Treeferns, critical players in Ash Forest Ecosystems, are Being Smashed by VicForests

Treeferns play a critical role in sustaining the complex ecosystems of Victoria's state forests. They also contribute significantly to reducing fire risk and mitigating fire damage. 

The smashing of treeferns and failed understorey regeneration are the regular result of unconstrained logging by VicForests. The absence of treeferns in coupes which were logged in recent decades contrasts sharply with their prevalence in 1939 regrowth. 

Unrestrained treefern destruction and disregard of understorey regeneration breaches the Victoria's commitments in the RFAs, breaches the Code and breaches the FFG Act.

RFPG's Treefern Report (2 October 2022) documents the wanton destruction of treeferns by VicForests and the role of the Regulator in enabling the destruction to continue. (The performance of the Conservation Regulator in regulating VicForests was sharply criticised by the recent report by the Victorian Auditor-General's Office.) 

On 17 October 2022 RFPG wrote to Minister D'Ambrosio denouncing the unrestrained treefern destruction by VicForests, pointing out that it breaches the RFA, the Code, the FFG Act, and the Order in Council which authorises VicForests to 'take' treeferns in the context of logging. 

In our letter RFPG called on Minister D'Ambrosio to instruct VicForests to cease logging all coupes where tree ferns are a significant understorey element and elsewhere take steps to ensure that at least 50 per cent of the tree ferns present in a coupe are protected in understorey islands or in retained habitat patches.

Having received no substantive reply to this letter RFPG wrote again (16 Jan 2023), this time to Minister Stitt (newly appointed as Environment Minister), reiterating the importance of ensuring proper protection of treeferns, outlining the policy and legal provisions being breached by VicForests, and listing three sensible steps that the Minister could take to curb the destruction. 

We wrote to Minister Stitt again (5 March, 2023) providing further documentation regarding the capstone status of treeferns in the ash forest ecosystem. 

Still waiting for a substantive response. 

The continued ecological degradation of Victoria's ash forests and the enabling role of government illustrates why Australia leads the world in biodiversity loss. Litigation by forest conservation groups appears to be the only driver of law enforcement in Victoria's native forests.

First posted 7 Nov 2022
Updated 4 April 2023