Welcome to our November newsletter.

November is shaping up to be a big month for Victoria’s forests, with the state election on the horizon, an important court decision, campaigns and plenty of opportunities to get involved. With the Coalition and One Nation proposing policies to ramp up native forest logging, there’s plenty at stake for Victoria’s forests and wildlife. There’s lots to catch up on. Grab a cuppa and read on! 

In this edition:

18–19 November | National Forum for Glossy Black-Cockatoo Conservation (Online)

Interested in protecting the South-eastern Glossy Black-Cockatoo? This two-day online forum brings together First Nations knowledge holders, researchers, ecologists, community groups and citizen scientists to share knowledge and identify priorities for protecting this threatened species and its habitat.

Sessions will explore feed trees and foraging habitat, population monitoring, acoustic monitoring, citizen science and recovery planning. You can join from anywhere and dip in and out of sessions across the two days.

Tickets for volunteers, community groups and not-for-profits are $40.

NB# This links in with the opportunity to have your say on the draft National Recovery Plan. See our consultation update below for more information.

Gariwerd Planned Burn Postponed

Community action has helped secure a reprieve for an important unburnt area of Gariwerd (Grampians) National Park. Following a strong campaign by the Enough is Enough coalition and supporters, the planned burn has been postponed while further assessments are undertaken. The area contains some of the park’s last remaining mature ecosystems and provides critical refuge for threatened species, including Gang-gang Cockatoos, Powerful Owls and Southern Emu-wrens. A great example of communities organising and speaking up to protect nature!

Read more about it

Logging in Croajingolong National Park

Victoria’s native forest logging industry may have officially ended in January 2024, but logging never stopped. It has continued under the guise of bushfire management, and now disturbing images from Wingan Road suggest it may have extended into Croajingolong National Park.

Photos taken by horrified visitors show trees being removed from a forest still recovering from the 2019–20 Black Summer fires. There is no scheduled Strategic Fuel Break mapped for this area, raising questions about whether the works are preparation for a planned burn next autumn.

The Government’s State Forest By-Products Framework, introduced in April 2026, formalised the removal and sale of trees from state forests during bushfire management works. 

Our national parks should be protected, not treated as timber resources. We cannot log and burn our way out of bushfire risk.

See the photos and read more on Instagram

Stop the Coalition’s plans to ramp up native forest logging

Jess Wilson’s Coalition wants to ramp up native forest logging in Victoria, dressed up as more ‘forest thinning’ and restoration. This would be a disaster for forests and wildlife. After $1.5 billion of taxpayers’ money has been spent transitioning the industry away from logging, there is no justification for ramping it back up. The Coalition has also threatened to tear up Treaty with First Peoples.

Victoria’s Koalas: A Species on the Edge

Displaced koala in Ballarat. Image supplied by the Koala Alliance

The Koala Alliance has published a new blog examining Victoria’s long-delayed, taxpayer-funded Koala Report and the Government’s $2.6 million funding announcement. Drawing on documents obtained through FOI, it raises serious questions about koala health, habitat loss, sterilisation programs and the ongoing management of koalas at Budj Bim.

Read all about it HERE in the KA BLOG

VFA End of Year Picnic 

Let’s get together, celebrate the year and enjoy some time with our forest-loving community! Join us on Saturday 5 December 2026 from 12pm at the Edinburgh Gardens rotunda in Fitzroy North.

Bring your own food, drinks, picnic gear and good cheer. All welcome!

(And stay tuned… we’re planning a bushdance for next year!)

Recommended Reading

24 October, Pearls and Irritations I One Nation’s forestry policy is economic vandalism I David Lindenmayer

27 October I $3.8m to expand Victorian AI bushfire camera network I Emergency Services

28 October, ABC Gippsland I Planned burns doubled and salvage wood to go to industry under Coalition election pledge  I Madeleine Stuchbery, Jack Colantuono and Jarrod Whittaker

2 November, Overland I Nature’s dead end: how Australia’s mammal extinction crisis is getting worse I Noa Wynn

3 November, Pearls and Irritations I 'Ecological thinning’ or logging by another name I David Lindenmayer and Chris Taylor

Have your say: Draft National Recovery Plan for the Glossy Black-Cockatoo

The Federal Government is seeking feedback on its draft National Recovery Plan for the South-eastern Glossy Black-Cockatoo, a species facing significant pressure from habitat loss and declining food sources. In East Gippsland, planned burning is putting critical Black Sheoak feeding habitat at further risk. These trees provide the cockatoos' only food source in the region, and even low-intensity fire can destroy their food supply. Protecting all Sheoak stands across the species' range, along with important nesting habitat, must be a priority.

Some VFA member groups are putting together a guide to help people have their say, which we'll share in December's newsletter. Submissions close 8 January 2027.

Thanks for being part of this community and for everything you do to stand up for Victoria’s forests. Every conversation, every action and every person who brings someone else along makes a difference. It’s lovely to see some good rain falling and our forests getting a much-needed drink. Here’s to a bit of spring sunshine, greener forests and plenty more good things ahead. See you out there!

With heartfelt thanks and solidarity, 

Nic- Secretary, Victorian Forest Alliance
https://www.victorianforestalliance.org.au/