It’s time to end the failed regional forest agreements

The Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) that govern logging in nearly 7 million hectares of state forests in NSW, Tasmania, Victoria and WA have failed in all their objectives and should be terminated when they expire over the next four years. That is the damning assessment by over 30 environmental groups in a statement released today. …

Continue reading

Ongoing unraveling of a continental fauna

Decline and extinction of Australian mammals since European settlement The island continent of Australia harbors much of the world’s most distinctive biodiversity, but this review describes an extent of recent and ongoing loss of its mammal fauna that is exceptionally high and appreciably greater than previously recognized. With the dwindling abundance, range, and diversity of …

Continue reading

RFA’s – just a giant legal loophole to destroy forests

East Gippsland was the first region to have its forests signed away under the appalling logging industry ‘free-for-all’ called the Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs). Its life of 20 years is about to expire next year and MUST NOT be rolled over for another 2 decades of legally exempt pillaging. Many reports have shown it was …

Continue reading

The good guys gazump the bad this time!

The Bad news is that VicForests continues to clearfell in ecologically valuable forests which have barely had an adequate survey or none at all. This means VicForests continue, as always, to destroy rare wildlife, rainforest, giant trees and critical habitat. The Good news is that the surveyors from GECO again found a massive breach of …

Continue reading

Clear-cutting destabilizes carbon in forest soils, Dartmouth study finds

HANOVER, N.H. – Clear-cutting loosens up carbon stored in forest soils, increasing the chances it will return to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and contribute to climate change, a Dartmouth College study shows. The findings appear in the journal Soil Science. A PDF is available on request. Soil is the world’s largest terrestrial carbon pool. …

Continue reading

Obliteration successful at Hensleigh Creek

The old growth and rainforest of Hensleigh Creek was clearfelled by VicForests in 2015-16, then on 10th April 2016, it was finished it off with an intense burn. They call it ‘sustainable management’ … who do they think they are kidding!?! If you want to express your horror/outrage you can contact the decision makers. The …

Continue reading

Hensleigh Creek – obliteration success!

The old growth and rainforest of Hensleigh Creek was clearfelled by VicForests in 2015-16, then on 10th April 2016, it was finished it off with an intense burn. They call it ‘sustainable management’ … who do they think they are kidding!?!

DELWP to investigate VicForests for logging protected rainforests

For the third time in as many months, a Gippsland-based environmental organisation has blown the whistle on VicForests for logging potentially protected rainforest in the region. In early April 2016, the Goongerah Environment Centre (GECO) announced it had exposed Victoria’s commercial logging business, VicForests, triggering an investigation by the Department of Environment Land Water and …

Continue reading

NSW native forests worth more if left standing: Australia Institute report

An economic analysis by The Australia Institute claims that native forest logging in NSW lost $79 million over the last seven years, but could be making a $40 million yearly profit if left standing and allowed access to the Federal Government’s Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF). The Nature Conservation Council (NCC) and the National Parks Association …

Continue reading