SGLN UPDATE – FEBRUARY 2026
Welcome to a new year of Landcaring!
We have already had a busy start to the year, working with representatives of Yarram Yarram and LaTrobe Landcare Networks to provide written and in-person feedback to HVP about their draft High Conservation Values Assessment and Management Plan.
You can review our submission here. While the draft Plan contains many positives, it also contains a lot of gaps, particularly around biodiversity corridors, threatened species protection and community engagement. We have proposed that HVP and Landcare develop a stronger partnership to work together to fill those gaps.
We are now aware of another submission about a specific forestry issue that the Board feels very strongly about: draft clauses in the Forestry Stewardship Code that would allow timber companies to replace any logged native species areas with exotic species eg radiata pine. Exotic monocultures do NOT support native biodiversity. They provide harbour for feral pests and weeds and can increase bushfire risk.
I encourage you to read Gippsland Forest Guardian’s petition to gather more information about this issue. You can sign the petition online, add your name to their submission, or create your own. The deadline for submissions is 8 February.
A big thank you to board members Peter Debreceny and Graham Ross for all their work on this.
Kind regards,
Jillian Staton, Chair
