Biomassacre of forests – Feds offer millions

As part of that rotten Tassie forest agreement, last week $2.8 million was generously handed to a forest liquidating project run by Dorset Renewable Energies as part of the regional development package. This is a very dangerous foot-in-the-door for all our forests! And where are the green group signatories to the Tassie deal who so …

Continue reading

State-Federal forest deals – a 15 year failed experiment

“One Stop Chop” legal report released States’ forest destruction shameful Who remembers the RFAs? They are a 15 year failed experiment of handing all environmental powers for our forests to the states. A damning legal report titled “One Stop Chop” has just been released and takes a look at the states’ forest management over that …

Continue reading

Vic govt declines to comment on possum extinction

MARK COLVIN: Last night we ran an interview with the leading expert on Victoria’s faunal emblem the Leadbeater’s possum who warned of the creature’s likely extinction. Professor David Lindenmayer of the ANU draws on more than 30 years of work in the Victorian Ash forests studying the possum. He argued among other things that a …

Continue reading

‘One stop shop’ in forests has broader lessons

Regional Forests Agreements drafted years ago have shown that ‘one stop shops’ for environmental approvals don’t work. So why are they being considered? IF A TREE FALLS IN A FOREST and no government wants to hear about it, does it make a sound? The magnificent wedge-tailed eagles who nest in it will hear it fall. …

Continue reading

Environmentalists urge Rudd to scrap ‘failed’ forestry deal with states

Green groups looking at legal challenge to Regional Forest Agreements they blame for pushing species towards extinction A coalition of environment groups has urged the federal government to tear up its “failed” forestry deal with states, which they blame for unsustainable logging and pushing species such as the Leadbeater’s possum and numbat to the brink …

Continue reading

National Parks – Next on their list

Did you know – National Parks are set to be developed, mined, logged, grazed and shot in – the works! And did you know – for a politician:• A personal phone call is worth 100 emails• A personal face to face visit is worth 100 calls So one face to face meeting means you represent …

Continue reading

Koalas face carnage as loggers harvest timber plantations; wildlife carers call for action

Disturbing numbers of koalas are being killed and injured by loggers in timber plantations across south-east Australia. Thousands of koalas have taken refuge in the vast timber plantations that have emerged across the region, which are increasingly maturing for harvest. But koala experts and wildlife refuge staff say many koalas are being wiped out during the logging process. …

Continue reading

Call for investigation into “Ecological Burn”

Once again, government pyromaniacs destroyed extremely valuable ecosystems and a wildlife corridor in the Kirth Kiln Regional Park near Hoddles Creek (March 2013). This was two days before a total fire ban when rainfall for the prior 6 months had been the lowest ever recorded. The fire managers called it an ‘ecological burn’, but had …

Continue reading

An assessment of VicForest’s Finances

Another small community group, Healesville Environment Watch commissioned an economic assessment of VicForests economic performance, since its beginnings in 2004-5. VicForests has racked up a loss of $22 million since it was formed – that means it costs us $1.50 for every cubic metre of wood it has logged. VicForests self-righteously argues a net profit …

Continue reading

Government burns outdo bushfires

The bushfires of 2012-13 in Victoria covered around 130,000 ha. The government has just proudly announced they have now burnt 250,000 ha of forest this Autumn (May 2013)! As well they have pumped about 18.3 million tonnes of C02 into the atmosphere. So what does this mean?Besides this being one massive unscientific experiment based on …

Continue reading