Land & environment

Construction has commenced on the Kimberley Conservation Hub, a world-class conservation centre at Charnley River–Artesian Range Wildlife Sanctuary in northern Australia ...the important infrastructure will act as a base for critical scientific research, fire management, feral animal control and other conservation projects across 4.3–6.1 million hectares across the Kimberley.

Daryl Wiltshire from Undera reports that while the floodwaters are receding, the community is waiting and hoping that the rain that is forecast will not affect the region too much. Undera people are "hoping for a show of resolve from the authorities who control levees to future flood proof the farming area."

The NSW Government is hanging regional councils and koalas out to dry with their latest plan to remove the right of local government to be involved with approvals for private native forestry. The koala wars that have defined the last 4 years of this coalition government are being refuelled under the noses of Liberal ministers and democratically elected councils by The Nationals: Sue Higginson, Greens NSW MP.

NSW Farmers CEO Pete Arkle has criticised environmental politics holding up rebuilding efforts across the state, saying we need less talk, more action ... Mr Arkle said the independent Natural Resources Commission described the new Private Native Forestry Codes as a significant improvement over the previous codes, with a number of additional environmental protections relating to koalas, unmapped streams and harvesting intensity limits.

Clarence Nationals MP Chris Gulaptis has welcomed the certainty the Bill provides to the timber industry and the significant koala protections included. “Farm forestry is a vital component of the NSW timber industry, generating about $482 million and employing 835 people on the North Coast alone,” Mr Gulaptis said.

Pam Dillon. Twenty-eight students from three different remote schools spent three days fine-tuning their swimming skills to improve their schools’ chances in the Barkly Region Inter-school Swimming Carnival. With the help from Swimming NT, Royal Lifesaving NT (RLSNT) and the Barkly Sport Education Coordinator, the students ranging from preschool through to Year 8 were put into groups according to their swimming ability.

The Murray–Darling Basin Authority will increase the release of water from Hume Dam [Friday 11 November] morning ahead of potentially heavy rainfall from Sunday 13 November as forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology. Releases from Hume Dam will increase from 85 gigalitres (GL) per day to 95 GL per day.

Mt Alexander Shire Council has made changes to its Land Management Rate (LMR) Strategy, which was adopted to encourage private landholders on blocks of 20 hectares or more to be responsible property managers in terms of improving the natural environment. The LMR scheme is being phased out ... Maldon resident 'John' believes that the phasing out of the LMR scheme is a retrograde step.

The Murray River at Koondrook-Barham is on the decline after a week of extreme height forecasts and even an evacuation scare for the Koondrook Primary School. Despite the river being on decline and steady flows through Torrumbarry, the BoM issued a flood warning of 6.3m on Wednesday, November 2 for Koondrook-Barham ... The move caused a flurry of activity on both sides of the river ... Many wondered how the 6.3m forecast came about; was it a rounding up of the one decimal place used by the BoM?

Ben Evans settled on his 2,600-acre Mellool farm just two months ago ... His entire property, bar six acres, is underwater ... Daniel Monk, has never seen floodwater inundate the area as widely or as quickly ... Marcus and his wife, Bree, have 90 per cent of their 4,000ha farm inundated at Mallan ... “I have never seen so much water ever,” said Ken Spence.

Both researchers I referenced show regular low intensity burning, as practised by Aboriginal people across the landscape, has been lost and Dr Fletcher believes the loss of cool, mosaic burning since European settlement has left us, as a nation, dangerously fire prone. Philip Zylstra seems to have missed this critical point.

In his 24 October response on this issue, Zylstra states that in their study seven times more area of recently burnt forest was burnt than long unburnt forest. That is not in dispute. But was this because there were seven times the number of ignitions in these areas to start with because of chance or differences in area or because of some flammability factor? We simply do not know because this basic statistical requirement was not considered in the study.   Is the conclusion biased, by how much, and in what direction? Who knows?

Major flooding of the Murrumbidgee River at Narrandera has led to the evacuation of residents in 14 households south of town. Warnings for major flooding are still in place. Narrandera Shire Council Deputy General Manager Infrastructure Shane Wilson said ... the volume of water flowing through the river in a 24-hour period was 130,000 Ml megalitres which equated to 130,000 Olympic swimming pools as against the normal flow rate of 40 megalitres. SES volunteers are keeping a close watch on water levels and checking on residents in low lying areas.

Two community meetings were held in Allora on Monday afternoon to discuss the topic, both involving concerned locals who have properties impacted by floodwaters and representatives of Southern Downs Regional Council (SDRC) ... Many residents believe multiple floods earlier this year along Dalrymple Creek were made worse by the levee bank, particularly around the corner of Raff and Jubb streets.

Key scientists, conservationists, wetland managers, birdwatchers and farmers from across Australia with a passion for the iconic Australasian Bittern will meet early next year for an Australasian Bittern Summit ... the Bringing Back the Bunyip Bird: Australasian Bittern Summit is the first time such a conference has been held where delegates can see and hear all things Bittern.

I have recently re-read Think Trees, Grow Trees, a 1985 publication from the Institute of Foresters of Australia. This excellent little book was the brainchild of, and was edited by Dr Wilf Crane, one of my contemporaries at the Australian Forestry School, a notable forest scientist and famous and eccentric character ... To me, the most important part of the book (in terms of contemporary relevance) is the chapter called Living with Fire. It is written by Phil Cheney.

Firefighters will be better protected from exposure to dangerous carcinogens than ever before with Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) rolling out world-leading decontamination technology and new fire station designs ... FRNSW Commissioner Paul Baxter said the Clean Firefighter, Clean Appliance and Clean Buildings Plan helps to understand the risks confronting frontline staff and take appropriate action.

John O'Donnell. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service has recently prepared three useful fact sheets in regards to reducing wildfire risks, hazardous fuels and improving forest resilience ... These documents are valuable reading for those involved in land and fire management in Australia.

The Opposition has slammed the McGowan Labor Government’s failure to see flow-on effects of banning native forestry on industries which rely on timber to provide goods and services. Opposition Leader Mia Davies said more than a year had passed since the announcement to end the native forestry industry yet many businesses still don’t have clarity on what their futures hold.

In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of Victoria has found state-owned logger VicForests has logged illegally, and ruled for the first time that VicForests must protect threatened Gliders. Environment East Gippsland and Kinglake Friends of the Forest brought the case in 2021, to protect endangered Gliders in East Gippsland and the Central Highlands ... The groups are calling for the state Labor Government to end logging now, not in 8 years’ time.