Ecological Blog

The Age ran a great piece today about the Strzeleckis and some of the health problems being caused by Hancock Victorian Plantations and their 'out of control' planting of Shining gum, Eucalyptus Nitens.

It all came to head as a result of research in Tasmania. Have a look at

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/growing-pains-20100311-q1q7.html

Hopefully The Age will do more about the Strzeleckis and will expose the stupid deal between Hancock and ineffective environment minister Gavin Jennings who turned his back on a deal thrashed out by his predecessor John Thwaites and handed Hancock a windfall deal after ignoring Government policy. The company recognised he was a turkey from the start and with a bit of help from his senior advisor, plus the then director of Trust for Nature, the Wilderness Society and the Victorian National Parks Association, he was sucked into a deal which has seen Hancock laughing all the way to the bank.(The Trust for Nature Director has since been sacked,  the Minister's advisor has moved on, the Wilderness Society in is turmoil and the the VNPA director has withdrawn his support for the Strzelecki deal. But  the damage has been done and it was unforgivable for the Minister to shaft the community when the previous Minister recognised...

Tags: gavin jennings, hancock victorian plantations, nitens, strzeleckis

This week, ABC Radio Gippsland carried interviews with Friends of Earth campaigner Anthony Amis and Hancock Victorian Plantations General Manager Owen Trumper about replanting in College Creek and the use of herbicides which can affect water supplies.

Here's a transcript of what Owen Trumper said to Celine Foenander - see if you reckon he's believable especilly as Hancocks were asked by email about the use of Terbacil in it's fertiliser mix and chose not to respond. He also seems to think that revegetation is the same as regeneration.

' I’m joined now by Owen Trumper who is the manager of Gippsland’s, Hancock Victorian Plantations, good morning to you.

OT: Good morning Celine

Owen Trumper you would have heard Anthony Amis’s comments there. Are you using Terbacil?

OT: thankyou for the opportunity to clear up this misunderstanding. The fact of the matter is that we are not using terbacil or any herbicides up in the college creek area and the misunderstanding comes from a generic sign that we have created for our fertiliser bins, which is due to our infrequent times which we do put chemicals in our fertiliser, and we do it for OH&S reasons, so for people who are handling the...

Tags: college creek, hancock victorian plantations, terbacil

Tags: gavin jennings, hancock victorian plantations, logging, strzeleckis

Nippon Paper Group, Japan's second largest paper maker, has agreed to pay $600 million for Australian Paper. It has been widely known for at least a year that Paperlinx was desperate to offload the Maryvale Mill - and it seems that $600 million is a fire-sale price as Paperlinx valued the business in its books at $720 million. 

The new Japanese owners may be more aware of community issues and the destruction of native forest - including koala habitat.

It will be interesting to see if Nippon also buys out the logging interests of Hancock Victorian Plantations which is understood to be keen to leave Australia.

Tags: australian paper, hancock victorian plantations, nippon paper, paperlinx

The Wildneress Society complains that bulldozers have moved in to log some old growth forest in East Gippsland. It says 'Forests must be at the forefront of the Brumby and Rudd governments’ climate change agenda. Protecting Australia’s native forests will help make the deep emissions cuts necessary to halt climate change.'

In a joint press release with the National Parks Association and the Australian Conservation Foundation, TWS expressed concern about the logging approved by the Victorian Government.

Members of Friends of Bass Valley Bush agree totally with those sentiments - but we wonder how the squealing of The Wilderness Society and the Victorian National Parks Association fits with their past actions.  

Both TWS and the VNPA were very happy to sacrifice the Strzeleckis in the $6 million 'deal' announced between Environment Minister Gavin Jennings and Hancock Victorian Plantations. They fell over themselves to endorse the Strzelecki 'deal'. They say they have 'backed away' from that endorsement, but neither TWS nor the VNPA have withdrawn their support for the Strzelecki sell-out. Now perhaps they understand that they were used as patsies to get the deal through. But we doubt if they even care!!!

Tags: hancock victorian plantations, strzeleckis, tws, vnpa

The Strzeleckis are unique forests which are a mosaic of old growth including rainforest, reforestation/plantings, plantations and regenerating forests. The public forests of the Strzeleckis have been excluded from public land planning processes which set aside comprehensive and adequate reserves. The Strzeleckis have the least amount of land set aside in any forested region of Victoria. The minimum for public land is 15% of the original vegetation while the Strzeleckis has only 2% protected in Parks and Reserves. The Strzeleckis have most recently been identified as one of the most important regions for the sequestration of carbon, which occurs at much higher rates than previously considered, creating an even more pressing reason to secure their preservation.

The starting point for the issue was that there should be no harvest of timber in the Cores and Links. The Cores and Links are key sites linking Gunyah Gunyah Reserve in the West to Tarra Bulga National Park in the East. There are 5 core areas, Gunyah, College Creek, Jack...

Tags: hancock victorian plantations, logging, rainforest, strzeleckis

Rally told Minister 'caved in'

to logging company

video of the rally is on You Tube at http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=ICycJXAS-J8 

A community rally called to look at Strzelecki rainforest under threat from an agreement between the Victorian Government and Hancock Victorian Plantations was told on Sunday that Environment Minister Gavin Jennings had 'caved in' to company demands.

Ms Susie Zent, President of Friends of Gippsland Bush told almost 100 locals who had gathered to look at some of the forest which is now earmarked for woodchipping that “the Minister simply caved in rather than hold out for better deal.

A community forum will be held in Boolara Memorial Hall on Sunday July 27 to plan the next steps.The flier for this event can be downloaded at http://www.fourthcrossingwildlife.com/stomp.pdf

“We don't know what the Government is buying for the $5.5 million it is giving the company, because the community was excluded from the final negotiations.

“They haven't even shown us the maps which tends to indicate that they have something to hide,” Ms Zent said.

Friends of the Earth forest campaigner Anthony Amis said the deal had been given dubious credibility with the endorsement of The Wilderness Society and the Victorian...

Tags: gavin jennings, hancock victorian plantations, strzelecki rainforest

Victoria's Environment Minister Gavin Jennings has responded to concerns that the recent Strzelecki Ranges 'cores and links' deal will lead to the fragmentation and destruction of sensitive rainforest.

Tags: cores and links, hancock victorian plantations, logging, rainforest, strzeleckis

The Victorian State Government has just revealed a deal with Hancock Victorian Plantations to pay $5.5 million to protect 20,000 ha of native forest in the Strzelecki Ranges.
The ink is hardly dry on the agreement announced by Environment Minister Gavin Jennings and Hancock CEO Linda Sewell and we have only seen the press release.  There hasn't been time to analyse the detail of the agreement and as the community was excluded from the negotiations it's likely there will some difficulties with new players not understanding the background. The community will need to look at it closely to see if it is likely to achieve the level of biodiversity protection required.

The announcement will permit 1500ha to be logged from the Cores and Links which is around 600ha more than would have been logged in the Reserve under the HoA.  It appears that College Creek, a site of National Conservation Significance, will not be protected under the deal.
One disturbing point is that Ms Sewell refers to the arrangement as an 'in principle agreement' with a final agreement expected to be signed around July.

The company's track record in honouring non-binding agreements is hardly inspiring. It signed an 8 point agreement, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding, it signed a...

Tags: hancock victorian plantations, rainforest, strzelecki forest

The loss of John Thwaites as Minister for the Environment could be a big blow for the Stzreleckis. It gave Hancock's no comfort to have such a senior minister involved. We hope that the State Government maintains its committment to the $7 million deal to buy back the 'Core and Links' to be managed by the Trust for Nature.

There no doubt will be discussions over the next few weeks involving the new Minister, Gavin Jennings and it should soon become clear if the deal will go ahead or be called off.

Hancock Victorian Plantations FSC certification is under scrutiny at the moment because of its inappropriate forest practices and that is adding pressure on the company.

Tags: gavin jennings, hancock victorian plantations, logging, old growth forest