About the webinar

After discovering Australia’s largest meta-population of the critically endangered Slender Tree-fern (Cyathea cunninghamii), some of which occurs in a ‘plantation’, the Gippsland Forest Guardians have been campaigning for the protection of these precious, fragile beauties. 

Plantations have been hailed as a sustainable way to meet demand for forest products without harvesting native forest. However a closer look leads to important questions about what qualifies as a ‘plantation’ and reveals serious concerns about a lack of regulatory oversight. 

Join three of the Gippsland Forest Guardians - Lisa, Stuart and Victoria to:

• understand the complexities of what is defined as ‘plantations’ and their effects on adjacent high conservation areas
• discover how the regulatory framework fails to protect Slender tree-ferns and other threatened species
• hear about GFG’s experience with third party certification schemes such as the Forest Stewardship Council, around threatened species protection
• learn from their campaign successes and failures, and
• engage with their next steps

About the speakers:

Gippsland Forest Guardians (GFG) was established in 2024 in response to serious concerns about threats to biodiversity, regulatory oversight and environmental governance in Victoria’s plantation forestry sector.

GFG started with citizen science discoveries of threatened species including Slender Tree-ferns and rainforest in a logging coupe in Turtons Creek. An initial meeting with the logging company (HVP) about our discoveries led to grave concerns about the quality of surveys and protections that would be put in place, and catalysed community action.  These concerns, combined with the failure of both the Victorian Conservation Regulator and Local Government to enforce government published and expert supported protections for threatened species in the logging coupe, underscored the need for a coordinated community response.

GFG’s purpose is to protect Gippsland’s forests for future generations of animals, plants and people. The group engages in evidence-based advocacy, with a focus on threatened species protection, improved regulation, transparency and environmentally responsible forestry practices. The Gippsland Forest Guardians also facilitate citizen science and events that celebrate the forests and all the precious plants and animals that call them home.