While national environmental attention is fixed on EPBC Act reforms in Canberra, some Australian states have dropped the ball on forest protection – and this is seriously undermining Australia’s target of protecting 30% of the continent by 2030.

Recent announcements in Victoria and Queensland make this clear. Queensland has announced an expansion of native forest logging, while Victoria has reneged on key forest protections and paved the way for logging to restart in its state forests.

The Victorian Government has released its policy on the Future of State Forests. The report was preceded by exhaustive studies assessing the conservation and other values of forests such as those in the Central Highlands of Victoria – home to some of the world’s tallest forests. One of these reports, led by the Eminent Panel for Community Engagement, made clear recommendations for new parks and reserves.

But a closer look shows that the Future of State Forests policy largely ignored those recommendations. The EPCE recommended 68,570 ha of new national parks, 8121 ha of state parks, and 105,371 ha of forest parks. Our spatial analysis revealed the Victorian Government announced protection for just 6.9% of the area recommended by the EPCE. Somehow, some of the most significant areas for conservation, such as the mountainous escarpments surrounding the Baw Baw Plateau, remain completely unprotected.

This is a poor outcome not only for Victoria, but also for Australia. Other analyses show Victoria is a now one of the weakest contributors to the national goal of protecting 30% of the continent by 2030.

The last major review of public land tenure in the Central Highlands was in 1994, when the then Land Conservation Council recommended new national parks. The Liberal Kennett Government implemented those recommendations, creating the Yarra Ranges National Park and expanding others. That decision left a strong legacy for all Victorians. It is disappointing that the current Labor Allan Government has fallen so far short of that precedent.

The rejection of new protected areas also has major implications for public access to nature. Melbourne ranks bottom of all of Australian capitals for public access to national parks. Our analysis shows the meagre additions in the Future of State Forests policy do nothing to change this. Melbourne residents experience roughly one-quarter the level of access to national parks available to Sydney residents.

The Victorian Government’s broad opposition to expand protected areas also carries enormous economic cost. Globally, the mental health benefits of visiting national parks are valued at more than US$6 trillion per year. Victoria is missing out on these benefits – particularly serious for a city such as Melbourne, where demand for access to nature already far exceeds supply.

Finally, there is a more troubling aspect to the Future of State Forests report: its plan for a so-called “Healthy Forests” program. Much of this will involve mechanical thinning – using heavy machinery to remove 30-50% (or more) of trees in the name of forest “health”, with the felled trees sold for firewood or pulp. This is logging by another name – despite the Victorian Government declaring in May 2024 that native forest logging had ended.

Yet, there is no empirical evidence that such interventions enhance forest health. On the contrary, our recent research indicates that mechanical thinning increases fire risk, releases significant carbon emissions, causes widespread soil compaction, erodes biodiversity and undermines forest resilience and forest resistance.

While policymakers and the public focus on environmental law reform in Canberra, the lack of scrutiny of state-level decisions is creating a major blind spot. Unless this changes, Australia will to continue to fall short of its protection goals – with serious consequences for biodiversity, carbon storage and the well-being of future generations.

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.