Despite a promise to end native logging in Victoria, there are fears precious forest around Ballarat, which is home to several endangered species, will continue to be stripped.
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In May, 2023, the state government announced native logging would end in Victoria at the start of 2024.
The decision was widely celebrated by conservationists, but concerns are now being raised the decision won't apply to land in the west of the state, such as the Wombat State Forest.
The Wombat State Forest, located north-east of Ballarat, is home to a variety of endangered and vulnerable animals including the greater glider and brush-tailed phascogale.
Wombat Action Group spokesperson Amy Calton said owing to a different system, she feared logging company VicForests may still operate in the west of the state.
If so, she said once VicForests are forced to end their operations in the state's east, they will likely turn their attention towards taking as much timber as possible from other areas.
"Everyone is really nervous, everyone is very confused out in the west, we don't know if this end of native logging announcement is going to impact us, or if it's just going to be business as usual," she said.
"It's really concerning, because when the majority of available timber disappears out in the east, it has to be expected the pressure is going to come on hard here."
Australian Conservation Foundation national bio-diversity policy advisor Brendan Sydes said logging was managed under a different system in the west, and because of this, the government hadn't provided clarity on when the practice would end in this part of the state.
He said logging in the west of Victoria operated under a "legacy system" which is managed under annual licenses rather than an allocation order, which handed over specific areas to VicForests for harvesting.
"There's really no rational reason to be discriminating between the two [east and west]," he said.
"It does appear there's less clarity around if and when native forest logging will be ceased in the west, it's unfortunate, particularly given some of the high environmental values in the west."
One of the high environmental values in the Wombat Forest are the endangered animals it homes, such as the greater glider.
A ruling by the Supreme Court, which was recently upheld by the Court of Appeal, found VicForests had breached environmental protection laws by logging areas where greater gliders and yellow bellied gliders were found.
The decision halted operations in areas of Gippsland and the Central highlands, but VicForests allegedly continued salvage logging operations in Wombat Forest where gliders were present.
Salvage logging is the practice of taking fallen trees, branches and undergrowth which is damaged by storms or fire, and Ms Calton said it still caused significant ecological damage.
They may not take every tree, but when you go through a site that's been salvage logged, there are no plants on the ground
- Wombat Action Group Spokesperson Amy Calton
She said fallen logs and trees provided vital cover to animals such as the brush-tailed phascogale who live below the forest canopy, as well as providing crucial bridges for greater gliders, who become vulnerable to fox and feral cat attacks if they have to travel on the ground.
"When you walk on the site [that's been salvaged logged] they've stripped all the undergrowth away," she said.
"They may not take every tree, but when you go through a site that's been salvage logged, there are no plants on the ground, so you get this really dry soil.
"All over it are these piles that are 10 metres across of sticks, branches and bark, all pushed up to dry out.
"It's painful and glaringly obvious that the [fire] fuel index on those sites is much higher after VicForests leave than before they go in, they've gone and made the fire risk worse."
Mr Sydes said VicForests had been failing to follow regulations in regards to protecting native wildlife for some time, which became obvious during the Supreme Court case.
He said there needed to be greater intervention from the state government to ensure VicForests were following correct procedure.
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"They have the power through the regulatory system to step in and intervene, and really what the case demonstrated is that hasn't been happening," he said.
In a statement to The Courier, VicForests said they were not currently conducting any tree felling operations in the Wombat Forest.
"Current operations are focused on removal of storm damage material that is already on the ground, and as such, not impacting on any glider habitat," the statement said.
The statement said "in some cases" VicForests had undertaken glider surveys prior to operations.
"VicForests will undertake operations in the Wombat State Forest in accordance with government policy and any directions from DEECA," the statement said.
The Department of Energy Environment and Climate Action was contacted for comment but didn't respond in time for publication.
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