2016-05-03
Ms DUNN (Eastern Metropolitan) — I rise this morning to thank the citizen scientists working across Victoria in our forests. As recently as last week citizen scientists were at the Errinundra Plateau, and on this occasion they identified 11 greater gliders; of course VicForests had not been able to find them. The citizen scientists found them and managed to halt logging in that area, which was a logging coupe. I also pay tribute to those citizen scientists in Toolangi, who not two weeks ago were in the Imperium logging coupe and had no trouble locating Leadbeater’s possums in that coupe; VicForests had not been able to find them either.
I salute the citizen scientists who actually put their own time and resources into looking for these threatened species on behalf of Victorians and who fly the flag in a way that we would expect governments to do. The tragic thing about this is that these citizen scientists are at risk of arrest for the actions they undertake, and that is a travesty. Rather than being congratulated for what they do in putting their own time and resources into protecting certain species, they are at risk of arrest. A better idea, I would have thought, would be that VicForests employ them, because they have certainly had a better success rate than that organisation.