2019-03-28
The Australian Greens welcome the acknowledgement from the federal agriculture minister and the Victorian environment minister that native forest logging is unsustainable and contributes to climate change.
“It’s clear that native forest logging in Victoria and across the country must end immediately and that the destructive logging laws, the Regional Forest Agreements, must be scrapped," said Senator Janet Rice, Australian Greens forests spokesperson.
“The Greens plan would end native forest logging immediately, transition the industry to 100% plantations from the current 88%, and include a carbon pollution trigger in national environment laws.”
“Victoria’s native forests store more carbon than any other forest in the world, yet they’re currently being logged mainly for woodchips.”
“As well as being massive carbon stores, Victoria’s native forests provide homes for threatened animals and provide most of Melbourne’s drinking water.”
“There is a clear pathway to end destructive native forest logging. Given that Coalition and Labor seem to have now finally realised that logging is unsustainable, I urge them to work with the Greens to ensure we protect these forests for a safe climate, for water security, for threatened animals, for the agriculture industry, and for future generations.”
Victorian Greens environment spokesperson Ellen Sandell said: “Native logging in Victoria is so destructive, economically and environmentally, that even the Federal Liberal Government is calling for it to be stopped. The Victorian Labor Government cannot continue this environmental destruction any longer: they must end native forest logging in Victoria now."