Land & environment

New research from the University of Wollongong, a partner at the NSW Bushfire Research Hub, has found climate change will expose larger areas of forest in coastal NSW to higher frequency and more intense fires, amplifying the changes to fire regimes brought about by the 2019/20 fires ... Amongst other findings: Previous timber harvesting did not increase the fire extent or severity of the 2019/20 fires. However, there is potential for cumulative impacts in harvested landscapes that are subject to fire, particularly in the next 5 to 10 years.

A partnership between the Aboriginal Carbon Foundation and a major bank has helped preserve Cape York country and employ a number of Traditional Owners. As part of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s carbon neutrality, the bank supports traditional Aboriginal fire management generating Australian Carbon Credit Units for the second year running.

The Grass Tree Lookout at Mount Archer is ready for visitors once again, following upgrades completed by Rockhampton Regional Council and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) ... “In addition to the amphitheatre and the skywalk, we are really pleased that residents and visitors can once again enjoy this beautiful vantage point, taking in the incredible views Mount Archer has to offer."

Another successful haul from the Scenic Rim Carp Cup in September at the II Bogan Lagoon near Beaudesert has supported Council's efforts to protect the biodiversity and health of local waterways by targeting two invasive fish species, the Carp and Tilapia. In November, the long-established Scenic Rim environmental group, the Logan and Albert Fish Management Association, is hosting a similar family-friendly education-focused event, called the 'Carp & Tilapia Eradication Competition' at Wyaralong Dam.

An open letter from Chris Hardman, Chief Fire Officer, Forest Fire Management Victoria. As the Chief Fire Officer for Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic), my role is to keep the community and our environment safe from bushfire risk. More than ever, the impacts of climate change and its impact on the work we do is at the forefront of our thinking, planning and actions.

Called the Reef Credit Scheme, the market-based collaboration allows farmers and other property owners in reef catchments to undertake projects that improve water quality to generate a tradeable unit of pollutant reduction or Reef Credit, which is then sold onto businesses who want to protect the reef or meet their corporate responsibilities.

The Victorian Government has tabled the second phase report from the Inspector-General for Emergency Management’s (IGEM) independent inquiry into the 2019-20 Victorian fire season.

There was nothing new or unexpected about the recently announced NSW Natural Resources Commission research on timber harvesting and koalas ... There’s nothing in the NRC report that actually deserves a tick. It’s a well-established historical and scientific fact that koalas are an irruptive species which responds positively to soft new growth ... Declining trees continuously resprout soft young growth until they eventually run out of resources. Koalas breed up in declining forests.

The Northern Australia Committee has tabled the final report of its  Inquiry into the destruction of 46,000 year old caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.  The report follows on from the work of the Committee’s interim report  Never Again  tabled on the 9 December 2020.

The McGowan Government is enhancing WA's program of shark mitigation measures in the lead up to summer, with the Shark Warning System now automated to alert beachgoers to the presence of a tagged shark in the vicinity.

Timber Towns Victoria welcomes a motion calling on the Victorian Government to table all documents relating to the closure of the native timber industry ... “Full, open and transparent information is needed that provides assurances to communities, workers and all sectors of the industry that decisions have been made based on evidence, and in the best interest of all Victorians. This decision has far reaching consequences that need to be fully understood and debated:” TTV President and Glenelg Shire Deputy Mayor Cr Karen Stephens.

Sand at Yanchep Lagoon beach contains small pieces of broken glass with some pieces measuring 5mm to 13mm. Some of it is clear glass but there are also blue and shades of green and brown pieces in the sand ... the City of Wanneroo said the sand contamination issue was quickly detected and the beach and beach access points were closed for public safety.

Scientists at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, have uncovered a new type of Hendra virus in flying foxes, confirming the virus can be found across a broad region of the country. A paper detailing the findings has been published just days after the new genetic type (HeV-g2) was detected in a horse near Newcastle in New South Wales, the most southern case of Hendra yet recorded.  

Effective management of feral animals can play a part in achieving net zero emissions in Australia by 2050, according to Andreas Glanznig, CEO of the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions ... Mr Glanznig cited Centre analysis which has previously found that controlling rabbits, feral goats and camels at scale has the potential to make a significant contribution to emission reduction targets: by reducing the impact of feral herbivores on native vegetation, our native grasses, shrubs and young trees enabling them to act as a more effective carbon sink.

John Anderson. White-tailed black cockatoos have one of the most evocative and haunting bird calls in Australia. Around Denmark, they can often be seen and heard in the evening flying in small groups to their roosting sites. Occasionally, massive flocks of hundreds of birds converge on a favoured watering hole or swamp to drink, such as Yanchep National Park, north of Perth.

Tuesday Browell describes herself as a river guardian. “It’s a tricky disposition, one of whinging nana, or that of wishing she had superhero river powers” ... “Miles and miles of Paterson’s curse, looking like the lavender fields of France, are a beautiful, yet shameful reminder of how rampant invasive weeds are along the Murray River. The native species of understory are dissipated and scant.” The river is a special place, one worth protecting for future generations, ‘living art’ as Tuesday describes it.

Timber NSW welcomes research conducted over three years released by the Natural Resource Commissioner and NSW Chief Scientist, Professor Hugh Durrant-Whyte who states that, “koala density was higher than anticipated in the surveyed forests and was not reduced by selective harvesting.” “This very significant finding totally vindicates the skilful ability of the forest managers to care for the land under their responsibility and protect koalas,” said Timber NSW CEO Maree McCaskill.

Research released into koala response to forestry has found that the nutritional quality of trees is critical for koala survival and selective harvesting did not have an adverse impact upon koala numbers on surveyed NSW north coast state forests ... These findings have emerged from a three-year research program independently overseen by the NSW Natural Resources Commission.

Publicly-owned renewable energy generator CleanCo has signed an agreement to join Sumitomo Corporation and its partners on the development of a hydrogen industry in Gladstone.