Forest Watch 1992 - Scenes of destruction in East Gippsland

Of logs extracted from forest below, only 15% of logs are used for sawn timber and then only 30% of each log.  There is more "waste" than "product", and of course the forest is clearfelled (apart from a few "habitat" trees) then burnt (for "regeneration").  Obviously, these practices cause a major loss of biodiversity and compromise the integrity of the forest ecosystem.
 

Why was this forest giant felled ?  It crashed down into a gully, in contravention to the Code of Forest Practices.  It was outside the designated logging coupe.  Not even the woodchippers want our old growth forests.

Debris felled into a pristine rainforest gully that was supposed to be a "buffer zone".

The code of forest practices states that debris ("slash") must not be present within 3m of "habitat trees" left behind, so they don't get killed during the "regeneration burn".  As you can see above, this does not often happen, so many of the habitat trees end up dying.

This is what happens to water courses that are not designated as "rivers" or "streams"; they get destroyed . . .
 

Looking down a logging coupe, from the top of a hill down a water course.  The photo was taken not long after the "regeneration" fire had been lit. This is the view "downstream" along the same watercourse, from the logging coupe boundary.  It looks a lot like cool-temperate rainforest doesn't it ?  However, to the Department of National Resources and Environment and the loggers, it is simply another eucalypt forest suitable for logging

Here is a view up the same watercourse, all the vegetation has been destroyed by the logging and subsequent burning.  Water was still flowing down it.

All photos by Peter Campbell (copyright) - contact me if you wish to use any

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