Fire management in Victoria amounts to de facto native logging industry, conservationists say

Conservationists and a leading ecologist have accused the Victorian government of allowing a de facto native logging industry to emerge ‘under the guise of fire management’. Photograph: Wildlife of the Central Highlands

The Victorian government has been accused by conservationists and a leading ecologist of allowing a de facto native logging industry to emerge under the guise of fire management just months after closing down the industry.

Environmental lawyers said the state government agency, Forest Fire Management Victoria, was acting “with impunity”, and conservationists and the Victorian Greens called on state and federal ministers to step in.