Lyrebirds are but one aspect of our forests’ natural army of ‘fuel reducers’. Bandicoots, Potoroos, and other small diggers, hoppers and scratchers are all extremely important in turning over the forest’s compost daily. Add to this work force the insects and their larvae, termites and fungi that are constantly devouring leaves, twigs and even logs. …
Scientists warn that the wrong fire patterns could see more losses of threatened species across the country. IN LATE JANUARY 2014, after wildfires tore through two conservation parks in South Australia, researchers scoured the charred terrain for signs of life. They hoped to glimpse a mouse-sized flicker of blue and gold or hear a high …
Brilliant investigation into the crooked management of fires. Big fires = big drama = big money! The similarities with Victoria are uncanny but not at all surprising (Ed.) It’s claimed a long running turf war over the control of fire fighting in NSW is affecting fire ground operations as the NSW Rural Fire Service faces …
Victoria must use risk-based land management burns to prevent bushfires, and dump an annual target, national parks groups say. Last month Environment Minister Lisa Neville asked the Inspector-General for Emergency Management to conduct a review of performance targets for a future bushfire fuel management program on public land. The Black Saturday Royal Commission recommended a …
Australian Paper says unless it lifts performance, and soon, the business may not survive, following four straight years of losses. Chief operating officer Peter Williams says a turnaround in financial performance is ‘critical’ for Australian paper production to continue. The company has just announced the closure of its 60-year-old Shoalhaven mill. “We want to see …
In February 2006, having spent around $7 million of taxpayers’ money trying to fix up an unstable tailings dam abandoned by a failed copper and zinc mining enterprise, the Department of Primary Industries was moved to ask the Register of Geographic Names to call the dam ‘Lake St Barbara’. Ironically, in Spanish and Italian, the …
Australian Paper mill at Maryvale in the Latrobe Valley could close if it can’t find a way to make a profit. Australia’s biggest forest-devouring pulp and paper mill has been losing money for years. The Japanese owners have said: Japanese paper manufacturer Nippon Paper Industries (NPI), shares the long term vision of continuing to manufacture …
A popular argument suggests Aboriginal people always burned country so non-Aboriginal Australians should too, albeit for modern purposes, such as fuel reduction burns. Historian Bill Gammage argued this in the popular and influential book The Biggest Estate on Earth (2011). Remarkably, the book has attracted the praise of writers from both the left wing Green …
This recent scientific report (Jan 2014) shows how Australia’s land mammals have extinctions suffered an extraordinary rate of extinction. We have lost over 10% of the 273 endemic terrestrial species over the last 200 years compared to only one native land mammal from continental North America going extinct since European settlement. “A further 21% of …
There will be a review of the 5% burn target, with the report delivered by the end of March (6 weeks)! The Minister’s media release says: “The review will examine a risk-based approach to bushfire fuel management against the existing hectare-based performance target program. The Inspector-General for Emergency Management has been asked to deliver his …
