For the past 2 days, community members from Melbourne and the area around Mt Macedon have occupied an area on the mountain where up to 0.8 hectares of snow gum woodland is scheduled to be cleared in order to reopen a view to Melbourne.

The snow gum woodlands on the Mt Macedon Range are isolated and unique, and part of only about 20 hectares of this vegetation type left in central and western Victoria.

However it seems that logging will start tomorrow (April 17).

Community outrage is growing over a proposal by the Macedon Memorial Cross Committee that would see between 100 and 120 trees, including the locally significant Snow Gums cut down on Mount Macedon. The works would clear almost 0.8 hectares of a nationally significant and highly threatened ecosystem – Montane Grassy Woodland.

After two days of community members occupying the site, police and Parks Victoria authorised officers today announced that the area being cut was now an authorised zone and any people in the zone would be arrested.

While community members will be on the mountain again tomorrow, arrests would be likely for anyone attempting to move into the declared zone.

Action is always the antidode to despair

More than 1,000 people have already called on the state government to reconsider its plan to clearfell this forest.

Please express your concern about this by taking action: Simply tell the relevant ministers how concerned you are by this destruction and urge them to intervene to stop the clearfelling.

Take action here: sign this letter to the ministers.

Or you can email them with your own message:

  • contact the Minister for Planning, Sonia Kilkenny: sonya.kilkenny@parliament.vic.gov.au
  • contact the local MP: Maryanne Thomas. E: mary-anne.thomas@parliament.vic.gov.au
  • contact the State Environment Minister: Mr Enver Erdogan MLC. Enver.Erdogan@parliament.vic.gov.au
  • Spread the word: Share stories and images of Macedon’s Snow Gums on social media using #SaveMacedonSnowGums.

You can read more here.