Land & environment

Dean Wilson faces a daunting clean-up of his Broadwater home. As the water receded after the March 1 flood not only was his home full of mud but there was a thick layer of oily sludge on his kitchen benchtop, in the laundry and in his garden. Everywhere. “My backyard and fruit trees are covered in toxic oil,” Dean said.

“After the first flood in late February there was no oxygen in the river between Ballina and Coraki. That’s around 60 kilometres of river and estuary with no oxygen and therefore no fish. A lot of the dead fish were washed out to sea during this event due to the magnitude and duration of the flood”: Professor Damien Maher, Southern Cross University.

When the new emergency services centre was announced for Gingin last year it was expected to be finished by April this year but the project is running behind with some site works among the jobs still to be completed.

With borrowed shoes, uniforms and bowls, the South Lismore team put the trauma of losing their homes and beloved Bowling Club behind them to show the true grit this little club really has. They didn’t win the bowls but just being there could surely be seen as victory enough.

For the past three days, a high-tech team from Sunshine Coast Council, University of the Sunshine Coast and the Friends of Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Gardens have worked together to uncover how many koalas live in the reserve and how healthy they are.

Over the last few years, there have been a lot of natural disasters in south eastern Australia as all are aware. It is opportune to review risk and mitigation management in regards to natural disasters in south eastern Australia and this article assesses both fire and flood risk and mitigation management.

A man as been fined $15,000 by the Cooktown Magistrates Court over the felling of 113 old-growth trees in the Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park. In 2020, a timber export company entered into an agreement to log Cooktown Ironwood trees (erythrophleum chlorostachys) on two Cape York stations that border the national park.

When it comes to the big-ticket items for Tasmania the federal budget doesn’t meet Tasmania’s needs for agriculture. The infrastructure spend on water and roads only provides small change for Tasmania. Water is 0.18% of national spending and roads are 0.55%.

Steve Smith and Ian Hutton. Thanks to everyone who participated in the 5th Lord Howe Island Sea Slug Census. While conditions were challenging, we nevertheless managed to find and photograph 61 species. Seven of these are first records for the island.

Australia's largest irrigated cotton property, Cubbie Station, is back in local hands after Chinese textile giant Shandong Ruyi sold its remaining stake to co-owner Macquarie Asset Management. Cubbie Station is responsible for around 10% of the country’s cotton output and is now entirely held by the Sydney-based company.

This remarkable project was, at the time, the longest water pipeline ever constructed in the world. Inspired by C Y O’Connor, the Chief Engineer for the Public Works Department, supported by J. Forrest, the Premier and costing an eye-watering 2.5 million pounds of borrowed money, the work was completed in early 1903 when the first pump was turned on. Water arrived in Kalgoorlie two days later.

Narrandera Shire Council's plans to construct a skywalk at Lake Talbot may literally be ‘up in the air’ following Tuesday night’s public meeting at which some members of the community voiced their disapproval of the project ... “We’ll take what has happened at this meeting on board and it will give us something to think about": Mayor Kschenka.

The rain keeps falling, the rivers keep rising. There is disbelief that we are flooding again, one month on from the worst floods people in the region had ever seen. Sandra Aarts at the Woodburn Bakery has had to move the shop equipment again. The bakery had only been open for a week and a half.

A second influx of little red flying foxes has arrived in McAuliffe Park  in Casino. Little reds are highly nomadic and will move on again before too long but with a lot of habitat destroyed by recent floodwater, the flying foxes may make their way into residents’ yards.

Speakers: Emeritus Professor Helene Marsh FAA FTSE, Chair of the Threatened Species Scientific Committee; Cheyne Flanagan, Port Macquarie Koala Hospital; Audrey Koosmen, Hunter Wildlife Rescue; Vic Jurskis, Ecologist and Author; Peter Rutherford, Forest Scientist, South East Timber Association.

Scientists are working with a Victorian almond grower to trial an orchard redevelopment practice that is reducing the industry’s carbon footprint in the United States. ‘Whole Orchard Recycling’ involves chipping trees and incorporating them into the orchard soil prior to planting new trees. It replaces the traditional practice of burning the trees once they have been removed from the orchard.

Jo and Don Hearn from Restdown Winery and Jungle Lane Beef Co and their business were recently recognised as part of Tourism Australia’s new international marketing campaign on sustainable tourism, and Tourism NSW has also included them in the top 10 things to do along the Murray River, alongside the iconic Mungo National Park.

A former Narrandera resident who now lives in the tourist town of Noosa wants to alert Narrandera residents to a project she believes will have a negative impact on tourism in Narrandera– the proposed skywalk which will extend over and above Lake Talbot .... The preliminary design for the skywalk at Lake Talbot has been completed by Teleo Design and put out for public feedback by the Narrandera Shire Council by April 15 with intentions to start building it in July this year and complete the project by December.

... these disastrous wildfires have also given land managers and fire services a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get on top of the bushfire situation. By the end of this year, the fuels in the NSW and Victorian 2019/2020 fire areas will be three years old. The next few years will be a wonderful opportunity to break up these large areas of contiguous fuel by widespread prescribed burning, safely, with minimal chance of escapes. It is a chance that must not be missed.

Houses identified as being at risk in the Kyogle Flood Study are purchased at market value in a voluntary House Buy Back Scheme. Kyogle Council contacts all identified property owners each year and asks them if they would be interested in selling their properties. Only identified properties are eligible for the grant.