hectares of Victorian old growth timbers will also be saved from getting the chop, bringing the total immediately protected area to 186,000 hectares.

Marg Thomas, chair of the Preserve our Forests Steering Committee and a Mirboo North local, hailed the long overdue move.

“It’s great news for us. We weren’t expecting it,” she said.

“The forest is important for our tourism industry and it’s important for the wellbeing of our community, along with the significant population of Greater Gliders found here.”

While they are rejoicing the announcement, Ms Thomas said the committee isn’t losing focus.

Their next step is attaining firmer protection by turning Mirboo North’s forest into a nature conservative reserve.

“It’s bittersweet because we know there are still other forests in Victoria with endangered wildlife that are waiting for adequate protection,” she said.

“We hope the government will make it a priority to protect those areas as well.”

Matt Ruchel of the Victorian National Parks Association welcomed the saving of the forests, saying nature needed more than just temporary short-term protections from imminent logging.

But while environmentalists celebrate, timber industry workers are devastated by the announcement, feeling Gippsland jobs will suffer for it.  

A transition package of $120 million has been issued to retrain workers and fund mills to buy new equipment over the next 10 years.

But many feel that isn’t enough.

Gippsland South MLA Danny O’Brien said shutting down a sustainable, renewable industry that provides jobs in small rural towns was “diabolical policy”.

“It will hurt Gippsland and will lead to more timber imports from places where forestry practices are not sustainable,” he said.

Eastern Victoria Region MLC Melina Bath said the decision was “economically devastating for Gippsland” and will inflict “sweeping job losses and economic pain.”

“Thousands of local jobs are set to go – good, hardworking Gippslanders with families to support will be out of work,” she said.

“The native timber industry is not a major threat to our forests; bushfire is. A fact wasted on Labor.”

Ms Thomas said old growth forest was more resistant to fire due to its damp understory.

“We understood the loss of a traditional industry and part of our history will be hard for people to let go,” she said.

“We certainly feel for these people, but it’s a necessity. The government should play a strong role in helping them transition.”

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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Nov 12 2019. Filed under Featured, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry