July 21st, 2022Snap rally

More than 50 people attended a snap rally in Gisborne last Friday, called by the Wombat Action Group to voice their concerns about the VicForests’ salvage logging in the Wombat State Forest.
Members of Landcare and Friends groups, Wombat Forestcare members and the Sybil Disobedients rallied to demand that the Victorian Government cease the environmentally destructive salvage logging in the Wombat State Forest and legislate the promised Wombat-Lerderderg National Park.
The rally moved to the office of Macedon MP Mary-Anne Thomas to deliver a letter of demand.
Wombat Forestcare president Gayle Osborne said in 2021 the Victorian Government undertook to create a new Wombat-Lerderderg National Park but instead they authorised a “log grab” by VicForests.
“This salvage logging operation has seen hectares of forest cleared for machinery and log storage, wide tracks carved through the forest and heaps of inflammable branches and bark created,” she said.
“The Wombat State Forest has conservation values that make it worthy of national park status, yet the government has failed to legislate the park and failed to protect its threatened species including the greater glider, recently listed as endangered.
“The industrial scale ‘salvage’ logging by VicForests is being promoted as reducing bushfire risk, but instead is destroying critical habitat for wildlife. It has become overwhelmingly clear that this operation is a log grab to prop up a failing industry.”