BY DAVID HARRIS
BAMBRA — One of the "lungs" of Victoria, the Otway Ranges, is at a crossroads as the destructive practice of clear-fell logging is now cutting into irreplaceable bio-diverse native forests. This is at the expense of other forest values, including water supply and quality, tourism, forest diversity and conservation.
Last year, with a new Labor government, more wood was taken out of the Otways than in any previous year. Conservationists accuse state environment minister Sherryl Garbutt and her Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) of acting as apologists for the logging companies when explaining the increase.
However the situation came to a head in late 2000 when the DNRE assigned 77 hectares of unlogged forest to the loggers, just near Lorne, at the immensely beautiful Sabine Falls.
This time many groups combined to oppose the irrationality of the decision. These included the Otway Ranges Environment Network (OREN), the Otway Ranges Walking Track Association, many local conservationists, as well as the newly formed Doctors for Native Forests and the Lorne Business and Tourism Association. All groups united to defend the soon to be logged Sabine Falls area.
The concerns of these groups received a good airing in the local paper The Echo. Journalists met representatives at the falls, took photographs and raised the issue in a front-page article. A senior officer for the DNRE said, "Clear felling was the best logging method to help regenerate the bush".
On January 29 the Melbourne Age reported that, " Logging [in the Sabina Falls area] has been deferred pending a review by the community based Regional Forest Reference Group for the Otways". According to the Age's report, this body, "convened by the government in the face of mounting opposition to logging in the Otways", and consists of 16 representatives from conservation groups (including OREN), universities, local government, tourism bodies, water authorities and the timber companies.
It may only be a small victory in the face of a dying timber industry bent on destroying the Otways for a mass of woodchips (70% of the wood goes to woodchips) before plantations come online overseas. However, what it illustrates is that the S11 tactic of combining the energy of various groups to make a stand against the forces of capitalism can achieve practical and moral victories.