Protecting Biodiversity

Targeted Species Surveys

Some areas of forest proposed for timber harvesting are considered higher risk for the presence of threatened fauna than others. As part of our obligation to apply the Precautionary Principle, VicForests will actively survey for the presence of a selection of threatened fauna when particular forest attributes are detected during the desktop or coupe transect stages of a pre-harvest survey.

The process used for selecting coupes for a targeted species survey and what species are to be targeted, is described in VicForests Instruction - Pre-harvest Surveys which can be viewed at VicForests Policies, Procedures and Instructions.

Animals targeted for survey include large forest owls, arboreal and ground-dwelling mammals, frogs and crayfish. The specific survey procedures applied for each of the targeted fauna have been developed by VicForests' Conservation Biologist, and consider the Survey Standards developed by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.

All targeted species surveys are carried out by external ecological consultants who are highly skilled in threatened species surveying, including the use of remote sensing cameras, spotlighting, audio call playbacks, hair-tubing and trapping.

For background information related to VicForests' targeted species survey approach, please click here to read an academic paper on VicForests' management of threatened fauna - 'Development of a threatened fauna management framework across Victoria’s state forests' (Powell and Sedunary 2013)

Targeted Species Survey Reports

Each time an ecological consultant undertakes a group of targeted pre-harvest surveys for VicForests they produce a report outlining their findings. These reports are then used to guide VicForests' operational planning and implementation of management actions to ensure threatened species and their habitat are protected.

The Targeted Pre-harvest Survey Reports completed on behalf of VicForests can be found below: