Barnaby Joyce plan to log old forest will ‘drive animals to extinction’, says expert

'Environmental vandalism' proposal would put vulnerable species, including Leadbeater's possum and Sooty owl, at risk of extinction

A proposal to release areas of protected Victorian old-growth forest for logging is "environmental vandalism crossed with bad economics" that would put a number of vulnerable species at risk of extinction, a leading Leadbeater's possum expert has said.

Professor David Lindenmayer, from the Australian National University, is recognised as the world expert in the critically endangered Leadbeater's possum.