Land & environment

David Waterhouse. Lord Howe Island is a special place and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage property in 1982 in recognition of the global significance of the Island’s beauty and biodiversity. The Island’s isolation and its varied landscape are home to many unique and endemic species. Although Islands only make up a small proportion of available landmass, 61% of recorded species extinctions since the 16th Century have occurred on Islands. The pressure of invasive species has already been linked to the extinction of at least 5 bird species, two plant species, and 13 recorded (although likely much higher) invertebrate species from Lord Howe Island.

Murrindindi Shire Council is thrilled to announce the completion of the Lake Eildon ‘Floating Cities’ Project. The project has delivered important upgrades to the entrance road to the Lake Eildon Marina, off Sugarloaf Road, which will make access for houseboats much easier. It has also delivered a new, environmentally-friendly wash-bay facility, which will accommodate minor houseboat maintenance, mandatory houseboat inspections and allow easier access for larger houseboats.

Geoff Helisma. Corazon Mining announced on the Australian Stock Exchange on June 17 that it has “commenced drilling at the Mt Gilmore Copper Cobalt Gold Project”, which is 25km northwest of Grafton. “Drilling will target the priority 8km-long Gordonbrook Hill – May Queen copper-cobalt/silver-gold anomaly, within the greater 20km long Mt Gilmore Trend,” the announcement states.

The BEST Nursery in Inverell has received around one million radiata pine seedlings from Forestry Corporation of NSW in preparation for a bumper 2021 State forest planting program. The nursery will manage the seedlings on behalf of Forestry Corporation to acclimatise to northern NSW conditions, before they continue their journey to the Walcha region for planting.

The first of over 9.1 million pine seedlings have started their journey to State forests across NSW from Forestry Corporation of NSW’s Blowering Nursery, the largest crop in the nursery’s history. Phil Green, Plantation Improvement Manager, said the 9.1 million seedlings will join with a further five million from the Grafton Nursery and contracted supply and will be planted to rebuild fire-affected and previously harvested plantations around Tumut, Bombala, Bathurst, Mossvale, Walcha and Grafton.

Forestry Corporation of NSW has started its record 2021 replanting program, with three million seedlings set to be replanted into 2,800 hectares of Bathurst pine plantations previously harvested or affected by the black summer bushfires. Forestry Corporation’s Silviculture Manager Mike Freeman said this winter’s planting program is an important milestone in the organisation’s bushfire recovery program.

Australia’s leading rural charity Rural Aid has today delivered hay to farmers battling the ongoing mouse plague. Two road trains carrying 144 bales of hay arrived in Narromine on Thursday 24 June. Rural Aid CEO John Warlters said most farmers receiving the hay had their stockpiles decimated by mice.

A new emergency services centre with the capacity for an incident control centre if there is a major bushfire in the area is being built in Gingin. The Gingin Volunteer Fire & Rescue and Gingin South Bushfire Brigade will share the Gingin Emergency Services Centre ... Emergency Services Minister Reece Whitby said volunteer firefighters in the Gingin area had been in the thick of bushfire fighting responses this year, including the Red Gully and Wooroloo bushfires.

Thousands of new jobs and significant infrastructure builds in regional NSW will be delivered through the 2021-22 NSW Budget, supporting the recovery and future prosperity of regional communities following drought, bushfires, floods, the COVID-19 pandemic and more recently the mice plague.

Horizon Power has demonstrated the Onslow microgrid's full capacity after successfully powering the Pilbara town for a total of 80 minutes. Electricity was powered by 700 kilowatts of customer generated solar and 600 kilowatts of utility solar, while supported by battery technology.

Humpback whales have been spotted along the spectacular Ningaloo Coast, with Western Australians encouraged to support tour operators amid the COVID-19 pandemic. With the humpback whale swim tour season starting soon, visitors to the Ningaloo Coast have the opportunity to swim with these magnificent creatures in their natural environment.

The Territory Government is creating investment opportunities for the resources sector with today’s announcement of a new acreage release for onshore petroleum exploration. Applications and submissions for an exploration permit are now invited over two areas in the southern Georgina Basin, on the Northern Territory/Queensland border.

With the dry season in full swing and school holidays just around the corner, Territorians and visitors are being urged to be Crocwise when exploring the Top End. So far this year, crocodile management teams have removed more than 160 crocodiles from Top End waterways.

Australia’s leading rural charity, Rural Aid, has announced a $1 million fund to assist mouse plague affected farmers across the country. Rural Aid has today opened applications for a $1000 emergency support payment, to assist affected primary producers with recovery.

Food Agility CRC invites you to join us for our free June virtual seminar Crop Design for Adaptation to Variable Production Environments with Professor Graeme Hammer (Queensland University of Technology).

Nan Nicholson. The Dunoon Dam koalas are even more important than first thought. They can help other koala populations to recover robust genetics. New information has been revealed about the local population of koalas which would be impacted by the proposed 15ML dam at Dunoon.

A sense of excitement has arrived along with the cold weather as Whyalla kicks off Cuttlefest 2021, a colourful celebration of all things cuttlefish. The Giant Australian Cuttlefish (sepia apama) swarm into rocky areas off the Whyalla coast during May, June, July and August to mate and reproduce, in the process creating a remarkable spectacle of cunning games, underwater lightshows and colourful kaleidoscopic displays.

[Agribusiness Australia] "Rather than wait for test cases to set the benchmarks, we can choose now to adopt more self-regulation and work with regulators to co-create frameworks and accountability that customers can understand and trust. This is an opportunity for Australia, as a developed, mature, food-producing and export-dependent country to differentiate from its peers and create new sustainable competitive advantage," says Mark Barber.