Rising salinity levels in the world-renowned Gippsland Lakes is putting the wetlands at risk, with a recent government report acknowledging it did not know the long-term risks of the problem. Salinity levels have risen dramatically in recent years, threatening the ecosystem. The shoreline has been eroded and vegetation and fish species are dying. In an …
Australia’s superb lyrebird clears litter and seedlings from the forest floor, reducing the likelihood and intensity of bushfires, new research suggests. The birds’ activity also preserves their preferred habitat of an open forest floor, says fire ecologist, Dr Steve Leonard of La Trobe University . “They’re reducing fuel by their foraging,” he says. “Our hypothesis …
The Victorian Government stands accused of all but guaranteeing the extinction of threatened Mallee birds as a consequence of its bushfire prevention policy. The Mallee emu-wren, in particular, is just one fire away from being wiped from the planet. The claim is made in a new report from Birdlife Australia, being tabled this weekend at …
State Labor has dumped a plan to create a new national park in the central highlands to protect the endangered Leadbeater’s possum following an intervention from the CFMEU. It is understood Labor remains riven by internal debate over whether to back a proposal to create a Great Forest national park stretching from Kinglake to Mt …
At the Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit, which concluded yesterday in Sydney, environment minister Greg Hunt announced A$6 million to combat illegal logging. While the funding builds on legislation to ensure Australian goods are sourced legally, is this the deal Hunt was after to save rainforests? The summit was a Coalition election promise, highlighting the importance of …
Australian Paper’s Maryvale Mill could be hit with an extra $30 million in annual operational costs if projected gas price increases eventuate over the next three years. In a desperate lobbying push pleading for state and federal governments to adopt a “common sense approach” to gas pricing policy, Australia Paper has warned its Maryvale operation …
A new free-trade agreement being brokered may pose a threat to Australia’s sovereignty and environment, or secure an international win for endangered species. THIS WEEKEND AUSTRALIA will be hosting the next round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) trade negotiations with three days of talks due to begin on Saturday 25th October. Another boring and …
Australia is preparing to sign an agreement that would give international corporations the power to go over the government’s head on environmental issues. Here’s what you need to know about the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. STRETCHING WIDE, blue and deep, the St Lawrence River in Canada drains America’s Great Lakes to the sea. Along its shores, …
A contentious plan to cut down river red gums in the Barmah National Park, on the border of Victoria and NSW, has been scrapped by the Victorian government. The Department of Environment and Primary Industries, Parks Victoria and the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage had planned to trial an “ecological thinning” of the forest, …
WHEN forestry workers lose their jobs it’s a crisis but when public servants lose theirs it’s an election promise. Richard Denniss asks why politicians are working harder to save some jobs than others. AS the world coal price continues to fall, politicians are asking themselves what the Australian economy will look like by the time …
