Land & environment

CANEGROWERS has welcomed the opportunity for the significant issues and concerns that surround the reef regulations imposed on farmers to be aired in the Queensland Parliament.

Robert Onfray looks closely at the history and status of this apex predator in Australia and considers our options for living together.

The timber mill at Wyan has been sold. The Tarmac Sawmilling site on Tenterfield Rd went into liquidation last July and recently sold. The Tarmac Sawmilling Pty Ltd parent company is in South Australia and a staff member there said the mill was forced to close after the 2019 bushfires.

Deputy Premier and Minister responsible for Resources Paul Toole has announced the NSW Government will not support commercial applications for offshore mineral, coal or petroleum exploration or mining, in or adjacent to, NSW coastal waters.

Minister for Resources and Water Keith Pitt has announced that new light will be shed on the potential for additional groundwater resources in the upper Darling River region ... Geoscience Australia, in collaboration with the NSW Government, will commence an airborne electromagnetic survey across this section of north-west NSW to better understand the location of groundwater resources and their movement beneath the floodplain and its surrounds.

Geoff Helisma. The cost of vital repairs to the rock gabion dam at the foot of the Shannon Creek Dam spillway has blown out from the awarded $1.145 million (ex GST) contract to a “foreshadowed variation” budget of “between $3.16 million and $4.13 million”.

Moves by Water Minister Kevin Anderson to pave the way for the handing out of licences for floodplain harvesting as early as this week are likely in breach of the Commonwealth Water Act and could set up a future government to have to fork out billions of dollars in compensation, says Cate Faehrmann, Greens MP and water spokesperson and chair of the recent NSW Upper House Committee into Floodplain Harvesting.

“In the Cape, unplanned fire is a very complicated business. We have huge amounts of biomass material unlike many other regions and we have a tight window to control burns before they reach critical habitat and threatened species": Sally Gray, Piccaninny Plains Wildlife Sanctuary.

New research into ironstone gravel soils in the western and southern regions of Australia is working to unlock potential and increase the yields of crops planted on this challenging soil type.

The new draft Victorian Koala Management Strategy will guide how koalas in Victoria will be conserved into the future − outlining ongoing actions to ensure their security, sustainability and health. Since the previous 2004 strategy was released, new issues impacting koalas have emerged and others have become more significant, including climate change, genetic diversity and extreme bushfires.

A dengue mosquito elimination program is gaining traction in Tennant Creek, a year since the dengue mosquito, Aedes aegypti, was found in the town. A team of five NT Health staff, known to the locals as the Mozzie Mob, are conducting property inspections to review backyard items that can hold water to treat them for mosquito eggs or larvae.

Tracy Jones, Desert Knowledge Australia. A group of local organisations and independent parties have joined forces in Alice Springs, NT, with the support of the Northern Territory Government, to address the town’s water future. The Talking Water Collective delivered a short, intense campaign during October-November 2021 to prompt awareness and build stewardship around the town’s water security, sharing key facts about water resources and consumption, and contributing to the NT's Strategic Water Plan.

After being nearly empty in early 2020, there’s been a remarkable turnaround in Murray–Darling Basin water storages following widespread rain throughout 2021, resulting in better water availability for towns, industries and the environment, and good cropping prospects in 2022.

For a second, I thought I had stumbled into the mellow haze of Woodstock, but this pungent aroma had no buzz or medicinal properties. It was all about fibre and the seed. Western Murray Land Improvement Group’s 7-hectare flood irrigation trial had over 70 attendees from as far away as Queensland. Five varieties were included in the trial to see what grows best in our region.

Koala habitat will be increased and water quality improved with the planting of 153,000 trees along Wivenhoe Dam to rehabilitate former grazing land ... The trees have been planted at seven sites on former grazing land and include eucalypts like Queensland blue gum, ironbarks, bloodwoods and grey gums, as well as rough-barked apple, river she-oak, and black tea-tree.

WA companies Aviair and HeliSpirit have partnered with global company Eve Air Mobility, part of the Embraer Group, to bring new zero-emission electric aircraft to WA within the next four years.

Geoff Helisma. Volunteer environmental organisation, Clarence Valley Environment Centre (CEC – established 1989), has released the results of a survey it commissioned, “to undertake koala scat detection [using a specifically trained] dog … in the Shannondale area, [in order] to assess koala presence/absence after the droughts, fires and floods”.

There have been increased reports of stable flies in the Shire of Gingin and other areas due to unseasonably wet conditions over winter and spring that enabled larval developmental sites to stay active for longer. Stable fly is primarily a pest of livestock, especially cattle and horses but it also affects humans, dogs and other animal pets.

Two localities in the Shire of Gingin have been added to the list of restricted movement zones to contain the spread of European house borer, which is a serious pest of pinewood.

John O'Donnell. A collection of dramatic and informative photos of the 1952 bushfires.