https://youtu.be/3JKA5ZoRDD4
Showing posts with label forests. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forests. Show all posts
Friday 14 August 2020
What little Koala habitat remaining in NSW is being logged right now
https://youtu.be/3JKA5ZoRDD4
NatureConservation Council (NSW),10 August 2020:
Wildlife
rescuer and arborist Kailas Wild shows us evidence of koalas in the
middle of a logging operation in the Lower Bucca State Forest on the
NSW North Coast.
The
bushfires burnt over 2 million hectares of koala habitat and yet the
state-owned logging agency Forestry Corporation is right now cutting
down unburnt forests that koalas call home.
The
NSW Government has the power to stop this destruction. We need to
create a groundswell of support for protecting koala habitat. If more
people know this destruction is happening and raise their voices in
protest, we can work together to ensure our koalas are not forgotten.
Take
a stand for koalas. Sign the petition to call on Premier Berejiklian to stop logging now.
Sunday 3 May 2020
A reminder that in the middle of a pandemic the old problems remain for land & climate
On 24 April 2020 the NSW Dept. of Primary Industries recorded that 64.6 per cent of the NSW North Coast is still in drought, 21 per cent is drought affected and 14.1 per cent no longer in drought.
This is the Clarence Valley showing by sector In Drought (light ochre to dark orche), Drought Affected (light to darker grey) and Non Drought (green tones):
Clarence Valley LGA outlined by sector Data current to 24/4/2020 (AEST) |
Permissions for logging in 2019-2020 firegrounds have been granted by NSW Berejiklian Government.
Labels:
Berejiklian Government,
bushfires,
drought,
forests,
New South Wales
Sunday 1 March 2020
Australian Forestry Industry: these future eaters need to be stopped
Australia is the world's smallest continent with a land area of 149,450,000 km2 completely surrounded by ocean.
It is not by accident that the vast majority of its est. 25.6 million strong population live along its fringes - that's where most of the forests and rivers are.
What you see on this map represented approximately 3 per cent of the world’s forests in 2016 and, globally Australia was the country with the seventh largest forest area.
It is estimated that when British-Europeans first came to Australia in 1788, forests covered one-third of the continent - a total of around 49,811,685km2.
This had fallen to less than one-fifth or 19 per cent by 2006. At that time more than 16,500 plant and 3,800 animal species had been identified as forest-dependent.
Ten years later Australia had only 134 million hectares of forest remaining, covering 17 per cent of its land area.
In the 228 years between 1788 and 2016 under the policies, legislation and regulations of successive federal, state and territory governments a total of 24,405,185km2 of predominately tall trees had disappeared under the forester's and farmer's axe, never to return.
The eating of Australia's future continues to this day as projections suggest that by 2030, another 3 million hectares of untouched forest will have been bulldozed in eastern Australia.
That's on top of the tree cover lost in the 2019-20 bushfire season when over 5 million hectares of forest and grassland burned - with 100 per cent of tree canopy lost in some areas of the vast firegrounds.
Combined forest burnt in New South Wales and Victoria this fire season has been estimated in one study as 21 per cent of Australia's entire remaining forest cover.
Yet despite what has been lost and the uncertainty surrounding what might regrow due to the continuing stressful heating and drying of the Australian continent caused by climate change, the forestry industry is pushing hard to expand its activities further into state forests, nature reserves and national parks.
The relentless, selfish greed of this industry needs to be called out for what it is - a collective madness.
If you would like to see the federal government and east coast state governments reign in this madness, please express your views to your local state & federal members of parliament and to the following:
The Hon. Scott Morrison MP, Prime Minister of Australia, PO Box 6022 House of Representatives Parliament House, CANBERRA, ACT 2600
The Hon. Sussan Ley MP, Minister for the Environment, PO Box 6022, House of Representatives, Parliament House, CANBERRA, ACT 2600
The Hon. Gladys Berejiklian MP, Premier of New South Wales,
GPO Box 5341, SYDNEY, NSW 2001
willoughby@parliament.nsw.gov.au
The Hon. Matt Kean MP, NSW Minister for Energy and the Environment,
52 Martin Place, SYDNEY, NSW 2000
hornsby@parliament.nsw.gov.au
The Hon Annastacia Palaszczuk MP, Premier of Queensland,
PO Box 15185, CITY EAST, QLD 4002
thepremier@premiers.qld.gov.au
The Hon Leeanne Enoch MP, Minister for the Environment and the Great Barrier Reef,
GPO Box 5078 BRISBANE, QLD 4001
environment@ministerial.qld.gov.au
The Hon. Daniel Andrews MP, Premier of Victoria,
Office of the Premier, Level 1, 1 Treasury Place, EAST MELBOURNE, Victoria 3002
daniel.andrews@parliament.vic.gov.au
The Hon. Lily D'Ambrosio MP, Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change,
Level 16 8 Nicholson Street, EAST MELBOURNE, Victoria 3002
lily.dambrosio@parliament.vic.gov.au
The Hon Peter Gutwein MP, Premier of Tasmania,
Ground Floor, Public Building, 53 St John Street, LAUNCESTON, Tasmania 7250 peter.gutwein@dpac.tas.gov.au
Roger Janesh MP, Minister for Environment and Parks,
GPO Box 44 HOBART, Tasmania 7001
roger.jaensch@parliament.tas.gov.au
Monday 16 September 2019
NSW land clearing for agriculture now thought to exceed 27,100 hectares annually
The Guardian, 13 September 2019:
A highly secret government-commissioned review into skyrocketing rates of clearing of native vegetation for farming in New South Wales has been completed and is likely to add to simmering tensions between the Liberals and Nationals within cabinet.
The review, which was triggered when land clearing exceeded 20,000 hectares in less than a year, has been undertaken by the NSW Natural Resources Commission, an independent body, and is soon to be considered by cabinet.
It is investigating clearing rates since the new Biodiversity Conservation Act began in August 2017 and whether the Act is working to preserve biodiversity.
The NRC’s chief executive, Bryce Wilde, confirmed his agency had been asked by the premier to do the review on 14 January, just before the state election, and had handed the findings to the government six weeks ago.
It did not seek any public or industry submissions, although Wilde said the NRC had sought expert input from consultants, who signed confidentiality agreements.But the mention in an estimates committee on Friday was the first time it had become public. The NRC said the review was “cabinet in confidence” and had sought information from departments only.
The review – and what to do about the escalation of land clearing in NSW – will add to the tensions between the Liberals and Nationals over stewardship of the environment.
The Coalition partners are already at loggerheads over key policies including management of wild brumbies in national parks, water policy and calls by the Nationals to allow logging in the River Red Gum national park on the Murray.
This week the agriculture minister, Adam Marshall, whose seat covers much of northern NSW where the land clearing is occurring, flagged introducing a “regional code” for clearing in the north-west of NSW, saying the current laws were not working well for large-scale farming enterprises.
This was interpreted as a plan to further relax the rules for when farmers can clear without a permit – at least in this region.
Regional codes were foreshadowed in the Biodiversity Conservation Act and a pilot is being run near Walgett.
But the secret NRC review is likely to bolster the arguments of the environment minister, Matt Kean, and the senior portfolio minister, Rob Stokes, who are known to be deeply concerned about the rapid escalation of land clearing and its impact on biodiversity......
Labels:
environmental vandalism,
farming,
forests,
land clearing,
trees
Friday 26 July 2019
Land clearing law in New South Wales
Environmental
Defenders Office NSW (EDO), 17 July 2019:
It’s
been almost two years since the NSW Government introduced a new
scheme for regulating land clearing and biodiversity in NSW. While
the business of tree clearing has continued apace under self-assessed
codes and a new Vegetation SEPP, fundamentally important parts of the
scheme are still missing. This EDO NSW series of legal updates looks
at how the laws are being implemented and the regulatory gaps that
are putting our wildlife and healthy sustainable landscapes at risk.
Our
first
update looked at clearing in rural areas and outlined the
fundamentally important parts of the scheme that are still missing
even while tree clearing has continued apace under self-assessed
codes. The second
update looks at elements of the new scheme that are missing or
lack clarity for tree clearing in urban areas and e-zones. This third
update looks at compliance and enforcement of new clearing laws.
Read
the third update here.
Friday 19 July 2019
In the Kalang River forests of New South Wales......
According to the NSW Office of Environment & Heritage the Milky Silkpod is found only within NSW, with scattered populations in the north coast region between Kendall and Woolgoolga.
This plant is currently listed as Vulnerable in NSW and has a Commonwealth conservation status of Endangered. Little is known of its reproductive biology.
However, this means little to the Forestry Corporation of NSW, its board of directors and workers or the Berejiklian Coalition Government.
The Belligen Shire Courier, 16 July 2019:
OEH-Milky Silkpod profile. Photo Shane Ruming |
A volunteer survey team that trekked
through the Upper Kalang forests on the weekend found dozens of
endangered plants damaged by Forestry Corporation's logging
preparations.
The
Milky Silkpod (Parsonia dorrigoensis) is listed as 'vulnerable' in
NSW and is a nationally endangered plant.
As
the name suggests, the forests of the Mid North Coast are a
stronghold for it, with most records found between Kendall and
Woolgoolga.
In
1999 it was estimated that there were less than 2000 individual
plants and the main threat to the survival of this species is low
numbers.
Official
government advice on how to manage the plant says that "searches
for the species should be conducted prior to any logging operations"
and known habitat should be "protect[ed] from clearing, high
levels of disturbance and development".
"Yet
once again Forestry Corporation has shown its disregard for the the
environment," survey team member Jonas Bellchambers said.
"Of
the 110 confirmed new records identified on the weekend, 39 specimens
were found that had already been damaged and are unlikely to recover.
"With
more logging and roading imminent it is highly likely to wipe out a
good part of this population.
"Like
for most species, it's a death of 1000 cuts, and before we know it
another plant has blinked out and has gone from our planet
completely. We are in the midst of a major extinction event. Here we
have a clear example of why. Because government and industry just
don't care....
Sunday 9 June 2019
Morrison Government's newly appointed “Special Envoy” for the Great Barrier Reef is in favour of large scale land clearing on the reef's doorstep
This is the
newly appointed “Special Envoy” for the Great Barrier Reef, Liberal MP for Leichhardt
Warren Entsch…..
The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 June 2019:
Coalition MP Warren
Entsch has backed a plan to bulldoze 2000 hectares of pristine forest near the
Great Barrier Reef despite being appointed to a role championing the natural
marine wonder.
Prime Minister Scott
Morrison appointed the veteran Liberal MP, who represents the seat of
Leichhardt in north Queensland, as special envoy to the Great Barrier Reef in
last month’s ministerial reshuffle.
Mr Entsch once owned
Olive Vale station, a large Cape York farm north-west of Cairns, and has been a
vocal proponent of land clearing on farming properties in north Queensland.
Land clearing can create sediment and nutrient run-off and is the main driver
of serious water quality problems on the Great Barrier Reef.
Liberal MP Warren Entsch
is a strong advocate of land clearing, despite the possible effects on the
Great Barrier Reef's water quality.
In particular, Mr Entsch
lobbied his government on behalf of a highly contentious proposal to
clear 2000 hectares of forest at Kingvale
Station on Cape York Peninsula.
The land drains into two
rivers that run into the Great Barrier Reef 200 kilometres downstream.
Government-commissioned experts have warned that soil erosion from the work is
likely to damage the reef.
Mr Entsch told
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that despite his new
responsibilities, the Kingvale land-clearing proposal had his “total support”.
“It has absolutely
nothing to do with my role [as reef envoy],” he said…..
New Environment Minister
Sussan Ley will decide on the Kingvale plan, which is being assessed under
Commonwealth laws.
This is what Mr.
Entsch is determined to ignore……
The relationship between the position of Kingvale Station in a river catchment which discharges water into the Great Barrier Reef at a point where the reef is under stress from multiple coral bleaching events.
The relationship between the position of Kingvale Station in a river catchment which discharges water into the Great Barrier Reef at a point where the reef is under stress from multiple coral bleaching events.
Normanby Catchment in Far North Queensland |
Kingvale Station approximate position maked in red |
Map found at Great Barrier Reef Foundation |
Warren Entsch cannot be ignorant of this relationship, as Kingvale Station is in the federal electorate he has held for the last twenty-three years.
A suspicious person might wonder if Mr. Entsch was one of the government MPs who allegedly 'lobbied' departmental staff on the matter of Kingvale Station land clearing consent in the past,
Such a mind might also ponder the proposition that he was made Special Envoy for the Great Barrier Reef in order to assist in subverting attempts to stop landclearing so close to this World Heritage listed marine area.
BACKGROUND
A suspicious person might wonder if Mr. Entsch was one of the government MPs who allegedly 'lobbied' departmental staff on the matter of Kingvale Station land clearing consent in the past,
Such a mind might also ponder the proposition that he was made Special Envoy for the Great Barrier Reef in order to assist in subverting attempts to stop landclearing so close to this World Heritage listed marine area.
BACKGROUND
ABC
News, 22 May
2018:
The Queensland
Government has launched legal action against the owner of a Cape York cattle
station at the centre of a land-clearing controversy for allegedly breaching an
obligation to care for Indigenous heritage.
The owner of Kingvale
Station on the Cape York Peninsula legally cleared 500 hectares of land before
the Federal Government intervened in 2016, over internal concerns about the
effect on sediment run-off into the Great Barrier Reef.
The traditional owners of
the land, the Olkola people, claim the owner of Kingvale Station went ahead
with the clearing without their knowledge and may have destroyed a burial site.
The ABC can reveal the
Queensland Department of Environment and Science is taking court action as a
result of an investigation which started as early as 2016, when the Olkola
people complained to the Government that they believed Kingvale Station may be
in breach of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act.
The
Sydney Morning Herald,
27 November 2018:
The Morrison government
has conceded it botched scrutiny of a plan to bulldoze 2000 hectares of
pristine Queensland forest near the Great Barrier Reef and has been forced back
to the drawing board following a legal challenge by conservationists.
The development comes as
confidential documents show government MPs lobbied environmental officials to
wave through the proposal, which would raze land almost three times the size of
the combined central business districts of Sydney and Melbourne.
As
Fairfax Media reported in May, the Department of the Environment and Energy
in a draft report recommended that the government allow the mass vegetation
clearing at Kingvale Station on Cape York Peninsula.
The finding, which
prompted public outrage, came despite the department conceding the native
forest was likely to contain endangered species, and despite expert warnings
that runoff caused by the clearing may damage the Great Barrier Reef.
In a case demonstrating
the critical role community organisations play in holding elected officials to
account, the Federal Court has upheld a challenge by the Environment
Council of Central Queensland (ECOCeQ) – represented by EDO NSW – to a proposal
to clear 2,100 ha of native vegetation on Kingvale Station on the Cape
York Peninsula in the Great Barrier Reef catchment.
Early in 2018, the
Federal Minister for the Environment decided that the proposed clearing could
undergo the least rigorous form of environmental assessment available under
Commonwealth environmental law. The Minister was required, among other
things, to be satisfied that the degree of public concern about the action is,
or is expected to be, ‘moderately low’.
The Minister has now
conceded that decision was not made lawfully.
ENVISAT satellite image
of the Great Barrier Reef alongside the York Peninsula.
“The Act deliberately
applies a strict test that must be satisfied before the Minister can opt for
the least rigorous assessment,” David Morris, CEO of EDO NSW, stated.
The Government’s own
experts found that the proposed clearing would have a significant impact on the
Great Barrier Reef and a number of threatened species.
The Minister must now go
back to the drawing board to decide afresh how the environmental impacts of the
proposal will be assessed. Steps that have been completed since the Minister
made the original assessment decision are now void, including the Secretary’s
draft recommendation report that was published online for comment in April
2018.
What follows next will
depend on the assessment methodology selected by the Minister. Whichever
approach is selected, there will be further opportunity for the public to
comment on the proposed clearing.
Christine Carlisle,
President of ECOCeQ, said ‘We hope the Minister rejects the tree clearing
proposal outright, since it will destroy habitat for threatened species, the
bulldozing of the forest will contribute to climate change, and there can be no
guarantee that sediment run-off from this huge area will not make its way into
Princess Charlotte Bay and then on to the Reef.’
‘We trust that the
Minister for the Environment will act in the best interest of the environment,
and not rubber stamp this dangerous proposal. The Minister received 6,000
public comments when this clearing was first proposed, and I hope the public
responds again to ensure this proposal is not approved at any level,’ she said.
This case illustrates
yet again the value of the extended standing provisions in the Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Without community groups like
ECoCeQ, and lawyers to represent them, this unlawful decision would have
proceeded without scrutiny and key safeguards for our environment ignored.
Thursday 30 May 2019
The weather is slowly getting colder, but before minds turn to the thought of glowing fire in the hearth remember this....
Sitting before a glowing fire on a cold winter's night is something many people have done at some point in their lives.
However, this has fast become a luxury we as a society can no longer afford.
Because now when we go firewood gathering, sadly we are often taking the last remaining homes in that locality of Australian hollow nesting native birds, small marsupials, reptiles, frogs & insects.
Other things to remember about firewood gathering.......
Fines apply
for removing fallen timber or trees from national
parks or nature reserves.
Collecting
wood from Travelling Stock Reserves
is illegal in New South Wales and you can be fined if caught.
If you'd like
to collect firewood for personal use from a state forest within NSW
you need to apply for a permit and any
timber taken must be paid for in advance.
Firewood
permits are available online from the Forestry Corporation of NSW at: www.forestrycorporation.com.au/about/permits.
These permits only allow the
collection of fallen timber and fines apply if rules are broken.
Removing
fallen timber from roadside reserves is prohibited by many councils, so please
check with your local council before considering collecting firewood from these
areas.
Clearing of native
vegetation on rural land is legislated by the Local Land
Services Act 2013 and
the Biodiversity
Conservation Act 2016.
Clearing of native
vegetation in urban areas and land zoned for environmental protection is
legislated by the NSW
Vegetation SEPP.
Please report suspected
unlawful native vegetation clearing to OEH.
You can contact
Environment Line on 131 555 or send
an email to info@environment.nsw.gov.au.
Illegal
activity can also be reported to Local
Land Services on 1300 795 299 or
by contacting your local police station.
Labels:
#standup4forests,
environmental vandalism,
forests,
national parks,
NSW,
trees
Wednesday 15 May 2019
Australia cannot afford a third term Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government
The continuous prevarication and callous disregard for any policy which might provide a sustainable future for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren makes the Liberal and National political parties a danger to us all.........
The
Guardian, 9
May 2019:
Scott Morrison’s office
has declined to say what legislation he was referring to when he said he had
“been taking action” on a
landmark UN report about the extinction of a million different species.
On Monday, the UN
released a comprehensive, multi-year report that revealed human
society was under threat from the unprecedented extinction of the
Earth’s animals and plants. The agriculture minister, David Littleproud, said
the report “scared him”, during a debate on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Morrison
responded to the report saying: “We already introduced and passed legislation
through the Senate actually dealing with that very issue in the last week of
the parliament. We’ve been taking action on that.”
However, no legislation
regarding animal conservation or the environment passed in the last week of
parliament.
When asked what the
legislation was, the prime minister’s office did not reply. The office of the
environment minister, Melissa Price, also did not respond when asked what
legislation Morrison was referring to.
The only legislation
regarding animals that passed within the last few months is the
Industrial Chemicals Bill 2017, which set new regulations on testing
cosmetics on animals.
However, it was passed
by both houses on 18 February – not in the last week of parliament, which was
in April.
Neither the prime
minister nor the environment minister responded to clarify if this was the bill
Morrison was referring to, or whether he made an error.
Tim Beshara, the federal
policy director of the Wilderness Society, said Morrison appeared to have
“alluded to a bill that doesn’t exist”.
“The last bill to pass the Senate from the
environment portfolio was about changing the board structure of the Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority in 2018,” he said.
“It looks like the prime
minister of Australia is so desperate to move the debate off the environment as
an issue that he has alluded to a bill that doesn’t exist so that journalists
would stop asking questions about it.”…..
On Wednesday, Morrison
also railed against the expansion of environmental regulations, calling them
“green tape”.
He told the Sydney
Morning Herald the
expansion of “green tape” – like native vegetation laws – was delaying projects
like mining and “costs jobs”.
“[Labor] want to
hypercharge an environment protection authority which will basically interfere
and seek to slow down and prevent projects all around the country,” he said.
Beshara said the timing
of this with the mass extinction report showed “excellent comedic timing”.
“What he is calling
‘green tape’, most Australians would call basic environmental protections,” he
said. “I don’t expect the prime minister to know their numbats from their
bandicoots, but I do expect them to know what bills their government has
passed, and to respond to a globally significant UN report like this with the
seriousness it deserves.”
The
Guardian, 9
May 2019:
Most clearing of
Australian habitat relied on by threatened species is concentrated in just 12
federal electorates, nine of which are held by the Coalition, an
analysis has found.
University of Queensland
scientists found more than 90% of the threatened species habitat lost since the
turn of the century has been in six electorates in Queensland, two each in NSW
and Western Australia and one in Tasmania and the Northern Territory. Most of
the land-clearing in Queensland has been to create
pasture.
The study, commissioned
by the Australian Conservation Foundation, was released following a United
Nations global assessment that found biodiversity is being lost at an
unprecedented rate, with one million species at risk of extinction. The report
warns the decline in native life could have implications for human populations
across the globe.
Threatened species
habitat loss, by federal electorates
Showing the percentage
of habitat loss used by threatened species
Source: ACF |
The research found the
greatest loss of threatened species habitat had been in the agriculture
minister David Littleproud’s electorate of Maranoa, in southern Queensland.
Nearly two million hectares, or 43%, has been cleared since 2000, when the
federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act
was introduced. Among the 85 threatened species affected are the koala, the
greater bilby, the black-throated finch and the long-nosed potoroo.
Maranoa is followed on
the list by Kennedy, home to the maverick independent Bob Katter, the Liberal
Rick Wilson’s Western Australian seat of O’Connor and Capricornia, a marginal
electorate held by the LNP’s Michelle Landry.
The environment minister
Melissa Price’s vast electorate of Durack, which covers nearly two-thirds of
Western Australia, is seventh, with more than 300,000 hectares lost.
Other seats on the list
are Flynn, Parkes, Leichhardt, Lingiari, Farrer, Dawson and Lyons.
James Watson, the
director of the university’s centre for biodiversity and conservation science,
said Australia was sleep-walking through a worsening extinction crisis.
“These results show the
laws we have to protect our wonderful natural heritage are not working and that
is a significant failure of government,” he said.
The Australian
Conservation Foundation’s nature policy analyst, James Trezise, said the next
Australian government must invest in the recovery of threatened species and
introduce strong environment laws overseen by an independent national regulator
if it was serious about reversing the decline in native wildlife…..
Australia has the highest
rate of mammal extinction in the world over the past 200 years. It
is considered
one of 17 “megadiverse” countries, which share just 10% of global land but
70% of biological diversity. A green group study found funding to the national
environment budget has been reduced
by a third since the Coalition was elected.
Habitat loss on the NSW North Coast
Richmond electorate held by Labor MP Justine Elliot - 710 ha loss
Page electorate held by Nats MP Kevin Hogan - 16,725 ha loss
Cowper electorate held by Nats MP Luke Hartsuyker until April 2019 - 5,159 ha loss
Lyne electorate held by Nats MP David Gillespie - 6,181 ha loss
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