Since its inception in 2015, the Rubicon Forest Protection Group (RFPG) has been striving on various fronts to protect the unique environment of the Rubicon State Forest from the onslaught of widespread clearfell logging that is destroying the multitude of natural and social values of this extraordinarily diverse forest atop the ancient Cerberean plateau.
The majority of jobs generated by the forest and wood products industry are generated by the processing sector, as is the majority of the flow-on economic impact of the industry. Far fewer jobs are created if logs are harvested and exported with no or little processing. The recent G6 Open Letter calls for a ban on the export of unprocessed sawlogs.
Small sawmillers propose "bold plan" to save Victoria’s timber industry by making Victoria the ‘Plantation State’ of Australia by 2040.
From their media release:
“According to the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office, we have approximately 27,000 ha of unproductive land which could be made available for timber plantations today,” a G6 spokesperson said.
The Victorian Government has failed, abjectly, in its stewardship of Victoria’s native forests. This conclusion leaps out from the pages of the latest Auditor-General report on the management of Victoria’s native forests.
Multiple rules in the governance handbook have been broken: a lack of clear goals, failure to monitor and evaluate, neglect of regeneration failure and inadequate regard for forest values other than wood production.
The RFPG has invited Minister D'Ambrosio to come to Alexandra to speak with the Murrindindi community about forests policy. See extract from Alexandra Standard here.
The full text of the letter (22/7/2018) follows.
Dear Minister,
On behalf of the Rubicon Forest Protection Group I invite you to participate in a public discussion of the State Government’s forest policy and its impact on the values of the Rubicon State Forest.
The Rubicon Forest Protection Group (RFPG) seeks feedback from members and friends regarding draft policy principles for the ‘modernisation’ of the Victorian regional forest agreements (RFAs). Please write to info@rubiconforest.org.
RFPG members attending stalls in Alex (5 April) and Yea (19 May) recently report local community members are friendly and interested. See poster prepared for stalls (here).
Further posters and handouts:
In a letter published in the Alexandra Standard (18 July 2018, here) Rod Falconer calls on all recreational fishing associations in Victoria to contact parliamentarians to avert the threat to the hatchery posed by logging in the Snobs Creek valley.
Rod, whose father Derek, was the long time manager of the hatchery identifies the threats associated with logging as turbidity, temperature and water flow.
There's a lot of interest in our local forests but how many people have had the opportunity to visit them?
The RFPG provides regular forest tours for people, demonstrating the majesty and sometimes the devastation.
See photos below from the Saturday 28 April Forest Tour (flier here).
On Saturday June 9 2018, 80 people walked into one of Victoria's largest logged areas on the steep mountain slopes of the Rubicon State Forest highlighting extreme logging in breach of industry regulations.
See letters in the Alexandra and Eildon Standard of 25 June (pages 2&14) from Lea Jelinek and Nick Legge which provide further description and background - here. See also photos below.
