Victoria’s 1987 forest experiment surprised researchers 30 years later

When it comes to forests, the line is tricky and every country seems to be toeing it carefully. How do you manage them? Should forests be protected entirely or should trees be harvested to support local economies and communities? The reality is far more interesting and complex than we understand and new research on a long-forgotten experiment in Victoria's mountain ash forests reveals it all.Since the 1970s, scientists and the public have questioned the use of clear-cut logging, where all trees in a block of forest are cut down. Conservationists argued it destroys habitat for rare species and reduces the forests' ecological value. But foresters stated that mountain ash is adapted to catastrophic wildfires and clear-cutting is the forestry equivalent.