Mike Gooey Memorial Reserve
4 Oct 2008
Have a look at the latest photos on the Hancock Watch website at http://www.hancock.forests.org.au/docs/08oct.htm
Among the photographs are shots of the 'reserve' areas which are part of the 'deal' in the Strzeleckis. It seems that the arrangement which hands over more than $5 million of taxpayers money to the company will protect a few remnants of vegetation along creek lines and gullies as well as weed infested areas which the company had no intention of harvesting anyway. Great deal Minister Jennings!
The caption on one of the photographs reads:October 2008: Morwell River East Catchment. New reserve surrounded by Shining Gum. This part of the Reserve dedicated to Mike Gooey, CEO of Trust for Nature who was never enthusiatic about being gifted the cores and links rainforest reserve from the State Government.
Tags:
hancock, logging, trust for nature
Posted at: 12:35 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Minister Jennings signs bodgy deal with HVP
15 Aug 2008
The Victorian Government has signed an agreement with Hancock Victorian Plantations, which ensures the destruction of native forest in Gippsland’s Strzelecki Ranges.
Environment and Climate Change Minister Gavin Jennings and HVP’s CEO Linda Sewell claimed that under the agreement, native forests across HVP’s entire estate in Gippsland’s Strzelecki Ranges would be protected.
But no mapping has been provided to back up their claims. Both finalised the legal agreement, after reaching a secret in-principle agreement in May.
The agreement ignores the Government's 2006 election commitment to protect the 8000 hectare Cores and Links’ area and create a reserve to be managed by the Trust for Nature.
Mr Jennings tried to put a positive spin on the deal saying “It will result in the immediate protection of the native forest in the Cores and Links and the eventual protection of all areas of the Cores and Links.
“1500 hectares of plantation areas within the Cores and Links will be subject to a one-off harvest, with those areas progressively regenerated and placed into public reserves and protection over the next 20 years.”
Unfortunatelty the deal means that native forest in areas such as College Creek will be trashed and turned into wood chips...
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Tags:
hancock, logging, rainforest, strzelecki
Posted at: 01:53 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Strzelecki 'deal' seen as a rip-off
1 Jun 2008
The $5.5 million Strzelecki buy-back has not been universally accepted as a good outcome.
Friends of the Earth believe that the 'deal' is a blatant ripoff. Forest campaigner Anthony Amis has put a few figures together. The 1500ha to be logged in the Cores & Links represents 7.5% of Hancock's hardwood and 22% of their ash. The 1500ha means 2.2 years worth of pulp to the AP mill at Maryvale.
The tragedy is that the supposed shortfall Hancock was banging on about could be a myth and there is no real need for any logging in the Cores & Links.
As of 2006 Hancock had 6772ha of mt ash. This was supposed to supply the mill until 2013 when the bluegum kicks in.
Logging at a rate of 600ha (with a volume of 500m3/ha) a year, to meet AP contracts from 2006 to 2013 means 4800ha of ash would have be logged. that leaves almost 2000ha not going into AP mill for pulp - maybe going to sawmills? That represents 1,000,000m3 of pulplogs (just over 3 years supply to the mill which could easily accomodate the hoa proposal)
As of 2006 hancock had 9442ha of bluegum. this was supposed to...
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Tags:
hancock, logging, strzelecki rainforest
Posted at: 07:00 AM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Petition to help save the Strzeleckis
18 May 2008
A petition is now active at
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/strzelecki/
to ask the Victorian State Government to honour its election promise to create a rainforest reserve in the Strzelecki
Ranges and protect sensitive areas from logging. The problem is that a previous Victorian Government hit on the bright idea of raising revenue by selling off state-owned forests to private enterprise.
When it was pointed out to them that they couldn't sell Crown Land they quickly arranged perpetual leases for the logging companies.
Some of the land should never have been sold (leased) because of its ecological values and it took years of active lobbying to get the Government and Hancock Victorian Plantations to acknowledge that.
A deal was organised with the help of Minister Thwaites to buy-back the most important bits of the rainforest - identified by independent consultants - for $7 million.
Everything looked sweet, then the Minister and the Premier resigned. The company seized the opportunity to lobby the new Minister and try to screw a better deal.
All we are asking is for the State Government to honour the agreement it made, which was part of its policy platform at the last election, to pay $7 million for an 8000 hectare...
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Tags:
hancock, rainforest, strzeleckis
Posted at: 06:51 AM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Strzelecki rainforest shambles
20 Nov 2007
Victoria's Environment Minister Gavin Jennings still appears to be sidelined by his own bureaucrats over the deal which will see the Government hand over $7 million to the US Hancock group to protect rainforest from logging in the Strzeleckis.
His own head of Department, Peter Harris has apparently said that he will make the decision (not the Minister) even though the agreement has been Government policy since before the last election. There is no 'decision' left to be made - the community is waiting for the decision to be implemented. The deal which involved management of areas known as the 'Cores and Links' was announced as part of the Government's election plaform, but apparently Peter Harris doesn't care.
Neither does the Gippsland Regional Manager of the Departnment of Sustainability and Environment who has openly said that he will not allow the policy to be implemented.
You'd wonder how these guys keep their jobs - unless of course Government policy has changed and the Minister can't be bothered to tell anyone!
Tags:
hancock, logging, rainforest, strzeleckis
Posted at: 07:57 AM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Help save the Strzeleckis
14 Jun 2007
Those who want to help save the Strzeleckis and establish the sensitive areas known as the 'Cores and Links' as a reserve managed by Trust for Nature, take a look at http://my.ecoearth.info/Campaign.aspx?id=51 and sign the petition at http://my.ecoearth.info/petition.aspx?id=30
The petition is to SmartWood and the Rainforest Alliance who are the certifying body for the Forest Stewardship Council. Given Hancock's track record, it won't do the credibility of FSC any good if Hancock is able to retain its accreditation while it trashes native forest which is subject to the Heads of Agreement it signed with the Community and the Government.
The 'Cores and Links' - important areas of forest identified by Biosis Research - form a pratical basis for the most vital project aimed at biodiversity conservation in South Gippsland.
Tags:
hancock, logging, strzelecki rain forest
Posted at: 01:31 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Logging in the Strzeleckis
7 Jun 2007
The Gippsland Community and Friends of the Earth are alarmed that Hancock Victorian Plantations, owned by the US John Hancock group has begun logging in a rainforest reserve in Victoria's Strzelecki Ranges. The reserve was announced by the State Government last year and involves a $7 million forest buyback currently under negotiation.
Under the Memorandum of Understanding associated with the reserve, logging was allowed in certain parts of the reserve, on the proviso that sensitive rainforest areas would be protected. Two of the most sensitive areas were nominated with buffer widths of 100m and 60m.
Now the company is currently logging a coupe within 10-20 metres of cool temperate rainforest. According to Friends of the Earth researcher Anthony Amis “The Heads of Agreement clearly states that none of this coupe should have been logged at all. This is the second breach of the Heads of the Agreement that we have witnessed within 8 months of Hancock signing the agreement.”
It's hard to imagine that the company is so dumb that senior managers thought they could get away with this, unless of course they have been working behind the Minister's back with key Department officers to stop the creation of a reserve clearly endorsed by...
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Tags:
hancock, logging, native forest, strzelecki ranges
Posted at: 07:22 AM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
