Updates

Media Release

Local conservation group, Wombat Forestcare, is alarmed that exploration drilling for gold is being carried out along Yankee Road in the Wombat State Forest, south east of Trentham

This area near Trentham is not part of the newly legislated Wombat-Lerderderg National Park and remains a section of the Wombat State Forest where mining is a permitted activity. The state government has promised to change the tenure of this section of forest to a regional park along with approximately 20,000 hectares that remain categorised as a state forest. This undertaking is part of the acceptance of recommendations by the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council’s investigation into the Central West, which has not yet been fully delivered.

As a regional park this area would not be exempt from a gold mine, but it would not be an automatic right. The recommendations from the Central West Investigation Final Report state “Where compatible with recreation, minor resource extraction activities, such as metal detecting and prospecting may also be permitted. These extractive uses are assessed by the land manager for each park and vary depending upon local circumstances and the values present. Regional parks are restricted Crown land under the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990 with ministerial consent required for exploration, mining and searching.”

Wombat Forestcare is urging the state government to speedily create the promised regional parks as well as the bushland and nature reserves. Gayle Osborne, Wombat Forestcare said:

“We do not want to see an industrial gold mine, with associated road transport and pollution issues, in the Wombat Forest. Residents should be aware that mineral exploration and mining are generally permitted uses in a state forest.”

“The exploration works are being carried out in the headwaters of creeks that drain into the Heritage listed Lerderderg River and it would be immoral for the government to permit a mining licence in this catchment.”

The proposed Blackwood Regional Park is home to the iconic endangered Greater Gliders and Gang-gang Cockatoos as well as many other faunal species. Their habitat needs to be protected so that they will continue to exist in the Wombat Forest.

The local group opposed to mining in the Wombat Forest say:

“No Wombat Gold doesn’t understand how mining can be considered. According to Parks Victoria, ‘visitor recreation is the primary purpose of regional parks.’ A working gold mine and enjoyment of the natural environment cannot co-exist.”

Wombat Forestcare is asking residents to immediately write to the Premier, the Hon. Jacinta Allen and the Minister for the Environment, the Hon. Steve Dimopoulos, with copies to your local Members of Parliament requesting the prompt creation of the promised regional parks and reserves.

Media Release

Environment groups are celebrating the creation of three new national parks and two conservation parks by the state government in Victoria’s central west

Legislation passed the Legislative Council on the evening of the 18th November to create the Wombat-Lerderderg, Mount Buangor and Pyrenees national parks along with the Hepburn and Cobaw conservation parks. The Wellsford State Forest has been reclassified as a regional park.

Members of Wombat Forestcare have been campaigning for greater protection of Wombat Forest for fifteen years, and park status is a recognition of the very high conservation and catchment values of the forest.

Over many years, Wombat Forestcare, working with the Victorian National Parks Association, has lobbied the state government to protect these forests in parks.

Gayle Osborne, convenor, Wombat Forestcare said that

“These forests exist in a landscape that has been highly cleared of native vegetation and represent incredibly
important habitat for the persistence of very many threatened plants, animals and fungi.”

“This is a massive step for the protection of the amazing and wonderful plants, animals and fungi that inhabit our forests.”

“We congratulate the state government for legislating these parks. National parks are the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation in Australia, and the creation of these parks will ensure that these forests are safeguarded for future generations.”

The Wombat Forest is a ‘stronghold’ for the protection of many threatened native species including the Greater Glider, Powerful Owl, Brush-tailed Phascogale and the endemic Wombat Leafless Bossiaea.

The park will also protect the Wombat Forest as a water catchment with the headwaters of seven major river systems contained in the forest, and the value the forest provides in terms of ecosystem services and carbon sequestration.

Gayle Osborne said

“The national parks are only part of the undertaking by the government for the central west. There are regional parks, and bushland reserves still to be legislated, and we hope that these can be created before the end of the year.”

Wombat Forestcare is quite disappointed that the government has decided to allow recreational deer hunting in parts of the new Wombat-Lerderderg National Park. This is not an appropriate activity in a national park and will not substantially reduce deer numbers. Parks Victoria engage professional shooters to carry out their pest control
programs.

Photo: Wombat Forestcare members campaigning for the national park. © Sandy Scheltema.

Media Release

Legislation for the Wombat-Lerderderg National Park

Our community is celebrating the tabling of the bill to create the new Wombat-Lerderderg National Park. 24,000 hectares of the Wombat Forest will be conserved for our amazing animals, plants and fungi and for future generations to enjoy.

Wombat Forestcare congratulates the State Government for creating this national park and the Mt Buangor and Pyrenees National Parks, all incredibly important habitat for endangered creatures and plants. The creation of the Hepburn and Cobaw Conservation Parks will safeguard these ecologically important areas. The Wellsford State Forest, with its wonderful range of wildflowers, will be included in the Bendigo Regional Park.

Gayle Osborne said “Wombat Forestcare members and supporters, together with the Victorian National Parks Association, have campaigned for many years for the protection of our unique forest and its inhabitants. We are delighted that the parks will be legislated, and look forward to the legislation of the promised regional parks and bushland reserves in the central west region”

The Wombat Forest provides habitat for so many wonderful creatures including the magnificent Greater Glider. This beautiful creature, the size of a domestic cat, is covered with thick fur, with a bushy tail that is half a metre long and used as a rudder. They can glide an amazing 90 metres between trees. Once considered a very common forest animal they are now listed as endangered. It is exciting that most of our Wombat Forest population will now be protected in the new national park.

The Wombat Forest is home to the critically endangered Wombat Leafless Bossiaea. There are only five known plants in the wild and they are all in the Wombat Forest.

Powerful Owls successfully breed in the Wombat Forest. This is a great indicator of forest health as the owls need a steady supply of food such as ringtail possums to sustain themselves and their chicks.

Gayle Osborne said “Our community has worked so hard to have the Wombat recognised for its incredible wildlife. For more than the 14 years that Wombat Forestcare has campaigned for ‘Park’ status for our forest, so many people have attended protest events, written letters to politicians and supported the campaign in so many ways.”