We don’t often get such pleasure but it’s been delightful to watch. Stephen Mayne described it as “Australia’s most ethically challenged company”. Gunns’ planned pulp mill is all but on the scrap heap. Borrowing money or finding a backer is going to be impossible – no matter how many officials they bribe. Its shares dropped …
Deforestation in the tropics causes about one quarter of anthropogenic carbon emissions globally. Now, an international team of economists has demonstrated that leaving the trees standing is a very cost-effective way to reduce global carbon emissions. While afforestation – planting trees – is allowed under the Kyoto Protocol as a way for developed nations to …
The rich, wet undisturbed forests of Victoria hold over 2,000 tonnes of carbon per hectare in the above-ground biomass. These are astronomical numbers that are far larger than the 90 tonnes the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was using as the default value. The forests of SE Australia, Tasmania and Queensland have an extremely …
Here’s a quick summary of the Brown Mountain saga so far: This controversial area of National Estate forest has been in the limelight since 1989. Small but viable stands of ancient forest remain after years of butchery. A 20 ha stand of old growth was clearfelled on Brown Mountain over summer 08-09. VicForests lied …
Wild untouched forests store three times more carbon dioxide than previously estimated and three times more than plantation forests. A world-first study of “green carbon” by scientists from the Australian National University (ANU) looked at natural forests’ role in climate change. They say our forests have been underestimated as a solution against global warming.Despite this …
It’s now official – the Gippsland coast faces the double whammy of sea level rise and coastal subsidence.In July, the Gippsland Coastal Board released a report detailing these problems, saying the coast is highly erodible, making it very vulnerable to sea level rise and storm surges. This could damage estuaries, rivers, bays and inlets, erode …
The main pulp/paper producing region in Europe is Scandinavia, and up to a third of the raw wood used to make paper there has come from Russia. Since 2006, Russia has increased the export tax on its raw log exports to €15 per cubic meter from €2.50. But on January 1st, this tax is set …
In April 2008, Peter Campbell from EEG attended a ‘Stakeholder Reference Group’ meeting, as part of the government’s “Wood and Water Sustainability Assessment Project”. It was as we expected – a poorly devised process to maintain the status quo. The group is to look at options to address water loss due to logging in catchments. …
What a spectacle we had during the 2008 Gippsland by-election campaign. All candidates (except the Greens) were grovelling in front of the logging and coal industries. Michael O’Connor (CFMEU) huffed and puffed on radio for one 30 second news grab and the next day pollies were buckling at the knees pledging their loyal devotion to …
Sponsored and praised by logging unions and supporter groups like VAFI, Australia’s State of the Forests Report 2008 was launched at Bairnsdale’s Auswest sawmill in late May – a pertinent location. Intended to be ‘an essential reference for policy makers and the wider community,’ the five-yearly forest audit reads more like a marketing brochure pitching …
