In May 2023, the Victorian government announced that logging of native forests on public land would end in the state by January 1, 2024. This was six years ahead of the planned end of logging and was welcomed by environmental groups and ecologists.

The government announced that there would be a process for the community to contribute to decision making about future forest management, and the Eminent Panel for Community Engagement commenced its community engagement program to look into possible management options for forests in Victoria’s Central Highlands.

In July 2024, consultation on the Central Highlands closed. The Eminent Panel is currently preparing its recommendations to government on the future use and management of these forests. These are expected to be announced before the end of the year.

The next stage: the north east and Gippsland

On 1 April 2024 the Victorian Government announced the next stage in process for determining the future of Victoria’s state forests, with the appointment of a ‘Great Outdoors Taskforce’.

Former Minister for Environment, Lisa Neville, will lead the Taskforce which will consider future use of over 1.8 million hectares of state forest previously managed for timber harvesting.

Government media reports state that ‘the Taskforce will be working alongside the Eminent Panel for Community Engagement that is currently engaging with Victorians on the future management and uses of Central Highlands state forests. The Panel’s Engage Victoria page is open and includes more information on engagement opportunities’.

The Taskforce will have involvement from Traditional Owner groups and the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council will also be conducting scientific values assessments of the area to support understanding of forest values.

The work will be undertaken over the next 12 months and details of consultation will be available shortly.

That’s where you come in

This report, Places to protect: beyond the logging, caring for the forests of east Victoria outlines the key areas that have been identified by Friends of the Earth that we feel urgently need full protection.

As noted in the report, we acknowledge that these forests are Cultural Landscapes within the unceded sovereign lands of Victorian Traditional Owners.

The report says:

‘As we prepare for the post-industrial logging future in eastern Victoria, Friends of the Earth (FoE) is concentrating on developing our relationship with Traditional Owner groups and actively supporting their aspirations for self-determined, Country-level governance and Cultural Land Management. FoE supports the Cultural Landscape Strategy and the structural and institutional reform it recommends to enable Traditional Owner decision making, Country-centred knowledge gathering, and the synthesis of Cultural knowledge and western empirical research to guide future ‘land management’ and holistic care for Country.

This report is not intended to be a science based paper or to make recommendations about how areas should be protected. It is simply a summary of the places we really treasure and have built a connection with during our years of campaigning. It exists with the intention of building generative relationships and to amplify the values we’d like to see protected into the future.’

Stay tuned for details

As we wait for the announcement on the state government consultation process that will be managed by the Great Outdoors Taskforce, we invite you to consider what areas on public land matter to you. What are your specials places? How should they be protected?

Once the announcement is made, we will let people know how they can contribute their ideas to the process – including what areas they love and want to see protected.