seeing the central highlands

Last week I toured some logging sites and forests in the Central Highlands. These photos capture some of the things I saw whilst out in the forests.

This is the edge of a logging coupe on Mt St Leonards, it’s this coupe that’s cuts a ‘tooth’ in the side of the mountain visible from Healesville. This logging galvanized residents to raise the alarm about logging on such a prominent site raising concerns about impact on biodiversity and tourism.

This is the Kalatha Giant, a massive tree spanning between 15 and 17 metres, there’s a logging coupe planned only 10 metres from this tree in Leadbeater’s Possum habitat in the North Western most place where this forest type grows.

This logging coupe is right in the midst of Leadbeater’s Possum habitat, very close to a monitoring site that’s been in place for decades.

The people visible on the right hand side make it easier to understand the scale of damage to Leadbeater's Possum habitat.

You can tell by the size of the stumps left behind that these trees are much older than 1939 regrowth.

This is a logging coupe in the Armstrong Water Catchment. The Armstrong makes up part of Melbourne’s water supply, closed to the public, entry is prohibited to protect the integrity and quality of Melbourne’s water, yet this is allowed to happen.