The department currently searches for threatened species only in areas earmarked for logging, leaving most of Victoria's old-growth forests unchecked. But under a proposal before cabinet, the department would undertake a more extensive survey of old-growth forests. The existence of endangered or threatened species in areas earmarked for logging would then be considered in a statewide context instead of automatically triggering the maximum level of vegetation protection.

Environment Minister Ryan Smith's office yesterday denied that the act - designed to protect flora and fauna from threatening processes - was being reviewed. But Mr Ryan's spokeswoman, Lauren Bradley, said the government reserved the right to review it.

''It is normal practice for government to review and update legislation,'' she said.

But parliamentary secretary for forestry Gary Blackwood, who has been driving the changes, confirmed the government intended to ''revisit or review'' the way the law applied to the management of threatened species.

''Bearing in mind that roughly 90 per cent of our threatened-species estate is locked up in park and reserve, and only 10 per cent is available for timber production, we think that if we do some work in the park then we may well find that these species aren't as rare as we might think, and therefore it might give us an opportunity to