The Victorian Government claims that it exited native forest logging in 2024. However, it has not legislated this exit. And, notably, logging is continuing through other nefarious and highly cynical means.

With the closure of the Victorian Government’s logging company, VicForests, their staff have either moved into jobs within the Victorian Government’s forest management agency, or into First Nations Corporations. The influence of foresters within these corporations is now sadly obvious.

One First Nations Corporation used an international forestry consulting agency to write a “Forest Gardening” strategy. Forest Gardening is another way of saying “logging”.

Forest Gardening removes most of the trees on a site using heavy machinery. It leaves behind large amounts of debris (tree heads, bark, lateral branches), creates highly affected areas with log landings and log snig trails, and takes the cut logs to sawmills and firewood yards.

Forest Gardening is as indistinguishable from logging as Country is from Western.

“Don’t show up here and try to greenwash native logging and deforestation by calling it ‘Forest Gardening’. That’s rubbish. You are manufacturing consent for the government. Native logging is destruction of Country. It’s cultural genocide,” said Senator Lidia Thorpe on X.

In actual fact, the strategy for Forest Gardening makes it quite clear that it will use Western forestry practices, but these will make forests more fire-prone, generate massive extra Greenhouse Gas emissions, and destroy habitat for many forest-dependent species.

A First Nations Corporation has applied for a $14.47 million grant from the Victorian Government (again written by a forestry consulting group) to expand Forest Gardening. Those cheering on Forest Gardening include the forestry union (CFMEU), and leaders of the professional forestry body, Forestry Australia.

The Healthy Forest Foundation, run by Monique Dawson, former chief executive of VicForests, claims to repair Australia’s cutover native forests. They are, however, involved with First Nation’s that are Forest Gardening. Also, the foundation receives funding from Pentarch which run native timber saw mills on the north coast of NSW and the Eden Native Woodchip mill in southern NSW.

Logging to thin forests may well commence in other First Nations areas, for example under a biocultural strategy that was written by foresters who worked for VicForests.

Elsewhere, intensive thinning, akin to Forest Gardening in Victoria, is being used to extensively modify WA’s Jarrah Forests, with likely major negative impacts on the forest and its biodiversity.

Logging is also continuing in other ways. Logs are now being cut from native forests under the guise of “post-storm recovery”. Post-storm logging is salvage logging which foresters know is highly damaging to native forests, and does not let them recover.

The logs are being cut and hauled out of the forest for commercial purposes. Logs are also being cut from large areas of forest under the pretext of fire control. Yet, there is no evidence that it will be effective. Indeed, there is strong evidence that it will make forests more fire-prone, not less. And these logs, too, are being sold commercially.

In point of fact, maps of the extensive fire breaks where logs are being cut, and then on-sold, include a legend that says this is about forestry transition. The log haulage contracts for this so-called “fire control work” are for five years – even though native forest logging is supposedly at an end.

The rampant logging under the guise of Forest Gardening, post-storm recovery, and for fire control is poorly regulated with no transparency to the Victorian people. Regulation is by the Office of the Conservation Regulator, which is located within the same agency as the people doing the logging or those in partnership with those doing the logging.

While the Victorian Government has said it has stopped native forest logging, all available evidence indicates the opposite. Victorians and Australians need to be aware that what the government says and what is actually happening are not the same thing.

Reese Halter is a distinguished Earth System scientist. His latest book is _Unearthly Wails._