Consultation with stakeholders
EPA is committed to consulting widely with stakeholders with an interest in timber harvesting on public land in Victoria. Since 2003, EPA has developed a network of approximately 250 stakeholders representing 135 different groups and organisations including environmental non-government organisations (NGOs), interested members of the community, the timber industry, local government, catchment management authorities, Victorian and interstate government agencies and unions who have been involved or consulted during the audits.
Stakeholders and interested individuals are kept informed of the progress of the annual audit process through regular email bulletins. To be included in this network and receive email updates on the forest audit program contact EPA's Environmental Audit Unit via email.
There are three key areas in which stakeholders can be involved in the audit process each year:
- During the audit planning stage, Statewide interest groups are approached to provide input into the selection of regional areas to be included in the audit.
- As part of the field auditing program, EPA holds an observation day in each regional area for interested members of the public to observe the audit team and learn about the audit process. The purpose is to allow participants from industry, conservation and community groups to observe the independent auditor and his expert team as they conduct the audit and provides opportunities for participants to ask questions.
- After the release of each audit report, EPA contacts all stakeholders to provide comments or feedback on the audit report. This feedback is used to provide input to the next year’s audit program, many previous changes to the audit program have come about from on-going discussions with various stakeholders.
A summary of each audit year’s comments and feeedback provided by stakeholders and EPA's responses are available below. Many of the responses received are about similar topics and themes, therefore EPA provides a summary of the comments each year.
| Audit Report | Stakeholder Feedback |
|---|---|
| 2003 Forest Audit (Adobe PDF file, 53KB) | 68 comments were received from 8 parties after the 2003 audit report release. |
| 2004 Forest Audit (Adobe PDF file, 80KB) | 66 comments were received from 15 parties between February and March 2005. In late March EPA responded to each group's comments. |
| 2005 Forest Audit and Special Forest Audit (Adobe PDF file, 88KB) | 40 comments were received from 14 parties between February and March 2006. In early April EPA responded to each group’s comments. |
| 2006 Forest Audit (Adobe PDF file, 64KB) | 24 comments were received from 11 parties between April and May 2007. In mid May EPA responded to each group’s comments. |
| 2007 Forest Audit | The 2007 audit report is due for release in early 2008. Comments and feedback will be sought after its release. |
Goulburn River
In response to a kill of fish in the Goulburn River in 2004, an environmental audit of the management of the river took place in 2004 and 2005; view the audit report. More »
Maribyrnong, Yarra and Stony Creek
EPA has appointed an environmental auditor to conduct an overarching environmental audit of the lower Maribyrnong River, lower Yarra River and Stony Creek Backwash. More »