The Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (the Act) is the main Victorian legislation governing the conservation of threatened species and ecological communities and addresses the management of processes that threaten native flora and fauna. The Act applies to public and private land and establishes a listing process. Once an item is listed, there are …
In late June 2008, the government enquiry into bushfires (how many is this now?) recommended to State parliament to triple its burn program to almost half a million hectares annually. This would be a gamble, a waste of money and ultimately counter productive. Governments should instead be funding programs to help landowners and townships be …
Many friends of the environment were lost to us over the February fires this year. Many others lost their friends, family members and their homes. It was a shocking time. Besides having to deal with these losses, the environment movement was accused of being responsible. Let’s analyse this … The shameless politicisation of such an …
The government is setting up the bizarre situation where plantations are targeted for carbon storage and native forests for logging. Changes to the Tax Act, together with emissions trading, will threaten native forests even more than they currently are. In November, the Federal Labor government and the Liberals banded together to defend these changes. What …
Science is clearly not a part of the Brumby government’s justification to triple burns across the state to almost 400,000 ha, or 1/20th of public land a year. Despite the ENRC inquiry quoting scientific papers, Jenny Barnett from the VNPA, discovered that these papers didn’t back up calls for increased burning at all. They in …
Here’s another example of the government being at odds with itself. Two recent reports contradicted each other. In early December, at the same time the Environment Commissioner, Dr Ian McPhail, released his damning State of the Environment report for Victoria, the Brumby Government supported the other bushfire report and a trebling of burns across our …
Over Autumn/Winter 08, farmers were given permits to shoot dozens of native Black Swans who were moving from the Gippsland Lakes’ onto farm paddocks to graze. Why? Because the Lakes have become so sick and contaminated that much of the area is dying, including the Swan’s food, the water grasses. The issuing of permits to …
The immense trees that have sheltered and raised hundreds of generations of owls and gliding possums are now being hacked down by VicForests. The under-storey of tree ferns and waratahs, twining silkpod and musk daisy bush is being crushed into the mud by 40 tonne dozers. Victoria’s Brumby government is allowing their logging department to …
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 …
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. …
