The push by farmers to have poison baits dropped from planes to kill wild dogs and dingoes has been successful. A three-stage government trial is currently going on and so far it has only shown that planes can drop baits accurately. But ‘can’ does not mean ‘will’. A senior scientist at the Arthur Rylah Research …
The logging industry is desperately grabbing for a lifeline as they slowly sink on the global wood market The price of the Aussie dollar and a global glut of plantation woodchips are both undermining the profits of Australia’s native forest logging industry. Most buyers want some sort of eco-certification to keep their customers assured. So …
The new Victorian Association of Forest Industries’ head is Philip Dalidakis. He’s not a Trish Caswell style environmentalist turned logging lobbyist, but was senior advisor to State Minister for Major Projects, Industry and Trade, Theo Theophanos, until taking this position in November. Interesting to keep in mind that Theophanos is a huge fan of burning …
New research has found that meeting targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions may rely less on renewable energy than on the forests. As reported in the last Potoroo, forests seem to be the key to meeting Kyoto and post-Kyoto goals for reducing CO2 emissions. ” Forests capture 11% of emissions. Renewables save only 5%.” The …
Can you believe this?! Victoria is the most ecologically damaged state in Australia but the Brumby Government recently reduced protection for remnant native vegetation on railway reserves. It’s our railway reserves that are chocka-block with the rare vegetation types from pre settlement days. They haven’t been grazed or ploughed. They get the odd burn, which …
The next big battle for Australia’s south east forests is to stop NSW’s Eden chipmill from burning woodchip logs to make electricity. Exchange rates are pricing their woodchips out of international woodchip markets, so plans are now afoot to create a “forest furnace”. It hopes to burn so-called “waste” for power and call it “renewable”. …
David Pollard, VicForests CEO, was the Commissioner of State Revenue, from 1997 until 2002. Any wonder that he was very defensive when questioned on radio in early December about the loss he’d made for Victorian’s. The information coming out of the logging coupes was that contractors are being directed to smash up good quality salvaged …
Forestry NSW is looking at how to counteract the effects of ‘red oxide’ in wood, just in case it’s ever injected into woodchip trees. Apparently it renders wood useless for chipping and paper-making. Who would do such a silly thing?
Bob Brown has personally poured humungus amounts of his money into legally challenging Forestry Tasmania’s plan to clearfell the Wielangta (pron. why-lang-ta) forests in Tassie, with its many endangered species. The initial judge ruled in his favour to halt logging. Forestry Tasmania then appealed. On November 30th, the Federal Court of Appeal agreed that logging …
Mr Brumby has dusted down the old Industry Transition Taskforce to go about chatting with the logging industry about how to protect 41,000ha (as promised last State election) while not reducing the net log resource or losing any jobs in East Gippsland. Hmmm. (they don’t want to talk to environmentalists by the way) The force …
