East coast Australia, the new Amazon

Australia’s east coast has been compared to the Amazon as a “deforestation front”. WWF’s The Living Planet report, produced every second year for the past 20 years, says global populations of vertebrate species have declined 60% since 1970. But koala numbers have disappeared at a much faster rate – more than 20% a decade – …

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Eagle slaughter

East Gippsland is a relatively rich ‘ark’ for Victoria’s remaining wildlife but these are under threat from many quarters.

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Greater Glider – recently listed as threatened

Bad news: The Greater Glider, Australia’s largest (and fluffiest) gliding possum is under threat of extinction. Good news: It has recently been added to the threatened list of Victoria’s Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (FFGA) After decades of decline and zero government interest or surveys, the clear evidence is that local extinctions of the Greater …

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A History of mammal losses in eastern Victoria

‎Leadbeaters Possum‬ used to occur right across Gippsland in lowland dry forests as well. Research by Rohan Bilney on the diet of Sooty Owls over hundreds of years show that pre-European ‪Sooty Owl‬ dined on 28 species – now that’s down to 10! It’s a question that haunts nature-lovers – what was Australia like before …

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A win for Owls

This article was written for the VNPA’s September 2015 Parkwatch magazine and summarises the legal case we launched on behalf of the three threatened forest owl species after the 2014 bushfires. The agreed settlement terms, as of late September 2015, were still being worked through by DELWP.Thanks to the VNPA for permission to reproduce it …

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Environment group wins legal battle to protect habitat for threatened powerful, sooty, masked owls

The Victorian Government has agreed to set aside 2,000 hectares of forest in East Gippsland to help protect three threatened species of owl. Environment East Gippsland took legal action against the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and state-owned VicForests over the issue. An agreement was reached on Friday between the parties …

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Over 2000 ha set aside for owls! EEG’s 4th successful legal case

EEG’s fourth Court case challenging the government’s non-adherence to its own environment laws has been settled (17.7.15). This time it was for the owls. EEG, DELWP and VicForests have agreed that the environment department (DELWP) take action to adhere to legal obligations and increase owl protected areas as well as assess the damage done to …

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