Major parties want ‘sustainable logging’ in native forests, but experts warn of ‘endgame’ for endangered species and drinking water. To understand the campaign to save Victoria’s old growth forests, ecologist David Lindenmayer says, you just need to turn on a tap in Melbourne. Forget about the critically endangered Leadbeater’s possum… Forget, too, about the carbon value of the mountain ash forests of the Victorian central highlands, which are among the most carbon-dense forests in the world. “…if you’re interested in drinking water, then you actually need to have intact forests, intact catchments to produce that water,” Lindenmayer says. These forests are at the heart of one of the key environmental issues that voters in Victoria will have to decide when they head to the polls on Saturday.