9. FLORA AND FAUNA / BIODIVERSITY ISSUES

Logging industry propaganda

• There are no known extinctions of any species due to logging practices. Link
  
  
• Biodiversity is threatened by other things such as agriculture and land clearing not logging. Link
  
  
• Otway rainforests are excluded from logging and appropriate buffers applied. Link
  
  
• "Ecological Sustainable Forest Management" is adopted to protect biodiversity values. Link
  
  
• Habitat trees are retained in areas clearfell logged to protect flora and fauna. Link
  
  
• Flora and Fauna values were protected under the RFA process by the CAR reserve system. Link

Brief Response

There are no known extinctions of any species due to logging practices

• Nominations to the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act acknowledge that logging practices threaten endangered species with extinction. The State governments failure to complete Action Statements as required by the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act means that clearfell logging threatens engendered species with extinction.
  
  See nominations for Endangered Species and Threatening Processes listed under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act.
  
  See Failings of the Flora & Fauna Guarantee Act
  
  
• Clearfell logging contributes to Habitat fragmentation. Habitat fragmentation can lead to local and regional extinctions of plants and animals. Before an extinction occurs, endangered species will suffer a decline in numbers as they are forced to live in smaller and smaller islands of habitat. A decline in numbers makes endangered species vulnerable to extinction by other forces such as wildfire, feral animals and other human pressures.
  
  
• The Spot Tail Quoll is an example of where logging practices are contributing towards the decline and extinction of an animal in the Otways.
  
  
• Cool temperate rainforest and the impact of the myrtle wilt disease is an example of a where logging practices are contributing to the decline of an endangered plant community.
  
  
• Clearfell logging reduces the number of hollow bearing trees for animals to live in.

Biodiversity is threatened by other things such as agriculture and land clearing not logging.

• Land clearing for agriculture or pine plantations is not occurring in the Otways.
  
  
• The argument that clearfell logging does not contribute to loss of habitat is based on the assumption that clearfell logging mimics natural processes. This is far from the truth.
  
  See Myth that native forests "regenerate" after clearfell logging.
  
  See Myth that clearfell logging mimics natural wildfire regeneration
  
  
  
• Existing land clearing for agriculture and plantations has already fragmented the Otways. Clearfell logging on public land within remaining forest corridors contributes to further habitat fragmentation and reducing biodiversity.
  

Otway rainforests are excluded from logging and appropriate buffers applied.

• It is true that rainforest is excluded from clearfell logging practices in the Otways. However appropriate buffers are not applied. Scientific research suggesting buffers of up to 250-350 metres are required instead of the 40 metres buffers Forestry Victoria have been applying.
  
  
• Forestry Victoria have breached of the Code of Forest Practices for timber production by applying only 40 metre buffers when in fact the code requires 60 metres buffers on stands of nothofagus dominated Cool Temperate Rainforest in the Otways.
  
  
• The Otway Forest Management Plan does not have a detailed strategy to apply buffers to Cool Temperate Rainforest. Link
  
  
• Research in Victoria to investigate appropriate buffer widths for Nothofagus dominated Cool Temperate Rainforest has been suppressed by Forestry Victoria. See myrtle wilt research suppression.
  
  
• The State governments failure to complete Action Statements as required by the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act means that clearfell logging threatens rainforest.
  
  See Rainforest and myrtle wilt threatening processes listed under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act.
  
  See Failings of the Flora & Fauna Guarantee Act

"Ecological Sustainable Forest Management" is adopted to protect biodiversity values.

• Ecological Sustainable Forest Management' (ESFM) is another fancy way of for Forestry Victoria saying they are not damaging the environment when in fact they are. See The Failure of ESFM
  
  
  
• The system of ESFM relies on the completion of Action Statements as a part of the FFG Act. This is not being done. Hence ESFM is a failure.
  See Failings of the Flora & Fauna Guarantee Act

• ESFM relies on compliance the to the Otway Forest Management Plan This is not being done. Hence ESFM is a failure.
  See Breaches of the Otway Forest Management Plan
  
  
• The Code of Forest Practices for timber production is breached all the time. Hence ESFM is a failure.
  See Breaches of the Code of Forest Practices for Timber Production

Habitat trees are retained in areas clearfell logged to protect flora and fauna

• Habitat trees (which are also know as hollow bearing trees and veteran trees) are rarely left in coups. The normal practice by Forestry Victoria is to kill large veteran trees to allow more sunlight onto an area clearfell logged. If the veteran tree is not cut down then a poison such as round-up is often used. Notches are cut into the trunk of the tree and injected with poison. See Hollow Bearing trees.
  
  
• The claim by Forestry Victoria that habitat trees are retained is a part of a public relations campaign to deceive the community into thinking flora and fauna values are being protected.
  
  
• The failure to retain hollow bearing trees is a breach of the Code of Forest Practices for Timber Harvesting and the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act threatening process known as Loss of hollow-bearing trees from Victorian native forest .

Flora and Fauna values were protected under the RFA process by the CAR reserve system.

• The Design of CAR reserve system can best be summed up as being incomplete and poorly designed. A major reason for the poor design is a lack of scientific research of Otway biodiversity values.
  See The CAR Reserve system lacks scientific credibility.
  
  
• The Comprehensive Adequate Representative(CAR) reserve system. Comprehensive and adequate by who's definition? Again, just because a title says "adequate" does not mean that it actually is. CAR is a nice PR term used by Forestry Victoria and the pro-clearfell & woodchip lobby groups.
  

Don't know the meaning of a word? Check the glossary.