Biodiversity

Scott McArdle is blunt. “Gippsland’s forests need our help. Fire, floods, storms, drought, pests, weeds, neglect, exploitation and the changing climate are all taking a huge toll – but if we all work together, the future can be different.” Mr McArdle is the executive officer of a new group, the Gippsland Forest Dialogue (GFD), that aims to do just that – meet the challenges facing the region’s forests and find ways to move forward.

Murdoch University sustainability lecturer Nicole Hodgson describes the central core of Mt Hallowell reserve as precious unlogged, long unburnt forest. This was mostly karri, jarrah, marri, sheoak, and more than 100 other plant species. Home to many animals and more than 70 bird species, some in the reserve were critically endangered like the Carnaby’s and Baudain’s cockatoos.

On the night of October 2nd, 66 citizen scientists surveyed for endangered Greater Gliders in native forest across Victoria. The state government has either released these areas of forest for logging in the current Timber Release Plan or plans to release them under the proposed Timber Release Plan (TRP). Surveys were carried out in six locations across the state: Toolangi, Black Range (near Taggerty), Warburton, Wombat, Alberton West, and Colquhuon forest, East Gippsland ... ARR.News ask KFF a few questions.

A good place to start reading Farm is at the back. That may sound counterintuitive but by taking a look at the extensive bibliography you’ll quickly see how intensely researched the book is which adds weight to the arguments and questions it presents. While Farm is a memoir that chronicles the journey of Nicola Harvey and her husband after they leave their city lives to farm cattle in rural New Zealand, it is far more than that.

Nillumbik Friends of the Great Forest have followed with interest the developments in the native forest logging industry, in particular the decision by the Andrews government in 2019 to halt native forest logging in 2030. Victoria is well placed to transition to a 100 % plantation industry as we already have considerable areas of plantation ... The industry has every right to be upset with the government for withholding the funding for a fair and just transition ... ARR.News asks NFGF a few questions.

"These new nature reserves provide an important ecological link to other reserves in the area supporting our native species. Through the upcoming release of the draft Forest Management Plan 2024-2033, the community will get the chance to have their say in caring for the health of our forests" : WA Environment Minister Reece Whitby.

Vincent Savolainen. Professor Vincent Savolainen has come back to Lord Howe Island to set up new research about the role that underground fungi may play in generating and maintaining plant diversity ... Our understanding of how species originate has changed considerably since Darwin's seminal work. One aspect, however, that has been totally ignored is the role that microbes can play in driving plant and animal diversity.

Dynamic sustainable farming duo Sylvia Leighton and Peter McKenzie were awarded the 2022 Australian Government Landcare Farming award for their work on Wilyun Pools Farm, a 1214ha property near Wellstead on the south coast of Western Australia ... “Sylvia and Peter serve as an inspiration to the farming community across Australia. Their motto of ‘seeking balance’ exemplifies what landcare farming is all about: production, community and environment,”: Minister for Agriculture Senator Murray Watt

Celebrate the amazing environment, biodiversity and threatened species that call the Gloucester region home this September as part of the Gloucester Wild Festival. Australia is home to more than 500,000 animal and plant species, many of which are found nowhere else in the world. In NSW there are close to 1000 species at risk of extinction, 116 of which are located in the Gloucester region.

NSW Farmers members called out a lack of fairness in the energy transition during debate at the organisation's annual conference ... “You cannot simply build infrastructure to benefit substantially city users without addressing the impact on regions and rural landowners who have invested in their biodiversity and production capacity,”: NSW Farmers Energy Transition Working Group Chair, Reg Kidd

“The Mulloon Institute heartily welcomes the Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek’s calls for structural reform and new environmental legislation,” said Mr Gary Nairn AO, Chairman of the Mulloon Institute and former Federal Liberal MP. The Institute restores degraded landscapes across Australia for improved agricultural productivity, enhanced environmental outcomes, improved biodiversity including habitat for threatened species, and greater community resilience to drought, bushfire and flood.

Following the release of the State of the Environment report, the peak national organisation representing over 1,000 forest scientists and professionals in Australia has joined in supporting Federal Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek’s calls for more reform in the area of environmental law ... “The current approaches to management of Australia’s forests are not working – we believe we need to reform our philosophy of land management, our approach to conservation and how we manage our forests,” Forestry Australia President Bob Gordon.

Making more out of the recent wet conditions and strengthening the resilience of the Murray–Darling Basin's ecosystems is the focus of this year's Annual Basin Environmental Watering Priorities ... MDBA's General Manager of Applied Science, Dr Matt Coleman said with more water in rivers and storages now was the time to capitalise on the fantastic fish and bird breeding events that have occurred and set our plants and animals up for even greater success.

A team of researchers have come across a female cassowary in a remote section of northern Cape York, making it only the second confirmed sighting of its species in the area in four years. The encounter happened on the first day of a six-day survey that was being conducted by Ipima Ikaya Country Traditional Owners and consultant Wren McLean, facilitated by Cape York NRM.

The Threatened Flora Seed Production Garden will grow the Island’s at-risk species before collecting the seed for banking and biodiversity recovery projects ... The garden ... will enable landholders and community organisations to access rare and threatened plant species following fires, droughts and floods.

It might not be Paul, George, Ringo or John, but local farmers were thrilled to find another type of beetle on their Central Highlands property in March 2022, the Zygogramma bicolorata beetle. ‘It’s a very useful tool to help control parthenium, especially in a good ecological environmental system,’ said the local property owner.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service has a team visiting Narrandera this week to conduct aspects of koala research in the Narrandera Reserve ... Dr Joanne Connolly from Charles Sturt University's proposed research will involve further steps in the research proposal to establish a koala research centre in Narrandera and will complement and build further on the data being collected by the team from the Koalas Biodiversity and Ecological Health Branch of NPWS.

Minister for Environment James Griffin said Bush Heritage Australia and South Endeavour Trust have signed permanent conservation agreements for Naree Station and Yantabulla Station ... “The wetlands form part of the Paroo River catchment, which is the last free-flowing river of the Murray Darling Basin. It’s considered among the top 20 sites for waterbirds in Australia." ARR.News has some questions for the Minister.

Evidence of an important koala population in Kosciuszko National Park has been revealed by new surveys ... conducted in November 2021 and February 2022 that recorded male koalas at 14 sites within the park’s Byadbo Wilderness Area. “This is good news because until these recent surveys, there had only been 16 recorded sightings of koalas in Kosciuszko in more than 80 years,” Mr Griffin said ... ARR.News asks some questions of the Minister.

This timber reserve is located just west of the Boddington townsite , on the eastern fringe of the jarrah forest in Western Australia ... The infertile, lateritic soils that initially spared the MTR from clearing by farmers were its ultimate downfall ... An important question to ask is “How much bauxite mining is enough?”