Two more people have been arrested at Sylvia Creek on the 23rd of August bring the total number of arrests to 16 at the blockade. The pair locked on to a logging truck holding up logging on the site in the Toolangi State Forest for 3 hours. The site represents some of the only old growth forests to have survived the Black Saturday fire intact and is also habitat for the endangered Leadbeaters Possum. In addition on August 24th MyEnvironment Inc, a local Yarra Ranges environment group filed a writ in the Melbourne Supreme Court seeking an injunction against state-owned timber company VicForests to stop logging at Sylvia Creek forest. The writ alleges that the logging is unlawful because the area contains habitat for the endangered Leadbeater’s Possum. Read their Media statement below.
Related: Background on the campaign -- Reflex loses FSC certification
Read the article below from the Maroondah Weekly local paper on the arrests.
Two in court over Sylvia Creek logging protest
TWO people appeared before Ringwood Magistrates Court today following their arrest at the Sylvia Creek logging coupe near Toolangi. The man and woman were arrested yesterday afternoon after stopping a truck loaded with logs from leaving the forest by locking their arms around the truck’s axle.
It took police up to three hours to remove the pair who had handcuffed themselves to a metal pipe wrapped around the axle. Another two people were also arrested for standing in front of the truck, making a total of 16 arrests so far.
The Gun Barrel coupe has been the site of a month-long series of protests by conservationists and local activists who fear continued logging will wipe out the remaining habitat of the endangered Leadbeater’s possum.
VicForests has stated that no Leadbeater’s possum habitat exists in the area. In related news, Reflex paper has lost its environmental certification because its logging practices do not meet the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council.
Yarra Ranges Council recently signed the Wilderness Society’s ethical paper pledge, vowing not to use any Reflex paper products.
My Environment Medial Release August 24th :Environment group heads to court to stop destruction of endangered possum’s home
MyEnvironment Inc, a local Yarra Ranges environment group, will head to the courts today in a desperate attempt to stop logging in one of the few high-conservation value forests spared from the horrific Black Saturday bushfires and home to the endangered Leadbeater’s Possum.
A writ will be filed a in the Melbourne Supreme Court this morning seeking an injunction against state-owned timber company VicForests to stop logging at Sylvia Creek forest, which has been a hotbed of protest action in the past month.
The writ alleges that the logging is unlawful because the area contains habitat for the endangered Leadbeater’s Possum, and the iconic Victorian animal is likely to be present in the forest, near Toolangi on Melbourne’s north east fringe.
“The Leadbeater’s Possum lost half its habitat in the Black Saturday bushfires, and less than 1000 are thought to survive,” said My Environment spokesperson Sarah Rees.
“With so many challenges disadvantaging our tiny possum, how can we simply sit by and permit logging to be its final death knell?”
“Many of our members lost homes, friends and livestock in the fires, logging the home of this little bushfire survivor is too much, and it reflects a side of our government that has lost touch with local needs.
“We’re taking this legal action after an exhaustive consultation process with VicForests has failed to stop logging. The science is telling us if we persist with logging these forests extinction will take place. The local community cannot live with that.”
Local residents and conservationists have been peacefully trying to slow the destruction at Sylvia Creek over the past month, and at least 14 people have been arrested at the site.
“Ordinary Victorians shouldn’t have to take such drastic action to protect the State’s wildlife emblem from extinction, so we’re asking the court to intervene and force VicForests to abide by the law.”
If VicForests refuses to withdraw the bulldozers from the site, the conservationists will ask the court to hold an emergency hearing and impose an interlocutory injunction to immediately halt logging operations. According to the writ to be filed with the court, logging at Sylvia Creek breaches several state laws and guidelines.
“Logging of Leadbeater’s possum habitat breaches the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, the Code of Forest Practice, the Sustainable Forests Act and the Central Highlands Forest Management Plan,” lawyer for My Environment, Vanessa Bleyer said.
Ms Bleyer also acted for Environment East Gippsland in their successful challenge against VicForests logging operations at Brown Mountain.
“The Brown Mountain case showed that VicForests must respect endangered species laws. The law made in that case will be relevant to this case,” she said.