Australia will need to create a wildlife corridor spanning the continent to allow animals and plants to move to cope with the effects of global warming. The impacts of climate change should be less severe in systems that remain intact and healthy. The 2,800-kilometre climate ‘spine’ has been approved in principle by state and national …
We have to be very careful of applauding carbon-trading schemes as the solution to reducing emissions. The NSW government’s greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme is so flawed some participants are rewarded for ‘cutting pollution’ when their emissions have in fact increased. Researchers at the University of NSW showed two Queensland coal-fired power stations earned millions …
We can expect the logging fraternity and their friends in government to frantically paint themselves as having a major role to play in combating climate change. Joe Helper, the Victorian Minister for Agriculture, said new carbon trading markets and the consequent value given to carbon soaks could be big business for our logging companies. In …
Despite a promise to protect old growth forests that link the Errinundra and Snowy parks, logging crews were clearfelling 30ha of giant trees in a protected area that Premier Bracks had promised would get “immediate protection”. Environment Minister John Thwaites was not willing to comment on the issue at first but later said that any …
The public relations elite are brainstorming ways to keep what they call the “crazy little old ladies” and “gays who do naughty things to whales” quiet. Industry and government representatives have paid $600 each to learn the tricks of the trade from Canadian PR consultant, Ross Irvine, the self-styled Svengali of anti-activist activism. Irvine graced …
The latest porky to come from the makers of Reflex paper, is that their product is now 100% forest sensitive, in fact it’s so eco-friendly it is bursting with endangered species. Australia’s biggest paper company, PaperlinX in the Latrobe Valley, is congratulating itself for this bodgie eco-label given by the normally reliable Forest Stewardship Council …
A quick click on the Environment Protection Authority’s website, and one is presented with an echidna claiming litterers are “going to get stung”, because littering damages the environment. Click a little further and you find another report about damage to the environment. The report is an audit by the EPA entitled Timber Production on Public …
Gippsland has Australia’s largest processor of native hardwoods. The Neville Smith Timber mill at Heyfield, north of Traralgon, is losing sales due to consumer preference for pine. A plan to find new markets for its Mountain Ash timber has seen it unveil a stamp called GoodWood. They even hired the National Gallery of Victoria for …
Well-known weatherman and environmentalist, Rob Gell, has inadvertently helped Victorian loggers look green and their practices look ‘sustainable’. The Victorian Association of Forest Industries 2005 Sustainability Report was released in late November with the help of Rob. Rob’s position on VAFI’s ‘Community Council’ was used by VAFI and the media to show that a respected …
The Australian Environment Foundation fell flat on its face right from the start. Even the gullible and tame journalists from rural media didn’t swallow their lines. A well-known woodchipping industry supporter and lobbyist, Kirsten Gentle, launched a US style front group on World Environment Day. The attempt to mimic a highly respected national environment group, …
