We are thrilled that the Federal Court decided in favour of Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum (FLBP) in the case to protect the threatened Leadbeater’s Possum and Greater Glider from logging.
The high canopies and deep hollows in the forests of Victoria’s Central Highlands these threatened native possums rely on will continue to stand.
This was a huge community effort, from our amazing client FLBP, to the incredible citizen scientists working to protect our forests, to our incredible legal team (EJA lawyers Danya and Emily and our amazing barristers), to the hundreds of generous people who donated to make this case possible.
Thank you! You should all be so proud of this result.
When governments fail to properly protect threatened species, the community can harness the power of the law to hold them to account.
We are incredibly proud to have represented FLBP who have worked tirelessly over the last few years in this David and Goliath battle to hold VicForests to account for its impact on federally listed threatened possums. We congratulate them on their courage and persistence in bringing this landmark case and everything they do to protect our forests and wildlife.
This decision sets an important legal precedent applying federal threatened species protection law to the logging industry, which has operated under a special exemption from federal environment law for more than 20 years. It will have implications for native forest logging and threatened species protection around the country.
This outcome will narrow that exemption and could also see the precautionary principle – that ensures serious or irreversible damage to threatened species is avoided wherever possible – applied in new situations to protect threatened species from harmful conduct.
This quote from the judge says volumes of what we have achieved together:
“Not only do VicForests’ forestry operations damage or destroy existing habitat critical to the survival of the two species, they also prevent new areas of forest from developing into such habitat in the future,” – Justice Mortimer
As the extinction crisis accelerates and threatened wildlife are under more pressure than ever before, it’s vital that our environment laws work to protect what is left.