“Same destruction, new name”: Environmental groups say loopholes are allowing Victoria to log native forests

Eastern Melbourne locals may have seen placards around the region saying things like “Don’t log the Dandenongs” or “Same destruction, new name”.

And while native forest logging officially ended in 2024, environmental groups claim state authorities are continuing to clear land through bushfire and storm recovery programs.

Forest Fire Management, meanwhile, says land clearing is being done legally and with limited impact on the environment.

So what’s going on?

🧹 Cleaning up: After a severe storm in June 2021 damaged about 220 hectares of vegetation in the Dandenong Ranges National Park, fuel loads in some areas increased from 5.5 tonnes per hectare to up to 37 tonnes per hectare, creating extreme bushfire risk.

What’s that? “Fuel load” refers to the amount of material on the forest floor that would catch alight when exposed to a heat source, such as a flying ember.

🪵 Dealing with it: Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV) has now completed debris treatment across about 50 hectares in the highest-risk areas of the Park, with debris left on site, burned in planned operations or removed and repurposed.

• FFMV Chief Fire Officer Chris Hardman said the work was necessary to reduce fire risk.

• 🗣️ “This is not salvage logging or commercial timber harvesting,” Hardman told the Eastern Melburnian. “Without this work, communities and the environment would be at risk.”

🚫 🪓 No more logging: Meanwhile, the Victorian National Parks Association (VNPA), the Wilderness Society, Environment Victoria and the Victorian Forest Alliance have joined forces to campaign against "loophole logging" – the removal of timber from native forests during bushfire hazard reduction or storm recovery. Essentially, they claim that under the guise of fire management or storm clean-up works, the State Government can remove trees from state forests and sell them to timber mills, firewood suppliers and others.

• VNPA nature campaigner Jordan Crook said the removal of material had already damaged biodiversity in the Dandenong and Yarra Ranges national parks.

• 🗣️ “Fallen logs are very important to soil structure, storing carbon and habitat for threatened species,” Crook told the Eastern Melburnian. “We've seen trees over 13 metres in diameter, hundreds of years old, being removed.”

💰 Forest funds: Professor Sarah Bekessy from the University of Melbourne said government investment would be better directed to forest restoration, weed control and feral animal management rather than removal of vegetation.

• 🗣️ “The State Government is grossly underinvesting in biodiversity funding,” Bekessy told the Eastern Melburnian. “These forests are under a lot of stress.”

😡 At an impasse: For now, environmental advocacy groups are at loggerheads with the State Government, with campaigns calling for a number of commitments, including:

• Ruling out any further logging operations in Victoria’s national parks or conservation reserves;

• Establishing an independent body to oversee oversight of FFMV’s practices; and

• Publishing ecological assessments for all significant works on public land.

🗣️ “We can improve practices and maintain the safety of workers, but also protect threatened wildlife and ecosystems,” said VNPA’s Crook. “We can do both at the same time.”