Although the dingo has only been in Australia for less than 5000 years it has become a keystone predator. There is debate as to whether it is native. Since the other large marsupial predators have become extinct it is a type of honorary native species and some say they have a place protecting mammal biodiversity …
VicForests set up a project that a student of Creswick’s school of logging undertook. The outcome was extraordinarily predictable. An employee of VicForests, Abby Carmichael placed infrared cameras in unlogged and regenerating logged forest. The cameras detected more bush rats in regrowth and we assume less of other species. The report is not publicly available …
Being our ‘eagles of the night’, owls are rarely seen. Our most mysterious owls are those that live in forests, and even more cryptic are those that can only thrive in old growth forests. They are becoming increasingly endangered. Our state government is currently reviewing owl protection zones (June 2012), but they are using out …
The discovery by VicForests contracted surveyors of the endangered Long-footed Potoroo (LFP) only kilometers from its known range is not at all surprising. Bemm River and its ‘epicentre’ Bellbird Creek are very close by. What is surprising is VicForests’ claim to be looking after these rare animals, after the Minister in charge of logging, Peter …
The economy’s going to grow at 3 per cent this year and the Budget surplus is to grow over time. It’s all grow, grow, grow, even in these straitened times. There’s a pie chart in the Federal Budget overview that shows “where taxpayer money is spent”. A big slice of this luscious pie goes to …
The formal status of Australia’s Koalas was delivered on 30th April by Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke. The long-awaited for declaration announced that Queensland, NSW and the ACT will have their koala’s listed as vulnerable under the national environment protection law. But koalas in South Australia and Victoria are excluded. However, if these Koalas, with …
The government’s announcement that it will spend $1.8M to survey for endangered wildlife in Eastern Victoria is like throwing a teaspoon of sugar into a cauldron of bitter swill. Environment East Gippsland says that this shines the spotlight on the environmental hypocrisy of the Baillieu government. “The government might be offering $1.8M to look for …
MyEnvironment is challenging the Supreme Court’s recent decision that VicForests’ planned logging in the endangered Leadbeater’s Possum areas in the Central Highlands was legal. It has lodged an appeal in the Victorian Court of Appeal where three Judges will review the decision. In March, the Supreme Court found against MyEnvironment, saying that VicForests’ logging was …
This is the third report in a series, Monitoring Victoria’s Environmental Laws, to be published by the EDO. It investigates how effectively the Department of Sustainability and Environment is enforcing the Flora & Fauna Guarantee Act (FFG Act) and the Wildlife Act. It shows that the FFG Act remains very poorly implemented, with many of …
You’da thunk VicForests might have learnt something from the Brown Mountain case. Nup. It’s in court again, this time with another group. Environment group, MyEnvironment, is suing them to stop them logging a stand of known Leadbeaters Possum habitat at Sylvia Creek. The Sylvia Creek case will be heard on Feb 6 at Melbourne’s Supreme …
