Land & environment

A landmark new initiative will help firefighters and farmers work together to better protect communities in regional and rural NSW from bush fires and grass fires. Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience and Minister for Flood Recovery Steph Cooke released a first-of-its-kind Operational Guide for the use of Farm Fire Units.

A Traditional Owner group in South East Queensland have used drones with thermal imaging cameras to undertake a major prescribed burn while avoiding endangering wildlife ... the Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation burned off excess vegetation along 440 hectares of swamp at Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) to refresh wildlife habitat and facilitate the regrowth of rare flora species.

Offshore wind turbines are getting bigger every year, a trend that already helps offshore wind reduce costs all over the world. Whilst recent research suggests that costs will continue to dip as wind turbines get bigger and are deployed further offshore, the challenges to the design of the floating platform that supports the wind turbine increase.

Toowoomba Regional Council’s ambitious and cost-saving plan to power most of the city’s wastewater treatment plant with gas captured from the city’s nearby landfill is a step closer to reality ... Cr Sommerfield said the energy re-use project would allow the gas-fired generator to supply up to 70% of the power to run the Wetalla Water Reclamation Facility, along with ongoing environmental benefits.

The Lockyer Valley and Somerset Water Collaborative is calling on the State Government to release the available supply of untapped recycled water to ensure water and food security for Australia’s Salad Bowl, preventing future supply being imported canned vegetables.

We Australians pride ourselves on our native animals. Koalas, kangaroos, wombats, deadly snakes, platypuses (platypi?), drop bears, emus … just some of the animals that have spent millions of years evolving separately from the rest of the world’s fauna on this island nation of ours. But most of us probably don’t think too much about them during our day-to-day lives. Alistair Paton’s “Of Marsupials and Men” puts a spotlight on men (and the occasional woman) who made Australia’s wildlife the centre of their lives.

Blockade Australia activities which stopped Sydney peak hour traffic on 27 June 2022 is an experience which timber harvesting contractors have been confronting for years. In the week ended August 5, 2022, on five successive days, protestors entered timber harvesting sites in Northern NSW and placed their personal safety in danger to such an extent that work ceased.

Australian owned agricultural technology company Agrimix is set to release a toolkit that will see the cost of soil carbon measurement cut up to 90%.

While the risk remains low, the threat of a widespread outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is hanging over a well-prepared Australian livestock industry ... The Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Analysis increased its assessment of the probability of such an outbreak in Australia over the next five years, reaching 11.6% in June 2022, a 9% rise on March 2021.

A Wagga MP is calling on the government to limit levels at Blowering and Burrinjuck Dams to 80 per cent, amid the threat of ongoing flooding for communities. Member for Wagga Dr Joe McGirr said farmers and landowners had spent long and frustrating hours of work moving stock and preparing their properties for floods and face the prospect of the situation repeating in coming months.

On Friday 5 August, a SETA member raised the alarm on a motion to be voted on by Eurobodalla Shire councillors. The motion was titled “Eurobodalla Shire Council supports an end to native forest logging in Eurobodalla Shire.” ... In the lead up to and on Tuesday, 9 August 2022, the Eurobodalla Shire Councillors have spent significant time dealing with the Greens party deputy mayor, Alison Worthington’s motion to end native forest harvesting in the shire.

VicForests has been given a green light to log areas of Greater Glider habitat in Victoria’s Central Highlands, the Supreme Court has ruled ... Three parcels of forest known to be home to the endangered glider will be opened for logging despite VicForests confirming that they have not surveyed the areas ... ARR.News asked some questions of Kinglake Friends of the Forest.

Last week’s meeting of The Southern Downs Regional Council was told that Black, Little Red and Grey-headed Flying-Foxes are native species that are seasonal visitors to the Southern Downs. The animals typically arrive in the Southern Downs in spring, occupying three roost sites until the onset of cooler weather in late autumn/early winter.

Critically endangered smoky mice have been released back into the wild in South East Forest National Park, in a world first for the species ... “To the untrained eye, these tiny mice might look quite common, but there are fewer than 100 smoky mice left in the South East Forest, which is one of only two known populations in NSW,”: Minister for Environment James Griffin

Frank Batini’s article (The role of academics in influencing the perceived threat from climate change) highlights how data can be misused to achieve an end. The ‘peer review’ process is intended to ensure that scientific findings are credible and justifiable. But with the frenzy to publish for academic standing and the proliferation of journals wanting to accommodate them, the peer review process often fails under the pressure ...ARR.News asked a few questions of Jack.

Six potential options that could address the declining regulated flow through the Barmah–Millewa reach of the Murray River have been detailed in a report released by the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) ... Capacity through the Barmah–Millewa reach has been reduced from 11,300 megalitres per day in the 1980s to 9,200 megalitres per day today.

The Transport Administration Amendment (Rail Trails) Bill 2022 alters the Transport Administration Act 1988 to provide a streamlined process that may enable regional rail trails where and when the community wants them. Minister for Cities and Active Transport Rob Stokes said the Bill unlocks opportunities for communities and fixes outdated and onerous legislation that required a change to the Act for each rail trail.

Mayor of Tweed Shire Chris Cherry said it was crucial government, associated agencies and the community learn from the findings of a major flood inquiry and focus on ways to improve our response to disasters in the future.

Hard-to-detect leaks will be found without excavation works or loss of water supply ... expert technicians will be hunting for water leaks throughout more than 600km of the Tweed’s water supply pipes ... Aqua Analytics will use advanced acoustic technology to pinpoint leaking water in about 85% of the supply network pipes ...

New portable sample testing and mobile incident centres are among a suite of work that the Andrews Labor Government is delivering to bolster the state’s response to any emergency animal disease outbreak.