Mining company Eastern Iron has been granted a licensce from the State Government to mine for iron ore seven kilometres north of Nowa Nowa. Members of the Wairewa and District Landcare Group say the project is being rushed through approvals and are worried about its viability. The company has released is preparing a environment effects …
A major market for the logging industry in East Gippsland seems set to become extremely unreliable, says Environment East Gippsland, creating major uncertainty for both VicForests and the logging industry. The Eden woodchip mill has recorded its third loss in three years. The Japanese owned company, Nippon, owns the Eden based South East Fibre Exports …
The east Gippsland fires have been estimated to have cost the government (tax payer) up to $140 million to manage. We are hearing that so much of this was reckless waste – machines laying idle at $2000 a day or more, bulldozers left to do their own thing just to keep them employed. Strike teams …
The arrival of autumn means fire crews are busy lighting fires instead of fighting them. And there is an increased amount of country to burn this year before the fire season returns. But determining where to burn to minimise risk is a complex task. Following the Black Saturday fires which killed 173 people, the 2009 …
The Napthine government’s pledge to reform freedom-of-information laws is in disarray, with its own FOI watchdog struggling to meet a litany of complaints against secretive state departments. More than a year after the government set up Victoria’s first Freedom of Information Commissioner, figures confirm many people are waiting longer, political interference is still rife, and …
SERIAL big mouth Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh has struck again leaving Victorian taxpayers to cough up for a second defamation settlement. The latest settlement, after legal action was taken by Environment East Gippsland, will result in tens of thousands of dollars handed over because of comments made late last year. It follows a separate case …
Comments made against a regional environment group have resulted in Minister Peter Walsh stepping back and making a public apology today. The apology to Environment East Gippsland was today published on his parliamentary website and the regional newspaper where it was originally printed. The Minister’s media comments in October last year stated that EEG “…continue(s) …
The largest rodent in Australia is amphibious, fills the same niche as an otter and could be used to get rid of the introduced black rat. Ann Jones meets the researchers trying to find out more about the mysterious water rat. There are a number of 1.5 kilogram rats swimming around Sydney Harbour. No one …
How did forests ever cope before the era of government planned small scale bushfires? Forests had many brilliant systems in place that digested leaf litter, kept the understory damp and a layer of nutrient rich humus at ground level, all operating with clever symbiotic relationships between plants, animals and fungi. Below is just a selection …
This planned burn is not an isolated case of cowboy vandalism. The DEPI proposal to burn a 6,000ha piece of coastal old growth in the Croajingolong National Park includes the Barga Reference Area. Reference Areas are set aside as untouched landscapes and must not be interfered with. Called the Old Coast B burn, it’s between …
