The Climate Change Authority’s final report on the renewable energy target, which was released yesterday, contains a number of controversial conclusions and recommendations. A standout amongst these is the recommendation that the federal government explore whether making native forest wood waste eligible to participate in the large-scale RET (LRET) would increase the rate of harvesting …
Big old trees, as we know are as rare as hen’s teeth, but far more important for forest ecosystems globally. They are necessary for all sorts of wildlife and processes that have evolved with large old trees. They are now a small part of any forest (if they exist at all) but can account for …
THE federal government will tell business leaders that it is putting on hold plans to devolve to the states power to deal with environmental approvals for major projects. The decision is a major blow to business – which has claimed ”green tape” is jeopardising projects worth many billions of dollars – and a victory for …
DONGWHA Timbers sawmill in Bombala will lead the way in energy efficiency and reducing pollution thanks to an $8.2million Gillard Government grant announced last Friday. Part of the Gillard Government’s Clean Technology Investment Program, the grant will allow Dongwha to consolidate its operations from two sites into one facility, and invest in new equipment and …
The links below take you to excerpts from a longer essay by Tim Flannery on the serious threats to hundreds of our native species. He calls it the ‘second wave of extinctions’ since Europeans arrived. The contempt towards the environment and endangered wildlife, as well as the deliberate lack of action by the federal and …
IN LATE August 2009, a tiny, solitary bat fluttered about in the rainforest near Australia’s infamous Christmas Island detention camp. We don’t know precisely what happened to it. Perhaps it landed on a leaf at dawn after a night feeding on moths and mosquitoes and was torn to pieces by fire ants; perhaps it succumbed …
In late August 2009 a tiny, solitary bat fluttered about in the rainforest near Australia’s infamous Christmas Island detention camp. We don’t know precisely what happened to it. Perhaps it landed on a leaf at dawn after a night feeding on moths and mosquitoes, and was torn to pieces by fire ants; perhaps it succumbed …
Israeli biotech firm says its modified eucalyptus trees can displace the fossil fuel industry t’s a timber company’s dream but a horrific industrial vision for others: massive plantations of densely planted GM eucalyptus trees stretching across Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia and China, engineered to grow 40% faster for use as paper, as pellets for power …
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 …
Worldwide, forest fires and forest harvesting are recognized as major sources of the carbon dioxide (CO2) that is warming the climate, causing drought, and melting ice caps. Yet, paradoxically, most state, regional, and federal efforts to reduce emissions treat biomass power plants that burn wood for fuel as “carbon neutral,” with zero net emissions. Massachusetts …
