I recently flew from Perth to Melbourne. It made me appreciate just how small an area of the southern section of the continent is covered by forest or trees of any kind. You fly for hours over mile after mile of desert and grassland, with very few glimpses of forest.
It was exciting to see the brilliant blue-green of the Otway Ranges after the harsh browns and reds. The Otways have always seemed such a vast tract of bushland. They are not. The aerial view certainly put their size into perspective
I was horrified to learn that the Department of Natural Resources is allowing clearfelling of 40 hectares of forest in the Cumberland River watershed. This will accelerate the rate of environmental degradation of the river and its valley.
I urge the Government to place a moratorium on all further logging in
the Cumberland River catchment area.