In the space of three days state-owned Forestry NSW has apparently thumbed its nose at the Land & Environment Court and exposed itself to the international community as an environmental vandal

 

Echo, 1 September 2023:

Aunty Alison and Aunty Lauren on Gumbaynggirr Country at Newry State Forest. Photo supplied

Gumbaynggirr Elder Uncle Micklo and the oldest and most senior Gumbaynggirr Elder living on Gumbaynggirr Country Uncle Bud Marshall brought a successful application to the Land and Environment Court (L&EC) that halted logging at the Newry State Forest on 22 August. They were supported by Gumbaynggirr elders Aunty Alison and Aunty Lauren.

The Judge accepted an undertaking from Forestry to stop all logging in the forest to allow for a site inspection by Gumbaynggirr Elders of sacred and significant sites in the forest that the NSW Forestry had been logging. It had been arranged for the elders to go for the inspection on Friday, 1 September, however, at the last minute they were contacted by NSW Forestry to cancel the site inspection.

The Judge also accepted an undertaking that the stop on logging should extend to the substantial hearing set down for November 14, 16 and 17 in the L&EC.

‘Last night (31 August) Forestry said they were going to call off the site inspection, then they said they wanted to delay for another two weeks. They are due back in court on Tuesday (5 September) and the site inspection is supposed to have taken place,’ said Al Oshlack, from the Indigenous Justice Advocacy Network who helped organise the stop work order. [my yellow highlighting]

‘We had a driver organised and they were going to go out to a number of sites in Newry Forest today (Friday, 1 September). Everyone is really upset because they have been locked out for a long time by Forestry with fences and cameras etc in place.’

Mr Oshlack told The Echo that Forestry appears to use a person named Mr Potter to sign off on their cultural heritage requirements. However, Mr Oshlack said they have been unable to find any Gumbaynggirr people who either know Mr Potter or who have been consulted about sacred and cultural sites in the area by Forestry NSW.

‘We have been asking around to find out if anyone knows who Mr Potter is but we haven’t been able to find anyone who knows this person so far,’ Mr Oshlack said.

‘I spoke to Gumbaynggirr people who have been looking for him and they said “We went to five different Gumbaynggirr families and no one has heard of him.”….

The Sydney Morning Herald, 2 September 2023:

Professor Helge Bruelheide, professor of botany at the University of Helle in Germany, was stunned by what he has seen exploring the forests in and around the promised Great Koala National Park on the state’s North Coast this week.

“It is spectacular. All the variants of this Gondwana rainforest – cool and warm, temperate rainforest and also the subtropical rainforest – is something that is so unique globally that you wouldn’t find it in this particular combination elsewhere,” said Breulheide, one of the leading scientists in his field, who visited with 30 of his colleagues from around the world as they prepared for a conference on forest preservation to be held in Coffs Harbour next week.

Professor Helge Bruelheide at Border Ranges National Park, north of the proposed Great Koala National Park.

“It’s incredible walking through the forest and seeing a different tree every 5 meters. It is unique in the world. And it is also ancient, what we have seen remnants of a vegetation that is long gone on Earth. Australia is a bit of an ark conserving this fantastic biodiversity.

“I mean, I knew that from the books but touching it and seeing these wonderful trees is something different. We were completely shocked that this was being logged for paper pulp and timber. Particularly this type of forest, we really couldn’t understand that.” [my yellow highlighting]

It was not just the fact of the logging that stunned, but Bruelheide, but the nature of it. Rather than so-called single-stem logging that is common in places like Germany, where single trees are targeted and removed, loggers here take out whole sections, leaving behind a few trees in compartments (a section of forest identified for logging) that have been identified as critical feed or habitat trees for some endangered species.

“I feel like I was time travelling back to the 60s when this was all over the place,” says Breulheide of what he saw inside a patch of the Moonpar State Forest identified on the Forestry Corporation website as Section 345…..

Overview of a Moonpar State Forest Section 345 in May 2023

Moonpar State Forest Section 345
IMAGE: via @CloudsCreek, 7 May 2023

Closer view of segment of Moonpar State Forest Section 345, May 2023, showing felled native trees. SNAPSHOT: Google Earth Pro

Click on images to enlarge

CLIMATE CHANGE STATE OF PLAY 2023: If this is to be Australia's Spring in 2023, what will Summer look like?

The Guardian, 1 September 2023:

On Thursday, the bureau said Australia’s spring would likely see hotter than average temperatures and lower than average rainfall – a combination that would increase the risk of bushfires.

Dr Masoud Edraki, a senior hydrologist at the bureau, said the record-high sea surface temperatures seen globally would continue to affect Australia’s weather.

“We know that a warmer climate does increase the risk of extreme weather including heatwaves and drought,” he said.

“We are already seeing longer fire seasons, and an increase in the number of dangerous fire weather days over most of Australia. We don’t know yet how global warming, and particularly the increased warmth in the oceans, is affecting our typical climate drivers.

“Our climate forecast model is consistent with the international climate forecasts that show Australia is trending dry and warm for the coming season, particularly in the south-west and much of south-eastern Australia.”

 

Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), website excerpts retrieved 2 September 2023:

Global warming

Global warming continues to influence Australian and global climates. Global sea surface temperatures were highest on record for their respective months during April to July 2023, with July also being the equal-highest month on record (according to the ERA5 reanalysis). July 2023 was also the hottest month globally in terms of 2 metre air temperature.

Australia’s climate has warmed by an average of 1.47 ± 0.24 °C since national records began in 1910. There has also been a trend towards a greater proportion of rainfall from high intensity, short duration rainfall events, especially across northern Australia. Southern Australia has seen a reduction, by 10 to 20%, in cool season (April to October) rainfall in recent decades. This is due to a combination of natural variability on decadal timescales and changes in large-scale circulation caused by an increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

Warmer than median days and nights for most of Australia during spring

Issued: 31 August 2023

• For September, above median maximum temperatures are likely to very likely (60% to greater than 80% chance) across the southern two-thirds of Australia. Below median maximum temperatures are likely (60 to 80% chance) for the Queensland Gulf Country, and central and eastern NT.

• For September to November, above median maximum temperatures are very likely (greater than 80% chance) for almost all of Australia.

• For September to November, most of Australia is at least 2.5 times as likely to experience unusually high maximum temperatures (unusually high maximum temperatures equates to the warmest 20% of September to November periods from 1981 to 2018), with chances increasing to more than four times as likely for most of western and central WA and parts of the southeast.

• For September, above median minimum temperatures are likely to very likely (60% to greater than 80% chance) for Tasmania, Victoria, NSW on and east of the Great Dividing Range, the Southeast Coast of Queensland, and most of WA. Below median minimum temperatures are likely to very likely across most of the NT, the Kimberley and Northern Interior regions of WA, central and western Queensland, the far west of NSW and the North East Pastoral and Flinders districts of SA.

• For September to November, minimum temperatures are likely (60 to 80% chance) to be warmer than median for most of Australia excluding areas of north-east NT, northern Queensland, and south-east SA. Chances increase to very likely (greater than 80% chance) for Western Australia and parts of eastern Australia.

• For September to November, western and central areas of WA and areas on and east of the Great Dividing Range in NSW and Victoria are at least 3 times as likely to experience unusually high minimum temperatures (unusually high minimum temperatures equates to the warmest 20% of September to November periods from 1981 to 2018), with chances increasing to more than four times as likely for parts of central WA.

• Past accuracy of the September to November chance of above median maximum and minimum temperature long-range forecasts has been high to very high across all of Australia.

BOM: Max temperature - The chance of above median max temperature for September to November

With regard to rainfall:

For September to November, below median rainfall is likely to very likely (60% to greater than 80% chance) for most of Australia.

Later than usual rainfall onset likely for most of northern Australia

A later than usual northern rainfall onset for the 2023–24 season is likely for most of northern Australia.

Most of northern Australia excluding interior parts of Western Australia has a 60 to 70% chance of a later than usual rainfall onset. This increases to a greater than 70% chance for northern and eastern parts of the NT and Queensland, as well as along the Gascoyne Coast in WA.

The northern rainfall onset outlook gives an indication of whether the first significant rains after 1 September are likely to be earlier or later than their median date (based on historical observations, 1981–2018). View median onset dates here.

This is the final Northern Rainfall Outlook for the 2023 to 2024 season.

NOTE: The long-range forecast is influenced by several factors, including likely El Niño development and positive Indian Ocean Dipole development, and record warm oceans globally.

El Niño Alert continues, positive IOD likely for spring

The Bureau's El Niño Alert continues, with El Niño development likely during spring. When El Niño Alert criteria have been met in the past, an El Niño event has developed around 70% of the time.

Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the tropical Pacific are exceeding El Niño thresholds and have continued to warm slightly over the last fortnight. Climate models indicate further warming of the central to eastern Pacific is likely, with SSTs remaining above El Niño thresholds until at least early 2024.

Drought: Rainfall deficiencies and water availability

4 August 2023

• July rainfall for Australia overall was 1% above the 1961–1990 average.

• Rainfall for July was below average for southern two thirds of Western Australia, most of South Australia, eastern New South Wales, Victoria and eastern Tasmania and above average for much of the northern half of Australia.

• For the period commencing May 2023, large areas of severe rainfall deficiency (totals in the lowest 5% of historic observations since 1900) have emerged across much of the south-west half of Western Australia, and much of the east coast of New South Wales.

• For the period commencing December 2022, areas experiencing serious deficiencies (totals in the lowest 10% of observations since 1900) include parts of southern Queensland, parts of the north-eastern quarter of New South Wales and areas within the south-west of Western Australia.

• Soil moisture was below average (in the lowest 30% of all observations since 1900), across a wide band of south-west Western Australia into western South Australia, and parts of eastern Australia, particularly Wide Bay and Burnett in Queensland and along coastal New South Wales into far east Victoria.

• Low stream flows were observed mostly at sites in the west of Western Australia, areas of eastern coastal New South Wales and south-east Queensland, and scattered sites in the north of the Murray–Darling Basin.

• Storage levels remain low in some parts of south and central Queensland, eastern and southern parts of New South Wales, central Tasmania, and urban areas of Perth.

• For August to October, below median rainfall is likely to very likely (60% to greater than 80% chance) for much of Australia.

AFAC: National Council for Fire and Emergency Services, excerpt retrieved from website 2 September 2023:

Seasonal Bushfire Outlook: Spring 2023

23 August 2023

Australia's climate influences have shifted significantly since last spring, with above average temperatures and below average rainfall expected for almost the entire country for the coming season. Many regions have also seen increased fuel growth due to above average rainfall throughout recent La Niña years, which is contributing to increased risk of bushfire across locations in Australia during the spring 2023.

Increased risk of fire is expected for regions in Queensland, NSW, Victoria, SA and NT. Communities in these regions are urged to prepare for bushfire and monitor local conditions.

Australia's climate influences have shifted significantly since last spring. Following above average rainfall experienced during consecutive La Niña years, the Bureau of Meteorology predicts a switch to higher chances of above average temperatures and below average rainfall for almost the entire country.

Recent rainfall means many regions have also seen increased fuel growth, which is contributing to increased risk of bushfire for many regions of Australia during the spring season.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge

Cartoons of the Week

John Shakespeare

Cathy Wilcox

Tweet of the Week

 

From Paul Kelly (FB) pic.twitter.com/Kvobo6kPUZ

— noeline purdy (@ozwildflower) August 29, 2023

 

As the countdown to the national referendum begins - along the Clarence River people are discussing Yes23

On referendum day, Saturday 14 October 2023, voters will be asked to vote 'yes' or 'no' on a single question. The question on the ballot paper will be:

“A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

Do you approve this proposed alteration?”

Along the Clarence River people are listening and deciding......

GRAFTON

YAMBA

“Mid-talk with Yaegl Elders in Maclean NSW, the referendum date was announced. An exciting moment to share with this community.” Thomas Mayo

MACLEAN

IMAGES: X aka Twitter

The people of the Northern Rivers, wider New South Wales and the rest of Australia have been warned that the hands of the climate crisis clock are at 30 seconds to midnight, but it's business as usual

 

Australian climate scientist Dr. Joëlle Gergis, ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society and a lead author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, has recently written: 

“The climate disasters unfolding in the northern hemisphere are a sign of what’s in store here, as governments fail to act on the unfolding emergency…..

...the possibility that the Earth might have already breached some kind of global “tipping point”. The term refers to what happens when a system crosses into a different state and stays there for a very long time, sometimes even permanently. We know that once critical thresholds in the Earth system are passed, even small changes can lead to a cascade of significantly larger transformations in other major components of the system. Key indicators of regional tipping points include dieback of major ecological communities….” [my yellow highlighting]

Such observations give pause for thought.

However, the elected Mayor of the third tier governing body for the Clarence Valley Local Government Area (LGA), Cr. Ian Tiley, is apparently comfortable with the idea of personally failing to act when it comes to any proposed phasing out of logging native forests in public hands within this LGA.

At least that is the impression he gives during a photo opportunity with representatives of the state government-dominated NSW logging industry.

Presumably Mayor Tiley is willing to ignore the fact that in 2021 & again in 2022 Australian university researchers warned that logging is not just increasing the risk of severe fires, but also the risk to human lives and safety.

Logging increases the probability of canopy damage by five to 20 per cent and leads to long-term elevated risk of higher severity fires, including canopy fires. Canopy fires are considered the most extreme form of fire behaviour and can be virtually impossible to control. 

It has also been known for the last two decades that intact tree canopies can buffer against rising and increasingly record air/land temperatures due to the thermal insulation of forest canopies which protects biodiversity, allowing native flora and fauna to survive climate change-induced heat extremes better than those living on open land.

Even the NSW Dept. of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources in Land Condition in the Clarence River Catchment: Report 1 - when addressing forestry as a land use - admitted back in 2014 that:

Management of forested areas for bushfire control purposes can threaten adjacent areas, cause habitat loss and encourage erosion. Public debate on this issue has been centred around the in-situ environmental impacts of the process but smoke drift over nearby population centres and the post burning effects on water quality after erosion events also impacts water supply for urban and industrial purposes. [my yellow highlighting]

Commercial logging activity occurs within the Clarence River catchment area and logged state forests do catch fire - as evidenced by Ellis State Forest near Dundurrabin south of Grafton during the 2019-20 bushfire season.

Like many other communities in the Northern Rivers region during the 2019-20 bushfire season, communities in the Clarence Valley can attest to the physical difficulties of living for days and sometimes weeks under smoke palls loaded with gases and particulate matter (including PM2.5) with a potential to affect the health.

According to the Dept. of Health's Bushfire smoke and health: Summary of the current evidence, 6 August 2020:

The Global Burden of Disease Study has shown that outdoor PM2.5 is the most important environmental risk factor in Australia, responsible for 1.6 percent of the total burden of disease in 2017. 

Evidence shows that the likelihood of an individual experiencing health effects as a result of exposure to PM2.5 depends on a number of factors. These include: the concentration of PM2.5 in air, the duration of exposure; the person’s age and whether a person has existing medical conditions (particularly cardiorespiratory disease or asthma).

It is also acknowledged that while this document focusses on the evidence relating to the physical effects that may occur as a result of bushfires smoke, bushfires have much broader mental health and societal impacts.

Clarence Valley Independent, 30 August 2023:

*click on image to enlarge*

“The Mayor also expressed his personal view, describing the timber industry as vital to the Clarence Valley.” 

I wonder if  Mr. Tiley will still be of that opinion over the next high-risk seven to seventeen years......

NSW BUSHFIRE SEASON STATE OF PLAY 2023: the Rural Fire Service Chinook helicopter which arrived in NSW in July was deployed for the first time to fight Clarence Valley fires in August 2023

From 1 September, the following NSW Northern Rivers local government areas are beginning their official Bush Fire Danger Period: 

Clarence Valley, Ballina, Byron, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed. 

Fire itself not understanding the bureaucratic love of schedules and lists decided to make itself felt in the Clarence Valley in mid-August resulting in a Sec.44 bush fire emergency declaration (localised state of emergency) to enable a co-ordinated air and ground response to fires in the the Pillar Valley region.

The new NSW RFS Chinook waterbombing helicopter was used to contain fires in the Coutts Crossing area on 20 August 2023.

The RFS Chinook aircraft was deployed for the first time after arriving in NSW last month. (Supplied: NSW RFS/Sean Leathers). ABC News 20 August 2023

As of Tuesday 29 August 2023 the NSW RFS "Fires Near Me" webpage reported that in the Clarence Valley LGA:

• 4 remaining grass fires are Under Control with only monitoring required; and

• of the 9 remaining bushfires 8 are Under Control and one classed as Being Controlled. 

From 1 September, the following LGAs also begin their Bush Fire Danger Period: 

Muswellbrook, Singleton, Kempsey, Nambucca, Mid-Coast, Port Macquarie-Hastings,  Bellingen, Coffs Harbour,  Gunnedah, Liverpool Plains, Upper Hunter, Bega Valley, Eurobodalla, and Shoalhaven, Tamworth, Bogan, Coonamble, Walgett, Warren, Moree, Gwydir, Narrabri, Gilgandra, Warrumbungle, and Midwestern.

This is in addition to the six LGAs that commenced the danger period on 1 August: Armidale Regional, Walcha, Uralla, Glen Innes Severn, Inverell, and Tenterfield.

Once a Bushfire Danger Period commences landholders in these LGAs need to apply for a permit to burn off and notify their neighbours and local fire authorities 24 hours before lighting up. Free permits are available by contacting your local Fire Control Centre.

On 27 August 2023 NSW Premier Chris Minns and Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib issued a media release stating in part;

Iconic fire danger rating signs on roadsides across NSW are getting a digital facelift, with the Rural Fire Service (RFS) set to provide real-time fire risk information to communities via remotely operated signs.

More than 200 digital fire warning signs are being rolled out, as the state approaches bushfire season.

The signs, which are powered by solar panels, are automatically updated each day in line with fire danger ratings on the RFS website. The ratings are informed by data from the Bureau of Meteorology.

The digital upgrade means RFS volunteers will no longer need to manually change the signs daily.

The signs use the revised Australian Fire Danger Rating System, which includes four categories for fire danger: 

Moderate (green), High (yellow), Extreme (orange) and Catastrophic (red), with simple actions for the community to take at each level. On days when there is minimal risk, ‘no rating’ is used.