Filed: 28 May 2024
Trial: 1 September 2025
Judgment pending
Warburton Environment (WE) has taken the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) to the Federal Court over its large-scale removal of hollow-bearing and recruitment trees in State and National Parks in the Central Highlands.
Despite repeated warnings from community groups and larger ENGOs, both the Victorian and Australian governments were formally notified of the exact locations of active Greater Glider denning trees in the area. This correspondence was ignored. DEECA proceeded to fell these trees during the Greater Glider breeding season — a period when mothers with pouch-young are at their most vulnerable — contributing to the loss of critical habitat that this case now seeks to address.
What’s at issue:
DEECA’s Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV) program
has been cutting down thousands of old hollow-bearing trees — many pre-colonial survivors of fire and logging — as part of its “hazardous tree” removal operations. These hollows are essential nesting and shelter sites for federally listed endangered species. It was after a GG was found dead in 2024 that WE decided to take legal action.
The allegation:
WE argues this destruction breaches the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act), specifically sections 18(2) and 18(3), because it:
-
has, or is likely to have, a significant impact on the critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possum and the endangered Southern Greater Glider.
-
destroys critical habitat,
-
threatening the survival of nationally listed species.
The legal position:
There are no valid exemptions under the EPBC Act that allow DEECA to continue this tree removal. Unless DEECA halts immediately, it is allegedly committing an ongoing federal offence.
The consequence:
WE is seeking a ruling that DEECA’s operations are unlawful, to force an immediate stop to hollow-bearing and recruitment tree removals in the forests of the Central Highlands in Victoria.
The bigger picture:
The case highlights how state “fuel management” practices are undermining federal protections for threatened species and pushing Victoria’s iconic forest wildlife closer to extinction.
Warburton Environment is honoured to be represented once again by Senior Counsel Jonathon Korman, whose expertise and unwavering commitment to environmental protection are second to none. He is leading this case pro bono — an extraordinary act of generosity toward both our organisation and Victoria’s forests. We extend our sincere thanks to the dedicated lawyers, advisors and volunteers whose efforts have made this case possible. We also acknowledge the outstanding Citizen Scientists whose fieldwork, evidence gathering and rigorous data compilation have been critical to the Hollow’s Case. This is a truly collaborative effort, and we could not pursue this case without them.
