Brown Mountain Crisis: Rendezvous steps of Parliament, Spring Street Melbourne, 12 noon

Protectors of Public Lands Victoria Inc. MEDIA RELEASE Friday 7 November 2008 PROTECTORS OF PUBLIC LANDS VICTORIA INC. SAYS “NO” TO LOGGING BROWN MOUNTAIN Today, representatives of Protectors of Public Lands Victoria (PPL VIC) have arranged to rendezvous on the steps of Parliament in Spring Street in the City at 12 noon. This is in response to a call from peak environmental groups in Victoria namely: The Wilderness Society; the Australian Conservation Foundation; Victorian National Parks Association: and Environment East Gippsland. There is general condemnation in the community of the Brumby State Government as it stands idly by while old growth forests on Brown Mountain are being destroyed. The trees loggers are cutting down on Brown Mountain are immense. If one of them stood in your kitchen, it would burst out of the walls. All are agreed that trees in the “Valley of the Giants” forest in East Gippsland are irreplaceable and should never be touched. In 1989-90 over 300 people were arrested protesting at Brown Mountain, and the government placed a moratorium on the logging. The Labor Party pledged during the 2006 State election that: "In addition to the Goolengook Block, a Labor Government will immediately protect remaining significant stands of old growth forest currently available for timber harvesting by including them in the National Parks and reserves system." The old growth forest at Brown Mountain is an iconic example of what voters expected to be saved by this promise. Now Premier John Brumby has broken a clear election commitment and sent in the bulldozers and chainsaws once more. Brian Walters SC, President of Protectors of Public Lands Victoria Inc., comments: “We know that for each hectare of old growth forest logged we lose over 1000 tonnes of carbon. These forest carbon stores are immensely valuable in the fight to prevent global warming: as Nicholas Stern found, logging the world's forests contributes more to global warming than all the world's transport systems put together.” “We also know that logging causes huge losses in water yield, losses that continue for 150 years. In Melbourne we lose 30 to 40 gigalitres of water each year as a result of logging our catchments - enough for 150,000 to 200,000 households. Logging Brown Mountain will contribute to drying the water-starved Snowy River.” PPL VIC knows full well from interstate colleagues that, in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia, governments have long since stopped contentious logging. Here in Victoria there has been no leadership to make this happen. Protectors of Public Lands Victoria Inc calls on the Victorian government to halt the logging of Brown Mountain without delay. MEDIA CONTACT: Brian Walters SC President PPL VIC on 0411020967 or Julianne Bell Secretary PPL VIC on 0408022408