Land & environment

While communities continue to recover from the 2022 flood event, residents are concerned that at least 30 levee breaches on the lower Loddon remain unrepaired. Emergency services have already been called to respond to a flood risk this month when a recent rise in the Murray River threatened to spill from a levee bank breach in the Benjeroop area.

The system which protects and manages Aboriginal cultural heritage in Western Australia will be modernised and improved from July 1 to prevent another incident like what occurred at Juukan Gorge. The improvements include new practical exemptions and a simpler, fairer system to manage activities that may harm Aboriginal cultural heritage across WA ... The State Government has also announced the appointment of four new members to the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Council, including former Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister and respected Yamatji and Wongi Elder Ken Wyatt.

Senator Lidia Thorpe and the Indigenous-Aboriginal Party of Australia (IAPA) have joined forces to call on the NSW State Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty, David Harris MP, to listen to the voices of Traditional Custodians, the Guringai, regarding the devastatingly destructive development proposal, by the Local Aboriginal Land Council, for land on Woy Woy Rd Kariong NSW, in the area known as Kariong Sacred Lands ... "Do we want to listen to First Nation’s voices or not? Or is First Nations input only relevant if it comes from a state sanctioned Aboriginal corporation?”

Thousands of Northern Rivers residents have been waiting anxiously for 16 months to see whether or not they would receive assistance via home buy-backs, retrofitting or house raising. This week, hundreds are being told they will receive no help from Government ...Members of A Way Forward are calling on the NSW and Federal Governments to urgently provide additional funding to the NRRC to extend their Resilient Homes program.

Owners of the Darling Downs Zoo, Steve and Stephanie Robinson have reluctantly placed the popular tourist attraction on the market due to Steve’s health. The Robinsons opened the Darling Downs Zoo in 2005 after many years of working with authorities to enable the project to go ahead.

New flood risk mapping released by the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Commission (NRRC) which has seen the number of homes eligible for buyback halved has been slammed by the Nationals as calls come for the second tranche of funding to be released. NRRC Chief Executive David Witherdin said the new mapping will inform the Commonwealth and  State Government’s co-funded $700 million program and be used to prioritise home buybacks,  raisings and retrofits.

Scientists have been out in the field surveying fish across the region’s floodplains. For the first time, scientists have been able to investigate the movement patterns of juvenile Golden Perch from spawning in the Darling River, through to dispersal and growth in Victorian floodplains.

The NSW Government has declared the Northern Rivers a formal reconstruction area to help support the building of homes after last year’s devastating floods. Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said the declaration allows the NSW Reconstruction Authority (NSWRA) to make prompt decisions to influence reconstruction and aligns with the election commitment to accelerate the approval of new housing...

Greater Shepparton City Council, in conjunction with Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation land management team ‘Woka Walla’ and Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, is working to protect cultural values and facilitate Caring for Country works by the local Aboriginal community at the Mooroopna sand hills site.

The work of the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions will be strengthened by the Federal Government’s recent funding announcement regarding the National Pest Animal Management Coordination Program. The increased funding will advance the activities of the Centre’s National Feral Cat and Fox Management Coordinator Program and the National Wild Dog Action Plan and supports the Centre’s drive to reduce the $25 billion annual cost of invasive species in Australia.

Both native bees and honeybees prefer native plants with research showing how important native flowers are in supporting native bee and even honeybee populations in urban areas. Curtin University school of molecular and life sciences researcher Kit Prendergast said the study found Australian and introduced bees preferred to visit and feed from native flowers and plants rather than exotic species, with the former particularly reliant on native flora.

Leto takes no time at all to climb out of the cage and scurry up the white trunk of a eucalypt next to the Richmond River at East Coraki. Leto is a six year old koala who had a stained rump – indicating sickness – and so he was taken into care for a month.

The updated Barron Water Plan has now been finalised, following a two-year process of rigorous scientific assessment and consultation. The new plan, which replaces the Barron Water Plan 2002, is underpinned by 20 years of scientific data and is the product of more than 30 consultative meetings with water users and stakeholders...

Minister for Environment Ingrid Stitt announced that 19 [Orange-bellied parrots] ... were released at Lake Connewarre ... Zoos Victoria and Deakin University are currently trialing ATLAS (Advanced Tracking and Localisation of Animals in real life Systems) – a new fixed receiver station tracking system that uses tiny radio transmitters and aims to build knowledge about how the birds use Victorian habitats.

The Sunshine Coast community is encouraged to register a helping hand and join a tree planting day that will supply sick and orphaned koalas with fresh leaves. Sunshine Coast Council Parks and Gardens team, in partnership with Nambour, Woombye and Maleny Rotary clubs, Hinterland Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation Inc. and Cr David Law, will come together at Mapleton to plant 500 food trees for the local koala habitat.

The new WA Aboriginal Cultural Heritage laws will have far reaching consequences to the farming community, many of which are only just coming to light as the WA Department of Heritage workshops the changes across the State. This is how WAFarmers responded to one of the workshops in the central Wheatbelt.        

A suite of new planning rules designed to protect River Murray regions from future flood events and assist with a strong recovery and rebuild are coming into effect this week. To fast-track the region’s recovery the interim changes will come into immediate effect from Thursday, providing a quicker building approval process for the influx of applications expected.

More than 79,000 hectares of the iconic Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park have been handed back to the Waanyi People in a historic ceremony at Parliament House ... Waanyi Prescribed Body Corporate will lease the Aboriginal land, in perpetuity, to the State to manage under the Nature Conservation Act, the first lease back arrangement that has been successfully negotiated on national park land in Queensland.

Farmers are asking for more resources to combat an exponential rise in the number of highly destructive feral pigs, with fears for safety and property. NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin said millions of feral pigs were breeding and rampaging across the countryside, thriving after years of high rainfall, attacking native animals and livestock, and causing massive damage to crops and infrastructure.

Last Saturday was a Territory-wide day of action in response to the NT Government’s recent decision to green-light fracking in the Beetaloo basin ... Community members were engaged and shared a common outrage at the Government’s recent decision. The event demonstrated that the community does not want fracking gas fields on Country.

The Maldon in Winter festival kicks off tonight (Friday 23 June) with the long-awaited for Kangaroo Art Trail coming to life! Twenty-four life-sized kangaroos lovingly decorated by an array of local artists and community groups are creatively displayed in shop windows along Main & High Streets in Maldon throughout the festival.

In a significant step up in regional One Health and disease prevention capabilities, Wildlife Health Australia has achieved official designation from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) as a Collaborating Centre for Wildlife Health Risk Management. This new international wildlife collaborating centre based in Australia will ensure wildlife health is integrated into One Health decision-making across the Indo-Pacific region to benefit public health, biosecurity, animal health, food security and biodiversity.