Land & environment

A bill to create the legal framework for a national voluntary agriculture biodiversity stewardship market has been introduced in Parliament ... “The Bill will create a biodiversity certificate, which will be tradeable. This will mean biodiversity outcomes can be purchased, transferred, claimed, or used" : Minister Littleproud.

East Gippsland in the far SE corner of Australia, has long been seen as the stronghold of many natural values including old growth and rainforests and remarkable wildlife species that evolved with and still depend on these healthy, intact habitats.

The adorable Greater Glider is in trouble. It is threatened by fire and logging and its population has crashed by over 80% this century ... VicForests – a logging company owned by the government – wants to clear much of what’s left of the Greater Glider’s habitat.

The most ferocious fires seen in WA, four of them ranked level four bushfires, wiped out 60,000ha across WA with Denmark recording the heaviest losses with four houses.

Patricia Gill. Osborne Road residents Denise and William Legge stayed put on Saturday believing their farm was ‘in a reasonably defensible position’. This did not stop the couple from experiencing fire raging on all sides of their property that day but with the help of five heavy-duty fire brigade appliances their home and sheds were saved.

Happy Valley Road resident Anala Linckens described returning to the home she shares with partner Artha Holmes on Saturday as like entering Mordor ... Denmark-born and raised Ian Osborne thought he was in trouble on Saturday afternoon when the fire loomed above his property on Osborne Road.

John O'Donnell. The Mangoplah bushfire burned an estimated 390,000 hectares. Property damage included 37 houses; 203 sheds and dairies; 1,841 km of fencing as well as 110,000 sheep, with financial impacts estimated at $18 million adjusted to 1970 CPI.

Charles Sturt University has contracted with Iberdrola Australia to supply renewable grid electricity for its large market sites from the Bodangora Wind Farm. The contract, established with support from energy consultant World Kinect Energy Services, will account for more than 95 per cent of Charles Sturt’s total grid electricity consumption.

A report released by GRDC, Australian Grains Baseline and Mitigation Assessment, has found that the Australian grains industry exhibits low greenhouse gas emissions for each tonne of grain produced compared to other grain producing regions and countries, including the EU, USA, Canada, Russia and Ukraine.

For two years, Wayne Finch has been searching for a suitable site for a maritime museum in Kyogle. And he has found it ... Wayne's father, Frank Finch OAM, served at sea for 46 years and when he returned to Kyogle, his home became a homage to his love of life at sea.

Emma Pritchard. As Irene Armstrong gazes up into the leafy canopies of the trees outside her home, she estimates the population of the newest residents, who first appeared at the end of January, has grown to more than 40000 ... Their constant shrieking, feeding, habitat destruction, offensive odour and waste products are driving locals batty ... In NSW, flying foxes are protected ... The grey headed flying fox is also listed as vulnerable ...

“Sea spurge is now reappearing in NSW, this time in more regional and remote areas of NSW, and we suspect it’s spreading from Victorian and Tasmanian beaches .... A spraying program is underway, using a highly specific biocontrol agent of sea spurge, a fungus, which is native to France" : James Griffin, NSW Environment Minister.

Responding to the oil spill at the Port of Devonport has been a mammoth task, but years of planning and preparation meant multiple agencies were able to act quickly to contain the spill. The Environment Protection Authority, TasPorts, BridgePro, Tasmanian Divers Group, Marine and Safety Tasmania, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau have all have worked in unison since a commercial vessel collided with two tugboats on January 28, causing fuel and oil to spill into the Mersey River.

Cape York may have been the latest location of a meteor air burst, a phenomenon that lit up the sky and caused an airborne aftershock that rattled buildings across the Peninsula. Residents in Weipa, on Cape York cattle stations and on the east coast at Portland Roads have all reported seeing the sky light up in a turquoise-like colour at 5.50am on Friday.

Last month, the Queensland weather lashed across the State and flooded two of our clubs, Tansey Bowls Club and Maryborough Services Memorial Bowls Club. Tansey Bowls Club was hit the worst, with about a metre of water inside the clubhouse. Tansey’s President Rainer Marschall said they had to remove the wall linings so that the walls could dry out properly.

With a large percentage of Queensland experiencing summer rains and continuing La Niña conditions, Queensland sheep and wool producers are being urged to remain vigilant for conditions favouring flystrike.

Ecological planned burning is a land management tool applied to promote positive benefits for a local environment. These benefits include stimulating dormant seed banks in the soil profile, reducing the vigour or eliminating weeds, nutrient cycling and the removal of biomass - all of which promote biodiversity and ecosystem health.

Rockhampton Regional Council is being inundated with reports of Prickly Acacia and Parthenium spreading in the region, and they are calling on the community to assist. Planning and Regulation Councillor Grant Mathers said officers have been working closely with landholders and community stakeholders to establish the extent of the areas of concern, and to treat areas on a priority basis.

A massive, stunningly beautiful former grazing property will soon belong to Queenslanders as the state’s newest national park. “The Lakes”, north of Hughenden, will increase Queensland’s protected area estate by 35,300 hectares, with the Palaszczuk Government now finalising the multi-million-dollar purchase.

The NSW Government has partnered with Ironman Australia to bring the prestigious Ultra Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB) World Series to Mt Kosciuszko in December this year.