Just because it’s been done before, doesn’t mean it should be done again. European colonisation brought logging into the Bellingen Shire and throughout Australia. It was the keystone for large-scale development providing both housing and an agricultural base. But more than 200 years later, a comprehensive review of 150 scientific papers on land-clearing and rainfall, conducted by Dailan …
Vegetation creates rain. That’s one of the conclusions of a comprehensive review of more than 150 scientific papers on land-clearing and rainfall, conducted by Dailan Pugh of the North East Forest Alliance. Clearing Our Rainfall Away, released today, summarises the evidence of how land-clearing affects rainfall, and the impacts that land-clearing has had on Australia’s …
We must return federal environmental protections to native forests. Last Friday was a chance to restore balance to the way our native forests are managed — a chance that was wasted. Over the past 20 years, areas designated for logging have been exempted from Australia’s national environment laws. Even open cut mines don’t get that …
The first of the controversial Regional Forest Agreements (RFA) to expire has been extended for 12 months. The agreements were signed by state and federal governments between 1997 and 2001. A 20-year old East Gippsland Regional Forest Agreement was set to expire on Friday, but will now continue for one year to allow for further …
The owner of Australia’s largest hardwood processor has asked the Victorian Government to fund a $40 million refit of the mill. Australian Sustainable Hardwoods employs 250 people at Heyfield in Gippsland, but is threatening to close the mill due to a cut in native timber supply. The company said it could access younger regrowth forest …
Forests are not a Magic Pudding and this fact finally caught up with the government and VicForests in January 2017. Knocking down forests faster than they can regrow has been the management standard for decades by every logging agency and overseen and excused by every government (Liberal and Labor). After such cut-throat management, the industry …
People collapse, buildings collapse, economies collapse and even entire human civilizations collapse. Collapse is also common in the natural world – animal populations and ecosystems collapse. These collapses have the greatest impact on us when they affect resources our industries depend on, leaving ecosystems in tatters and sometimes ruining local economies. In a new paper, …
In 2010, economist Judith Ajani wrote about the forest wars that have besieged us over the last 40 years or more, the bad decisions made and what needs to be done. This is still as relevant today – in fact even more so as the industry is set to collapse due to overcutting but with …
Researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) have called for the transition from native timber harvesting to plantation forests with the biggest mainland sawmill in Australia under threat of collapse. Professor David Lindenmayer from the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society called for the Victorian Government to intervene quickly to minimise the impact of …
Hundreds of jobs are on the line at a sawmill at Heyfield in Victoria’s east if it does not get access to a long-term supply of timber, the ABC understands. Australian Sustainable Hardwoods (ASH), which employs about 250 staff, processes about 150,000 cubic metres of timber each year supplied by state-owned logging company VicForests. Spokesperson …
