The Andrews Government has a selective ear for ‘the science’.  While following the science in relation to Covid-19, Dan Andrews turns a blind eye to the science regarding logging and megafires.

Bushfire Facts is a new website focusing on the science of forests, fires and climate change. It is sponsored by the Bushfire Recovery Project which is a collaboration between the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the ANU, the Griffith University Climate Change Response Program and the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative. 

Reports in the Bushfire Science series are:

1. How does climate affect bushfire risks in the native forests of south-eastern Australia?
2. How do the native forests of south-eastern Australia survive bushfires?
3. What are the relationships between native forest logging and bushfires?
4. What are the ecological consequences of post-fire logging in the native forests of south-eastern Australia?
5. What is the role of prescribed burning of native forests in reducing the risk of infrastructure loss to bushfires?

In Report No.3, the ANU and Griffith researchers conclude that the combination of climate change and broad scale logging is contributing to an increasing risk of megafires with associated loss of life and property and massive losses of native flora and fauna.

Victoria’s native forests are experiencing progressive ecosystem decline and are facing the threat of ecosystem collapse. The average age of mountain ash trees in the Rubicon State Forest is now 40 years; pre-colonisation it was closer to 300 years.

The RFPG has repeatedly urged the logging regulator in the Department of the Environment to apply the powers that it has under the Code of Forest Practice to address the cumulative impacts of the multiple threats to forest ecosystems, in particular climate change and unsustainable logging.  However, the regulator is hog tied by the State’s unsustainable timber supply commitments and resorts to closed ears, closed eyes and legal sophistry to ensure that logging can continue. 

RFPG urges Dan Andrews to listen to the science!

14 Feb 2021