Environmentalists accuse state logger of forest survey conflict of interest
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Skilful in the air, but awkward on land – the greater glider, or clumsy possum as it’s otherwise known, is having a big impact on East Gippsland’s logging wars. Just last week the state’s logger VicForests agreed to lock up 100 hectares of forest after environmentalists discovered 15 of the gliders. Environmentalists argue …
Secondary forests offer big opportunity to fight global warming
New research shows that some regenerating forests might have an even higher rate of carbon uptake than previously thought, which can help identify the most important conservation priorities. Over half of the world’s tropical forests are not old-growth but naturally regenerating forests, and a large part of that is secondary forest. An international team analyzed …
Fishy business
In the pure mountain streams of the iconic Kuark forest, just 30 kilometres north-east of Orbost in far East Gippsland, a tiny, critically endangered fish has been found in forest areas subject to logging. Citizen scientists from GECO and the Fauna and Flora Research Collective conducted surveys in the creeks in this part of Kuark …
Toxin found in Gippsland Lakes prompts shellfish warning from Victorian Health Department
People have been warned not to eat or take mussels and other shellfish from Victoria’s Gippsland Lakes region, as health authorities test for a rare, potentially fatal toxin. While no-one has recently become ill from eating the shellfish, the warning was issued as a precaution, the Health Department said. It said it was still safe …
Planting The Seed For Proper Forest Management
Nineteen years ago this week, the forest wars were meant to end. Nineteen years ago, the first of 10 Regional Forest Agreements was signed, aimed at weighing up the needs of forest-based industries and conservation within areas of native forest. As the then-Environment Minister Robert Hill said, we were meant to see “more effective management …
Trees in the forest are social beings
From counting and learning to communicating and caring for each other, the secret lives of trees are wildly deep and complex. “They can count, learn and remember; nurse sick neighbors; warn each other of danger by sending electrical signals across a fungal network known as the ‘Wood Wide Web’ – and, for reasons unknown, keep …
Tasmania fires: First images of World Heritage Area devastation emerge, show signs of ‘system collapse’
The first images to emerge from within Tasmania’s fire-affected World Heritage Area (WHA) have illustrated the level of destruction caused by bushfire, as experts warn such incidents are signs of a changing climate. Key points: 11,000 hectares of WHA are incinerated by the Tasmania bushfires Wildlife, including wallabies and wombats, also affected Experts say parts …
Greens push for 21st century vision for Australia’s native forests
A year to the day that the first Regional Forest Agreement is due to expire, the Greens are calling for a comprehensive reassessment of how we manage native forests in Australia. “Regional Forest Agreements were meant to bring the forestry industry into the new century, but right now the native forest logging industry is operating …