THE Member for Northern Victoria, Wendy Lovell, has called on the State Government to allow firewood collection in the Barmah Forest area.
Speaking in State Parliament recently, Ms Lovell asked the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily D’Ambrosio, to reinstate a firewood collection area so locals can collect wood.
Ms Lovell said that residents of the area had collected wood from the forest for more than 100 years before the practice was banned in April last year, with the closest collection point now an hour and half drive away south of Rushworth.
However, according to Parks Victoria, which co-manages the 36,000-hectare forest, the local community has been advised of the scarcity of the firewood resource.
“Domestic firewood on public land is a limited resource. All available firewood has been collected from allocated domestic firewood collection areas on Barmah Island,” Parks Victoria regional director, Daniel McLaughlin, said.
He added that, “Many native mammals, birds, reptiles and insects rely on the remaining fallen timber and tree hollows for shelter and food.”
Ms Lovell recently visited the Barmah Forest with Shadow Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Bridget Vallence, where they were shown by locals a two-kilometre section on the edge of the forest at Yielima where Parks Victoria are due to commence burning deadwood to clear a firebreak.
“Labor’s ban will see elderly residents forced to drive an hour and a half to collect the wood they require,” Ms Lovell said.
“This is an unacceptable scenario, and the Minister must intervene and reinstate a firewood collection area for locals to collect the wood they need for the coming winter.”
