Rethinking pines in conservation areas

Rethinking Pine Plantations in Conservation Areas

HVP have mapped parts of our Crown land (above) as plantation. It contains mixed species of different ages, has a mid-story and great ground cover...overall it is great habitat for Koala, Lyrebirds, Gang-gangs and Pilotbirds.

South Gippsland Council consultant ecologist report states it is "indistinguishable" from native forest. We are advocating for these areas on our Crown land to be preserved, not cleared for pines.

HVP may have a license to use this Crown land, but they won't have a social license if they don't look after out threatened species in line with community expectations.

HVP are planning to plant pines as close as 20m from these rainforest lined creeks. The rainforest and species that depend on it will be impacted by these changes.

We are asking HVP to follow our government scientists advice and establish a 200m buffer.

Our rainforest refuges are at risk of extinction if pines are planted so close to them.

Pine plantations this close to the Tarwin River will effect the water quality that the people of Dumbalk and Meeniyan rely on for their water.

Large native species buffer zones are the gold standard for biodiversity and water quality.

Above: Pine plantation on Crown land in Turtons Creek.

This land is sick, full of weeds and the creeks are full of sediment and unsuitable habitat for our native species.

HVP spray a combination of toxic chemicals that make their way into the catchment. The photo above is taken in Turton's plantation which makes up nearly 10% of Foster's water supply catchment.

We are concerned that without adequate buffer zones the high conservation values of our Crown land will be lost and end up like this uncared for Crown land above.

Research has found:

Pines are invasive

There is published research documenting the associated higher invasion risk of pine (compared to blue gum) into surrounding vegetation (Calviño-Cancela and van Etten 2018), and the associated degradation of habitat (Brockenhoff et al 2008), so the confidence in our understanding of this negative impact is high. Introducing this particular invasive species to the site will increase the associated risk of weed invasion in the remaining critical habitat both on and offsite, and in the surrounding landscape. We suggest the plan to replant the site with pine compared to the (risk-weighted consequences associated with an) option of replanting a eucalypt plantation contravenes the precautionary principle because there is a higher likelihood of degradation of habitat for the species in a pine plantation.

Pines change the hydrology

Removal of vegetation surrounding the gullies will lead to drying of the remaining habitat, and logging of native forests also makes them much more flammable (Lindenmayer et al. 2021).

Runoff and sedimentation of creeks

It is extremely likely there will be increased runoff of soils and associated chemicals (from spraying of the coupe) due to the topography and soil type in the area. The area is currently subject to the Environmental significance overlay ‘ESO5 – Areas susceptible to erosion’ under the planning scheme. Of direct relevance, the Code of Practice for Timber Production 2014 (as amended 2022) (Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, 2022) specifies: "On slopes with a high soil erosion hazard or where there is an assessed risk of mass soil movement, additional measures must be taken to avoid movement of soil into streams, such as modification to harvesting methods or increasing of the widths of buffers and filter strips". No such erosion mitigation appears to be in place.

Sedimentation of creeks and rivers is listed as a major threat in the FFG Action Statements for the Platypus, Strzelecki Burrowing Crayfish and the South Gippsland Spiny Crayfish.

Increased feral animal access

Habitat is also subject to degradation and alteration via an increased risk of herbivory and trampling, predominantly by deer. Deer have increased in abundance in Gippsland (and across Australia), and removal of vegetation around habitat zones will increase the access potential to the gullies. Deer have been shown to detrimentally impact plant growth, survival and reproduction, and change the structure and composition of vegetation communities (Hampton and Davis 2020; Forsyth, Pople and Nugent 2023).

Removal of the surrounding dense forest vegetation will leave the individuals in the remaining fragmented gullies at increased risk of predation (Hohnen et al 2016; Stobo-Wilson et al 2020), by both cats and foxes in this location.