Rubicon Forest Protection Group Inc
The principal purpose of the Rubicon Forest Protection Group Inc (RFPG) is to protect and promote the values of the Rubicon State Forest and of the forests of the Victorian Central Highlands more generally. The main activities undertaken during 202223 include: Monitoring timber harvesting operations (includes rehabilitation); assessing ongoing timber harvesting practice against the regulatory norms established in various regulatory instruments; reporting apparent breaches of these regulatory norms to the Office of the Conservation Regulator; Monitoring planned timber harvesting as published in the Timber Release Plans issued by the Victorian timber harvesting management agency, VicForests; assessing planned harvesting against the regulatory norms established in various regulatory instruments; advising VicForests of potential breaches of these regulatory norms in advance of the commencement of timber harvesting; Contributing to the work of citizen science teams surveying for the presence of endangered species in coupes scheduled for harvesting and reporting relevant findings to the Office of the Conservation Regulator; Evaluating the effectiveness of the Victorian timber harvesting regulatory framework against the high level policy objectives articulated in Commonwealth and Victorian legislation and associated legal instruments; publishing and communicating to government criticisms and recommendations arising from such evaluation; Exploring strategies for developing forest based tourism; consulting on such strategies; publishing and communicating with local government regarding such strategies. The state government has recognised that the extent of logging over the last decade is not sustainable and has announced that timber harvesting in state forests will cease at the end of 2023. However, we will continue to actively monitor and engage with transition planning, forest rehabilitation, regulatory policies and practice, bushfire prevention and other concerns regarding the forests of the Central Highlands. Accordingly, our work in many of the areas listed above will continue into the medium term.