For the last four years Tricia Caswell has been the State Director of the logging industry body, Victorian Association of Forest Industries (VAFI). Having a female and an ex-ACF President singing the praises of the logging industry was a real boon for them, although she lost all credibility with many people. Caswell has now decided …
Your neighbourhood farm store can now sell a super deadly poison (tasteless, odourless and without an antidote) to farmers virtually without any foolproof checks. In mid-June, the Bracks Government announced that it would allow the sale of 1080 poison baits from your local shop. Up until now they were only available from the Department of …
Backpackers and tourists seeking a nature experience have increased by 55% in Gippsland since 2005/2006. Visitors primarily come from Western Europe and the UK to see what they don’t have over there – wild spaces, unmanicured forests, and big, old trees. For some reason, the government have been historically reluctant to promote the green hinterland …
Melbourne has a doomed dam that may never be full again. The Thomson Dam was built in the late 1970s/early 1980s to supply Melbourne’s increasing thirst. It took around six to seven years to fill, from 1983–89. It was at its lowest level of around 17–18% early this year. The last time the dam was …
The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) audits how well the DSE scrutinises logging contractors. Their audits have come under some criticism over the last four year so the EPA have appointed Sinclair Knight Mertz (SKM) to review how it does the audits. So SKM will check the toothless EPA checks of the monitoring by government foresters …
Woolworths has been shown to be a first order environmental wool-puller. It claimed its home-brand toilet paper was from forests certified as being environmentally, socially and economically responsible. But they had to admit the pulp, which comes from a notorious Indonesian pulp and paper company, had not been okayed by any certifying group. A report …
The European Union’s target of ensuring 10% of petrol and diesel comes from renewable sources by 2020 is not an effective way to curb carbon emissions. Australia must also avoid this path as a ‘solution’ to our increasing CO2 . A team of UK-based scientists suggested that reforestation and habitat protection was a better option. …
The current carbon market actually encourages cutting down some of the world’s biggest forests, which would unleash millions of tonnes of climate-warming carbon into the atmosphere, according to a new study reported in the August Public Library of Science Biology. Under the Kyoto Protocol, there isn’t a profitable reason for the countries with 20% of …
When the Snowy Hydro Scheme was completed in 1967, it captured 99% of the Snowy River headwaters.The Expert Panel Environmental Flow Assessment of the Snowy River Below Jindabyne 1996, recommended 28% annual natural flow as the minimum environmental flow required for the Snowy below Jindabyne Dam. Steve Bracks won government in Victoria in 1999 with …
When John Thwaites tossed in the towel as Minister for Water, Environment, Climate Change and Plastic Bags (27th July), Gavin Jennings got his desk. But water will now be the responsibility of Tim Holding as Minister for Water. Jennings is a key player in the left faction. This could be good or bad, depending. He …
