Victoria, Australia’s State-Owned Logging Company VicForests to Cease Operations on June 30th

VicForests, which has been responsible for forest management—including harvest, sale, and regrowing of timber—on behalf of the Victoria, Australia, government for the past 20 years, announced on Wednesday that it will cease to exist after June 30th, ABC News reported (3-13-24).

Legal representatives for VicForests made the revelation in the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne during a hearing for community group Wombat Forestcare’s case alleging VicForests breached requirements to survey for threatened species in western Victorian forests.

It is the first time a decision on VicForests’ future has been revealed, after the Victorian government deregistered it as a state business corporation in September last year, removing the requirement for it to be commercially focused. Previously, the Victorian government had said it was reviewing VicForests’ functions and activities.

VicForests’ management of community forestry, including the harvesting of wind-thrown timber, ended on February 5th, with the organization citing the “risk of litigation” and “the cost it would burden the taxpayer with” as the reason for bringing its original June end date forward, ABC News reported.

The development comes after native forest logging ended in Victoria on January 1st.