May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Jack River catchment: Kelly Track inside Strzelecki Cores and Links Rainforest Reserve. Hancock have started logging this controversial area with no consultation with local community groups, despite signing a Heads of Agreement supposedly protecting this rainforest area in October 2006. 19 months after the signing Hancock are ramping up their logging regimes inside the reserve in order to meet unsustainable contracts to Maryvale Pulp Mill.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Jack River catchment: Kelly Track inside Strzelecki Cores and Links Rainforest Reserve. FSC certified roading drainage. Collapsing log landing batters after only 10mm rainfall. This is a rainforest reserve. How will this site remediate itself post logging. This 'shonky operation' also most likely breaches the Code of Forest Practice.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Jack River catchment: Kelly Track inside Strzelecki Cores and Links Rainforest Reserve. FSC certified roading drainage and log landing. What will happen to this when it rains?
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Jack River catchment: Kelly Track inside Strzelecki Cores and Links Rainforest Reserve. FSC certified roading operation. Literally tonnes of soil have been dumped off the side of this track, a clear breach to the Code of Forest Practices. A disgusting look in a rainforest reserve. Hancock have been operating in the wet.
Strzelecki Cores and Links Rainforest Reserve. Yellow marks where Hancock have entered into the Jack River Catchment at Kelly Track, Summerfield Track, Jack Road and Dubois Track.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Jack River catchment: Debois Track inside Strzelecki Cores and Links Rainforest Reserve. Again no consultation with local community. This track is very wide and is more like a logging highway, situated in a supposed rainforest reserve. How will this be remediated. Is this logging company overkill?
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Jack River catchment: Debois Track inside Strzelecki Cores and Links Rainforest Reserve. Hardwood planted in 1977, but in no way looks like a plantation. Another FSC certified ruse? 80-90% of the timber coming off this site will be sent to Maryvale Pulp Mill.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Jack River catchment: Debois Track inside Strzelecki Cores and Links Rainforest Reserve. Have Hancock contractors been working under the influence of alcohol?
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Jack River catchment: Debois Track inside Strzelecki Cores and Links Rainforest Reserve. High quality reforestation, not plantation, now getting the Hancock logging treatment.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Jack River catchment: Debois Track inside Strzelecki Cores and Links Rainforest Reserve. Lots of native vegetation had been logged here including blackwoods. Where are the blackwoods being milled and why aren't they left on site in this rainforest reserve?
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Jack River catchment: Debois Track inside Strzelecki Cores and Links Rainforest Reserve. Does this look like a plantation to you? This is the quality of native vegetation being logged by Hancock.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Jack River catchment: Debois Track inside Strzelecki Cores and Links Rainforest Reserve. Eucalyptus Viminalis being logged at this site.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Jack River catchment: Debois Track inside Strzelecki Cores and Links Rainforest Reserve. Viminalis seed pods.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Jack River catchment: Jack Road inside Strzelecki Cores and Links Rainforest Reserve. This tree was logged for no apparent purpose and left on the forest reserve floor. Why?
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Jack River catchment: Jack Road inside Strzelecki Cores and Links Rainforest Reserve. Note high erosion potential on batters.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Jack River catchment: Jack Road inside Strzelecki Cores and Links Rainforest Reserve. Soil pushed into gully inside rainforest reserve.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Smiths Creek catchment: Another rainforest wipeout has been occurring in this catchment since 2006. This recently logged coupe is no exception.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Smiths Creek catchment. The Smiths Creek debacle is occurring outside of the supposed Cores and Links Rainforest Reserve. Hancock are redefining rainforest in order to grant measely buffers of <20m. This is 3 times less than buffers warranted in rainforest in State Forests. FSC have sat on their hands about this matter, with FSC auditor Smartwood allowing Hancock to get away with this ecological travesty since February 2004.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Smiths Creek catchment. Hancock at their worst can be seen in this photo which apparently represents best practice FSC certified rainforest management. A few Silver Wattles are apparently enough to protect the rainforest at Smiths Creek from the impact of wildfire and the disease Myrtle Wilt, which is spread via spores.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Smiths Creek catchment. A longer shot view of practically non-existent rainforest buffers, apparently sanctioned by FSC.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Smiths Creek catchment. Tributary of Smiths Creek, showing hopeless buffer falling onto Myrtle Beech Tree. This is a common way that Beech trees become infected with the Myrtle Wilt virus, which enters the Beech trees via wounds caused by tree fall.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Smiths Creek catchment. Closer view of lack of buffer at Smiths Creek. This rainforest survived gross disturbance in the 1970's from APM and is just recovering from those times. Now it gets 'hammered' again by inappapropriate logging regimes this time by Hancock. Why is FSC still doing business with Hancock?
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Smiths Creek catchment. More tree fall onto Myrtle Beech in Smiths Creek drainage line. High winds can cause surrounding trees to topple into rainforest, especially after logging.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Smiths Creek catchment. Wattle falling into Beech tree.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Smiths Creek catchment. Another alcohol can dropped by Hancock contractors? Can this explain Hancock's poor performance?
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Antonio Creek catchment/Jack River. In 2006 pines were logged from this site. Pines have been replanted and native species are also growing between the pines. Usually the native species are killed by an application of the herbicide Hexazinone. Hexazinone is residual and highly mobile if washed off site during rainfall events. Jack River flows into Nooramunga Marine Reserve which could get a dose of Hexazinone in the near future.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Albert River catchment. Trashed tributary/drainage line near Yarram/Madalya Rd which again breaches the Code of Forest Practices, as this drainage line was deeper than 30cm.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Albert River catchment. 30 year old Pine plantations 'biting the dust'.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Albert River catchment off Albert River Road. Native forest was logged at this site and replanted with Shining Gum in 2000. Problem now is that the Shining Gum are not growing very well at all. Alot of this 8 year old site was marked by very small and thin trees verging on failure. Hancock has a massive dilemma on the hands, in that their new Shining Gum plantations will apparently be almost exclusively supplying Maryvale Pulp Mill with hardwood by around the year 2016. Given that many of these plantations look like failing, how many others are in a similar bind? Rumours are already circulating that Hancock will be very hard pressed to meet contractual obligations to the Maryvale Pulp Mill and the failure of plantations will make this problem insurmountable. Hancock announced in 2006 that 1000ha of Bluegum Plantations had already failed in Central Gippsland, representing possibly two years contract to the pulp mill.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Albert River catchment off Albert River Road. Even worse growing Shining Gum plantations. What is the failure rate of Shining Gum and have investors been warned. Drought and poor soils could be a factor.
May 2008 Strzelecki Ranges/Morwell River catchment. Gray Gum Track about 18 months after logging commenced at this location in the Strzelecki Cores and Links rainforest reserve. Native vegetation trying to re-establish itself.