As the federal government considers joining the global push to halt deforestation by 2030 at COP27 this week, the Victorian government is facing calls at home to end native forest logging and protect the forests that provide critical services for Victorians.

Doctors for the Environment (DEA) member Dr Jennifer Conway, also member of the DEA Biodiversity Special Interest group, said the DEA was calling for:

• Urgent actions to bring forward the 2030 exit from native forest logging, including immediate roll-out of measures to support workers and the forestry industry.
• Full consultation and shared decision making with Traditional Owners.
• Declaration of the Great Forest National Park by the State Government in this term of office.

Victoria’s Supreme Court has found state-owned logging agency VicForests failed to follow the law and protect endangered greater gliders and yellow-bellied gliders when logging native forests.

Victoria’s state logging company has failed to protect threatened species of gliders, and its methods to check for them before logging are inadequate, the state’s supreme court has found.

Justice Melinda Richards ordered VicForests on Friday to carry out full surveys of areas for greater gliders and yellow-bellied gliders before logging, and to include buffers around habitats.

Native forest logging in Victoria produces about 3 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year, equivalent to the pollution from 700,000 medium-sized cars or double the state’s domestic aviation sector, research shows.

For the first time, Victoria’s native logging emissions have been calculated and made public. These findings, commissioned by the Victorian Forest Alliance, will increase pressure on the state Labor government to bring forward the industry’s planned 2030 closure.

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While state MPs keep backing the destruction of native forest for woodchips and paper pulp, a once-divided timber region is getting out of native logging. By Katherine Wilson.

Victoria's logging regulator is failing to fully use its powers, and cannot assure the public it is effectively reducing the risk of illegal logging, according to a report by the Victorian Auditor-General's Office (VAGO).

Citizen scientists have reportedly found about 60 endangered greater gliders in a dozen Victorian areas that have been targeted for logging. The greater glider – one of the world’s largest gliding mammals – was listed as endangered earlier this year, only six years after first appearing on the national list of threatened species.

Victoria's government-owned logging company illegally cleared 1,000 square metres of protected possum habitat and broke the law in 25 out of 30 logging areas, according to a government-commissioned audit.

Environmentalists have accused state agency VicForests of logging an area identified as greater glider habitat in East Gippsland, less than a month after federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek declared the rare possum endangered.