Friends of the Earth (FoE) Melbourne  is a non-for profit organisation working for a socially equitable and environmentally sustainable future. The international Friends of the Earth network is  active in 77 countries with over 2 million members. Read more.

Logging in the controversial "Kings" coupe at Hermitage Creek in the Toolangi state forest has been stalled for now. The forest is home to a colony of threatened Greater Gliders.

Friends of the Earth forest campaigners have been lobbying Environment Minister Lily D'Ambrosio's office to stop the logging operation. The Minister's department of environment has put a temporary halt to to the logging while they undertake an assessment of the biodiversity values within the coupe and make sure protections are in place for the Greater Gliders.

It's a good start but logging could still go ahead so we need to keep the pressure up.

MEDIA RELEASE: 24 July 2017

Friends of the Earth have welcomed an Andrews government announcement of a $4.7 million grant scheme to kick-start community projects that tackle climate change saying it will bring jobs and investment to regional Victoria.  

Minister for Energy, Environment, and Climate Change Lily D'Ambrosio announced the grant scheme at a sold out community event in Maryborough organised by Friends of the Earth with the support of the Goldfields Sustainability Group, Transition Creswick, and Maryborough Community House. 

"Community members in regional Victoria are on the frontline of climate change impacts and will tell you that climate change is changing the seasons," said Leigh Ewbank, Friends of the Earth's Act on Climate coordinator.

"For some communities this means increased water scarcity and drought, and others it means heightened risk of heatwave and bushfire." 

"What unites all regional communities is the urgent need for governments to invest in climate change action. The Andrews government's $4.7 million grant scheme will kickstart community-led solutions."  

The Quit Coal collective has successfully campaigned with local community groups to secure a total ban on unconventional gas mining, like fracking, in Victoria. We have also helped fight off new coal mines in Bacchus Marsh and Mirboo North and worked as part of a coalition to stop a new coal-fired power station being built in the Latrobe Valley.

But the climate is still changing, communities are still being exploited and deceived by the fossil fuel industry and we’re ready for a new challenge. That’s where you come in! We’ve got plans around taking on energy companies, supporting the fight against fracking and coal around Australia, and we’re seeking a coordinator to help get us on track for more success.

In conjunction with the Quit Coal collective volunteers and the Friends of the Earth team,  the Quit Coal Coordinator will work to:

• convene and help facilitate an effective collective process;

• re-engage our supporter base and drive engagement; and

• maintain and grow our financial supporters and foster new relationships.

The Toolangi community and forest conservationists are celebrating the exit of logging machines from forest next to Tanglefoot picnic ground, and the removal of a logging coupe within the Valley of Giants from VicForests immediate logging schedule.

This is a massive win to protect the main tourist destinations and vital habitat for Leadbeater’s possum within the fragmented forest of Toolangi.

However, VicForests has moved logging machinery into another precious area of Victoria’s Central Highlands. Logging is threatening Hermitage Creek in the Toolangi state forest, right next to the iconic Black Spur Tourist Drive in threatened Greater Glider habitat. 

MEDIA RELEASE: 13 July 2017

Friends of the Earth: Coalition of the willing on renewables welcome, but “must deliver existing state/territory commitments”  

Friends of the Earth, the environment group that coordinated the campaign for a Victorian Renewable Energy Target, welcomes the idea of a joint state and territory effort to rollout renewables as long as it delivers existing commitments:  

“A coalition of willing states and territories to drive the rollout renewable energy is a good idea, as long as it delivers existing commitments such as the Andrews government’s Victorian Renewable Energy Target,” said Pat Simons, Friends of the Earth's renewable energy spokesperson.

“Australians overwhelmingly support more renewable energy and would welcome a joint effort among states and territories that is a race to the top.”

Victorian Minister for Energy Lily D’Ambrosio, the architect of the state Renewable Energy Target (VRET), has flagged the concept of state/territory collaboration on the eve of a Council of Australian Governments Energy Council meeting in Brisbane. 

The Andrews Labor Government has released its coal policy this afternoon (the Statement on Future Uses of Brown Coal).

National environment group Friends of the Earth says that this long awaited policy represents a profound failure of leadership by the state government.

“Climate science makes it abundantly clear that the time for new uses of coal is over, and this policy should have reflected that fact” said Friends of the Earth campaigns coordinator Cam Walker.