Imminent forest collapse threatens Melbourne’s water supply

Wildfires and over-logging have tipped the Mountain Ash forest very close to collapse - populations of animals living there have halved, and in some cases have declined by more than 65 per cent during the past 20 years. A landmark study from ANU has found that a vital forest in Victoria faces imminent collapse, which poses a major threat Melbourne's water supply. Lead researcher Professor David Lindenmayer said the study was based on 35 years of research in Victoria's Mountain Ash forest, which generates nearly all of the water for Melbourne's people and businesses. "Wildfires and over-logging have tipped the Mountain Ash forest very close to collapse - populations of animals living there have halved, and in some cases have declined by more than 65 per cent during the past 20 years," said Professor Lindenmayer from the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society. He said the impending disaster could be avoided by having better forest policy and greater political will to save the forest's large old trees. The study, which provides the first empirical evidence that this forest is facing imminent collapse, found that a primary cause was the loss of half of the population of large old cavity trees, which many animals depend on, over the past two decades. "The numbers of Leadbeater's Possum, the Greater Glider and other arboreal marsupial species dependent on these big old trees have dropped by 50 to 65 per cent," Professor Lindenmayer said.