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...
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hancock victorian plantations, rainforest, strzelecki forest
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