VicForests' neo-colonial practice of logging old growth East Gippsland forests, justifies such culling by claiming compliance with Australia's wood production Standard AS 4708-2007. But this standard is Mein Kampf for ecological genocide of East Gippsland Forests.
Have a read: www.forestrystandard.org.au/files/Standards/4708.pdf
Under this official Australian Standard that sees only the wood for the trees, it includes two criteria that serve to deliver propaganda spin respect for forest ecology. One must recognise these criteria accompanying Criterion 4—Forest management shall maintain the productive capacity of forests. Need I say more?
forest. A Mountain Ash stump near a
road in Balnook, Gippsland. Note the
notches cut in the trunk for standing
planks to cut the tree down by axe!
Forestry Propaganda Criterion 3 for instance, requires forest management to 'protect and maintain the biological diversity of forests'. Wonderful wholesome, noble and holistic rumblings about this one - but gullibles wake! VicForests Mein Kampf hides the chainsaw-speak in the detail:
* 'Small-scale clearing is permitted up to a limit of 40 hectares on a single forest management unit'. 'Conservation of threatened (including vulnerable, rare or endangered) species and ecological communities requires the forest manager to minimise adverse impacts by ensuring he/she takes into account of known information and relevant specialist advice'. (Makes Fiji look like a democracy!)
Forestry Propaganda Criterion 5 requires forest management to maintain forest ecosystem health and vitality, yet is so vague as to allow forest 'practices' only to ensure that damage stays "within tolerable levels". Does this mean one tree per hectare can be left standing or may be two? This forestry standard also permits 'forest managers' to ":use fire and other disturbance regimes to maintain and enhance forest ecosystem health where appropriate to the forest type or scale."
Whoops! The wind picked up and the forest is gone; still we complied with AS 4708-2007!
VicForests motto reads: "Victorian Timber: beautiful, natural, functional" [SOURCE: www.vicforests.com.au]
..in lay terms this means kill beautiful natural specimens - they make the finest woodchips for A4 photocopy paper.
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