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...
[More]
Tags:
hancock, logging, native forest, strzelecki ranges
Posted at: 07:22 AM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
