Vegetation creates rain. That’s one of the conclusions of a comprehensive review of more than 150 scientific papers on land-clearing and rainfall, conducted by Dailan Pugh of the North East Forest Alliance. Clearing Our Rainfall Away, released today, summarises the evidence of how land-clearing affects rainfall, and the impacts that land-clearing has had on Australia’s …
Hundreds of timber industry job losses could be offset with $45 million in government and private investment into a new national park in eastern Victoria, The Wilderness Society says. The 500,000 hectares of forest, east of Melbourne, is home to the critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possum, but also provides timber for Australia’s largest hardwood processor at …
We must return federal environmental protections to native forests. Last Friday was a chance to restore balance to the way our native forests are managed — a chance that was wasted. Over the past 20 years, areas designated for logging have been exempted from Australia’s national environment laws. Even open cut mines don’t get that …
The first of the controversial Regional Forest Agreements (RFA) to expire has been extended for 12 months. The agreements were signed by state and federal governments between 1997 and 2001. A 20-year old East Gippsland Regional Forest Agreement was set to expire on Friday, but will now continue for one year to allow for further …
The owner of Australia’s largest hardwood processor has asked the Victorian Government to fund a $40 million refit of the mill. Australian Sustainable Hardwoods employs 250 people at Heyfield in Gippsland, but is threatening to close the mill due to a cut in native timber supply. The company said it could access younger regrowth forest …
People collapse, buildings collapse, economies collapse and even entire human civilizations collapse. Collapse is also common in the natural world – animal populations and ecosystems collapse. These collapses have the greatest impact on us when they affect resources our industries depend on, leaving ecosystems in tatters and sometimes ruining local economies. In a new paper, …
Researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) have called for the transition from native timber harvesting to plantation forests with the biggest mainland sawmill in Australia under threat of collapse. Professor David Lindenmayer from the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society called for the Victorian Government to intervene quickly to minimise the impact of …
Hundreds of jobs are on the line at a sawmill at Heyfield in Victoria’s east if it does not get access to a long-term supply of timber, the ABC understands. Australian Sustainable Hardwoods (ASH), which employs about 250 staff, processes about 150,000 cubic metres of timber each year supplied by state-owned logging company VicForests. Spokesperson …
Australia is one of the worst performing countries in terms of protecting its ecoregions. Koalas are a litmus test for conservation of a habitat in crisis In 2016 koalas were sighted for the first time in decades at Mount Kembla, Wollongong and in Kosciuszko national park in New South Wales. Although these sightings are a …
We did not know it was coming until a spot fire blazed red a hundred metres away. Flames crackled through wattle and blackberry thickets; gum trees exploded with a woomph; and a dog and a black mountain possum dashed towards us in terror. The inferno raged for hours around our mud brick cottage at Granton, …
