Ross Scott, retired engineer with much waterways experience has been battling to draw attention to the declining condition of the Gippsland Lakes ecology for years, especially following the deeper dredging of the entrance in 2008. He has continued to run into a bureaucratically constructed defensive brick wall. Along with many credible scientists he now fears …
The threatened Giant Burrowing Frog Heleioporus australiacus is a large, cryptic amphibian from south-eastern Australia. Its known range extends from east of Walhalla in Victoria along the Great Dividing Range to Newcastle in NSW, where it has been recorded from various forested habitat types. Despite this wide distribution, limited records exist towards the southern extent …
This new government report details the ecosystem services provided by the states parks and reserves. It includes the water and carbon values, biodiversity protection, recreational benefits and employment, and loads more. If this is what a small section of Victoria’s natural areas can offer – just imagine how much more benefit we would get from …
Groups like the Gippsland Environment Group and environmentalists like Ross Scott and health professionals like Dr. Jo McCubbin have been raising concerns about the mercury levels in fish in the Gippsland Lakes for many years. DELWP Media release A study to assess mercury levels in fish of the Gippsland Lakes will commence from tomorrow, followed …
In February 2006, having spent around $7 million of taxpayers’ money trying to fix up an unstable tailings dam abandoned by a failed copper and zinc mining enterprise, the Department of Primary Industries was moved to ask the Register of Geographic Names to call the dam ‘Lake St Barbara’. Ironically, in Spanish and Italian, the …
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 …
A tailings dam near the head of the Tambo River in Victoria’s east would be dramatically expanded under plans for a new copper and zinc mine, prompting fears from environmentalists about potential long-term impacts on waterways. The proposed mine is expected to produce 850,000 tonnes of tailings – waste from mining – a year, with …
An iron ore mine planned for the forests 7 km north of Nowa Nowa (east of Lakes Entrance) would have a 25 ha open cut mine plus much larger mine infrastructure footprint and three tailings dams. It would have a major impact on the Gippsland Lakes, a Ramsar listed wetland, the underground aquifers, the forest, …
Study shows red meat dwarfs others for environmental impact, using 28 times more land and 11 times water for pork or chicken Beef’s environmental impact dwarfs that of other meat including chicken and pork, new research reveals, with one expert saying that eating less red meat would be a better way for people to cut …
The Gippsland Lakes remain gravely ill. One response by the government has been the creation of a new on-line forum that asks for public comment on our Lakes management. It has the joyful title of GLEE (Gippsland Lakes E-Engagement). The concept is great and if you’re interested in having a say (currently looking at the …
