They say the government needs to make a decision on recommendations that would transform parts of the Wellsford Forest into regional and national park.

The Andrews government was supposed to respond to the Victorian Environmental Advisory Committee's recommendations on the forest north of Bendigo by February.

Central Victorian environmentalist Wendy Radford said the government appeared to have used summer bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to delay.

"What we want is certainty for the area ... it's been twenty years. We know people in the community want that certainty," she said.

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The forest includes some of Victoria's largest and healthiest stands of box and ironbark trees and is home to rare brush-tailed phascogales and critically endangered swift parrots, according to conservationists at Biolink Alliance.

"So many of us are turning to nature to get us through these unsettling times," the group's chief executive Sophie Bickford said.

"But it's critical we don't forget the dire situation of our environment and native species - our nature crisis has no 'Pause During the Pandemic' button."

She accused the government of breaking statutory requirements to respond to the VEAC report within a certain amount of time.

The Biolink Alliance believes central Victoria has one of the highest extinction rates in Australia. It says around 200 of the region's animal and 547 plant species are threatened.

It blames "radically dangerous" land clearing, species introductions, climate and fire management practices spanning from European settlement through to to day.

Adding to conservationists' frustrations is that four sections of another western Victorian forest area VEAC last year recommended be national park have been earmarked for potential clear-felling.

Ms Radford said it is unlikely the Wellsford's most valuable areas would be logged but illustrates conservationists' concerns about important forests' futures.

"We've already made concessions under VEAC's plan to phase out firewood collection in the Wellsford, rather than just stop it outright, she said.

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Ms Radford understood that hard-up central Victorians appreciated being able to cut down or collect firewood from the forest floor, but said it did take away habitat and impact other forest biodiversity values.

She was also concerned by anecdotal reports from bush-users that some people were abusing the system and that it could be hard to police them.

"We've heard of people going in with big rigs and taking several loads. It is free firewood that could be being sold at a high price down in places like Melbourne," Ms Radford said.

It is a fear not confined to the Wellsford.

Last October state investigators told the Bendigo Advertiser they were investigating a number of groups believed to be illegally harvesting timber around the state.

La Trobe University expert Jim Radford at the time said that it was hard to put a figure on how many trees were being felled or removed.

"Anecdotally, and from what you see in the forests, you can see it's quite substantial," he said.

Authorities vowed to keep investigating illegal collections last October and bring perpetrators to justice.

A spokesperson said the government will respond to VEAC's report later in the year after delays caused by coronavirus and the bushfires.

They did not respond to a question about whether it was breaking statutory requirements by delaying its response.

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