Bendigo group blasts government for year of Wellsford Forest delays

The government was supposed to respond to the at times controversial report designed to protect the Wellsford Forest - plus the Wombat and Pyrenees elsewhere in the state - last February.

The report called for increased protections including to declare biologically significant areas as national parks, while allowing for the public to use areas for recreation.

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The government has repeatedly put off publicly responding to the report, first saying it needed extra time as it responded to 2020's summer bushfires, and later the COVID-19 pandemic.

The constant delays have left the Bendigo & District Environment Council's Wendy Radford increasingly convinced the state government considers the matter a political football.

"It's not just my reaction. It's one of many environmental groups around Bendigo. We think the government is being very tardy, we think they are playing games with what should be protected natural heritage," she said.

The Wellsford was not added to Bendigo's national or regional parkland earlier because a business was harvesting wood there, Ms Radford said.

The business not been working the forest for decades, though.

"We want this done now. There are no more excuses," Ms Radford said.

"The report had extensive consultation. Most people who were consulted made concessions to keep others happy ... there is wide agreement that that is the best thing for forests including the Wellsford, Wombat, Pyrenees."

A spokesperson on Thursday said the government knew people were keenly interested in the VEAC report.

"We'll have more to say in due course," they said.

Another group has marked the anniversary by releasing new modelling that suggests even minimal changes would bring greater net benefits than they cost.

The Victorian National Parks Association released its economic modelling on different options for all three forests, which they commissioned consultants at Sayers Advisory to do.

All analysted the economic impact of making changes if most VEAC recommendations were made.

The researchers estimated that for every dollar spent there was a "potential return of $4.80 at the societal level" for the basic upgrade, including conservation jobs and improving water quality.

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They also cited arguments that more people want to connect with nature after the lockdowns of 2020, and that more Melbournians were considering moving to country areas to connect with the environment after seeing they could do their work from home.

Sayers added other options for governments including extra park upgrades as well as more Indigenous joint management, including an "optimised" option which they recommended because of its thoroughness.

It did not include the benefits of trees sucking carbon out of the atmosphere now and into the future, but Sayer estimated it would be between $450 million and $600 million on the current storage market.

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