Destruction of the planet’s above ground carbon stocks (as in forests) is a significant source of atmospheric CO2. The report below summarize current understanding about human influences on the global carbon cycle. It shows we need to protect and regrow these land-based carbon storage ‘stocks’ to help mitigate climate change AS WELL AS reduce our …
We have commenced proceedings in the Supreme Court (21/5/2013) to sue the Department of Environment and Primary Industries for years of failure to protect Victoria’s threatened wildlife. We are alleging in Court that the State Government has violated the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act by not preparing protection plans called Action Statements for four threatened …
f passed the Bill will formalise a new ‘cut-out-and-get-out’ style of forest management in the short term as well as pay millions to the logging industry in the long term. The proposed Amendments to this law governing native forest logging will hand full powers to VicForests (the profit-driven semi government entity in charge of logging …
The draft Action Statement (protection plan) for the Long-nosed Potoroo is now out for public comment. This was one of our 4 species used to legally challenge the government recently over its inaction on threatened species protection. The draft plan’s recommended actions are very thick with motherhood statements and very thin on detail, funding commitments …
The Climate Change Authority recently recommended changing the rules so burning forests for electricity could be termed ‘renewable” (with all the associated financial help!), but the Gillard Government has just said no! Huge thanks to The Greens again. This has stymied the industry’s plans to have burning forests take place of woodchipping to keep the …
Isn’t it reassuring to know our forests are bulldozed, chainsawed and burnt in a 100% natural way – no artificial colours or flavours. *image above from VicForests media release – (5/3/13) We wonder what their “100% natural” napalm is made of, polystyrene and benzine or naphthenic acid and palmitic acid? VicForests is a …
Should burning forest waste count under the renewable energy target? Not when the forests serve us better while they’re in the ground, writes Senator Lee Rhiannon Woodchipping of Australia’s native forests continues across the country, despite feeble woodchip prices and shrinking markets. The industry is desperately looking for ways to extend its life by generating …
The Australia Institute has released a brilliant new infographic on what ends up as waste and woodchips from a Tassie forest. It’d be similar here. Shame it only counts trees, and not the entire make-up of a forest though. Trees can be 50% of a forest’s biomass – so the sums on what’s wasted and …
Great news! The Eden chipmill has scrapped their plans to turn forests into pellets to fire up electricity furnaces (to run the world’s TVs and air conditioners). The Eden export woodchip mill plan to convert our forests into fuel to burn for electricity has failed. Likewise its wind farm project and the pellet plant to …
In March 2011, VicForests was crowing about its new giant tree protection policy (read our 2011 article here). VicForests said their new policy on giant trees will also “see every effort made to protect trees which are greater than 3m in diameter”. That’s 9.4 mts circumference. Protesters at Mt Jersey’s old growth forests currently being …
