Ms Citizen's Updatesfor the geco list25 January 2010Howdy crew! A new forest blog has just been set up by an inspired East Gippy skillshare first timer. Promote it thru your own networks as the old trees are still being felled every day out here with only a handful of dedicated crew trying to slow the destruction. Don't be fooled by the recent new reserves, so much was still left out and now the industry is targeting Special Protection Zones to log, all of which have very high conservation values. If you can get a carload together, come on out to the Goongerah campground where the base camp is established. There is going to be a Goolengook reunion at Goolengook this coming Labour Day (Victoria) long weekend early. Stay tuned for details... http://victoriasforests.blogspot.com/
13 January 2010Last weekends skillshare in Goongerah was very successful with over 50 people of diverse backgrounds in attendance including quite a few internationals... Plenty of Brown Mountain films on You Tube. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS8p_ky_jsw
Goongerah Environment Centre - GECO
11 may 2009RALLY FOR THE FORESTS THIS WEDNESDAY 13TH MAY MEET 3PM FEDERATION SQUARE March from Fed Square at 5pm up Swanston Steet to Bourke, down Bourke St Mall, down Elizabeth St to finish at Flinders St Station steps. There are also rolling blockades still happening out here in far East Gippsland. Logging of prehistoric Gondwanic rainforest at Bungywarr has been the focus of recent protest actions. If coming out be prepared for winter camping. A good camp with Geco Kitchen set up at Goongerah campground on Ellery Creek Track. Also the Florentine in Tassie needs crew, & it seems that the pulp mill permit is not legal (see todays "The Australian" online...). For Rally details contact Daniel Ogilvie Please come along & bring your friends! 19 april 2009GECO Autumn update, April 2009 In Geco’s (Goongerah Environment Centre 1994-) 15th year of campaigning to protect the forests of far East Gippsland from logging, direct action has been continuing all Summer into Autumn, most recently on the Errinundra Plateau at Survey Road, scene of many protest actions over the past 12 years (see Geco archives @ geco.org.au). More crew are always needed, so if you can make it out there is a permanent camp established in Goongerah at Ellery Creek campground, 70km’s north of Orbost. Bring a tent, warm clothes, food, cameras etc. Be prepared for wet weather. There are no shops in Goongerah. No pets please! 24 january 2009hello friends of da old forest! this geco summer campaign update reports a successful skillshare was held in goongerah over 9-11 jan with over 30 new crew making the long journey out to the wilds of far east gippy to join the longer term crew. tree climbing, knot tying, old growth forest walks, night wildlife walks, guest speakers, communal cooking & camping were enjoyed by all. a blockade was set up by geco crew in iconic stony creek with 2 tree sits 30 metres high in the canopy of spectacular mixed ash forest locking down 4 forest destroying machines for 2 days. this was the first direct forest action for many of the skillsharers & a valuable experience in the what forest blockading is all about. whilst some people left new crew continued to arrive & the actions kept rolling on with another tree-sit action at brown mountain. very good footage was captured throughout this day which should be available soon. as search & rescue got our "possum" down later that afternoon, a walk in lock down of a log loader occurred the following day with locals in attendance. whilst the blockaders braved loggers, police, dse & vicforests drones, the media centre was working flat out getting the story out to the wider community with great success. we got local tv & radio, national newspapers & abc radio into melbourne & across australia. a great effort by the whole team, especially spokesperson kate reynolds who conducted numerous interviews over a very hectic week. currently there is a victorian national parks association (vnpa.org.au) camp here at the goongerah campground with over 50 in attendance. rumour has it that the loggers will move into the next brown mountain coupe as soon as numbers out here die down, so we urge everyone who can to pack their car full of people, food & fuel (or jump on a v-line train to orbost & we''ll pick u up), & get out here asap to support the current crew who have been going hard for the past few months! if u can't make it out to the forests, please take the time to write to newspapers, politicians, call talk back radio, organise a gig, rally, action in the city, whatever it is u can do. check out eco-shout.org.au for contax etc, or call 51540173 or 51540112 for info if you're coming out. ancient forests must survive! 6 januaey 2009hi crew! 20084 december 2008Summers here . . . Come to the inaugural Treez, TVs & Tunez @ 11a Hope St on Thursday 11 December for a night of films, music, chai and more! Film: Pickaxe (fantastic fun doco on Arcadia, Canada, the fight for Old Growth) Live Music: Hear updates from: THURSDAY 11 DEC **** 1 december 2008hey friends of the forests! long time goongerah resident and east gippsland forest campaigner jill redwood has put together a short clip on the current logging of brown mountain. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEdV5jXOeqw there is a small crew of committed blockaders out here who need support right now! get a car load together and come out now! camping set up at beautiful ellery creek camp ground in goongerah. there was the usual crap from v.a.f.i. (victorian assoc of forest industries) in monday's age (theage.com.au) "greens fail to see the wood for the trees". a quick analysis of the logging history around the Brown Mtn coupes. 840-502-0015, coupe 840-502-0020 is being logged now. 1. The red lines (Brown_mtn_coupes_GE.jpg) show the location of the coupes on GE but the image is low res. You can see the past logging. 2. When the EVC map is switched on (Brown_mtn_coupes_EVC.jpg) the cross hatched areas that are Grey,blue, pink and dark green are all past clearfell logging. Bright green is the Wet EVC forest type class not yet logged. Almost all old growth left in the bright green EVC area is marked for logging in the three coupes. 3. The (Brown_mtn_coupes_07TRP.jpg) is for reference. So the three coupes in red that are on the current TRP are really the only forest left to be logged in the whole area not already committed for protection. But 840-502-0020 is gone So that leaves only two old growth coupes left in the whole area. There are other small bits but the three coupes are really all that is left. if you want colour e-maps, write to this address. for the forests 18 november 2008ey forest crew! The link is here under contract page. It was labelled "supplementary information" to hide it. http://www.vicforests.com.au/ind-fr-auct-frame.html Under the preferred proposal by forestry, all the FMA areas are to be abolished to form two mega management areas. Tambo is combined with East Gippsland and the other FMA areas are all combine to make just two large mega areas. From these two areas 500,000 D+ per year would be logged for the next 15 years. About 100,000 of the D+ will come from low saw log yield forests, most of it in East Gippsland foothill forests. The argument put forward by forestry is there is a need to 'obliterate' all the foothill forest that is under 60 cubs per ha D+ and regenerate it into higher sawlog yielding forests for the future. Forestry argue that a large area of mountain forest of low sawlog yield in EG is also to be wiped out for the same reason. This "wipe out the low sawlog yield forests to improve production" argument is not a new by foresters. In 1981 a "Prelimina\ry Environment Report on Proposed Pulpwood Harvesting in the Otways State Forest" advocated that a woodchip industry needs to be established to make it viable to covert large areas of "over mature -mountain forests" in the Otways into productive forests. This 1981 report put out under the Libs, caused an uproar in Geelong and the woodchip issue became a State election issue in 1982. The new Cain ALP government put a moratorium on woodchipping in 1982 but is was later overtured in 1990 by Steve Crabb when he handed out 15 year woochip licences (no controversy at the time) so this low sawlog yields forests could be economically removed. Looks like that is about to occur again, however the latest iteration of the same arguments does not mention woodchips to avoid controversy... 16 april 2008Geco update April 2008… Logging is continuing to devastate the remaining unprotected old growth forests of the Errinundra Plateau at Survey Road, only 30 minutes from Goongerah. A blockade was established over easter with a small crew in difficult conditions, holding the loggers out for a few days. There are 2 logging crews going hell for leather including the infamous Rodwell, who stated that he “will log the last tree in East Gippsland”, even more outrageous considering he’s not a local but from Bombala in NSW. His recent record includes Dingo Creek rainforest & Yalmy Road water catchment…see geco.org.au for campaign details. “we’re baffled, brainwashed, wanna bash Bob Brown, bonk bulls, buy beer, burn books, Bombala boys are we, big on bigotry…” from legendary East Gippsland blockade song “Forest F#ckaz” on ‘Lock On!’ c.d. contact Geco for a copy of the trak… geco@green.net.au *the Goongerah community is establishing a “Valley of the Giants” walk in an unprotected area of Brown Mountain where 2 logging coupes are scheduled. This is a spectacular old growth forest that should be added to the Errinundra National Park, but has been excluded by DSE bureaucrats who once again put logging interests ahead of conservation, climate change & water. These public servants are once again not representing the wishes of a large majority of Victorians, never mind doing the right thing by the environment. And, if they can’t log it, they burn it under their very dubious program of “fuel reduction” burns. Geco says, “fuel reduction is soil destruction!” *who said this?
“it’s about the direction for Victoria & Australia in
the future. An end to native forest export woodchips,
the proper protection of our high conservation value
forest areas, & an industry which is based in the
future on plantations. That’s what we want. That’s
where the jobs are. And that’s what we’ll do when
we’re in government.” *DSE’s (Department of Sustainability & Environment /
“Destroying Sustainable Environments / Department of
Scorched Earth”) role in “mananging” our forests:
just 3 of many issues that should be independently
investigated:
every forest policy document produced by Victorian
State governments over the last 20 years has stated
unequivocally that native forests are to be cut
sustainably. Yet DSE has sanctioned the continuous
overcutting & conversion of these forests to tree
farms. Why has this been allowed?
when the East Gippsland Regional Forest Agreements
(RFA) was signed in 1997, DSE was obliged to develop &
monitor sustainability indicators, which it has never
done. Did you know that “logging companies clearing Australia’s old-growth forests & water catchments do not pay a single cent in tax for the diesel used in their logging operations.” (the age/businessday “Opinion & Analysis” article by Kenneth Davidson kdavidson@theage.com.au 14/04/08). Also check out latest “Dissent” magazine article by Richard Dennis, associate professor , Crawford School of Economics & Government at Australian National University for more on this topic. URGENT!!! Of course, travelling out here to experience the majesty & the tragedy yourselves is probably the most important action to take! Base yourself at the peaceful Ellery Creek campground in Goongerah on the Brodribb River & go from there…it’s been more difficult since Geco’s eviction, but if you are coming out email us & we can give you the current lowdown… Don’t just get angry, but get informed, inspired, empowered & ACTIVE!
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