[3] It operated within designated areas of state forest that are managed by the Department of Energy, Environment & Climate Action (DEECA).
[4] It permanently ceased logging operations on 1 January 2024, following successful legal challenges by several environmental groups.
These led to court orders requiring VicForests to reassess its methods of surveying and protection of endangered plants and animals within areas of forest it wished to cut down.
[5] Proponents of the native timber industry noted its contribution of hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs to regional Victoria each year.
These cases generally hinged upon interpretation of the Precautionary Principle, which was a clause in the Code of Practice for Timber Production.
The other two cases were new and brought by Environment East Gippsland and Kinglake Friends of the Forest (heard together by the court owing to their similarity.)
[33] This last case resulted in the cessation of logging operations throughout Victoria in November 2022 until new surveying techniques could be implemented by VicForests.
The date was brought forward owing to "uncertainty that has been caused by ongoing court and litigation process and increasingly severe bushfires.