Federal Court says VicForests unlawfully logged rare possum habitat

The Federal Court has delivered scathing criticism of the way Victoria’s state logging agency manages the habitat of two rare possums in a landmark court ruling that finds the agency unlawfully logged areas of habitat.

The decision sets a legal precedent in applying federal threatened species protection laws to the logging industry in Victoria, which for more than 20 years has operated under a special exemption.

The community group Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum (FLBP), represented in court by Environmental Justice Australia, successfully argued that logging by VicForests in 66 areas of habitat critical to the vulnerable greater glider and critically endangered Leadbeater’s possum contravened federal law.

In scathing court findings, which will have ramifications for native forest logging in other states such as NSW, Justice Debra Mortimer found VicForests had not carefully evaluated the “very real” threats of serious damage to the possums posed by its forestry operations in the Central Highlands.

“Not only do VicForests’ forestry operations damage or destroy existing habitat critical to the survival of the two species, they also prevent new areas of forest from developing into such habitat in the future,” the case summary says.

“Although suitable habitat may be found in reserves already protected from logging, the court has accepted ... the increasing risks (in frequency and intensity) posed by wildfire to these reserves renders habitat in the impugned coupes all the more important.”

Steve Meacher, the president of FLBP, said the applicants were elated, and hugely relieved, at the court outcome: “No government or company should be exempt from national environment laws that are in place to protect our threatened species,” he said.

“We must stop the senseless logging of critical threatened species’ habitat or we will drive them to extinction.”

Justice Mortimer found VicForests had not developed its own inhouse forest survey system before it began logging but relied on Victoria's environment department, even though the department insisted this responsibility lay with VicForests, a fact the court confirmed.

When conducting its forestry operations, VicForests paid “insufficient regard” to matters such as the quality of habitat for possums in the disputed coupes and the effects of bushfire on possum habitat in reserves and national parks, the court found.

Instead, it relied on “desktop” and other theoretical methods, which the court found to be flawed.

The agency’s own policies, such as the “interim greater glider strategy” were “defensive documents”, with the content suggesting VicForests felt “obliged” to have a policy to protect the greater glider but was reluctant to implement it, Justice Mortimer ruled.

Although VicForests has said it will move to less “intensive” timber production practices in order to try and secure accreditation for its products from the Forest Stewardship Council, the court was not persuaded it would do this in the unlogged coupes.

Justice Mortimer ordered parties to return to court in mid June to determine what further orders for relief should be made, including whether ongoing injunctions should be issued against VicForests to prevent any forestry operations in unlogged coupes.

Mr Meacher said the form of relief was still to be decided.

“We’re not interested in being paid off, we don’t want money from logged coupes, we want protection for forests,” he said.

Most of the community group’s $300,000 costs for the court case had come through crowd funding on social media, he said.

“It has been thousands and thousands of people giving their $20 or $50 ... from members of the public who believed in protecting forests.”

In Australia, the Commonwealth enters into agreements with the states about the conservation and management of their native forests, called regional forest agreements.

Regional forest agreements are exempt from provisions in national laws that protect threatened species.

“The logging industry has operated for 20 years as if it doesn’t have to comply with our federal environment laws because of regional forest agreements, this case overturns that position,” said Danya Jacobs, a senior lawyer at Environmental Justice Australia.

The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have asked VicForests for comment.