Land & environment

The National Farmers Federation says Australian farmers are the amongst the world’s most progressive in their approach to mitigating climate change and are poised to go even further.

Timber Towns Victoria argues that native timber production in public forests promotes carbon storage and must be taken seriously if Victoria is to tackle climate change.

Nationals Senators have announced they will move amendments to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act to remove Australia’s prohibition on nuclear energy.

The first of a series of themed animations being produced to debunk myths about the environmental impact of red meat production in Australia has been launched by Meat & Livestock Australia. The animation explains how methane from cattle is part of the natural carbon cycle, demonstrating how the environmental impacts of emissions of methane from cows and carbon dioxide from fossil fuels, are fundamentally different.

The National Farmers’ Federation has welcomed the formal appointment of Troy Grant as Inspector-General of Water Compliance for the Murray Darling Basin. "We expect the role of Inspector-General will deliver improved outcomes for Basin farmers, communities and the environment," NFF CEO Tony Mahar said.

Four Hope Vale locals with family ties to the Lama Lama people have begun work as rangers with Yintjingga Aboriginal Corporation thanks to the support of the Hope Vale Community Development Program. Marcus Bowen, Levi Flinders and Dylan and Harold Nipper have now joined the team undertaking land management works in the Lama Lama National Park, 300km north-west of Cooktown.

Organisers of Weipa’s first birdwatching event of 2021 were rapt with the turnout over two sessions, with more likely to be added to the calendar next year.

Grain growers in Victoria’s Mallee region are being urged to ‘walk through paddocks’ to check for signs of mouse activity and crop damage and apply bait where necessary to help drive down numbers before spring.

The Rous County Council decision to remove the proposed Dunoon Dam from our region's water security options has again sparked controversy, as you will see from some of the articles and letters to the editor in this edition. It is perhaps unfortunate that we may have lost an opportunity for many social, environmental and community benefits that could have been developed alongside the dam project. It is quite possible to ‘do dams well’, with a vision for 21st-century water security that mitigates or compensates for any losses experienced.

Close to 300km of old barbed-wire fencing along Diamantina National Park has been removed to protect native animals including the rare night parrot ... The fencing was installed by farmers to manage livestock before the park was purchased by the Queensland Government in 1992. “It’s been close to 30 years since the land was transformed into 507,000 hectare national park, and in that time we’ve seen many resident and migratory bird species return to the local wetlands, which act as a haven in an otherwise arid region,” Minister Scanlon said.

A koala joey has been given a second chance after being rescued from the side of the road with his blind mother. The koala mother was rescued with her pouch joey on May 28 after being found disorientated on the ground by a member of the public in Woodenbong in northern New South Wales. The koalas were taken to the Friends of the Koala hospital in East Lismore where the International Fund for Animal Welfare sponsored vet team conducted thorough health checks on both koalas.

Locals are being urged to share any information with the Limestone Coast Landscape Board about how almost a dozen feral pigs came to be roaming in the region. Investigation by the board indicated the pigs were likely to have been illegally released in the Reedy Creek area south-east of Kingston.

Climate change has already cost every farm across Australia $30,000 each year in profit over the past two decades, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, and profits could slashed in half by 2050 due to ongoing environmental changes.

The mighty Murray is experiencing high flows from a rain event further up the catchment. On Wednesday, the river had 17,200 megalitres per day flowing past Koondrook Barham at a height of 4.748m. Alarmingly the riverbanks compromised under the last nine years of river regulation, Murray–Darling Basin Authority management, are falling away before our eyes.

In a legal first, Environmental Defenders Office is heading to the Federal Court to challenge a New South Wales Regional Forest Agreement ... On behalf of client the North East Forest Alliance, EDO will argue that when the North East RFA was renewed, the Commonwealth did not have regard to endangered species, the state of old growth forests or the impacts of climate change, as the EDO will argue it was required to do.

Government and industry representatives, businesses, agribusinesses, community members, advocates and anyone with an interest in this field are invited to attend the Activating the Low Carbon Economy in Regional Australia forum online on Thursday 19 August 2021 to learn more about embracing this developing industry and the opportunities it offers.

Australia’s leading rural charity, Rural Aid, has closed applications for its $1 million mouse plague fund, with 1000 farmers set to benefit from the support. Rural Aid opened the fund in June for farmers from many parts of the country whose livelihoods and incomes had been affected by the devastating mouse plague.

The $7 million Tweed Organics Processing Facility will turn organic material, collected in green kerbside bins from across the Tweed, into useful compost. Up to 25,000 tonnes of food and garden organics can be processed annually on site – with the compost soon to be made available to households, farmers and businesses as well as being used on Council-maintained parks and gardens.