Land & environment

The Friends of Mt. Hallowell-Kooryunderup and the Denmark Bird Group last month hosted a bird walk and launch of an official birds of Mt Hallowell-Kooryunderup list. This aims to help identify and count birds in the A-class environmental reserve.

Tasmania's feral deer population is costing the state more than $100 million a year. The peak body for farming in the state, the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association, says the deer population in Tasmania is exploding.

As government policies lead to soaring energy prices, the Victorian Government is changing the preferred route and accelerating works on the 500 kilovolt double-circuit overhead transmission line between Victoria and New South Wales ... According to the AEMO report, councils have indicated there is a broader social licence for VNI West crossing the Murray River north of Kerang (option 5a) instead of the Echuca route, and therefore more likelihood of timely implementation.  

Surf Life Saving NSW will trial the use of specialised long-range drones which could greatly enhance coastal safety and improve how we respond to emergency situations or natural disasters.  With support from the NSW Government through the Department of Primary Industries, Surf Life Saving NSW currently provides the largest coastal uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) surveillance program in the Southern Hemisphere.

Jenn Lavers. In April, the Adrift Lab team returned to Lord Howe Island ... While Lord Howe Island is the world’s single largest population of Flesh-footed Shearwaters, this same iconic species also breeds throughout the Recherche Archipelago off the coast of Esperance.

Suzie Christensen, LHIB. It’s that time of year when young Shearwater birds emerge from their burrows on LHI ... Flesh-footed Shearwaters (Ardeena carneipes) and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters (Ardeena pacificus) breeding grounds are intersected by the Island roads, increasing the risk of juveniles being run over by cars and bikes.

On 14th of February 2023, 20 students aged 8 to 11 years old from Lord Howe Island became marine scientists for the day. In doing so, they joined UNESCO’s global environmental DNA research initiative that is being rolled out across 25 marine World Heritage sites to better understand ocean biodiversity and the impacts of climate change.

The nation is on track to plant an impressive 23.48 million hectare winter crop this year – up slightly on last year’s crop area – Rabobank says in its newly-released 2023/24 Australian Winter Crop Outlook ... overall harvest totals are forecast to be lower than last season, with expectations of drier growing conditions due to the likely transition to an El Nino climate cycle, the specialist agribusiness bank says.

A motion to address community and business concerns following the 2021 and 2022 floods that devastated the region has divided councillors at the May 23 Clarence Valley Council meeting. The motion was moved by Cr Novak and seconded by Cr Alison Whaites before Climate Change Committee CCC chair Cr Greg Clancy asked Cr Novak how many meetings of the committee she had attended.

In receiving the 2023 Dr Helen Proudfoot Women in Planning Award which recognises her outstanding contributions which have enhanced and improved agricultural planning policies ... DPI employee Tamara Prentice remains dedicated in her commitment to ensuring agricultural land maintains a pivotal role in the increasingly competitive rural landscape, and is motivated by her love of the natural environment.

“Predation by wild dogs on threatened species can have a significant impact on local populations already under pressure from other environment factors ... Out of 144 koalas known to have been killed by predators in the study area, 117 were killed by wild dogs ... Wild dog attacks are leaving pet owners distraught and traumatised": Greg Mifsud.

A new partnership is taking action to promote greater awareness, vigilance and understanding of the different farm biosecurity risks caused by the current ‘explosion’ in pest animals – especially pigs ... (t)hese serious concerns are being addressed in a new campaign that’s taking positive action on biosecurity protections, with Grain Producers Australia (GPA) joining with the Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia (SSAA National).

Dear Sir, Despite AEMO’s best efforts to tick the box and grant a submission extension period, that hidden in the fine print was the extension was only for VFF members, AEMO closed their submission on the 5.4.2023 and then gave a selective extension of 13 days ... Quit horsing around AEMO. It is time for ANSWERS!

Northern Grampians Shire Council is appalled that widespread community opposition has had no material impact on Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) final recommended alignment for the controversial VNI West power transmission project ... “Landowners need clear and concise answers to the questions they have asked and not simply to refer them to some other arrangement as a reference to how it might work here": Mayor, Cr Kevin Erwin.

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has slammed the Andrews Government’s decision to steamroll ahead with transmission developments in Western Victoria following the announcement of a new corridor for the proposed VNI-West project. VFF President Emma Germano said Victoria’s Minister for Energy Lily D’Ambrosio is using extreme powers to come over the top of farming communities and force transmission towers to be built on their land.

The DPIRD researchers are working with commercial rock lobster and crab fishers to deploy and retrieve high tech cameras that film the marine environment and fish on their way down to the seabed as well as record the water temperature on the ocean floor ... DPIRD said by the middle of this year, more than 30 of the so-called POTBots will be deployed off Western Australia...

Hoorah! Rappville has a community bus ... The 2019 bushfires destroyed 23 properties; the pub was saved from flames twice. Residents had to rebuild, recover and find ways to move forward after the disaster. Dave and the other members of the Rappville Social Club had to decide how best to use the donations coming in from “all over Australia”.

A Charles Sturt University researcher has developed a mobile phone app that provides information about NSW river levels in a 50-kilometre radius from the user. The ‘RiversNearMe’ app was developed by Dr Darren Yates, a postdoctoral research scientist in the Charles Sturt School of Computing, Mathematics and Engineering and in the Charles Sturt Gulbali Institute of Agriculture, Water and Environment.

Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio confirmed that the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) can progress the critical VNI-West project, which will better connect the Victoria and NSW energy grids ... A Ministerial Order has been implemented to progress AEMO’s preferred option, which connects VNI West to the planned Western Renewables Link (WRL) at a terminal station at Bulgana in Victoria’s west, then linking to a terminal station near Kerang in north central Victoria, before crossing the Murray River north of Kerang.

‘Branching Out”, the latest report on the NSW native forestry by the Blueprint Institute, was released on 26 April and put into the media with the subeditorial line “Report outlines economic benefit of ending native forest logging’ ... The Report should be marked ‘draft’ given its deficiencies - and that is being generous.

Did you know: If you poured all the grain—canola, lentils, hay and silage—produced each year in the Buloke Shire into the MCG it would overflow? The BCG Buloke Farm Tours, launching this August, are a new initiative to showcase the produce, passion and dedication of farming communities in the Buloke Shire.