Save habitat to save Koalas
MEDIA RELEASE 29 September 2022
To mark Save the Koala Day (Friday 30 September), the North East Forest Alliance is appealing to the NSW Government to stop approving core Koala habitat for clearing and logging, if they have any genuine intent to stop Koalas becoming extinct in the wild by 2050.
The NSW Government’s spending of tens of millions on Koala hospitals, open range zoos and planting seedlings won’t stop Koalas becoming extinct in the wild unless they save and stabilise surviving Koalas by protecting their existing homes, NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh said.
“Every day the NSW Government is allowing the Forestry Corporation to cut down mature Koala feed trees in public forests, and farmers to bulldoze them, while their propaganda arm goes into over-drive pretending that Koalas don’t need their feed trees.
Read moreTime to stop logging habitat of Endangered Pugh’s Frog
With Pugh’s Frog (Philoria pughi) about to be listed as nationally Endangered, the North East Forest Alliance is calling on Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to change the Regional Forest Agreement to protect its habitat from logging.
Pugh’s Frog inhabits soaks and seepages in the highest headwaters of streams on the Gibraltar Range and in the Timbarra and Girard areas, during the breeding season it constructs nests in mud under leaf litter where it raises its young watered by seepage. They live a sedentary life, outside the breeding season they will forage amongst leaf litter, mostly within a hundred metres of their nests.
“It is an old endemic, tracing its lineage back over 50 million years to the Gondwana super continent, though a few million years ago the Philoria genus became increasingly marooned on isolated mountain top islands, where they evolved into distinct species” NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh said.
Photo: Stephen Mahony
Read moreSave Our Oldgrowth Trees
HOLLOW HOUSING CRISIS AS OLDGROWTH TREES ARE LOGGED
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Hollows in big old trees are essential homes for many of Australia's animals, they can't survive without them. In NSW at least 46 mammals, 81 birds, 31 reptiles and 16 frogs, are reliant on tree hollows for shelter and nests. Oldgrowth trees have been decimated across the landscape, and with them populations of hollow-dependent animals. Across extensive areas there are not enough hollows left to meet the survivor's needs. In a life or death struggle, they have to compete for the dwindling numbers of suitable hollows. PLEASE WRITE TO THE NSW GOVT TO DEMAND THEY STOP CLEARING AND LOGGING ANIMAL'S HOMESAND START THE LONG PROCESS OF RESTORING THEM Millions of oldgrowth trees, and their inhabitants, were burnt in the 2019-20 wildfires. Many have nowhere to live, there is a housing crisis for hollow-dependent species. For their survival it is essential that we urgently save the remnant oldgrowth trees, and begin restoring them. Restoration is slow, it takes 120-180 years for a tree to begin to develop hollows, and it is not until they are over 220 years old that oldgrowth trees develop the big hollows large animals need. We need to protect the oldest trees left so that hollow-bearing trees can be restored as soon as possible NEFA want to stop logging of public native forests, but we can't wait until we achieve this to take action for our imperiled wildlife. We need the Government to act now to stop logging the surviving hollow-bearing oldgrowth trees, and protect the biggest trees remaining so they can become the hollow-bearing trees of the future. Before the fires the logging rules for State forests required the retention of up to 8 hollow-bearing trees per hectare, but in many forests there aren't that many left, and is some they have all been lost. In response to the fires, in June 2021 the NSW Natural Resources Commission recommended to the NSW Ministers for Forestry and Environment that they urgently change the logging rules for State forests to require that (1) where there aren't 8 hollow-bearing trees per hectare left, that the largest trees be retained to make up the difference, and (2) for each of these trees retaining 2 recruitment trees to become the hollow-bearing trees of the future. The problem is that since June 2021 the Ministers have refused to act on the NRC advice , so we need your help to convince them to adopt this NRC recommendation to give hollow-bearing trees, and the multitude whose recovery depends on them, a ch Here's more detail about this issue. Visit here for background information about the fires and the NRC recommendations Visit here for background about the importance of old trees for recovery. |
NSW'S 174 HOLLOW-DEPENDENT SPECIES NEED YOUR HELP NOWPlease write to the NSW Ministers for Environment and Forestry now asking them: Dear Minister ....., Please act now to protect all NSW oldgrowth trees. (Refer to any of the information above to provide context) Please take urgent action to protect and restore hollow-bearing trees across State forests by implementing the June 2021 advice of the Natural Resources Commission by changing the logging rules to require: (1) where eight hollow-bearing trees per hectare are not available, retaining the next largest trees as substitutes, (2) retaining two recruitment trees per retained hollow-bearing tree It is essential that the largest healthy trees are protected as recruitment hollow-bearing trees. Apply these protections to Private Native Forestry through the PNF Code of Practice Protect all trees over 100 years old. Yours Sincerely (etc) Its always best to add your own comments, and ask for a response.
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New PNF Codes fail threatened species
MEDIA RELEASE 3 May 2022
NEFA considers that that the new Private Native Forestry Code of Practice released on Monday is a step backwards, and will increase the extinction risk of our most imperilled species of plants and animals.
In general they are allowing increased logging intensity, reduced retention of old hollow bearing trees essential for the survival of a plethora of hollow-dependent species, and reducing protections for most threatened species, NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh said.
“Under this code most threatened species of plants and animals will get no real protection what-so-ever.
“The only improvement is an increase in the exclusions around headwater streams, though at 10m this is still dramatically less than the 30m identified as necessary in numerous reviews.
NSW Koala Strategy fails Koalas
MEDIA RELEASE 9 April 2022
The NSW Government’s Koala Strategy released today will do little to turn around their extinction trajectory as it is not stopping logging and clearing of Koala habitat which, along with climate heating, are the main drivers of their demise.
“The Strategy proposes nothing to redress the logging of Koala habitat on public lands where at best 5-10 small potential Koala feed trees per hectare need to be protected in core Koala habitat, with the only other requirement being to wait for a Koala to leave before cutting down its tree” NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh said.
“We know that Koalas preferentially choose larger individuals of a limited variety of tree species for feeding, and losses of these trees will reduce populations. So protecting and restoring feed and roost trees is a prerequisite for allowing populations to grow on public lands.
“The most important and extensive Koala habitat we know of in NSW is in the proposed Great Koala National Park, encompassing 175,000 hectares of State Forests south of Grafton and west of Coffs Harbour.
“Similarly on the Richmond River lowlands the most important and extensive area known is the proposed Sandy Creek Koala Park, encompassing 7,000 ha of State Forests south of Casino.
Read moreNorth East Forest Alliance Statement for International Day of Forests
On International Day of Forests it is essential that we recognise that forests support our civilisation, climate and biodiversity. Forests are under unprecedent threat due to increasing droughts, heatwaves, wildfires and floods. At the very time we need them to take our carbon out of the atmosphere and store it safely in their wood and soils, and to mitigate flooding by storing and slowing the water during extreme rainfall events.
Big old trees are awesome, hundreds of years old, towering 8-12 stories high, apartment complexes for hollow-dependent animals with larders for Koalas, gliders, possums and a multitude of honeyeaters.
Forests improve our health, generate rainfall, cool the land, regulate streamflows, sequester and store carbon, reduce flood risk by storing water and slowing flows, reduce landslips by reinforcing soils, and support most of our biodiversity.
Media - North East Forest Alliance
NEFA campaigner, Susie Russell, arrested
Posted by Sean O'Shannessy · January 10, 2023 3:04 PM
Geoff Provest thanked for threatening to cross the floor
Posted by Dailan Pugh · November 14, 2022 10:14 PM
Selling out Koalas
Posted by Dailan Pugh · November 14, 2022 10:05 PM
Morrison must change his logging approval to protect Endangered Koalas in Yarratt State Forest
MEDIA RELEASE 28 February 2022
The North East Forest Alliance is calling on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to intervene to stop logging of important Koala habitat in Yarratt State Forest near Wingham in accordance with the June recommendations of the Natural Resources Commission and the Commonwealth’s February Conservation Advice for now Endangered Koalas.
As a signatory to the North East NSW Regional Forest Agreement, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has responsibility for NSW’s refusal to protect important Koala habitat on State Forests, and must modify his approval to provide rapidly declining Koala populations with the protection they urgently need, said NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh.
DPI Forestry’s Koala habitat ranking, OEH Koala Hubs and Koala records in Yarratt State Forest.
Read moreMorrison’s $50 million pledge for Koalas a smokescreen
MEDIA RELEASE 30 January 2022
Scott Morrison announcement of $50 million for Koalas is a smokescreen to cover-up his Government’s approval for increased logging and clearing of Koala habitat, while allowing climate heating to run amok, threatening the future of both Koalas and the Great Barrier Reef, according to the North East Forest Alliance.
“Without good policies on habitat protection and climate change no amount of money will save Koalas, said NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh.
“If Scott Morrison was fair dinkum about protecting Koala habitat the first thing he would do is to stop their feed and roost trees being logged and cleared. Money is no good for Koalas if they have nowhere to live.
“The second is to take urgent and meaningful action on climate heating, as Koalas and their feed trees have already been decimated by intensifying droughts and heatwaves in western NSW, and bushfires in coastal areas.
“If the Morrison Government doesn’t take urgent action on climate heating then neither Koalas nor the Great Barrier Reef will have a future.
Read moreForest News
Forest Media 27 January 2023
Sorry about missing last week’s Forest Media, I had a deadline on a major project I was struggling to meet. I may also have trouble next week.
New South Wales
Labor has promised the NPA that should they win the election, their assessment of the Great Koala National Park will have a budget of $80 million, be undertaken in an open and transparent process with all stakeholders, cover the full 176,000 ha of State Forests, and undertake a new socio-economic study, though they won’t agree to a moratorium while the assessment is undertaken. Teal challengers facing off against moderate Coalition MPs in Manly, North Shore, and Pittwater have expressed their support for the Great Koala National Park, whereas Perrottet dismissed Labor’s plan. Amidst claims and counter claims between the ALP and the Environment Minister, chair of the Australian Koala Foundation Deborah Tabart said politicians need to offer action, not pledges, and the World Wide Fund Australia’s conservation scientist Dr Stuart Blanch compared the attitude around koala habitat protection to commercial whaling,
In a worryingly measured response, the Australian Forest Contractors Association (AFCA) says the opposition’s plan if elected to Government in the March State election to establish a Great Koala National Park will mean increased uncertainty in the forestry sector and potentially a mass exit of skilled labour. It seems that both AFCA and CFMEU have expectations that the ALP’s review won’t be too bad for them. Though maybe it’s not all bad, as dumped ALP MP Tania Mihailuk said, when swapping to One Nation, that the ALP want to ban the forestry industry in NSW.
The public exclusion from Bagawa State Forest has been extended from December to June, allowing logging to proceed and creating eco-anxiety in neighbours. News of the Area followed this up with a lengthy story about eco-anxiety.
WWF-Australia are seeking applicants for a full-time (or part-time to 0.8FTE) Forestry Transition Manager “to help shift Australia from a global deforestation nation, to a Reforestation Nation, and hasten the national completion of the forestry-to-plantations transition. New South Wales transition opportunities will be a dominant focus, with an expectation to respond to other strategic opportunities around forestry and forest management in other states (e.g., Queensland, Victoria) and federally”. Applicants can apply via http://www.wwf.org.au/about_us/work_with_wwf/.
A memorial was held for 96 year old Alex Floyd OAM, who in recent years is best known for his role in creating the North Coast Regional Botanic Garden in Coffs Harbour, though for many of us involved in rainforest conservation in the 1970s and 80s he is best remembered for his reports on individual rainforests, tree identification keys, and invaluable advice and help. The attempts to have the Coffs Harbour Bypass bypass Grandpa’s Scrub continues, with botanist Rob Kooyman attesting to its importance as ‘the last of the Lowland Coffs Harbour White Booyong subtropical type at true lowland elevations’.
A 21 year old male pleaded guilty to malicious damage to camping areas in Chichester State Forest and paid $2835 in compensation
The NSW Greens have released their report ‘Concreting our Coast’ highlighting 17 coastal case studies ‘where inappropriate developments are going ahead, and gives evidence showing the cumulative picture of just how much of our state’s coast is at risk’, along with 9 principles to save our coasts.
In what has become a political issue, over 300 people attended a protest rally on Sunday, 22 January, to oppose proposals for tourist accommodation in lighthouse keepers’ cottages at Barrenjoey Headland, Palm Beach. To the outrage of conservationists, proposals to grant leases in the Gardens of Stone state conservation area to two companies, which are subsidiaries of the ASX-listed Experience Co, for "Four of the five areas identified as supported accommodation nodes on the multi-day walk" and "the development and operation of a multi-activity adventure, which includes zip-lines, via ferrata and suspension bridges" were listed on the NSW Department of Planning and Environment website for public comment from December 21 until January 18. Protestors climbed Wollumbin (Mt. Warning) on Australia Day to protest the wishes of the Aboriginal Wollumbin Consultative Group to ban public access to the mountain due to its sacred place in local Indigenous culture, with the support of renegade Elizabeth Boyd.
A Public Service Association organiser says the announcement of 250 jobs announced for NPWS before Christmas is nothing more than "smoke and mirrors", falling short of the 300 plus workers made redundant in 2018, complaining that staff who have been chronically over-worked in recent years, particularly as since 2019 600,000 hectares have been added to the parks estate, mostly in the western districts.
Following consultation, the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has released its Climate Change Policy and Action Plan 2023-26, and they still intend doing nothing about forestry. Despite the multiple issues I raised that they ignored, and 108 submissions from individuals and 52 submissions from community groups (including environmental groups), they claimed 89%, supported their position, despite their only acknowledgement of forestry being that 20 individuals and 15 groups “Requests ban/phase out of native forestry and/or reduction of logging” (by my reckoning that’s 22% who clearly didn’t support their do-nothing approach).
For the looming NSW election, polling shows Labor ahead, as Liberals face threats from independents and Teals in their north-shore stongholds, with the nomination of Northern Beaches mayor Michael Regan as an independent for the seat of Wakehurst a serious threat to their stranglehold on a clutch of northern Sydney seats.
Australia
Human Rights Watch began the year with the release of its World Report 2023, in which it critiqued the disproportionate punishment of the NSW anti-protest regime, highlighting the draconian punishment handed down to Violet Coco. Australian Greens Senator David Shoebridge announced right before Christmas that he’ll be delivering a bill this year that enshrines the right to protest in federal law.
Alcoa has canned plans to export unprocessed bauxite by increasing clearing Western Australia’s Northern Jarrah Forest, and will instead go on clearing to supply the 36 million tonnes of bauxite a year used by its three West Australian alumina refineries. A small victory in the campaign to stop clearing Jarrah forests, now that logging is being stopped.
Species
A review of 517 projects referred under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act to the Federal government between 2000 and 2015, found 365 were deemed “not significant” by the serving minister under the law, and 152 were judged to be a “controlled action”, though their designation made no actual difference to the amount of habitat destroyed, due to vague terms, ambiguous criteria, subjective decisions, reliance on companies’ consultants, and social and economic factors placed above environmental impacts. And more than 90% of clearing isn’t even referred to the Commonwealth.
The NPWS is now fencing in two declining Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby colonies in Warrumbungle National Park and Nattai National Park to keep out feral predators as parks continue to become more like open range zoos.
Emus were common in Tasmania until being hunted to extinction by the mid-1800s, now researches want to re-introduce them and restore their ecosystem services, particularly their ability to disperse seeds in a warming world. Birdlife Australia's NSW woodland bird program manager Mick Roderick reports seeing an unusually large flock of 310 Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos at Urunga, noting they seem to be moving more into urban areas after food, though still need those large tree hollows to nest in. Euan Ritchie has an article in the Conversation promoting 15 lesser known Australian species as potential mascots for Brisbane 2032 Olympic games, in an effort to increase knowledge of some of our other species.
In some Australian rivers more than 90 per cent of all fish are carp and extreme carp spawning is taking place as a result of flooding across the country, leading to renewed calls for release of carp herpes virus to control them. Their control would also be enhanced by restoring natural flows by removing weir pools and floodplain structures. Populations of feral deer are rapidly expanding, increasing from about 50,000 in 1980 to more than 2 million now, with an estimate they would cost the Victorian economy between $1.5 billion and $2.2 billion over the next 30 years, leading to a draft national feral deer plan. While the 2021 Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan is to reduce brumby numbers in Kosciuszko National Park to 3,000 by 2027, their numbers have jumped by more than 30 per cent in the past two years to 18,814.
The Deteriorating Problem
Some say that with predictions for “just” a 3 degree warming by the end of this century the worst scenarios are over, claiming its “still dangerous, but not hellish”. Though others warn there could be enough “warming in the pipeline” to generate 7° to 10°C of global heating, once all climate feedbacks, including the “long-term” ones, have played out. Yet others expect the target of 1.5°C could slip out of reach as early as 2028 as later this year a resurgent “El Niño will cause global temperatures to rise “off the chart” and deliver unprecedented heat waves”. In his opinion, Bill Gates considers there is “no chance” of limiting warming to 1.5C, and “very unlikely” it could be kept to 2C, but that “to stay below 2.5C would be pretty fantastic”.
In July 2022, the European Union responded to the war in Ukraine by banning the import of Russian woody biomass used to make energy, so South Korea drastically upped its Russian woody biomass imports, though Russian biomass appears to still be making its way to European powerplants through other countries. The real winner has been Enviva, the world’s largest woody biomass producer, which operates chiefly in the Southeast U.S.A.
Turning it Around
Eco-anxiety is a growing problem, with 75 per cent of 16 to 25-year-olds in 10 countries surveyed for a study published in 2021 in UK medical journal The Lancet having described the future as “frightening”, with 25% in Australia extremely worried, 28% vey worried, 29% moderately worried, 10% a little worried, and 6% not worried at all. The positive from this is that eco-anxiety ‘coupled with a realistic sense of hope can be “really powerful” in getting people engaged’. A new survey of 25,000 people - conducted across 25 countries by research firm Elabe and water, waste and energy management company Veolia – reveals 30 per cent of the world's inhabitants feel distressed about the future, ‘often’ think about climate change and are considering giving up long term goals like having children.
Scaling up Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) is an urgent priority, as are efforts to rapidly
reduce emissions, if we are to meet the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement. Scenarios
for limiting warming to well below 2°C involve removing hundreds of billions of tonnes of
carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere over the course of the century. A study estimates that the current global rate of CDR is around 2 billion tonnes per year, on land this comes from afforestation, reforestation and management of existing forests. About 0.1% of carbon removal — around 2.3 million tonnes per year — is performed by the new technologies this study focusses on. To limit global warming to less than 2 °C above pre-industrial temperatures, the report estimates that by 2030, the world will need to remove a further 0.96 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, compared with 2020. By 2050, this will have to rise even more, to around 4.8 billion tonnes above 2020 levels. As it stands, governments worldwide have proposed an increase of only between 0.1 billion and 0.65 billion tonnes of CDR per year by 2030 and 1.5 billion to 2.3 billion tonnes per year by 2050.
The oceans store around 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere and about 20 times more carbon than every plant and plot of soil on land combined, the problem is that as the oceans take up more carbon they are becoming more acidic, dissolving the calcium carbonate structures of a multitude of species. Liming the oceans on a large scale is being considered as a means of ocean alkalinity enhancement, now the latest is to increase their carbon storage by using crushed olivine, an abundant volcanic mineral, delivered by a fleet of ships.
In the USA the coastal temperate rainforests of Oregon are important carbon storage facilities and provide 80% of the state’s drinking water, with a recent study combining data on drinking water sources, biodiversity, carbon storage and forest resilience to determine which forests are the highest priority for conservation.
Research by The Guardian and others into Verra, the world’s leading carbon standard, used by companies such as Gucci, Salesforce, BHP, Shell, Disney, easyJet, Leon and the band Pearl Jam to “offset” their emissions, has found that, based on analysis of a significant percentage of the projects, more than 90% of their rainforest offset credits – among the most commonly used by companies – are likely to be “phantom credits” and do not represent genuine carbon reductions. A claimed 94.9m (tonnes) in carbon credits resulted in 5.5m in real emissions reductions. In Australia, carbon farming is set to take-off with a $4.5 billion carbon credit Australian government boost, though as soil carbon is very variable and with only one sample per 10-15 ha taken, the current methods for measuring how much carbon can be trapped in the soil are flawed, so we may be faced with another dodgy scheme that uses up billions of dollars and does little to help.
Dailan Pugh
NEW SOUTH WALES
Great Koala National Park:
Labor has promised the NPA that should they win the election, their assessment of the Great Koala National Park will have a budget of $80 million, be undertaken in an open and transparent process with all stakeholders, cover the full 176,000 ha of State Forests, and undertake a new socio-economic study, though they won’t agree to a moratorium while the assessment is undertaken.
Teal challengers facing off against moderate Coalition MPs in Manly, North Shore, and Pittwater have expressed their support for the Great Koala National Park, whereas Perrottet dismissed Labor’s plan.
But despite koalas being listed as an endangered species last year, Perrottet dismissed Labor’s plan, criticising the opposition for re-announcing a policy it previously took to the 2019 election and saying the government had made significant investments in the expansion of national parks in the state.
“I believe we’ve done more than ever than any government before us when it comes to the expansion and enhancement of national parks,” he said.
https://www.armidaleexpress.com.au/story/8053432/nsw-labor-eyes-80m-koala-national-park/
https://www.denipt.com.au/national/nsw-labor-eyes-80m-koala-national-park-2/
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/coffs-coast-news-of-the-area-27-january-2023
Amidst claims and counter claims between the ALP and the Environment Minister, chair of the Australian Koala Foundation Deborah Tabart said politicians need to offer action, not pledges, and the World Wide Fund Australia’s conservation scientist Dr Stuart Blanch compared the attitude around koala habitat protection to commercial whaling,
“Up to 1978, Australia was commercially harvesting whales. Now we make heaps more money out of whale tourism. We need that switch,” he said.
… loggers ‘doth protest too much’:
In a worryingly measured response, the Australian Forest Contractors Association (AFCA) says the Opposition’s plan if elected to Government in the March State election to establish a Great Koala National Park will mean increased uncertainty in the forestry sector and potentially a mass exit of skilled labour. It seems that both AFCA and CFMEU have expectations that the ALP’s review won’t be too bad for them.
Ms Porteous has called for NSW Labor to ensure it conducts its consultation in a balanced, transparent, and fair way if it truly wishes to make a difference in the endangered classification of this iconic animal.
“The industry supports the science. We encourage Labor to be thorough in its engagement process and not to fall into the trap of confusing ‘land-clearing activities’ with well managed forests,” she said.
The CFMEU Manufacturing division has warned that closing 176 ha of working forests will send NSW timber manufacturing offshore.
The union’s Alison Rudman said the proposal would not achieve any environmental improvements.
Though maybe they are not all bad, as dumped ALP MP Tania Mihailuk said, when swapping to One Nation, that the ALP want to ban the forestry industry in NSW.
The Labor Party “doesn’t represent” workers’ views in the forestry industry, according to independent MP Tania Mihailuk.
“They want to ban the forestry industry in NSW, they want to ban coal in NSW,” she told Sky News host Gary Hardgrave.
“I was a lone voice in that shadow ministry cabinet often.”
Bagawa closure extended:
The public exclusion from Bagawa State Forest has been extended from December to June, allowing logging to proceed and creating eco-anxiety in neighbours.
“To be informed and care for my environment is something I choose to do and to have a direct neighbour that causes habitat loss, helps create extinction of endangered species, creates an environment that will exacerbate bushfires, erosion and weed infestation, well that just makes me anxious.
“It’s eco anxiety and it’s a real thing,” said Jodie.
“I know there are positive and negative things going on around the world and normally I’m a glass half full type of woman, but now I lay awake at night worrying.”
The American Psychology Association (APA) describes eco-anxiety as ‘the chronic fear of environmental cataclysm that comes from observing the seemingly irrevocable impact of climate change and the associated concern for one’s future and that of next generations’.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/bagawa-state-forest-closure-extended-for-continued-logging
News of the Area followed this up with a lengthy story about eco-anxiety.
[Dr Brymer] “The organisations which are taking the trees down and destroying biodiversity don’t take into consideration what it’s doing to individual’s mental health.
“People are coming from the place of ‘I love this area, this is where I grew up. And now you’re destroying it.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/coffs-coast-news-of-the-area-27-january-2023
Forestry Transition Manager wanted:
WWF-Australia are seeking applicants for a full-time (or part-time to 0.8FTE) Forestry Transition Manager “to help shift Australia from a global deforestation nation, to a Reforestation Nation, and hasten the national completion of the forestry-to-plantations transition. New South Wales transition opportunities will be a dominant focus, with an expectation to respond to other strategic opportunities around forestry and forest management in other states (e.g., Queensland, Victoria) and federally”. Applicants can apply via http://www.wwf.org.au/about_us/work_with_wwf/.
Rainforest legend dies:
A memorial was held for 96 year old Alex Floyd OAM, who in recent years is best known for his role in creating the North Coast Regional Botanic Garden in Coffs Harbour, though for many of us involved in rainforest conservation in the 1970s and 80s he is best remembered for his reports on individual rainforests, tree identification keys, and invaluable advice and help.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/coffs-coast-news-of-the-area-27-january-2023
Grandpa needs bypass:
The attempts to have the Coffs Harbour Bypass bypass Grandpa’s Scrub continues, with botanist Rob Kooyman attesting to its importance as ‘the last of the Lowland Coffs Harbour White Booyong subtropical type at true lowland elevations’.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/coffs-coast-news-of-the-area-27-january-2023
Malicious forestry damage:
A 21 year old male pleaded guilty to malicious damage to camping areas in Chichester State Forest and paid $2835 in compensation.
Concreting coasts:
The NSW Greens have released their report ‘Concreting our Coast’ highlighting 17 coastal case studies ‘where inappropriate developments are going ahead, and gives evidence showing the cumulative picture of just how much of our state’s coast is at risk’, along with 9 principles to save our coasts.
The 40-page report ‘Concreting our Coast’ was produced by my team in consultation with communities across the state. It shows case study after case study where inappropriate developments are going ahead, and gives evidence showing the cumulative picture of just how much of our state’s coast is at risk.
Alongside the report, we’ve also launched a Framework of Principles to Save our Coast. These 9 principles have been developed by affected community groups and call on all political parties to commit to them to stop the destruction.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19vyS8vPbi86gQVrxYbjOthxNteO2FA0u/view
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/coffs-coast-news-of-the-area-27-january-2023
Protesting lighthouse tourism:
In what has become a political issue, over 300 people attended a protest rally on Sunday, 22 January, to oppose proposals for tourist accommodation in lighthouse keepers’ cottages at Barrenjoey Headland, Palm Beach.
https://www.northernbeachesadvocate.com.au/2023/01/25/protestors-gain-concessions/
Gardens of Stone adventure park:
To the outrage of conservationists, proposals to grant leases in the Gardens of Stone state conservation area to two companies, which are subsidiaries of the ASX-listed Experience Co, for "Four of the five areas identified as supported accommodation nodes on the multi-day walk" and "the development and operation of a multi-activity adventure, which includes zip-lines, via ferrata and suspension bridges" were listed on the NSW Department of Planning and Environment website for public comment from December 21 until January 18.
"This is a reverse process where instead of having a development application so that people can comment on the proposals, we're having a lease being issued and being invited to comment on a lease," Mr Muir said.
"But [we] have almost no information to comment on."
Wollumbin warning:
Protestors climbed Wollumbin (Mt. Warning) on Australia Day to protest the wishes of the Aboriginal Wollumbin Consultative Group to ban public access to the mountain due to its sacred place in local Indigenous culture, with the support of renegade Elizabeth Boyd.
In a statement, a group spokesman said they had been given the blessing of local Indigenous custodian Elizabeth Davis Boyd from the Ngarkwal people, who made headlines earlier this month when she broke down in tears at a public rally sharing her pain at the ongoing drama surrounding access to the beloved site.
Adrian Hoffman of the Reopen Mount Warning lobby group told climbers they would continue to fight for the trail to be reopened to the public.
Claiming credit for returning some of what was lost:
A Public Service Association organiser says the announcement of 250 jobs announced for NPWS before Christmas is nothing more than "smoke and mirrors", falling short of the 300 plus workers made redundant in 2018, complaining that staff who have been chronically over-worked in recent years, particularly as since 2019, 600,000 hectares have been added to the parks estate, mostly in the western districts.
https://www.theland.com.au/story/8052363/npws-jobs-just-smoke-mirrors-says-psa/
EPA plan to do nothing about forestry in relation to climate change:
Following consultation, the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has released its Climate Change Policy and Action Plan 2023-26, they still intend doing nothing about forestry. Despite the multiple issues I raised that they ignored, and 108 submissions from individuals and 52 submissions from community groups (including environmental groups), they claimed 89%, supported their position, despite their only acknowledgement of forestry being that 20 individuals and 15 groups “Requests ban/phase out of native forestry and/or reduction of logging” (by my reckoning that’s 22% who clearly didn’t support their do-nothing approach).
https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/your-environment/climate-change/policy-and-action-plan.
https://yoursay.epa.nsw.gov.au/climate-change-policy-and-action-plan.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/coffs-coast-news-of-the-area-27-january-2023
NSW Election:
Polling shows Labor ahead, as Liberals face threats from independents and Teals in their north-shore stongholds, with the nomination of Northern Beaches mayor Michael Regan as an independent for the seat of Wakehurst a serious threat to their stranglehold on a clutch of northern Sydney seats.
The latest Resolve Strategic polling for the Herald shows Labor ahead with a primary vote of 37 per cent, while the Coalition’s primary vote is on 34 per cent, down from the 42 per cent secured when Gladys Berejiklian won in 2019.
However, one-third of voters prefer Perrottet as premier over Minns, who is just behind on 29 per cent.
AUSTRALIA
Right to protest:
Human Rights Watch began the year with the release of its World Report 2023, in which it critiqued the disproportionate punishment the NSW anti-protest regime, highlighting the draconian punishment handed down to Violet Coco. Australian Greens Senator David Shoebridge announced right before Christmas that he’ll be delivering a bill this year that enshrines the right to protest in federal law.
Stopping clearing jarrah forests for unprocessed exports:
Alcoa has canned plans to export unprocessed bauxite by increasing clearing Western Australia’s Northern Jarrah Forest, and will instead go on clearing to supply the 36 million tonnes of bauxite a year used by its three West Australian alumina refineries. A small victory in the campaign to stop clearing Jarrah forests, now that logging is being stopped.
SPECIES
Shuffling species into extinction:
A review of 517 projects referred under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act to the government between 2000 and 2015, found 365 were deemed “not significant” by the serving minister under the law, and 152 were judged to be a “controlled action”, though their designation made no actual difference to the amount of habitat destroyed, due to vague terms, ambiguous criteria, subjective decisions, reliance on companies’ consultants, and social and economic factors placed above environmental impacts. And more than 90% of clearing isn’t even referred to the Commonwealth.
Some species were disproportionately hit. Of the habitat lost by endangered tiger quolls from projects in the study, 82% was from projects the government decided were not significant enough to need further assessment. For vulnerable grey-headed flying foxes, 72% was lost from “non-significant” projects.
“The system designed to classify development projects according to their environmental impact is more or less worthless,” said Natalya Maitz, who led the study at the University of Queensland.
Maitz said they found there was no statistically significant difference between threatened habitat destroyed, regardless of the minister’s decision.
Locking them up for their own good:
The NPWS is now fencing in two declining Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby colonies in Warrumbungle National Park and Nattai National Park to keep out feral predators as parks continue to become more like open range zoos.
https://psnews.com.au/2023/01/24/emergency-action-to-save-dying-wallabies/?state=aps
Rewilding Emus:
Emus were common in Tasmania until being hunted to extinction by the mid-1800s, now researches want to re-introduce them and restore their ecosystem services, particularly their ability to disperse seeds in a warming world.
Getting Cocky:
Birdlife Australia's NSW woodland bird program manager Mick Roderick reports seeing an unusually large flock of 310 Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos at Urunga, noting they seem to be moving more into urban areas after food, though still need those large tree hollows to nest in.
"They need enormously large hollows … a similar sized hollow to an owl," he said.
"So, if we do start losing more of our hollow-bearing trees they could easily decline very quickly."
A mascot for Brisbane 2032:
Euan Ritchie has an article in the Conversation promoting 15 lesser known Australian species as potential mascots for Brisbane 2032 Olympic games, in an effort to increase knowledge of some of our other species.
Carping on:
In some Australian rivers more than 90 per cent of all fish are carp and extreme carp spawning is taking place as a result of flooding across the country, leading to renewed calls for release of carp herpes virus to control them. Their control would also be enhanced by restoring natural flows by removing weir pools and floodplain structures.
The impacts of carp are like a house of horrors for our rivers. They cause massive degradation of aquatic plants, riverbanks and riverbeds when they feed. They alter the habitat critical for small native fish, such as southern pygmy perch. And they can make the bed of many rivers look like the surface of golf balls – denuded and dimpled, devoid of any habitat.
Mathematical modelling suggests the carp virus could cause a 40-60% knockdown for at least ten years, which may help tip the balance in favour of native fish.
Dear deer:
Populations of feral deer are rapidly expanding, increasing from about 50,000 in 1980 to more than 2 million now, with an estimate they would cost the Victorian economy between $1.5 billion and $2.2 billion over the next 30 years, leading to a draft national feral deer plan.
In just two decades, much of this creek and the surrounding Sherbrooke Forest have been damaged by the area’s soaring population of feral sambar and fallow deer.
They wallow in waterways, chew through young vegetation and rub and ringbark native trees with their antlers. As a result, the trees die and the canopy of this cool temperate rainforest is opened up to damaging sunlight.
The exploding numbers of deer across Australia – approximately a ten-fold increase over 20 years – has prompted a new draft national feral deer plan.
Brumbies increasing:
While the 2021 Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan is to reduce brumby numbers in Kosciuszko National Park to 3,000 by 2027, their numbers have jumped by more than 30 per cent in the past two years to 18,814.
THE DETERIORATING PROBLEM
It could be worse:
Some say that with predictions for “just” a 3 degree warming by the end of this century the worst scenarios are over, claiming its “still dangerous, but not hellish”. Though others warn there could be enough “warming in the pipeline” to generate 7° to 10°C of global heating, once all climate feedbacks, including the “long-term” ones, have played out. Yet others expect the target of 1.5°C could slip out of reach as early as 2028 as later this year a resurgent “El Niño will cause global temperatures to rise “off the chart” and deliver unprecedented heat waves”.
Later this year, El Niño will cause global temperatures to rise “off the chart” and deliver unprecedented heat waves, scientists have warned. “It’s very likely that the next big El Niño could take us over 1.5°C,” Prof. Adam Scaife, the head of long-range prediction at the United Kingdom Met Office, told the Guardian.
“The probability of having the first year at 1.5°C in the next five-year period is now about 50:50.”
Just how big the next El Niño will be remains uncertain. “Many seasonal forecast models are suggesting the arrival of moderate El Niño conditions from summer 2023,” said Andrew Turner, professor of monsoon systems at the University of Reading. Early summer will bring greater certainty about what lies ahead, with the picture becoming much clearer by June.
Even a “moderate” El Niño will bring misery to hundreds of millions, with parts of Asia and Australia left parched and sweltering while other regions, like the Yangtze basin in China, are hammered by torrential rains. More drought will be in the cards for the already dangerously dry Amazon, for Southern Africa, and also for India, where El Niño tends to suppress monsoon rainfall.
In his opinion, Bill Gates considers there is “no chance” of limiting warming to 1.5C, and “very unlikely” it could be kept to 2C, but that “to stay below 2.5C would be pretty fantastic”.
Biomass war profits:
In July 2022, the European Union responded to the war in Ukraine by banning the import of Russian woody biomass used to make energy, so South Korea drastically upped its Russian woody biomass imports, though Russian biomass appears to still be making its way to European powerplants through other countries. The real winner has been Enviva, the world’s largest woody biomass producer, which operates chiefly in the Southeast U.S.A.
TURNING IT AROUND
Eco-anxiety growing:
Eco-anxiety is a growing problem, with 75 per cent of 16 to 25-year-olds in 10 countries surveyed for a study published in 2021 in UK medical journal The Lancet having described the future as “frightening”, with 25% in Australia extremely worried, 28% vey worried, 29% moderately worried, 10% a little worried, and 6% not worried at all. The positive from this is that eco-anxiety ‘coupled with a realistic sense of hope can be “really powerful” in getting people engaged’.
Eco-anxiety need not necessarily be seen as an entirely negative thing to experience because, he said, because research indicates that eco-anxiety coupled with a realistic sense of hope can be “really powerful” in getting people engaged.
Researchers have dubbed this galvanising emotion “practical eco-anxiety” and have said that it can help to alleviate severely pessimistic feelings.
“What’s particularly interesting is that this combination of eco-anxiety and hope seems to push people towards more communal forms of activism,” Mr Kurth said.
A new survey of 25,000 people - conducted across 25 countries by research firm Elabe and water, waste and energy management company Veolia – reveals 30 per cent of the world's inhabitants feel distressed about the future, ‘often’ think about climate change and are considering giving up long term goals like having children.
But it’s not all doom and gloom as it also reveals growing support for climate action.
75 per cent of the world's inhabitants now believe that climate change is being caused by humans.
This large majority believes in collective action to reduce its implications: 55 per cent think that we need to change the way we live, alongside implementing technological solutions.
The Netherlands, Finland, the USA, Nigeria, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have the highest percentage of deniers.
Past time to protect forests rather than turning them into biochar:
Scaling up Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) is an urgent priority, as are efforts to rapidly reduce emissions, if we are to meet the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement. Scenarios for limiting warming to well below 2°C involve removing hundreds of billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere over the course of the century. A study estimates that the current global rate of CDR is around 2 billion tonnes per year, on land this comes from afforestation, reforestation and management of existing forests. About 0.1% of carbon removal — around 2.3 million tonnes per year — is performed by the new technologies this study focusses on. To limit global warming to less than 2 °C above pre-industrial temperatures, the report estimates that by 2030, the world will need to remove a further 0.96 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, compared with 2020. By 2050, this will have to rise even more, to around 4.8 billion tonnes above 2020 levels. As it stands, governments worldwide have proposed an increase of only between 0.1 billion and 0.65 billion tonnes of CDR per year by 2030 and 1.5 billion to 2.3 billion tonnes per year by 2050.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00180-4?utm
… others focus on ocean sequestration;
The oceans store around 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere and about 20 times more carbon than every plant and plot of soil on land combined, the problem is that as the oceans take up more carbon they are becoming more acidic, dissolving the calcium carbonate structures of a multitude of species. Liming the oceans on a large scale is being considered as a means of ocean alkalinity enhancement, now the latest is to increase their carbon storage by using crushed olivine, an abundant volcanic mineral, delivered by a fleet of ships.
Prioritising reservation:
In the USA the coastal temperate rainforests of Oregon are important carbon storage facilities and provide 80% of the state’s drinking water, with a recent study combining data on drinking water sources, biodiversity, carbon storage and forest resilience to determine which forests are the highest priority for conservation.
A recent study published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change is the first to determine which forests are the highest priority for conservation by analyzing data on drinking water sources, biodiversity, carbon storage and forest resilience.
Phantom Offsets:
Research by The Guardian and others into Verra, the world’s leading carbon standard, used by companies such as Gucci, Salesforce, BHP, Shell, Disney, easyJet, Leon and the band Pearl Jam to “offset” their emissions, has found that, based on analysis of a significant percentage of the projects, more than 90% of their rainforest offset credits – among the most commonly used by companies – are likely to be “phantom credits” and do not represent genuine carbon reductions. A claimed 94.9m (tonnes) in carbon credits resulted in 5.5m in real emissions reductions.
Farming carbon:
Carbon farming is set to take-off with a $4.5 billion carbon credit Australian government boost, though as soil carbon is very variable and only one sample per 10-15 ha is taken, the current methods for measuring how much carbon can be trapped in the soil are flawed, so we may be faced with another dodgy scheme that uses up billions of dollars and does little to help.
But so far, only a single farmer, Niels Olsen in West Gippsland, has earned any carbon credits for his soil.
Olsen, who invented a seed planter to mulch and aerate the soil as it plants seeds, said his latest soil tests show each hectare of his 100-hectare farm is pulling 26 tonnes of CO2-equivalent out of the atmosphere each year. At today’s carbon credit spot price of about $33 per tonne, that’s more than $850 a hectare.
“The soil carbon method is flawed,” said Professor Andrew Macintosh, inaugural chairman of the federal government’s Emissions Reduction Fund assurance committee.
Forest Media 13 January 2023
New South Wales
When loggers attempted to resume logging Bulga State Forest this year they were met by dozens of protectors, including a young forest protector on a tripod (Isla Lamont), accompanied by Sue Higginson. A grandmother in her 60s on a tree-sit is resolved to remain as long as possible while logging has been forced to move to a nearby plantation in the area. For more information visit Save Bulga Forest. The police singled out Susie Russell for arrest for briefly entering the closed forest to give encouragement to Lamont, and gave her bail conditions prohibiting her from entering into any part of the Bulga Forest. Lamont was also arrested. Their revised tactic was to get the local Labor candidate to visit, and focus on lobbying visitors to the falls campsite. There was a great story on NBN. Then action extended to Lorne State Forest which was blocked by a forest protector on a tree platform suspended over the road.
The notice of an application to register the Widjabal Wia-bal ILUA includes (under State agency) the clause “in relation to Bungabbee State Forest before that land is transferred to Widjabal Wia-bal Gurrumbil Aboriginal Corporation”. This is indeed happening, it appears it will be transferred to the Corporation as freehold though what they intend to do with it is unknown. Another loss for the Forestry Corporation.
The NRC summary report on the deterioration of our forests had a run in the Guardian, emphasising the benefits the state’s forests provide are degrading and will continue to degrade, could become net carbon emitters in coming decades and undermining attempts to achieve net zero emissions without “major intervention”, leading to more calls to stop landclearing and commercial logging of native forests.
The Federal Government is to fast track regional plans early this year to ‘help protect, restore, and manage the environment’ and ‘enable better and faster decision-making under Australia’s national environment law’. In northern NSW these include: the Northern Rivers to support the relocation of the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation and reconstruction operations for flood affected areas, the Central Coast as an area experiencing urban development growth and pressure on biodiversity and the Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone to support the delivery of the required transmission network infrastructure to support new renewable energy generation and storage. Once these plans are in place it is assumed they will apply to all developments, not just for the reasons given, so we will have our work cut out to make them adequate.
Grandpa’s Scrub, last remaining stand of original critically endangered White Booyong Lowland Rainforest in the Coffs Creek basin is currently destined to be destroyed for the Coffs Harbour bypass, sparking local protests and controversy over being able to “offset” such destruction by protecting rainforests elsewhere. News of the Area has letters from Mark Graham detailing records of Koalas in the Kalang Headwaters to counter a claim by a farmer that there are none there, and Warren Tindall about overlogging driving Koalas and the Greater Glider to extinction.
Forestry Corporation of NSW is recruiting a team of planners, coordinators, engineers, ecologists and cultural heritage experts to implement the $60 million NSW Government-funded Forest Infrastructure Repair Program.
Australia
The Chubb review of Australia’s controversial carbon credit system has dismissed claims the scheme lacks integrity and is not delivering real cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, while recommending significant changes to how it is managed, leaving Andrew Macintosh and colleagues who had criticised the system “disappointed and confused”. Cosmos has an explainer about carbon credits and the touted Green Wallstreet biodiversity trading scheme.
Cotton growers are moving from the drought ravished south to the northern savannah woodlands where they are clearing massive tracts for new farms, sometimes illegally as the Northern Territory Government turns a blind eye. Federal senators and environmental groups are calling for an urgent inquiry into land clearing in the Northern Territory, with senator Sarah Hanson-Young writing to Tanya Plibersek asking for an inquiry into this unauthorised land clearing, backed by senator David Pocock.
Western Australia is committed to protecting 30% of its lands by 2030, but their head of national parks management says it would be difficult for the state to meet this goal, despite already having about 23.3 per cent of the state registered in the national reserve system – what is NSW going to do with only 9% protected?
Species
A market where koala credits, along with other species, are traded is central to the federal Labor government's plan for halting Australia's extinction crisis, though businesses are claiming that for market forces to work it needs to be profitable therefore requiring regulation to force companies to buy the credits and/or lots of Government money.
The federal Environment Department is assessing 140 proposals with the potential to have a detrimental impact on koalas, on which Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek will be the final decision maker, in a test of the government’s pledge to halt the decimation of native species. Dr Leigh is promoting the higher, cooler and wetter forests of the Blue Mountains world heritage area as a potential climatic refuge for Koalas, despite being devastated by the 2019-20 bushfires.
The Deteriorating Problem
As floodwaters continued down the Murray, focus shifted to record floods in the Kimberley region, with the Fitzroy River peaking at a record height of 15.8 metres, almost 2m above the previous record in what has become a vast inland sea, at Fitzroy Crossing. Europe is experiencing an insane record heatwave as winter turns to summer. Meanwhile researchers find 68% of the world’s glaciers could be gone this century, increasing sea-levels and depriving millions of a reliable water supply.
A study concludes the earth’s water cycle is clearly changing, the air is getting hotter and drier, which means droughts and risky fire conditions are developing faster and more frequently. For Australia, warning of a switch to an El Niño halfway through this year which may see a return to heatwaves and bushfires, flash droughts, and the start of another multi-year drought.
Turning it Around
Extinction Rebellion’s founding branch in the U.K. has announced that it would “prioritize attendance over arrest and relationships over roadblocks” this year by halting disruptive protest tactics at least through spring, in light of evidence of public disapproval, though other groups intend to continue. But in Australia XR said it had no intention of toning down its tactics, with activists from around the country organising a series of actions to disrupt the Santos sponsored bicycle race Tour Down Under. Doctors for Environment Australia have weighed in against allowing Santos’ sponsorship of the Tour Down Under. Then two women from XR were arrested in Adelaide's CBD after gluing themselves to a pile of bicycles in a street for half an hour.
Dailan Pugh
NEW SOUTH WALES
Bulga blockade continues:
When loggers attempted to resume logging Bulga State Forest this year they were met by dozens of protectors, including a young forest protector on a tripod (Isla Lamont), accompanied by Sue Higginson. A grandmother in her 60s on a tree-sit is resolved to remain as long as possible while logging has been forced to move to a nearby plantation in the area. For more information visit Save Bulga Forest.
[Lamont] ‘If not me then who?’
‘If I have children I want them to have the chance to see Greater Gliders, Sooty Owls, Spotted-tailed quolls and Koalas.’
The group has set up a forest support camp at the Ellenborough Falls campground to provide food and care for all those who come to help with their efforts.
https://www.echo.net.au/2023/01/forest-protectors-determined-to-save-bulga/
https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/resistance-logging-continues-bulga-state-forest
The police singled out Susie Russell for arrest for briefly entering the closed forest to give encouragement to Lamont, and gave her bail conditions prohibiting her from entering into any part of the Bulga Forest. Lamont was also arrested.
‘I have no doubt I was arrested in order to try and limit my involvement in the campaign. It has however, made my resolve stronger.’
‘I have watched the forests of my region being steadily degraded over three decades. In the 1990’s a spotlighting trip through these forests would reveal dozens of Greater Gliders. Now we are lucky to see one. There is nothing ecologically sustainable about this logging. It is smash and grab and runs at a loss. These forests will take centuries to recover.
https://www.echo.net.au/2023/01/veteran-forest-campaigner-says-she-was-targeted-by-police/
[Forestry Corporation] "Late last year a crew was operating in two native regrowth compartments," the statement said.
"This work ceased at the end of the year. The crew is now working in a plantation within the forest. The protest today was at the native regrowth site and so harvesting has continued in the plantation."
In terms of the Forestry Corporation's financial performance, the past two financial years have been heavily impacted by fire and floods, she said.
"The assertion that native forest harvesting runs at a loss is incorrect," the statement said.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/science/environment/2023/01/09/arrests-logging-protest-nsw-forest/
Their revised tactic was to get the local Labor candidate to visit, and focus on lobbying visitors to the falls campsite. There was a great story on NBN.
https://www.echo.net.au/2023/01/labor-candidate-visits-bulga-state-forest-protection-camp/
… and another starts:
Then action extended to Lorne State Forest which was blocked by a forest protector on a tree platform suspended over the road.
[Jane McIntyre] “Inspired by the action of the Elands community standing up for the Bulga Forest, we reached out for some assistance to enable us to do the same, and make a public statement that we will no longer stand idly by and watch the daily destruction.
“We know that a majority of people in NSW, think that the ongoing logging of our publicly owned forests is sheer madness. The time is now. It has to stop."
Forestry Corporation NSW suspended operations at Lorne State Forest following the protest.
Mid North Coast Police District Inspector Stuart Campbell said protestors have been compliant and no arrests have been made at this stage.
Determining Bungabbee’s future:
The notice of an application to register the Widjabal Wia-bal ILUA includes (under State agency) the clause “in relation to Bungabbee State Forest before that land is transferred to Widjabal Wia-bal Gurrumbil Aboriginal Corporation”. This is indeed happening, it appears it will be transferred to the Corporation as freehold though what they intend to do with it is unknown. Another loss for the Forestry Corporation.
Northern River’s Times 12 January 2023
Our deteriorating forests:
The NRC summary report on the deterioration of our forests had a run in the Guardian, emphasising the benefits the state’s forests provide are degrading and will continue to degrade, could become net carbon emitters in coming decades and undermining attempts to achieve net zero emissions without “major intervention”, leading to more calls to stop landclearing and commercial logging of native forests.
The report, published in December, urges the government to avoid “business-as-usual management approaches and reactive policy decision making”, saying this would lead to “sub-optimal outcomes at best, or ecosystem and industry collapse under worst case scenarios”.
It states that streamflow in NSW forests, particularly on the south coast, had been declining for 30 years and ongoing reductions would have “major implications for future water security in NSW”.
Andrew Macintosh, an environmental law and policy professor at the Australian National University … “If the government wanted to improve the condition of forests, the best thing you could do is stop remnant clearing and large-scale commercial harvesting of native forests,” he said.
Jacqui Scruby, an independent running for the seat of Pittwater, said it “doesn’t make sense to be setting emissions reduction targets and then subsidising native forest logging”.
Regional plans become the issue of 2023:
The Federal Government is to fast track regional plans early this year to ‘help protect, restore, and manage the environment’ and ‘enable better and faster decision-making under Australia’s national environment law’. In northern NSW these include: the Northern Rivers to support the relocation of the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation and reconstruction operations for flood affected areas, the Central Coast as an area experiencing urban development growth and pressure on biodiversity and the Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone to support the delivery of the required transmission network infrastructure to support new renewable energy generation and storage. Once these plans are in place it is assumed they will apply to all developments, not just for the reasons given, so we will have our work cut out to make them adequate.
“Having the necessary approvals in place from the get-go will provide certainty to landholders on the biodiversity value of their land and result in more homes being built faster, in the right places, without sacrificing essential conservation considerations,” Mr Roberts said.
“The Regional Plans identified for joint-development will also enable work to fast-track the recovery of our flood-affected communities in the Northern Rivers, and allow NSW to continue its trajectory as a leader in Australia’s transition to renewable energy, helping to expedite transmission and energy storage projects, such as the Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone, and rare earth mining in far south west NSW to source the minerals needed for energy transition infrastructure.”
Offsetting grandpa’s scrub upsetting:
Grandpa’s Scrub, last remaining stand of original critically endangered White Booyong Lowland Rainforest in the Coffs Creek basin is currently destined to be destroyed for the Coffs Harbour bypass, sparking local protests and controversy over being able to “offset” such destruction by protecting rainforests elsewhere.
[Sue Higginson] “Once something is critically endangered it means it is literally on the brink of extinction, that it cannot withstand any more loss or destruction and it needs a recovery program.
“Secondly, any offsetting must be like for like, meaning you can only destroy the same biodiversity that you are protecting on the offset site.
“I understand that the rainforest the Government has purchased is totally different to the White Booyong Lowland Rainforest proposed to be destroyed.”
… so is industrial logging:
News of the Area has letters from Mark Graham detailing records of Koalas in the Kalang Headwaters to counter a claim by a farmer that there are none there, and Warren Tindall about overlogging driving Koalas and the Greater Glider to extinction.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/coffs-coast-news-of-the-area-30-december-2022
Spending our taxes:
Forestry Corporation of NSW is recruiting a team of planners, coordinators, engineers, ecologists and cultural heritage experts to implement the $60 million NSW Government-funded Forest Infrastructure Repair Program.
AUSTRALIA
Carbon scheme creditable:
The Chubb review of Australia’s controversial carbon credit system has dismissed claims the scheme lacks integrity and is not delivering real cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, while recommending significant changes to how it is managed, leaving Andrew Macintosh and colleagues who had criticised the system “disappointed and confused”.
But the report released on Monday rejected detailed allegations by a team of academics led by Prof Andrew Macintosh, an environment law professor at the Australian National University and former head of the emissions reduction assurance committee, that failures in the system mean more than 70% of carbon credits approved might not represent new or real cuts in emissions.
In a press conference with Bowen on Monday, Chubb said the scheme was “not as broken as has been suggested”. He said it was a “human-designed process, implemented by human beings, and it will be a bit frayed at the edges”, but the system was “basically sound” with safeguards in place.
Macintosh said the team of academics that alleged problems with the scheme were “disappointed and confused” by the review as the panel recommended sweeping governance changes while also arguing the carbon credit system was “apparently working fine”. “It’s illogical,” he said.
The report sparked an angry reaction from Professor Andrew Macintosh, the whistleblower academic whose work triggered the review, who argues hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money has been spent on worthless carbon credits via offset projects that do not deliver any actual carbon sequestration.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-09/australian-carbon-credit-units-review-report/101836478
These changes include putting an end to the much-criticised “avoided deforestation” methodology which had allowed landholders to claim credits by promising not to cut down trees that they might not have intended to cut down in the first place.
That’s good. It was a silly idea.
It also called for landfill gas project credits to become stricter over time and for tougher oversight of the regeneration of forests by humans to ensure it achieves the permanently storing carbon.
The Climate Council said the review did not address the biggest issue, which was allowing big emitters to continue polluting as usual rather than making real progress in avoiding and reducing emissions by purchasing ACCUs.
It noted that instead of carbon offsets being used only as a last resort for the small share of emissions that cannot be avoided through process, technology and other operational changes, paying for ACCUs has become the first and only thing many businesses are doing about their harmful emissions.
… privatising conservation:
Cosmos has an explainer about carbon credits and the touted Green Wallstreet biodiversity trading scheme.
Presently, there are dozens of ways entities can generate carbon credits for purchase, but three quarters of projects currently generating credits are in either avoided deforestation, human-induced regeneration of native forest and landfill gas.
In August, the government announced a biodiversity certificates scheme that would recognise “landholders who restore or manage local habitat”, granting credits that can be on-sold to others wishing to contribute to nature restoration.
However this is a voluntary scheme – at least at the moment – so unlike the safeguard mechanism, which requires credits to offset excess emissions, a destroyer of vegetation isn’t forced to buy a biodiversity credit. The jury is still out on how such a scheme would work for nature and endangered species protection.
https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/carbon-credits-safeguard-mechanism/
Northern savannah woodlands the latest frontier:
Cotton growers are moving from the drought ravished south to the northern savannah woodlands where they are clearing massive tracts for new farms, sometimes illegally as the Northern Territory Government turns a blind eye.
Deep in the Northern Territory outback, stations — some double the land size of London — are being bought for millions and converted at a rapid rate to make way for a lucrative industry: cotton.
Paul Burke, the chief executive of the NT Farmers Association, has been spearheading the expansion of the industry in the north.
He says it’s a silver bullet crop that could rocket to a $200 million economy within the decade, helping small family farmers diversify from the cattle status quo, which has driven the Territory up until now.
But environmental groups say this alleged unlawful activity speaks of a culture of cowboy antics in a jurisdiction with limited environmental oversight and “a piecemeal set of laws”.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-11/land-cleared-for-cotton-farming-northern-territory/101651092
Federal senators and environmental groups are calling for an urgent inquiry into land clearing in the Northern Territory, with senator Sarah Hanson-Young writing to Tanya Plibersek asking for an inquiry into this unauthorised land clearing, backed by senator David Pocock.
At a press conference in Darwin on Wednesday, NT Environment Minister Lauren Moss praised the government's environment regulations as "world class" and said less than 1 per cent of the Territory had been cleared, listing pests, fire and weeds as far greater threats to the ecosystem.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-12/nt-government-land-clearing-cotton-inquiry/101847612
30x30:
Western Australia is committed to protecting 30% of its lands by 2030, but their head of national parks management says it would be difficult for the state to meet this goal, despite already having about 23.3 per cent of the state registered in the national reserve system – what is NSW going to do with only 9% protected?
"There is opportunity for us to be exploring how we work with private landholders, pastoral lessees, other Aboriginal lands, to put in place management frameworks that would meet that international obligation that Australia is signing up to.
"It doesn't all have to be in national parks and reserves."
SPECIES
The value of Koalas:
A market where koala credits, along with other species, are traded is central to the federal Labor government's plan for halting Australia's extinction crisis, though businesses are claiming that for market forces to work it needs to be profitable therefore requiring regulation to force companies to buy the credits and/or lots of Government money.
"At the moment, the price for the koala credit is about $400," explained Megan Evans, an environmental policy researcher at the University of New South Wales.
A credit is the compensation a developer would need to pay in New South Wales for killing a koala's habitat — known as a "biodiversity offset".
And you could have bought one of those credits for $250 in 2020, making a 60 per cent return in a few years.
Death of a 140 cuts:
The federal Environment Department is assessing 140 proposals with the potential to have a detrimental impact on koalas, on which Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek will be the final decision maker, in a test of the government’s pledge to halt the decimation of native species.
Koala refuges:
Dr Leigh is promoting the higher, cooler and wetter forests of the Blue Mountains world heritage area as a potential climatic refuge for Koalas, despite being devastated by the 2019-20 bushfires.
In 2018, the group reported that Blue Mountains koala populations were the most genetically diverse recorded.
Then in 2022, Dr Leigh and her team came across a new colony of koalas in the Blue Mountains that were free of chlamydia.
She describes the region as a climate refuge for koalas, somewhere that is unaffected by changes in the climate, like rising temperatures, extreme drought and heat waves.
"A climate refuge is an area that's got enough variation in it, or something different about it, that it can buck that trend.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-30/saving-the-koalas-blue-mountains-extinction/101775152
THE DETERIORATING PROBLEM
Insane weather:
As floodwaters continued down the Murray, focus shifted to record floods in the Kimberley region, with the Fitzroy River peaking at a record height of 15.8 metres, almost 2m above the previous record in what has become a vast inland sea, at Fitzroy Crossing. Europe is experiencing an insane record heatwave as winter turns to summer. Meanwhile researchers find 68% of the world’s glaciers could be gone this century, increasing sea-levels and depriving millions of a reliable water supply.
Europe is experiencing a record-shattering warm spell, with meteorologists calling the current heat wave “totally insane” and “the most extreme event ever seen in European climatology.” On New Year’s Day, at least seven nations experienced their warmest January weather on record, with some cities in Spain and France sweating as temperatures rose to over 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/01/05/warm-winter-effects-europe-us/
Researchers found 49% of glaciers would disappear under the most optimistic scenario of 1.5C of warming. However, if global heating continued under the current scenario of 2.7C of warming, losses would be more significant, with 68% of glaciers disappearing, according to the paper, published in Science. There would be almost no glaciers left in central Europe, western Canada and the US by the end of the next century if this happened.
This will significantly contribute to sea level rise, threaten the supply of water of up to 2 billion people, and increase the risk of natural hazards such as flooding. The study looked at all glacial land ice except for Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.
Flash droughts to follow flash floods?:
A study concludes the earth’s water cycle is clearly changing, the air is getting hotter and drier, which means droughts and risky fire conditions are developing faster and more frequently. For Australia, warning of a switch to an El Niño halfway through this year which may see a return to heatwaves and bushfires, flash droughts, and the start of another multi-year drought.
In 2022, La Niña combined with warm waters in the northern Indian Ocean to bring widespread flooding in a band stretching from Iran to New Zealand, and almost everywhere in between.
The most devastating floods occurred in Pakistan, where about 8 million people were driven out of their homes by massive flooding along the Indus River. Australia also experienced several severe flood events throughout the year – mostly in the east, but also in Western Australia’s Kimberly region at the very end of the year and into 2023.
As is typical for La Niña, the rain was much less plentiful on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. A multi-year drought in the western United States and central South America saw lakes fall to historic lows.
The monsoon regions from India to Northern Australia are getting wetter. Parts of the Americas and Africa are getting drier, including the western United States, which experienced its 23rd year of drought in 2022.
In 2022, intense heatwaves in Europe and China led to so-called “flash droughts”. These occur when warm, dry air causes the rapid evaporation of water from soils and inland water systems.
TURNING IT AROUND
XR UK to stop being extreme:
Extinction Rebellion’s founding branch in the U.K. has announced that it would “prioritize attendance over arrest and relationships over roadblocks” this year by halting disruptive protest tactics at least through spring, in light of evidence of public disapproval, though other groups intend to continue.
But last year’s wave of climate protests, held at famous art galleries, popular sports events and in the middle of major transportation hubs, have appeared to strike a nerve for many people, with even some of the climate movement’s most prominent figures calling the demonstrations counterproductive.
Recent polls conducted in the U.K., the U.S. and Germany, where many of last year’s disruptive protests occurred, suggest that the majority of the people in those countries disapprove of the climate activists’ tactics, even if they agree with their cause. One poll found that just 21 percent of U.K. residents approve of disruptive climate protests, with 64 percent disapproving. Another found 14 percent of German residents approve, with 83 percent disapproving. Similarly, a U.S. poll showed an approval rating of 13 percent from its respondents, with 46 percent saying the disruptive tactics “decrease their support for efforts to address climate change.”
… “We’ve listened to the public,” van de Geer told the morning talk show’s hosts. “They say over and over again, ‘We support what you stand for but we don’t like how you do it.’”
The protests have also triggered a wave of new anti-protest laws in several Western countries, levying stiffer penalties against demonstrators for trespassing, disrupting traffic and business operations, or for generally being a public nuisance. It’s a global trend that has concerned many civil rights experts.
https://us2.campaign-archive.com/?e=6624c72df8&u=7c733794100bcc7e083a163f0&id=e16fe7fd64
… but not in Australia:
But in Australia XR said it had no intention of toning down its tactics, with activists from around the country organising a series of actions to disrupt the Santos sponsored bicycle race Tour Down Under.
[Jane Morton] “The only thing you can do that will give people an idea that it really is that serious is to do something that is really quite unusual – and be willing to, say, go to jail, because then it does get people thinking: ‘is it more serious than what we’re being taught?’ And it is.”
Some prominent researchers believe the radical flank effect can be negative. Professor Michael Mann, one of the world’s leading climate scientists and advocates and director of the Penn Centre for Science, Sustainability and the Media said radical action can cost the movement support.
Morton remains unmoved by Mann’s argument. She says the world is in crisis, and by softening the message scientists like Mann risk misleading the public about the scope of threat.
Doctors for Environment Australia have weighed in against allowing Santos’ sponsorship of the Tour Down Under.
Despite this, the council ratepayers of Adelaide gave $125,000 to this year's Santos Tour Down Under.
While Adelaide Council and the state government support fossil fuel events, others are dropping Santos like a hot potato. The Australian Open ended its sponsorship agreement last year, as did the Darwin Festival and a kids science road show.
So why is South Australia still allowing a fossil fuel company to leverage a key sporting event to promote its brand?
https://www.juneesoutherncross.com.au/story/8044953/when-will-we-ban-fossil-fuel-advertising/
Then two women from XR were arrested in Adelaide's CBD after gluing themselves to a pile of bicycles in a street for half an hour.
South Australian Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison … "I think people are free to share their concerns; the disruptions is what is outraging me," she said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-12/protest-against-santos-sponsoring-tour-down-under/101850098
Forest Media 23 December 2022
It’s been an interesting year. I think the groundswell to stop logging public native forests has gathered an unstoppable momentum, though overcoming the ALP inertia remains a challenge. As forests and their inhabitants deteriorate under the heating climate, their protection can’t come soon enough. While burning forests for electricity struggles on, we achieved a major victory when the Feds ruled out burning native forest wood waste as counting toward the Renewable Energy Target, hopefully the looming threat of Verdant Earth restarting Redbank with wood has been seen off. We are holding the line, but the threats are increasing.
This will be my last forest media for a couple of weeks.
Have an enjoyable Christmas, you need to be refreshed to do what you can to make forests a bigger State Election issue by March. If we all pile-on we can end this now.
Dailan
New South Wales
Locals from the Bulga Plateau have vowed to resist attempts by the State owned logging corporation to continue the carnage in Bulga State Forest north -west of Taree, erecting a bamboo tripod to block the access road on Monday and a tree-platform supported by ropes attached to other trees that were intended to be cut down on Wednesday. The tripod stopped logging for a few hours, with the protector arrested. The tree sit by Santa was more effective stopping logging for 2 days. Locals are calling on people to come down, learn skills and support from January 3 onwards, ready for attempts to resume logging on Jan 9. The Forestry Corporation said they respect people’s right to protest, just not near them. The Shooters and Fishers want more draconian punishments while Justin Field supports the protest.
Emma Dorge, who suspended herself from a pole over the side of a Port Botany freight bridge and blocked access to incoming and outgoing trains for three hours, was handed a one year conditional release order for obstructing the rail line and was fined $110 for refusing to comply with police direction and $220 for remaining on enclosed land without lawful excuse.
The Natural Resources Commission five webinars presenting findings from the NSW Forest Monitoring and Improvement Program, covering forest health, biodiversity, carbon, forest catchments and future forest scenarios are now available on the Commission’s website by following the link – forest ecosystems are collapsing but it has nothing to do with logging??
The NSW and federal governments will begin consultation on its regional assessment plans (traffic light system) with businesses, green groups, communities, First Nations and technical experts on an initial four regions: the Northern Rivers, Central Coast, Hunter Valley renewable energy zone and the Far Western NSW mineral sands deposits near the South Australian border. This will be the first test of the new regional assessments and its yet to be seen what areas will be included in the no-go areas, possibly just national parks.
The Widjabul Wia-bal people have been granted non-exclusive native title rights to an area of approximately 1,559kms, which stretches across the Lismore, Ballina, Byron, Kyogle, Tweed and Richmond Valley local government areas, giving them limited rights to undertake cultural activities on publicly owned land, though not on private land. Against the wishes of the Gomeroi people, the National Native Title Tribunal has ruled in favour of a $3 billion gas development in northern NSW that will allow Santos to drill more than 850 coal seam gas wells in the native Pilliga Forest over the next 25 years, in the process releasing almost 130 million tonnes of Greenhouse gasses.
Despite this and all that coal, NSW expects to reach its goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030, so is upping the ante with a new goal of a 70 per cent reduction by 2035.
Australia
The federal government’s decision to restore the exclusion of electricity generated from burning native forest wood waste from eligibility under the Renewable Energy Target, meaning any electricity it generates cannot be used to create tradeable Large-scale Generation Certificates (see last week’s forest media), has gained world-wide coverage and become a precedent others want to emulate.
The ABC has a lengthy article about the 20th Anniversary of the successful direct action campaign by a “motley crew” of around 100 active “Enviro-commandos” from the Otway Ranges Environment Network resulted in legislation to create the Great Otway National Park and end native forest logging on public land in the Otway Ranges. The Greens will push to enshrine the right to protest in federal law which would override existing state laws.
Species
Flying foxes desperate for food due to logging and the 2019-20 bushfires removing nectar trees, are moving into towns on the New England Tablelands in search of food, driving locals batty.
News of the Area has a repeat article (Forest Media 9 December) about the campaign to protect the Great Koala National Park, again mentioning the e-petition that is on the NSW Legislative Assembly website: https://www.koalapark.org.au/petition. Jeff Angel argues for the Koala Green Belt around Sydney to allow the migration of koalas to areas still recovering from bushfires and to colonise suitable undamaged forest, as the Government pursues fast tracking habitat clearance in its Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan. The first sod has been turned at the $23.6 million Gunnedah Koala Sanctuary, a taxpayer funded Koala theme park.
Hatchlings of the Endangered Manning River Turtle that lives only in the middle and upper reaches of the Manning River catchment, have been spotted for the first time in 4 years.
Bogong moths are making a tentative comeback after their numbers crashed by 99.5% due to the years of drought that resulted in the 2019-20 wildfires, each spring billions of Bogong moths used to migrate from their breeding grounds in southern Queensland, north-western New South Wales and Victoria to caves in the Snowy Mountains where they were a key pillar of the ecosystem, particularly for Mountain Pygmy Possums.
The Deteriorating Problem
At this period of celebration, the good news is that it a supercomputer predicts we are only going to lose 27%, or maybe 34%, of the world’s vertebrate species this century, in part due to co-extinction as the loss of one species has cascading impacts on others that rely on it for food, pollination and other necessities. A pretty impressive achievement for one human’s lifetime, but it could be worse (and it may be), though it doesn’t need to be this bad if we act with the urgency required.
Turning it Around
The 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity, or COP15, reached a final agreement including protecting 30% of the planet for nature by the end of the decade, reforming $500bn of environmentally damaging subsidies, and taking urgent action on extinctions. The (draft) Kunming-Montreal Global biodiversity framework has 23 targets, including:
Ensure that by 2030 at least 30 per cent of areas of degraded terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine ecosystems are under effective restoration, in order to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, ecological integrity and connectivity.
Ensure and enable that by 2030 at least 30 per cent of terrestrial, inland water, and of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, are effectively conserved and managed through ecologically representative, well-connected and equitably governed systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, recognizing indigenous and traditional territories, where applicable, and integrated into wider landscapes, seascapes and the ocean, while ensuring that any sustainable use, where appropriate in such areas, is fully consistent with conservation outcomes, recognizing and respecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, including over their traditional territories.
At one stage representatives from developing countries, including the 54 members of the African group, seven South and Latin American countries, and other large countries, including India and Indonesia, walked out of COP 15, over concerns that talks about how those efforts should be funded are lagging behind those on how much land and water should be set aside. In the end a number of countries, notably the Democratic Republic of Congo, did not support the outcome. Though neither did USA. There was a commitment for US$30 billion per year to flow from wealthy to poorer countries by 2030, but this was not legally binding and scant in detail. The Greens criticised the Australian Government for failing to offer any new money for conservation measures at COP 15, particularly given evidence that funding in Australia needs to be dramatically increased to save more species.
There are concerns that the growing efforts by State, federal and international governments to commodify nature by monetising individual components under the moniker of “nature positive”, which attempts to put “a price on nature”, is a threat in itself as it attempts to incorporate nature into the economic trading system that is destroying it.
The Greens and Senator Pocock have called for an end to native forest logging in accordance with the COP 15 agreement, though the CFMEU are claiming they have an assurance from the Prime Minister that logging of native forests will continue.
An article in Eos argues for the need to identify and protect forest refugia, the oases that evade wildfires by quirks of topography, moisture, or the unpredictable wind and weather conditions during a fire, given their importance for repopulating burnt forests, though as megafires become more intense even long-term refugia are threatened
Dailan Pugh
NEW SOUTH WALES
Bulga goes off:
Locals from the Bulga Plateau have vowed to resist attempts by the State owned logging corporation to continue the carnage in Bulga State Forest north -west of Taree, erecting a bamboo tripod to block the access road on Monday and a tree-platform supported by ropes
attached to other trees that were to be cut down on Wednesday had logging continued. The tripod stopped logging for a few hours, with the protector arrested. The tree sit by Santa was more effective stopping logging for 2 days. Locals are calling on people to come down, learn skills and support from January 3 onwards, ready for attempts to resume logging on Jan 9.
“This logging is totally unsustainable” said long-time local forest campaigner, Susie Russell.
“Logging has been systematically eating away at this special place for decades. The community of NSW, the real owner of these forests, is the poorer. We lose the diversity of plants and animals that should be living here and that haven’t recovered from the 2019/20 fires.
“We lose the huge volume of stored carbon in the trees and the soil at a time we need to stop emissions. We lose the integrity of the upper catchment, which as we face wild weather and extreme rainfall is key to slowing floods. (The area is at the very top of the Hastings catchment).
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/12/bulga-plateau-locals-blockade-forest/
The Forestry Corporation said they respect people’s right to protest, just not near them. The Shooters and Fishers want more draconian punishments while Justin Field supports the protest.
[tripod] Operations were halted for several hours until Police Rescue arrived to remove a man from the platform at the top of the tripod and dismantle the structure.
The man was arrested and later charged.
North East Forest Alliance spokesperson Susie Russell, who lives on the Bulga Plateau, said the community was protesting to put urgent pressure on the Forestry Corporation of NSW and the state government to end native forest logging.
"The community feels angry and quite distressed," she said.
A Forestry Corporation spokesperson said it respected the community's right to protest but urged community members to "do this outside of active harvesting operations, which are closed worksites".
Inquiry chairperson and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party MLC Mark Banasiak said a greater investment in hardwood timber plantations was a priority before the state could consider a transition away from native forestry.
"With the support of the timber industry, I've moved a bill … to try and stop some of these more violent and dangerous protests that are happening."
Independent MLC Justin Field, a committee member in the inquiry, said he supported protesters and understood their frustration.
The fine is fine:
Emma Dorge, who suspended herself from a pole over the side of a Port Botany freight bridge and blocked access to incoming and outgoing trains for three hours, was handed a one year conditional release order for obstructing the rail line and was fined $110 for refusing to comply with police direction and $220 for remaining on enclosed land without lawful excuse.
NRC propaganda online:
The Natural Resources Commission five webinars presenting findings from the NSW Forest Monitoring and Improvement Program, covering forest health, biodiversity, carbon, forest catchments and future forest scenarios are now available on the Commission’s website by following the link – forest ecosystems are collapsing but it has nothing to do with logging??
https://www.nrc.nsw.gov.au/fmip-dialogue
Making an example of north-east NSW:
The NSW and federal governments will begin consultation on its regional plans (traffic light system) with businesses, green groups, communities, First Nations and technical experts on an initial four regions: the Northern Rivers, Central Coast, Hunter Valley renewable energy zone and the Far Western NSW mineral sands deposits near the South Australian border. This will be the first test of the new regional assessments and its yet to be seen what areas will be included in the no-go areas, possibly just national parks.
Widjabul Wia-bal people granted native title:
The Widjabul Wia-bal people have been granted non-exclusive native title rights to an area of approximately 1,559kms, which stretches across the Lismore, Ballina, Byron, Kyogle, Tweed and Richmond Valley local government areas, giving them limited rights to undertake cultural activities on publicly owned land, though not on private land.
These activities include:
- The right to access, move about and traverse.
- The right to camp and erect temporary shelters but not to permanently camp or occupy.
- The right to hunt and fish for non-commercial purposes.
- The right to access and use natural water resources for non-commercial purposes.
- The right to gather, share and exchange natural resources for non-commercial purposes.
- The right to conduct and participate in ceremonial, ritual and spiritual activities.
- The right to maintain and protect places of importance under traditional laws and customs.
- The right to transmit traditional knowledge to members of the native title claim group
- The right to hold meetings.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/12/change-gonna-come-widjabul-wia-bal-finally-granted-native-title/
National Native Title Tribunal over-rides objections from native title holders:
Against the wishes of the Gomeroi people, the National Native Title Tribunal has ruled in favour of a $3 billion gas development in northern NSW that will allow Santos to drill more than 850 coal seam gas wells in the native Pilliga Forest over the next 25 years, in the process releasing almost 130 million tonnes of Greenhouse gasses.
But on Tuesday, the tribunal – which manages native title applications and is not comprised of Aboriginal Australians – determined the group had failed to prove the gas project would have “grave and irreversible consequences for the Gomeroi people’s culture, lands and waters and would contribute to climate change”.
Tribunal president and judge John Dowsett said in his decision that Santos had negotiated in good faith and the benefits the Narrabri-Pilliga gas project would provide to the region and wider country significantly outweighed the Gomeroi people’s concerns.
Gomeroi man Raymond Weatherall … “We’re trying to uphold our cultural integrity. The proposed infrastructure [for the wells] seeks to destroy our cultural heritage and spiritual connection to our Country,” he said on Tuesday.
The gas field is expected to contribute almost 130 million tonnes to Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions over the life of the project, according to the Climate Council.
NSW goes for 70% emissions cut by 2035:
NSW expects to reach its goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030, so is upping the ante with a new goal of a 70 per cent reduction by 2035.
[Matt Kean] “Many communities across the country have spent the last few years choking on the dust of drought or on the smoke of bushfires. Now, many of those same communities have seen their homes and businesses inundated with one-in-a-thousand-year floods, three times in the space of nine months,” he said.
“As any of those families who have lost their homes to fire or flood, or their livelihoods to drought will tell you this fight against climate change is one that we cannot afford to lose.
“Our action on climate change will determine the prosperity of our children and define the way we are remembered by our grandchildren.”
AUSTRALIA
We’re the envy of the world (at least in the biomass resistance):
The federal government’s decision to restore the exclusion of electricity generated from burning native forest wood waste from eligibility under the Renewable Energy Target, meaning any electricity it generates cannot be used to create tradeable Large-scale Generation Certificates (see last week’s forest media), has gained world-wide coverage and become a precedent others want to emulate.
On December 15, Australia became the first major economy worldwide to reverse itself on its renewable classification for woody biomass burned to make energy. Under the nation’s new policy, wood harvested from native forests and burned to produce energy cannot be classified as a renewable energy source.
The impact of this regulatory change is perhaps most significant for the setback it may pose to the biomass industry globally, hindering the multibillion-dollar wood pellet industry from getting started Down Under at a time when pellet production is rising in the U.S. Southeast and British Columbia in order to supply growing demand to the EU, UK and Asia.
“Two big power stations in Queensland were on the verge of converting from coal to biomass,” Young told Mongabay in an interview from Montreal, where she was attending the United Nations COP15 biodiversity conference. “There are [coal] plants in Victoria and New South Wales that were looking to convert. They were talking with Drax [the world’s largest consumer of wood pellets for energy based in the United Kingdom] about how to make it happen. All this was about to start.”
But without the renewable designation, biomass development in Australia is all but dead in the water.
The government decision is a small but significant blow to the wood pellet industry’s plans for nonstop global expansion. In 2011, industry advocates noted that although Australia’s biomass industry was “slow to develop,” it had potential. “Wood waste” was deemed one of the country’s “most underutilized resources” and would likely remain so without government subsidies — which never materialized.
Forest advocates in Europe, who hope for the kind of success their counterparts in Australia have had, continue to press their case in Brussels so long as EU negotiations over biomass regulations are still ongoing.
Celebrating OREN’s end to logging in Otways:
The ABC has a lengthy article about the 20th Anniversary of the successful direct action campaign by a “motley crew” of around 100 active “Enviro-commandos” from the Otway Ranges Environment Network resulted in legislation to create the Great Otway National Park and end native forest logging on public land in the Otway Ranges.
As Roger sees it, there were three key pillars to the campaign — community support, an ability and willingness to engage with those in power, and a strategy of non-violent direct action.
From the late 1990s, protesters came and went, spending days, weeks and sometimes months occupying coupes during the Otways logging season, which usually ran from November to April.
Non-violent direct action was seen as a strategic part of a broader anti-logging campaign, something the government couldn’t ignore — “the loaded gun on the table”, as one activist put it.
Making protest lawful:
The Greens will push to enshrine the right to protest in federal law which would override existing state laws.
[David Shoebridge] "The right to non-violent protest is essential in any free society but we see politicians across the country increasingly using their positions of power to crack down on protests that threaten the fossil fuel and logging industries."
"Young protesters standing up for the right to a liveable planet are being hit with criminal penalties while the owners of corporations that pollute water, destroy land and damage sacred sites face no sanction," he said.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/aap/article-11556805/Push-national-protest-protection-laws.html
SPECIES
Tableland towns going batty:
Flying foxes desperate for food due to logging and the 2019-20 bushfires removing nectar trees, are moving into towns on the New England Tablelands in search of food, driving locals batty.
Listed as vulnerable by the NSW government in 2001, the grey-headed flying fox usually frequents rainforests and woodlands, where its foraging results in pollination and seed dispersal for native trees. But loss of habitat due to land clearing and bushfires has caused camps to appear in new areas such as Tenterfield.
A project in 2019 which mapped the flying fox’s range showed a significant migration into central NSW since its range was previously recorded in 2008. In that time, camps have settled near residential areas in Inverell, Tamworth and Armidale.
Great Koala Park:
News of the Area has a repeat article (Forest Media 9 December) about the campaign to protect the Great Koala National Park, again mentioning the e-petition that is on the NSW Legislative Assembly website: https://www.koalapark.org.au/petition.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/coffs-coast-news-of-the-area-23-december-2022
… Green Belt:
Jeff Angel argues for the Koala Green Belt around Sydney to allow the migration of koalas to areas still recovering from bushfires and to colonise suitable undamaged forest, as the Government pursues fast tracking habitat clearance in its Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan.
The Sydney Basin – stretching from Newcastle to the Blue Mountains down to Nowra – is bedevilled by threats from urban sprawl, mining and continued logging of native forest. Governments release koala protection plans, but still the trees – vital as food and shelter – are chainsawed and bushland bulldozed. In recent years NSW has experienced the “koala wars” as the National Party attacked environment protection laws, seeking to ensure the supremacy of development certain to whittle away the homes of koalas and the many other species which share our remnant natural areas. Can we ever stop death to our wildlife by a thousand cuts?
The debate about koala corridors has been fraught, with developers and planning bureaucrats trying to minimise their width and downplay their importance. The NSW Chief Scientist has been called in and recommended the preservation of six corridors in the Macarthur region with an average 390 to 425 metres wide. Development interests played games with “average” so that some parts were quite narrow, seriously devaluing the utility of the few they would allow.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/columns/spinifex/koala-colony-challenges-sydney/
… and Sanctuary
The first sod has been turned at the $23.6 million Gunnedah Koala Sanctuary, a taxpayer funded Koala theme park.
https://www.nbnnews.com.au/2022/12/21/first-sod-turned-at-gunnedahs-koala-sanctuary/
Turtles hatching:
Hatchlings of the Endangered Manning River Turtle that lives only in the middle and upper reaches of the Manning River catchment, have been spotted for the first time in 4 years.
Mr Gollan, a HLLS senior land services officer, said a team of ecologists recorded the first sighting of Manning River turtle hatchlings in recent weeks.
"Foxes and pigs are a key threat to freshwater turtle nests, and to adults when they leave the water to lay their eggs," he said.
"With favourable conditions following bushfires, feral pigs have experienced a massive spike in a number of priority reaches of turtle habitats."
Efforts were also underway to have the Manning River turtle listed as endangered federally, as well as its current NSW endangered listing.
Bogong rebounding:
Bogong moths are making a tentative comeback after their numbers crashed by 99.5% due to the years of drought that resulted in the 2019-20 wildfires, each spring billions of Bogong moths used to migrate from their breeding grounds in southern Queensland, north-western New South Wales and Victoria to caves in the Snowy Mountains where they were a key pillar of the ecosystem, particularly for Mountain Pygmy Possums.
THE DETERIORATING PROBLEM
The Deteriorating Problem
At this period of celebration, the good news is that it a supercomputer predicts we are only going to lose 27%, or maybe 34%, of the world’s vertebrate species this century, in part due co-extinction as the loss of one species has cascading impacts on others that rely on it for food, pollination and other necessities. A pretty impressive achievement for one human’s lifetime, but it could be worse (and it may be), though it doesn’t need to be this bad if we act with the urgency required.
The simulation conducted on one of Europe's most powerful supercomputers also found that one extinction caused a cascade of extinctions that have been coined "co-extinctions".
The tool found that under the worst climate change prediction, 34 per cent more species would become extinct than would be predicted when not considering co-extinctions.
The modelling found the areas of the world with the most biodiversity now — such as South America, Africa and Australia — would suffer the most from the effects of climate change and land use changes.
Our new research shows 10% of land animals could disappear from particular geographic areas by 2050, and almost 30% by 2100. This is more than double previous predictions. It means children born today who live to their 70s will witness literally thousands of animals disappear in their lifetime, from lizards and frogs to iconic mammals such as elephants and koalas.
But if we manage to dramatically reduce carbon emissions globally, we could save thousands of species from local extinction this century alone.
Every species depends on others in some way. So when a species dies out, the repercussions can ripple through an ecosystem.
Research suggests co-extinction was a main driver of past extinctions, including the five previous mass extinction events going back many hundreds of millions of years.
For example, if we manage to achieve a lower carbon-emissions pathway that limits global warming to less than 3℃ by the end of this century, we could limit biodiversity loss to “only” 13%. This would translate into saving thousands of species from disappearing.
TURNING IT AROUND
COP 15
The 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity, or COP15, reached a final agreement included protecting 30% of the planet for nature by the end of the decade, reforming $500bn of environmentally damaging subsidies, and taking urgent action on extinctions.
Nevertheless, the feeling among scientists is optimistic. They welcome a historic agreement, which at times felt nigh-on impossible to achieve. It has created, for the first time, biodiversity targets on par with the momentous 2015 Paris climate agreement, which set a crucial goal to to limit global warming to 1.5–2 °C above pre-industrial levels.
https://us17.campaign-archive.com/?e=9b93cf58d2&u=2c6057c528fdc6f73fa196d9d&id=3baa4cf847
The (draft) Kunming-Montreal Global biodiversity framework has 23 targets, including:
Ensure that by 2030 at least 30 per cent of areas of degraded terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine ecosystems are under effective restoration, in order to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, ecological integrity and connectivity.
Ensure and enable that by 2030 at least 30 per cent of terrestrial, inland water, and of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, are effectively conserved and managed through ecologically representative, well-connected and equitably governed systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, recognizing indigenous and traditional territories, where applicable, and integrated into wider landscapes, seascapes and the ocean, while ensuring that any sustainable use, where appropriate in such areas, is fully consistent with conservation outcomes, recognizing and respecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, including over their traditional territories.
https://www.cbd.int/doc/c/e6d3/cd1d/daf663719a03902a9b116c34/cop-15-l-25-en.pdf
But time is of the essence. If we let our planet sink into the depths of the sixth mass extinction, generations to come will not see the end of it. It will take tens of millions of years to recover.
Governments have consistently failed to meet targets set for nature in previous global meetings. So we must now develop mechanisms to hold governments accountable and to collectively undertake the serious work ahead, to ensure we protect and recover our biodiversity.
Countries attending the COP 15 summit in Montreal have adopted a 2030 deadline to protect 30% of the world’s lands, oceans, coasts, and inland waters, cut subsidies that harm nature by US$500 billion, reduce the loss of areas of high biodiversity importance to near zero, and cut food waste in half, in what some participants and observers have been calling a “Paris moment” for nature.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) pledges $200 billion in domestic and international biodiversity funding from public and private sources, including at least $20 billion per year by 2025 and $30 billion per year by 2030 in “international financial flows from developed to developing countries,” the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) secretariat said in an overnight release.
… walkout:
At one stage representatives from developing countries, including the 54 members of the African group, seven South and Latin American countries, and other large countries, including India and Indonesia, have walked out the global biodiversity and nature summit, COP 15, over concerns that talks about how those efforts should be funded are lagging behind those on how much land and water should be set aside. In the end a number of countries, notably the Democratic Republic of Congo, did not support the outcome. Though neither did USA.
There was a commitment for US$30 billion per year to flow from wealthy to poorer countries by 2030, but this was not legally binding and scant in detail.
The Greens criticised the Australian Government for failing to offer any new money for conservation measures at COP 15, particularly given evidence that funding in Australia needs to be dramatically increased to save more species.
Plibersek told the ABC’s AM program on Monday that the government increased funding for the environment in the October budget and “we are determined not only to increase government funding but to make it easier for others to invest in repairing nature as well”.
She said work to restore and protect nature was becoming as “important for businesses as reducing their carbon pollution”, and pointed to a recent report by the consulting firm PwC, which estimated a nature market could be worth $137bn by 2050.
Cashing in on biodiversity:
There are concerns that the growing efforts by State, federal and international governments to commodify nature by monetising individual components under the moniker of “nature positive”, which attempts to put “a price on nature”, is a threat in itself as it attempts to incorporate nature into the economic trading system that is destroying it.
Now, as the nations are meeting in Montreal for the Cop15 talks on biological diversity, 119 scientists and other experts have published an open letter warning against what they call “a neoliberal agenda hidden behind cheerful and meaningless keywords”.
In a context in which we don’t even know how many unique species exist on the planet (estimates range from 5.3 million to 1 trillion, with only 1.6 million of them identified and named), the author Adrienne Buller describes as an extraordinary fantasy the notion that “the biosphere can be readily segmented and ‘unbundled’ into discrete units which can subsequently be individually valued, speculated upon, and exchanged, abstracted entirely from the specifics of time and place.”
It’s a point also made in the open letter, which insists:
The monetary values being produced do not represent the value of nature’s ecological functions, not even a proxy. Yet misleading figures are not better than nothing but worse than nothing, as they can lead to wrong policy decisions with irreversible consequences. The monetary valuation of nature’s ecological functions can also give a dangerous and misleading illusion of substitutability between critical ecosystemic functions, where one assumes incorrectly that as long as the total monetary value remains stable, nature is in good shape.”
Think of Tanya Plibersek’s pledge to create in Australia a “Green Wall Street” based on the trading of “nature credits”. To many people, entrusting fragile and irreplaceable ecosystems to international commerce seems bizarre.
As George Monbiot once put it, by integrating the environment into the world market, “you are effectively pushing the natural world even further into the system that is eating it alive.”
That means recognising that genuine environmental solutions depend on the decommodification of nature, not its opposite.
The Greens and Senator Pocock have called for an end to native forest logging in accordance with the agreement, though the CFMEU are claiming they have an assurance from the Prime Minister that logging of native forests will continue.
[Hanson-Young] “The spotlight will now be on Australia to protect koala habitat. That means the protection of our native forests, that’s going to be front and centre.”
Pocock said the government’s reform agenda would take time but it should act now to end native forest logging, including the development of plans to help workers transition to new industries.
“Environmental laws should be updated now to remove any exemption to their application to Regional Forest Agreements,” he said.
Michael O’Connor, national secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union, said he expected the government to support native forest logging into the future.
“We have an assurance from the prime minister that he supports the industry and timber workers’ jobs, and we know the PM is a person who keeps his word,” O’Connor said.
Prioritising protecting refugia:
An article in Eos argues for the need to identify and protect forest refugia, the oases that evade wildfires by quirks of topography, moisture, or the unpredictable wind and weather conditions during a fire, given their importance for repopulating burnt forests, though as megafires become more intense even long-term refugia are threatened.
https://eos.org/features/last-tree-standing
Forest Media 16 December 2022
New South Wales
An unrepentant Violet Coco says why she had no choice but to block one lane of the Sydney Harbour Bridge to focus attention on the climate crisis, and appeals for donations to her legal fund. She successfully appealed and was released on bail – the favourable publicity surrounding her case has demonstrated the benefits of “extreme” actions. Meanwhile NSW Labor leader supports draconian punishments. In the Legislative Council (upper house), Byron-based Nationals MLC and failed local candidate, Ben Franklin, spoke extensively in favour of the bill on March 31. National’s Ballina candidate Joshua Booyens doesn’t think it’s a significant issue. Others are awaiting prosecution, amidst fears of what the consequences will be. An organiser of the planning meeting in Colo spent 4 weeks in prison after being refused bail. Meanwhile other states are also increasing penalties for protesting, and throwing the book at those that do.
The EPA’s prosecution of the Forestry Corporation for felling 4 hollow-bearing trees in Mogo SF in March 2020, in contravention of the “site-specific operating conditions” issued following the widespread fires, which included the protection of all hollow-bearing trees, has been delayed due to technical issues (the pdf names were too long).
The Forestry Corporation’s 2021-22 Sustainability Report shows that total wood harvested jumped from 272,499 cubic metres in 2020-21 to 477,460 cubic metres in 2021-22, an increase of 175 per cent, leading to NCC complaining it shows a complete disregard for native wildlife, with Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders saying it’s just a return to business as usual after the fires. The NSW Government released its pathetic response to the Inquiry into the long-term sustainability and future of the timber and forest products industry, “noting” (ignoring) those recommendations that were halfway reasonable, while emphasing how important logging and loggers are.
The NRC have released their summary report ‘Insights for NSW forest outcomes and management’ which identifies that our forests are degrading and in a precarious state in danger of collapse - though of course they don’t acknowledge logging’s contribution and wouldn’t dream of suggesting it ends. The Forestry Corporation of New South Wales has withdrawn its proposal to buy Hume Forests’ plantations after facing objections from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on the grounds it would likely substantially lessen competition in the supply of softwood logs.
On Friday, the state government will launch its “natural capital” statement of intent, which includes plans to develop land stewardship as a new type of investment to better conserve the environment. One of the first steps in implementing the plan will be for the government to ensure natural capital is embedded in planning and development decisions, including how to account for the value of nature on the state’s balance sheet.
Another story on the Barrington to Hawkesbury Climate Corridors Alliance proposal for a moratorium on land clearing and logging across 810,000ha between Barrington Tops and the Hawkesbury River.
Efforts to reopen the Aboriginal men’s site atop Wollumbin (Mt Warning) for access continue, with Tweed Mayor Chris Cherry mooting group hikes led by Indigenous guides or a phase out period.
The two remaining lower-house members of the NSW Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party have resigned to contest the state election as independents, creating confusion on the far right.
Australia
Yea, the Albanese Government has acted on over 2900 submissions to restore the exclusion of electricity generated from burning native forest wood waste from eligibility under the Renewable Energy Target, meaning any electricity it generates cannot be used to create tradeable Large-scale Generation Certificates. - a severe blow, maybe a death blow, for the Redbank Power Station - It still leaves sawmill “wastes” as allowed.
There are further assessments of what the proposed Federal biodiversity system will mean, basically we will have to wait and see, though biodiversity credits have no credibility, leading Adam Morton to observe “It is tempting to argue conservation would be better served by a simple combination of substantial funding and sharp regulation”. How explicit the national standards are is yet to be seen, and how they will be applied to Regional Forest Agreements – we have a long wait while habitat continues to be destroyed.
Time to sell Squirrel Gliders as their spot price has dropped from $450 to $425, with Southern Myotis performing worse dropping from over $1,500 to $895. Koalas are risky with highly variable prices, though opportunities exist for astute investors with the spot price tripling from June to August to $600, steady performers are Brush-tailed Phascogale, Rufous Bettong and coastal Emus. While the Forestry Corporation destroys Rusty Plum around Coffs with abandon, they may want to reconsider as their spot price is currently $1,351 – they could make a motza. The Federal Government’s entry into the market and increased listings will create more opportunities for high returns. These schemes facilitate a net loss of habitat, and are rife with corruption, but as logging and clearing proceed spot prices can only increase, and new opportunities will be created as more species are listed.
Zylstra has another paper decrying our reliance on erroneous concepts of fuel-reduction burning to reduce wildfire risk, emphasising the impacts of such a flawed strategy on wildlife while promoting his alternative approach.
As part of the Palaszczuk Government’s election commitment to transfer 20,000 hectares of state forest to Queensland’s protected areas, they have announced a number of state forests will be conserved earlier (including the controversial Ferny Forest), with $262.5 million announced to expand and create new national parks.
Western Australia’s draft Forest Management Plan has come under attack from bushwalking group HikeWest for failing to include sufficient of the northern Jarrah forests in reserves, with only 15% included in reserves protected from bauxite mining.
Species
The Mountain Mist Frog was once found across two-thirds of the wet-tropics, but after not being seen for 25 years is now recognised as extinct, likely due to chytrid fungus and rising temperatures. Saving our Species provide 12 examples of their efforts to breed, translocate and survey for threatened species, though they don’t provide assessments of the effectiveness of their wild releases.
Victorian authorities have euthanised more than a quarter (28) of koalas health-checked at a national park in the state’s southwest, after they were found to have health issues and be unviable, which is attributed to “overpopulation” at the site. This follows a similar operation in May that euthanised 30 koalas. The Stress Lab reviewed the effectiveness of an off-the-shelf stress test, and found it worked for Koalas.
Alarm is growing over perilously low dissolved-oxygen in floodwaters across large sections of the Murray River where fish are “probably just about all dead”, and worse to come. Communities are installing aerators to increase oxygen levels - though it’s just a band-aid solution. And Murray-river turtles are being washed out to sea.
The Deteriorating Problem
Accounting for changes in carbon storage in the forest area, as well as CO2 emissions from the burning of harvested wood, makes burning forests for electricity even more polluting. The governments of Ontario and Canada are investing more than $11.3 million to expand CHAR Technologies’ facility in Thorold to produce “renewable” natural gas (RNG) and biocarbon (a coal substitute) – creating the largest facility of its kind in Canada, and the only RNG facility in the country to exclusively use woody biomass
Drought-stricken Oregon saw a historic die-off of fir trees in 2022 that left hillsides once lush with green conifers dotted with patches of red, dead trees, totalling about 1.1 million acres of forest, the most damage recorded in a single season since surveys began 75 years ago.
Turning it Around
The City of Sydney has developed a plan to expand canopy cover and make urban areas cooler and calmer. In Finland they greened up pre-schools by planting grass and shrubs, and putting in gardens, which increased T-cells and other important immune markers in the kids blood within 28 days – another example of the benefits of nature.
Dailan Pugh
NEW SOUTH WALES
Why its time to stand up:
An unrepentant Violet Coco says why she had no choice but to block one lane of the Sydney Harbour Bridge to focus attention on the climate crisis, and appeals for donations to her legal fund. She successfully appealed and was released on bail – the favourable publicity surrounding her case has demonstrated the benefits of “extreme” actions. Meanwhile NSW Labor leader supports draconian punishments.
In 2021, I spoke personally with esteemed climate scientist and academic, Professor Will Steffen, who told me this: “Massive floods, fires and heatwaves are sending us a clear message. On our present trajectory, we risk heading into a collapse of our globalised civilisation and a precipitous drop in human population — put simply, hell on earth. But we can avoid this disastrous future if we change the way we think, live our lives and interact with the rest of the living world.”
You can read the original version of this statement and donate to Violet’s legal fund here.
https://chuffed.org/project/95028-get-violet-out-of-prison
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/12/climate-activist-violet-coco-released-on-bail/
… Labor supports draconian punishments:
In his December 5 response to the sentencing of the environmental protester Deanna ‘Violet’ Coco to fifteen months in jail and a refusal of bail pending her appeal, Minns again showed whose side he was on. He was really a Liberal. He agreed with Premier Perrotet who found the young woman’s jail sentence ‘pleasing.’
To justify his defence of draconian laws, he exaggerates. ‘You’re talking about a situation where mass protests are shutting down half the city…They were shutting down the city in a comprehensive, staged and strategic way.’ Mass protests? Half a city shut down?
https://johnmenadue.com/nsw-labor-leader-chris-minns-his-punitive-policies-his-absence-of-courage/
… as do Nationals:
In the Legislative Council (upper house), Byron-based Nationals MLC and failed local candidate, Ben Franklin, spoke extensively in favour of the bill on March 31. National’s Ballina candidate Joshua Booyens doesn’t think it’s a significant issue.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/12/your-right-to-protest-where-do-your-local-politicians-stand/
… authoritarian fossil fuel regime:
Others are awaiting prosecution, amidst fears of what the consequences will be. An organiser of the planning meeting in Colo spent 4 weeks in prison after being refused bail. Meanwhile other states are also increasing penalties for protesting, and throwing the book at those that do.
The arrests followed the establishment by NSW police of Strike Force Guard, which in June raided a property in Colo to “prevent, investigate and disrupt unauthorised protests”. It led to the arrests of seven people, including 27-year-old Tim Neville.
Neville was accused of being a leader of the group, and spent nearly four weeks in prison after being refused bail.
On Wednesday a small group of people sitting in the public gallery in the Queensland parliament suddenly unfurled banners with slogans such as “end fossil fuels now” and chanted repeatedly “stop coal, stop gas” for a period of about three minutes.
Nine people have since been charged, and are accused of disturbing the legislature.
Justice delayed:
The EPA’s prosecution of the Forestry Corporation for felling 4 hollow-bearing trees in Mogo SF in March 2020, in contravention of the “site-specific operating conditions” issued following the widespread fires, which included the protection of all hollow-bearing trees, has been delayed due to technical issues (the pdf names were too long).
Destruction as normal:
The Forestry Corporation’s 2021-22 Sustainability Report shows that total wood harvested jumped from 272,499 cubic metres in 2020-21 to 477,460 cubic metres in 2021-22, an increase of 175 per cent, leading to NCC complaining it shows a complete disregard for native wildlife, with Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders saying it’s just a return to business as usual after the fires.
https://www.oberonreview.com.au/story/8016539/nsw-native-forest-logging-up-175-per-cent/
https://www.southernriverinanews.com.au/national/nsw-native-forest-logging-up-175-per-cent/
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/coffs-coast-news-of-the-area-16-december-2022
Business as normal:
The NSW Government released its pathetic response to the Inquiry into the long-term sustainability and future of the timber and forest products industry, “noting” (ignoring) those recommendations that were halfway reasonable, while emphasing how important logging and loggers are.
The NSW Government has supported all industries … For forestry workers this support has included over $210 million spent across a range of tailored support measures specifically targeting forestry-related industries.
The complete cessation of harvesting from public native forests is not supported by the NSW Government given the severe economic consequences for regional industries and employment, as well as the potential carbon and environmental impacts associated with importing timber from jurisdictions with lesser environmental protections.
NSW Local Land Services will publish information on harvest activities in each PNF Code region on an annual basis, commencing in 2023.
Supported: That the NSW Government does not consider the establishment of the Great Koala National Park until an independent, comprehensive study is conducted to assesses the full impact of the proposal, including its environmental, economic and social impacts across all affected industries
NSW forests collapsing:
The NRC have released their summary report ‘Insights for NSW forest outcomes and management’ which identifies that our forests are degrading and in a precarious state in danger of collapse - though of course they don’t acknowledge logging’s contribution and wouldn’t dream of suggesting it ends.
NSW forests whether they be national parks, state forests, Aboriginal land, private land or Crown land are under sustained threats, putting at risk many of the services and values they provide….
NSW forests are dynamic systems that provide essential environmental, social, economic and cultural services for the people of NSW across a range of tenures. These services are degrading, and without major intervention they will continue to degrade. The unprecedented bushfires of 2019-2020 will not remain an outlier. The research community had predicted the likelihood of such an event and the scientific consensus is that similar scale events will become increasingly frequent in the future.
FMIP research indicates future climate and disturbance regime scenarios will have adverse impacts on NSW forests, affecting forest carbon, soil organic carbon, soil alkalinity, streamflow quantity, surface water quality and forest productivity. Many forest dependent flora and fauna species are predicted to lose significant proportions of their habitat. As a result, one FMIP study found the potential occupancy of 70 percent of assessed fauna species will decline by 2070 under future climate change predictions.
Critically, there is a risk that higher frequency and intensity of disturbances will trigger ongoing cycles of decline in key areas such as forest regeneration and soil organic carbon by reducing the capacity for, or likelihood of, full recovery after each event. In this case, forests will become a net carbon emitter in the coming decades, undermining key Government commitments to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Other Government commitments for biodiversity and sustainable production outcomes will also be under pressure.
NSW regions like the Australian Alps and South Coast, that have significant areas dedicated to the reserve system, are anticipated to be at highest risk from projected changes in climate and fire regimes. Other forest ecosystems such as temperate and sub-tropical rainforests are also under increasing risk.
https://www.nrc.nsw.gov.au/Insights%20report%20-%20Nov%202022.pdf?downloadable=1
The NRC made six recommendations to Government: To prepare overarching cross-tenure strategy for NSW forests towards 2050; Establish dedicated funding for the strategy, research, and rapid response capability; Accelerate Aboriginal self-determination and co-management of NSW forests; Incorporate the latest climate science and forest data into the upcoming review of the Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approval; Update the NSW Forestry Industry Roadmap; and Continue long-term independent research and monitoring.
The Commission’s 11 -page Report can be downloaded at this PS News link.
https://psnews.com.au/2022/12/13/nrc-report-finds-nsw-forests-threatened/?state=aps
Forestry Corporation uncompetitive:
The Forestry Corporation of New South Wales has withdrawn its proposal to buy Hume Forests’ plantations after facing objections from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on the grounds it would likely substantially lessen competition in the supply of softwood logs.
The asset was expected to fetch a price of close to $200m, judging from analyst estimates.
More biodiversity trading:
On Friday, the state government will launch its “natural capital” statement of intent, which includes plans to develop land stewardship as a new type of investment to better conserve the environment. One of the first steps in implementing the plan will be for the government to ensure natural capital is embedded in planning and development decisions, including how to account for the value of nature on the state’s balance sheet.
But some environmentalists have raised concerns about this approach. WWF’s acting head of healthy land and seascapes Tim Cronin says the creation of markets to protect the environment was welcomed, but it needed to be done carefully.
Cronin says, for example, the focus of the forestry industry is on timber and the monetary value that can be made. But the industry fails to recognise the other ecosystem values involved, including waterways, carbon, and flood prevention benefits the trees offer. “If we are to better internalise the economic systems and decision-making, it will completely change the economics of logging,” he said.
Hunter climate corridors:
Another story on the Barrington to Hawkesbury Climate Corridors Alliance proposal for a moratorium on land clearing and logging across 810,000ha between Barrington Tops and the Hawkesbury River.
The Barrington Tops to Hawkesbury Climate Corridors report is available from Hunter Community Environment Centre, hcec.org.au
Wollumbin access:
Efforts to reopen the Aboriginal men’s site atop Wollumbin (Mt Warning) for access continue, with Tweed Mayor Chris Cherry mooting group hikes led by Indigenous guides or a phase out period.
Shooting themselves in the foot:
The two remaining lower-house members of the NSW Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party have resigned to contest the state election as independents, creating confusion on the far right.
https://www.theland.com.au/story/8016698/shooters-hit-with-high-profile-resignations/
AUSTRALIA
Stopping burning native forests for electricity:
Yea, the Albanese Government has acted on over 2900 submissions to restore the exclusion of electricity generated from burning native forest wood waste from eligibility under the Renewable Energy Target, meaning any electricity it generates cannot be used to create tradeable Large-scale Generation Certificates. - a severe blow, maybe a death blow, for the Redbank Power Station - It still leaves sawmill “wastes” as allowed.
The climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, said the change was in step with “strong and longstanding community views” raised in a consultation process that received more than 2,900 submissions. He said the government had put in place “transitional arrangements” for one Western Australian facility that had registered to use timber as an energy source.
“We have listened to the community and acted to address their concerns,” he said.
The Australian Forest Products Association said the government had “bowed to pressure from anti-forestry groups”. “Australia should not close the door to a dispatchable renewable energy source that is widely used around the world at a time when we need more renewable energy sources,” the association’s chief executive, Ross Hampton, said.
More on Federal biodiversity system:
There are further assessments of what the proposed Federal biodiversity system will mean, basically we will have to wait and see, though biodiversity credits have no credibility, leading Adam Morton to observe “It is tempting to argue conservation would be better served by a simple combination of substantial funding and sharp regulation”. How explicit the national standards are is yet to be seen, and how they will be applied to Regional Forest Agreements – we have a long wait while habitat continues to be destroyed.
And while the government’s reforms have been broadly welcomed by the business sector, it can expect opposition to its plan to extend standards to regional forestry agreements.
These agreements are currently exempt from the EPBC Act. In 2009, the Rudd Labor government dismissed a recommendation to review this exemption.
The Albanese government, very cautiously, says it will “begin a process” of applying the new national standards to regional forest agreements, in consultation with stakeholders.
Sell Squirrel Glider, buy Rufous Bettong, be wary of Koala fluctuations, but lookout for bargains as new species are listed:
Time to sell Squirrel Gliders as their spot price has dropped from $450 to $425, with Southern Myotis performing worse dropping from over $1,500 to $895. Koalas are risky with highly variable prices, though opportunities exist for astute investors with the spot price tripling from June to August to $600, steady performers are Brush-tailed Phascogale, Rufous Bettong and coastal Emus. While the Forestry Corporation destroys Rusty Plum around Coffs with abandon, they may want to reconsider as their spot price is currently $1,351 – they could make a motza. The Federal Government’s entry into the market and increased listings will create more opportunities for high returns. These schemes facilitate a net loss of habitat, and are rife with corruption, but as logging and clearing proceed spot prices can only increase, and new opportunities will be created as more species are listed.
These are real market values, reflecting performance and trading activity in a way that’s visually similar to any financial exchange. But these spot prices and trade volumes do not apply to the animals themselves, rather to the habitats and ecosystems that they occupy. They’re listed on the Biodiversity Credits Market Sales Dashboard, run by the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment.
In Australia, the environmental markets that have been established for water, carbon and biodiversity have all proved counterproductive. And media investigations into the NSW biodiversity scheme have revealed extensive corruption. The Australia Institute found that land clearing in NSW has increased because of Australia’s carbon market. The water market is a “case study in everything that can go wrong when our policy response to protecting a natural resource is to commodify it”, says Maryanne Slattery, principal of the water consultancy specialists, Slattery & Johnson.
Under Labor, it seems the biggest risk to Australia’s environment is that it will keep its promise – of leaving the protection of our most fragile ecosystems to the private sector.
Burning wildlife:
Zylstra has another paper decrying our reliance on erroneous concepts of fuel-reduction burning to reduce wildfire risk, emphasising the impacts of such a flawed strategy on wildlife while promoting his alternative approach.
In 2018, a prescribed burn by local authorities was conducted in the Warrungup Spring reserve. Despite burning slowly as planned, it killed 17 of the 22 [endangered western ringtail] possums Dixon was monitoring.
As depicted in the image below, the supposedly low-intensity fire would have heated the air above it to more than 500℃. This would burn the respiratory tracts of possums inside the hollow in just a few minutes.
Bad fire science is killing our threatened species, but alternatives are available. These approaches reinforce, rather than disrupt, natural ecological controls on forest fire. They include traditional Indigenous fire knowledge, and modern techniques to minimise the extent of dense regrowth in the landscape.
By cooperating with nature to minimise fire risk, we can protect species that have persisted through aeons.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/aec.13264
Protecting State forests:
As part of the Palaszczuk Government’s election commitment to transfer 20,000 hectares of state forest to Queensland’s protected areas, they have announced a number of state forests will be conserved earlier (including the controversial Ferny Forest), with $262.5 million announced to expand and create new national parks.
https://arr.news/2022/12/14/state-forests-to-be-protected-scanlon/
Jarrah mining:
Western Australia’s draft Forest Management Plan has come under attack from bushwalking group HikeWest for failing to include sufficient of the northern Jarrah forests in reserves, with only 15% included in reserves protected from bauxite mining.
SPECIES
Misty eyed:
The Mountain Mist Frog was once found across two-thirds of the wet-tropics, but after not being seen for 25 years is now recognised as extinct, likely due to chytrid fungus and rising temperatures.
Saving our Species:
Saving our Species provide 12 examples of their efforts to breed, translocate and survey for threatened species, though they don’t provide assessments of the effectiveness of their wild releases.
https://inspiringnsw.org.au/2022/12/14/12-wins-for-conservation-in-2022/
Killing Koalas to save them:
Victorian authorities have euthanised more than a quarter (28) of koalas health-checked at a national park in the state’s southwest, after they were found to have health issues and be unviable, which is attributed to “overpopulation” at the site. This follows a similar operation in May that euthanised 30 koalas.
… stress testing Koalas:
The Stress Lab reviewed the effectiveness of an off-the-shelf stress test, and found it worked for Koalas.
Data from NSW in 2020 showed over 15% of rescued koalas were either euthanised or died in care over a 29 year period. Meanwhile, a 2016 study found over 60% of koalas were euthanised or died in care in southeast Queensland between 2009 and 2014. Only a small proportion are released back to the wild.
Suffocating fish:
Alarm is growing over perilously low dissolved-oxygen in floodwaters across large sections of the Murray River where fish are “probably just about all dead”, and worse to come. Communities are installing aerators to increase oxygen levels - though it’s just a band-aid solution.
“It’s really alarming,” Wright said. “I have seen low oxygen but not this sort of a trend, and even a few weeks ago I would have said the fish were in serious, dire straits.”
Wright has sampled and tested the water quality of rivers for 35 years. He said 0.5mg/L is “like us as humans trying to hold our breath for a few hours”.
“These levels are so low,” he said. “The insect life living in rivers that the fish eat would be killed from this. So the fish, the invertebrates, we’re talking about a breakdown of the food chain.”
And Murray-river turtles are being washed out to sea.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-13/floodwaters-push-murray-river-turtles-onto-sa-beach/101753086
THE DETERIORATING PROBLEM
Counting biomass losses:
Accounting for changes in carbon storage in the forest area, as well as CO2 emissions from the burning of harvested wood, makes burning forests for electricity even more polluting.
The problem is that the methodology currently used by REDII for judging greenhouse gas balances is far too narrow to provide an accurate answer and, as such, often gives the wrong answer, encouraging the harvesting of forest wood instead of the protection of forests (which would better serve the EU’s climate goals).
But if we plug in a carbon storage loss of 0.62 tonnes of CO2 m-³, we find that wood harvesting for energy will actually serve to raise emissions 13% over a fossil fuel equivalent. If we plug in the mean level of carbon storage lost in Germany (of 1.15 tonnes of CO2 m-³) into the equations, we find that firewood and wood chips, when sourced from primary woody biomass, actually more than double the emissions associated with burning them as a substitute for fossil energy (see details in Hennenberg et al. 2022 and Fehrenbach et al. 2022).
A new use of forests:
The governments of Ontario and Canada are investing more than $11.3 million to expand CHAR Technologies’ facility in Thorold to produce “renewable” natural gas (RNG) and biocarbon (a coal substitute) – creating the largest facility of its kind in Canada, and the only RNG facility in the country to exclusively use woody biomass
“This new facility will produce clean alternative fuels and increase sustainability in the forest sector through new and emerging uses of renewable forest biomass,” said Graydon Smith, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. “Our investment in CHAR Technologies is an investment in Ontario, which will boost productivity, create jobs and support a thriving forest economy that communities throughout the province depend on.”
The great die-off:
Drought-stricken Oregon saw a historic die-off of fir trees in 2022 that left hillsides once lush with green conifers dotted with patches of red, dead trees, totalling about 1.1 million acres of forest, the most damage recorded in a single season since surveys began 75 years ago.
TURNING IT AROUND
Expanding urban forests as rural forests decline:
The City of Sydney has developed a plan to expand canopy cover and make urban areas cooler and calmer.
“We know how important urban forests are to the liveability of our city. Trees cool our homes, streets and parks, build resilience and improve mental and physical wellbeing,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.
“We’ve planted more than 16,000 street trees since 2004 because we see trees and other urban greenery as essential infrastructure – as important as roads and broadband internet.
“We’re in the middle of a climate crisis and we’re already experiencing its impacts. More shade in more corners of the city will help us to combat the urban heat island effect and better place Sydney to mitigate some of the worst impacts of extreme heatwaves. Effective and extensive canopy cover can reduce temperatures on the ground by up to 10 degrees.”
https://www.miragenews.com/growing-sydneys-sprawling-urban-forest-914310/
Getting down and dirty:
In Finland they greened up pre-schools by planting grass and shrubs, and putting in gardens, which increased T-cells and other important immune markers in the kids blood within 28 days – another example of the benefits of nature.
Compared to other city kids who play in standard urban daycares with yards of pavement, tile, and gravel, 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds at these greened-up daycare centers in Finland showed increased T-cells and other important immune markers in their blood within 28 days.
"We also found that the intestinal microbiota of children who received greenery was similar to the intestinal microbiota of children visiting the forest every day," explained environmental scientist Marja Roslund from the University of Helsinki in 2020, when the research was published.
Research shows getting outside is also good for a child's eyesight, and being in nature as a kid is linked to better mental health. Some recent studies have even shown green spaces are linked to structural changes in the brains of children.
Bonding with nature as a kid is also good for the future of our planet's ecosystems. Studies show kids who spend time outdoors are more likely to want to become environmentalists as adults, and in a rapidly changing world, that's more important than ever.
The study was published in Science Advances.
https://www.sciencealert.com/daycares-in-finland-built-a-forest-and-it-changed-kids-immune-systems
Forest Media 9 December 2022
New South Wales
Environment activist Violet (Deanna) CoCo was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment in the Downing Centre Magistrates Court in Sydney for peacefully blocking one lane of traffic on the Sydney Harbour Bridge for approximately 25 minutes with three other Fireproof Australia campaigners, to let people know that we’re in a climate emergency that requires urgent action. Premier Perrottet welcomed the sentence, stating “If protesters want to put our way of life at risk, then they should have the book thrown at them and that’s pleasing to see”, with NSW Labor leader Chris Minns echoing his support. In response, activists and concerned citizens of Lismore and Northern Rivers will rally at 10 am on Saturday 10 December in Peace Park in Lismore on International Human Rights Day.
News of the Area has a story about the grassroots campaign for a Great Koala National Park, including about the e-petition that is on the NSW Legislative Assembly website: https://www.koalapark.org.au/petition. The December Nimbin Goodtimes has an article by Sue Higginson about the killing of the Koala-killing Bill II, urging people to use the State election to vote for forests. They also have an article about the legal challenge to logging in Cherry Tree SF.
An alliance of local and national environment groups have called for a moratorium on land clearing across 810,000 hectares between Barrington Tops and Hawkesbury River, documented in the Barrington to Hawkesbury Climate Corridors Alliance report, which combines habitat suitability modelling and NSW government climate corridor mapping to identify 22 wildlife corridors essential for the survival of threatened species in face of climate change.
Australia
There were a variety of articles with background on the Samuel’s review and what the Commonwealth needs to do for threatened species, leading up to Thursday’s announcement. The decision was announced on Thursday, for forests it basically involves applying National Environmental Standards (which are yet to be developed to existing RFAs), with no contemporary review of “evergreen” RFAs, and reliance on conservation advices (many of which ignore logging) to guide protection for threatened species. Some think that having to deal with threatened species in RFA’s will make a big difference, though the Australian Forest Products Association welcomed Pliberseck’s commitment to RFAs and “the Federal Government’s rejection of the bulk of Samuel’s recommendations around RFAs”. It is basically pursing the previous government’s agenda of doing more regional agreements, with red areas (mostly MNES) for protection, orange areas requiring assessments, and green areas for development. There are many environmental platitudes, though the devil is in the details which we are yet to see. These are some highlights of their PR:
- The Government will work with stakeholders and relevant jurisdictions towards applying National Environmental Standards to Regional Forest Agreements to support their ongoing operation together with stronger environmental protection. The timing and form of this requirement will be subject to further consultation with stakeholders. Consultation will consider future management and funding opportunities under voluntary environmental markets.
- National Environmental Standards to improve environmental protections and guide decision-making by setting clear, demonstrable outcomes for regulated activities under the new Act. The standard for Matters of National Environmental Significance will be developed first, requiring projects and plans to: (a) avoid unacceptable and unsustainable impacts on matters of national environmental significance, (b) deliver net positive outcomes for Matters of National Environmental Significance.
- establishing an independent Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to ensure compliance and enforcement
- Regional Planning Initiative designed to pre-identify areas for protection, restoration and sustainable development.
- a new Data Division will improve the availability, access and quality of environmental information
- reform offset arrangements to ensure they deliver gains for the environment and reduce delays for project developers, where a proponent is unable to find or secure ‘like for like’ offsets, the proponent will be able to make a conservation payment. They will establish a nature repair market to make it easier for businesses and individuals to invest in nature.
- streamline existing processes under the EPBC Act, including by removing prescriptive processes and underutilised assessment pathways, improving flexibility, adaptability and assurance of strategic assessments and improving wildlife trade permitting practices.
- No right to limited merits review of decisions, as they may prevent projects from proceeding in a timely manner, as matters are held up by courts, which can lead to unreasonable and unfair costs for proponents. Members of the public will continue to be able to bring legal claims against decisions of the EPA or the minister for errors of law.
- First Nations participation in improved management of Australia’s land, fresh waters and sea, including new cultural heritage protection laws, new National Environmental Standard for First Nations Engagement and Participation in Decision-Making, and more control over Commonwealth National Parks
- embedding climate considerations in all roles and functions of government, including information on climate-exposed habitats, species and places.
A Biodiversity Council, a scientist-led thinktank based at the University of Melbourne, is being established along the lines of the Climate Council to raise awareness of the biodiversity crisis, with the aim of being a “strong and trusted voice for biodiversity” backed by science, including First People’s knowledge. It was launched by the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek.
The Australian Forest Products Association has praised Prime Minister Albanese for his strong support for the logging industry, commitments to removing regulatory barriers in the Emissions Reduction Fund so they can claim carbon credits, removing the water rule which limits plantations to regions where they will not affect water supply, and the gift of $300 million allocated to them in budget. They are just like the Coalition.
An urgent injunction has been upheld against logging by the Tasmanian Government, and its logging agency, Forestry Tasmania, at Mt Tongatabu through the Tasmanian Supreme Court.
A new report says “Queensland outpaces all other Australian jurisdictions combined in annual bulldozing of forests primarily for beef, and it’s the primary reason why eastern Australia is listed as a global deforestation front,” with about a quarter of the deforestation occurring in ecosystems deemed endangered due to past clearing, and likely habitat of 388 plants and animals, including endangered koalas.
A heatwave across much of northern Australia reached emergency levels this week, as communities across northern Australia struggled through a week of sweltering conditions, with Mt Isa recording 43oC, Birdsville 45.6C, Marble Bar had four consecutive days above 45C, and the west Kimberly and Pilbara regions are expected to reach 47C to 48C on Sunday and Monday. The heatwave stirred up violent storms in south-east Queensland, with Sexton residents - northwest of Gympie - reporting hailstones as wide as 10cm. Meanwhile there was a cold snap in the south, with snow-showers in Victoria. La Niña is weakening, allowing for hotter conditions, and it may be a bad season for cyclones. As the world heats the atmosphere can hold more water, leading to more extreme floods, and with extreme rainfalls already increased by 13–24%, another rise of 0.4oC already locked in, and far more to come, flash floods are going to get a lot worse.
The Teals are not primarily Liberal defectors, a new Australian National University study found that of those who voted teal, 31% had voted Labor in 2019, 24% for the Greens and just 18% for the Coalition (23% voted other.)
Species
It may come as a shock, but the Greater Glider has leapfrogged from not being listed as threatened in NSW to Endangered due to climate change, bushfires and native logging severely reducing its population and habitat,
A YouGov study of 1000+ metro and regional NSW residents for the Sydney Basin Koala Network found that less than a third of residents (31%) aware that koalas live in neighbouring bushland in close proximity to busy residential areas in the Sydney Basin, but over four-in-five (84%) NSW citizens say that koala habitats should be protected from development (including housing, mining, logging, and more). The Sydney Basin Koala Network is seeking to raise awareness of Koalas in the Illawarra, complaining that most people are unaware that Koalas live on the Illawarra escarpment and its neighbouring catchments because “There’s been no surveys, no studies of koalas there, there’s been nothing”. The Total Environment Centre is calling for protections limiting major development including enforcing a new 400m wide koala green belt around Sydney.
A contentious wind farm proposed for Tasmania's north-western tip has been given the green light from the state's environment watchdog, but under the condition it doesn't operate for five months of the year because it is a migration area for the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot, though the proponents are hopefully of getting this restriction reduced.
Three parties have been charged with more than 250 animal cruelty offences after hundreds of koalas were found either dead, dehydrated or starving at a private property in Cape Bridgewater in 2020, with the first to be tried fined $20,000 - just like our forestry, the contractor said if he saw a koala in a tree he would spare it, and cut it down later once the Koala had left. Australian Ethical is threatening to sell its $11 million worth of Lendlease shares because migration corridors are insufficient to protect one of the few chlamydia-free koala populations in Australia in Lendlease’s proposed housing development at Mount Gilead near Campbelltown on Sydney’s outskirts.
The extreme floods are a boon for waterbirds and red gums, but many animals, such as kangaroos and wombats, are being flooded out and their grasses killed, de-oxygenated "blackwater" has killed large numbers of native fish, including iconic species such as the Murray Cod, and the sediments washed out to sea are suffocating seagrasses and killing Dugongs, and possibly turtles. The problem is that the effects of the series of extreme events from droughts and fires to floods will have compounding impacts imperilling many species.
The University of Sydney and Invertebrates Australia are asking for citizen scientists to participate in a project to find out where all the Christmas beetles have gone, as populations have apparently crashed.
The Deteriorating Problem
European forests are increasingly suffering from the effects of global heating as stressed trees succumb to droughts and insect attack, with a recent study measuring tree rings found European beech, Germany's most important native forest tree species, is suffering from increasing drought stress during summer, particularly on drier sites and sandy soils.
Turning it Around
A study found that while extreme protest tactics can raise awareness they decreased popular support for a given cause because they reduced feelings of identification with the movement.
The Cop15 biodiversity summit will be held in Montreal from December 7-19 to work on a new framework agreement, theoretically to end biodiversity decline by halting extinctions, protecting 30% of the earth’s land and seas for conservation by 2030, and making sure business accounts for the impacts it has on nature by making nature-related financial disclosures. In an article in Nature, Sandra Diaz describes scientists efforts to have COP 15 take meaningful action on biodiversity, expressing dismay at how explicit targets in the initial draft were wound back or “bracketed” for debate, commenting “Now, to avert failure, we exhort the governments gathering in Montreal to be brave, long-sighted and open-hearted, and to produce a visionary, ambitious biodiversity framework, grounded in knowledge. … If not now, when?” An international alliance is calling for the protection of primary forests, with over a hundred groups signing on, including NEFA.
In the build-up to COP 15, more than 650 scientists wrote to world leaders urging them to stop burning trees to make energy because it destroys valuable habitats for wildlife, is more polluting than coal, is not ‘carbon neutral’, and undermines international climate and nature targets, arguing “The best thing for the climate and biodiversity is to leave forests standing – and biomass energy does the opposite,”
Enviva is the largest maker of wood pellets burned for energy in the world, claiming it only uses wood waste, “tops, limbs, thinnings, and/or low-value smaller trees”, though a whistleblower in North Carolina says that increased European demand is leading to clearfelling with “100% whole trees in our pellets” and that limbs and debris were “left laying on the ground; they don’t want that stuff.” As the European Union seeks to soon finalize its revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED), forest advocates urge last minute changes to significantly cut the use of woody biomass for energy and make deep reductions in EU subsidies to the wood pellet industry, if RED is approved as drafted, bioenergy use is projected to double between 2015 and 2050.
In Canada eight environmental groups have filed a complaint with Canada’s Competition Bureau alleging the industry’s Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) forestry certification standard has made “false and misleading” claims in an effort to greenwash the country’s lumber and wood products.
Dailan Pugh
NEW SOUTH WALES
Suppressing dissent:
Environment activist Violet (Deanna) CoCo was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment in the Downing Centre Magistrates Court in Sydney for peacefully blocking one lane of traffic on the Sydney Harbour Bridge for approximately 25 minutes with three other Fireproof Australia campaigners, to let people know that we’re in a climate emergency that requires urgent action.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/12/protests-against-violet-cocos-15-months-imprisonment/
Premier Perrottet welcomed the sentence, stating “If protesters want to put our way of life at risk, then they should have the book thrown at them and that’s pleasing to see”, with NSW Labor leader Chris Minns echoing his support.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/nsw/2022/12/05/deanna-coco-bridge-jail/
This was political blather slathered upon self-evident nonsense. The clear threat to our way of life, as everyone in this incinerated and inundated state knows, is climate change, not traffic snarls on the Harbour Bridge.
Protest action that does not inconvenience people is not protest action. Protest is the grit in our democratic process. It is inconvenient by design and necessity. Perrottet celebrating the incarceration of a peaceful young woman who had been advocating for the greater good was unworthy of a leader whose public presence is normally marked by more grace.
Here, another overpaid moron perpetuates the uniquely pig-ignorant political brainworm that dictates the worst "suffering" that can happen in 2022 is to have some cars blocked by a greenie for a bit.
The Saturday Paper piece by Mike Seccombe, ‘The end of direct action’, considers the death of democratic tolerance for civil disobedience in Australia. What has happened to Coco is the end product of several years of legislating against action like hers.
Australia once held what is regularly cited among environmentalists as the world’s first eco-blockade: the defence of Terania Creek’s rainforest in northern NSW against planned logging.
… If even non-violence is treated with such shock and awe, if even non-violence is being rendered so utterly impossible, it is time to think beyond it.
In response, activists and concerned citizens of Lismore and Northern Rivers will rally at 10 am on Saturday 10 December in Peace Park in Lismore on International Human Rights Day.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/12/rally-for-the-right-to-protest-on-dec-10/
Great Koalas:
News of the Area has a story about the grassroots campaign for a Great Koala National Park (GKNP), including about the e-petition that is on the NSW Legislative Assembly website: https://www.koalapark.org.au/petition.
[Paula Flack] “The GKNP will generate enormous economic activity in the region, with far more jobs being created than exist currently in native forest logging, so it makes no sense to not create it.”
She said the campaign is not about locking up forests but about protecting them to be enjoyed sustainably for public recreation into the future.
Information about support, merchandise, videos and more is at koalapark.org.au.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/the-campaign-to-create-a-great-koala-national-park-ramps-up
Killing Koala killing:
The December Nimbin Goodtimes has an article by Sue Higginson about the killing of the Koala-killing Bill II, urging people to use the State election to vote for forests. They also have an article about the legal challenge to logging in Cherry Tree SF.
Nimbin Goodtimes December 2022
Hunter corridors:
An alliance of local and national environment groups have called for a moratorium on land clearing across 810,000 hectares between Barrington Tops and Hawkesbury River, documented in the Barrington to Hawkesbury Climate Corridors Alliance report, which combines habitat suitability modelling and NSW government climate corridor mapping to identify 22 wildlife corridors essential for the survival of threatened species in face of climate change.
AUSTRALIA
Federal environment announcement:
There were a variety of articles with background on the Samuel’s review and what the Commonwealth needs to do for threatened species, leading up to Thursday’s announcement.
https://www.inverelltimes.com.au/story/8010216/australias-flawed-laws-for-nature/
The decision was announced on Thursday, for forests it basically involves applying National Environmental Standards (which are yet to be developed to existing RFAs), with no contemporary review of “evergreen” RFAs, and reliance on conservation advices (many of which ignore logging) to guide protection for threatened species. Some think that having to deal with threatened species in RFA’s will make a big difference, though the Australian Forest Products Association welcomed Pliberseck’s commitment to RFAs and “the Federal Government’s rejection of the bulk of Samuel’s recommendations around RFAs”. It is basically pursing the previous government’s agenda of doing more regional agreements, with red areas (mostly MNES) for protection, orange areas requiring assessments, and green areas for development. There are many environmental platitudes, though the devil is in the details which we are yet to see. These are some highlights of their PR:
- The Government will work with stakeholders and relevant jurisdictions towards applying National Environmental Standards to Regional Forest Agreements to support their ongoing operation together with stronger environmental protection. The timing and form of this requirement will be subject to further consultation with stakeholders. Consultation will consider future management and funding opportunities under voluntary environmental markets.
- National Environmental Standards to improve environmental protections and guide decision-making by setting clear, demonstrable outcomes for regulated activities under the new Act. The standard for Matters of National Environmental Significance will be developed first, requiring projects and plans to: (a) avoid unacceptable and unsustainable impacts on matters of national environmental significance, (b) deliver net positive outcomes for Matters of National Environmental Significance.
- establishing an independent Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to ensure compliance and enforcement
- Regional Planning Initiative designed to pre-identify areas for protection, restoration and sustainable development.
- a new Data Division will improve the availability, access and quality of environmental information
- reform offset arrangements to ensure they deliver gains for the environment and reduce delays for project developers, where a proponent is unable to find or secure ‘like for like’ offsets, the proponent will be able to make a conservation payment. They will establish a nature repair market to make it easier for businesses and individuals to invest in nature.
- streamline existing processes under the EPBC Act, including by removing prescriptive processes and underutilised assessment pathways, improving flexibility, adaptability and assurance of strategic assessments and improving wildlife trade permitting practices.
- No right to limited merits review of decisions, as they may prevent projects from proceeding in a timely manner, as matters are held up by courts, which can lead to unreasonable and unfair costs for proponents. Members of the public will continue to be able to bring legal claims against decisions of the EPA or the minister for errors of law.
- First Nations participation in improved management of Australia’s land, fresh waters and sea, including new cultural heritage protection laws, new National Environmental Standard for First Nations Engagement and Participation in Decision-Making, more control over Commonwealth National Parks
- embedding climate considerations in all roles and functions of government, including information on climate-exposed habitats, species and places.
https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/epbc/epbc-act-reform
Under the changes, the government flagged loggers could be forced to comply with new national standards, which would likely make native forestry logging impossible in many parts of the country.
But exactly how and when that would happen remains unclear, with the government saying it will work with states and other stakeholders "towards" making those changes, and noting the "form" of the change is yet to be determined.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-08/australia-environment-laws-federal-epa/101744044
The Federal Government’s commitment to retain Australia’s Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) is an endorsement of Australia’s sustainable forest practices and will be welcomed by forest industry workers around the country, Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) Chief Executive Officer Ross Hampton said.
Ross Hampton said forest industries welcomed the Federal Government’s rejection of the bulk of Samuel’s recommendations around RFAs, which would have significantly undermined the continued operation of the hardwood timber industry and the national supply of many essential products.
“We are pleased that Minister Plibersek has reiterated the position of the former Coalition Government in recommitting to the continued operation of RFAs.
Environmental groups cautiously welcomed sweeping reforms to federal environment laws that would create a new national Environmental Protection Agency which has greater oversight over development proposals and emissions.
But many criticised Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek for failing to include a so-called climate trigger law that could halt developments due to their potential climate impact.
https://www.acf.org.au/encouraging-start-to-nature-law-reform
Critically, national standards will be applied to Australia’s failing Regional Forest Agreements which allow state logging operators to destroy endangered species habitat without Commonwealth scrutiny. These gaps have forced species including Leadbeater’s possum, greater gliders, swift parrots towards extinction.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/game-changer-plan-to-save-australia-koalas-extinction-013959027.html
[Greens environment spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young] “There is nothing in this package to save our iconic koala. There is nothing in this package to protect our native forests.
“There is no climate trigger, indeed there is very little to address the impact of the climate crisis on the environment at all. The Minister also retains far too much power to influence environmental approvals with no truly independent cop-on-the-beat.”
As biodiversity conservation experts, we find the plan to be promising. … But some uncertainty remains, and there is also a lot of important detail still to be worked through.
But this defence has failed, time and again. In just one example, the extinction threat facing the iconic koala has become worse, not better, since it was “protected” under the EPBC Act.
Crucially, these standards will apply to “regional forest agreements”. These agreements are controversial because they effectively exempt forest logging from scrutiny under the EPBC Act. However, the timeline for imposing the standards on regional forest agreements is uncertain, and currently “subject to further consultation with stakeholders”.
Biodiversity Council:
A Biodiversity Council, a scientist-led thinktank based at the University of Melbourne, is being established along the lines of the Climate Council to raise awareness of the biodiversity crisis, with the aim of being a “strong and trusted voice for biodiversity” backed by science, including First People’s knowledge. It was launched by the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek.
Loggers love Albo:
The Australian Forest Products Association has praised Prime Minister Albanese for his strong support for the logging industry, commitments to removing regulatory barriers in the Emissions Reduction Fund so they can claim carbon credits and removing the water rule which limits plantations to regions where they will not affect water supply, and the gift of $300 million allocated to them in budget. They are just like the Coalition.
Speaking at the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) Members Dinner in Canberra recently, Mr Albanese congratulated AFPA and the National Farmers Federation (NFF) for leading a joint agriculture and forestry delegation to the climate talks just concluded in Egypt.
He was adamant that Australia’s signing of the Forest and Climate Leaders Partnership (FCLP) at COP27, initiated by the UK, was completely consistent with supporting climate smart forestry such as is practiced in Australia:
The chair of AFPA, Diana Gibbs, thanked Mr Albanese and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Senator, Murray Watt, for their support of forestry and its role in delivering climate goals, timber for our homes, regional jobs and sovereign capability.
“I was very pleased to have the opportunity to thank them both for the more than $300 million in election commitments which have been delivered in the budget,” she said.
https://www.gippslandtimes.com.au/news/2022/12/08/albo-backs-sustainable-forestry/
Tasmanian logging halted:
An urgent injunction has been upheld against logging by the Tasmanian Government, and its logging agency, Forestry Tasmania, at Mt Tongatabu through the Tasmanian Supreme Court.
Tom Allen for the Wilderness Society (Tasmania) … “It is because of the weak and failing logging regulations in this state that more local communities will have logging suddenly sprung on them and face the prospect of their precious local forest being destroyed. This prospect is unacceptable when it comes to the public’s community rights and it’s unacceptable in the context of the worsening climate and biodiversity crises. The lack of Commonwealth Government oversight is allowing this scandalously poor self-regulation to happen.
https://tasmaniantimes.com/2022/12/mt-tongatabu-logging-injunction-upheld/
Clearly obscene:
A new report says “Queensland outpaces all other Australian jurisdictions combined in annual bulldozing of forests primarily for beef, and it’s the primary reason why eastern Australia is listed as a global deforestation front,” with about a quarter of the deforestation occurring in ecosystems deemed endangered due to past clearing, and likely habitat of 388 plants and animals, including endangered koalas.
The Wilderness Society’s Hannah Schuch called for supermarkets and fast food chains to commit to sourcing beef from producers who don’t contribute to deforestation.
Extreme temperatures across northern Australia.
A heatwave across much of northern Australia reached emergency levels this week, as communities across northern Australia struggled through a week of sweltering conditions, with Mt Isa recording 43oC, Birdsville 45.6C, Marble Bar had four consecutive days above 45C, and the west Kimberly and Pilbara regions are expected to reach 47C to 48C on Sunday and Monday. The heatwave stirred up violent storms in south-east Queensland, with Sexton residents - northwest of Gympie - reporting hailstones as wide as 10cm. Meanwhile there was a cold snap in the south, with snow-showers in Victoria.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-06/nt-heatwave-emergency-northern-australia/101739196
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11518635/Nasty-storms-giant-hail-smash-state.html
Human-caused climate change is also bringing more frequent and intense heatwaves to the continent and pretty much the whole world. We have increased the odds of having extreme heat events in Australia through humanity’s ever-increasing greenhouse gas emissions. This means we must be prepared for more heat regardless of what’s going on with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation or other climate influences.
https://www.miragenews.com/extreme-heat-in-midst-of-big-wet-for-northern-911341/
… and extreme rainfalls set to increase:
As the world heats the atmosphere can hold more water, leading to more extreme floods, and with extreme rainfalls already increased by 13–24%, another rise of 0.4oC already locked in, and far more to come, flash floods are going to get a lot worse.
It is estimated that for every degree of warming there is a seven per cent increase of water in the atmosphere.
‘Unfortunately extreme rain and flooding will continue to get worse for decades to come as we have at least another 0.4 degrees of global warming locked in that is likely to be reached by 2030 – in the next ten years.
Daily rainfall associated with thunderstorms has increased 13–24 per cent between 1979–2016, particularly in northern Australia (Dowdy 2020).
‘The most intense precipitation events observed today are likely to almost double in occurrence for each degree of further global warming,’ explained Brendan.
The full webinar is available on the Farmers for Climate Action website: https://farmersforclimateaction.org.au/portfolio/how-climate-change-is-driving-more-frequent-and-intense-floods.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/12/why-a-warming-climate-creates-more-devastating-rain-impacts/
When you mix red and green you get teal:
The Teals are not primarily Liberal defectors, a new Australian National University study found that of those who voted teal, 31% had voted Labor in 2019, 24% for the Greens and just 18% for the Coalition (23% voted other.)
SPECIES
Greater Glider Endangered in NSW:
It may come as a shock, but the Greater Glider has leapfrogged from not being listed as threatened in NSW to Endangered due to climate change, bushfires and native logging severely reducing its population and habitat,
WWF Australia conservation scientist Stuart Blanch said … This trend would continue until stronger action was taken to stop deforestation and native logging – two of the biggest drivers in habitat destruction. He added there also needed to be greater incentives for farmers to protect forests, providing an economic alternative to logging.
David Lindenmayer said scientists have known this was the most likely outcome for the mammal for the past ten years, but inadequate plans to end native forestry and poor environmental laws have led to its demise.
NSW Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders said … “Importantly, in every tree harvesting operation, strict conditions are applied that were developed by expert scientific panels to protect the habitat of species such as the Greater Glider.”
Saunders did not comment on whether an end to native forest logging would be considered for NSW. Victoria and Western Australia have already set end dates.
https://www.miragenews.com/endangered-listing-of-southern-greater-gliders-907664/
The sensitivity of Southern Greater Gliders to timber harvesting has been well documented. Although some habitat across the species’ range is found in conservation reserves (Smith and Smith 2018; Wagner et al. 2020), prime habitat coincides largely with areas suitable for timber harvesting (Braithwaite 1984). There is a progressive decline in numbers of hollow bearing trees in some production forests, as harvesting rotations become shorter and dead stags collapse, and hollow bearing trees are not being replaced due to lack of recruitment (Ross 1999; Ball et al. 1999; Lindenmayer et al. 2011; Lindenmayer et al. 2012). Recovery of subpopulations following timber harvesting is slow. Populations in southeast NSW had not recovered eight years after timber harvesting in sites retaining 62%, 52% and 21% of the original tree basal area (Kavanagh and Webb 1998). In the regrowth Mountain Ash forests (Central Highlands) of Victoria, Southern Greater Gliders were absent post-timber harvesting until the regenerating forests were >38 years old (Macfarlane 1988). Timber harvesting continues to put pressure on remaining Southern Greater Glider habitat. However, Forestry regulations in NSW contain a range of mitigation measures intended to address the risks including the establishment of wildlife habitat clumps, tree retention clumps, hollow tree, future hollow tree protection and large areas set aside as protection area (EPA 2018). ‘Loss of hollow-bearing trees’ is listed as a Key Threatening Process under the Act.
Koala ignorance:
A YouGov study of 1000+ metro and regional NSW residents for the Sydney Basin Koala Network found that less than a third of residents (31%) aware that koalas live in neighbouring bushland in close proximity to busy residential areas in the Sydney Basin, but over four-in-five (84%) NSW citizens say that koala habitats should be protected from development (including housing, mining, logging, and more).
- Over four-in-five (84%) NSW citizens say that koala habitats should be protected from development (including housing, mining, logging, and more). Just one-in-ten (10%) support the use of koala habitat
- Asked about their views on the amount of native forest conserved for koala habitats, two-thirds (64%) say that it is ‘too little’ – this is especially pronounced for respondents outside the Sydney Basin region (70%, compared with 62% for Sydney Basin respondents).
- Three-in-five (62%) say that property developers, logging and mining companies are given “too much” power over land use in natural forest.
https://www.ecovoice.com.au/new-voice-to-fight-for-koala-protection-sydney-basin-koala-network/
The Sydney Basin Koala Network is seeking to raise awareness of Koalas in the Illawarra, complaining that most people are unaware that Koalas live on the Illawarra escarpment and its neighbouring catchments because “There’s been no surveys, no studies of koalas there, there’s been nothing”.
https://www.theillawarraflame.com.au/science--nature/koalas-on-our-coast-need-your-help
The Total Environment Centre is calling for protections limiting major development including enforcing a new 400m koala green belt around Sydney.
https://www.denipt.com.au/national/sydney-needs-koala-belt-in-planning-future-2/
The cost of Koala killing:
Three parties have been charged with more than 250 animal cruelty offences after hundreds of koalas were found either dead, dehydrated or starving at a private property in Cape Bridgewater in 2020, with the first to be tried fined $20,000 - just like our forestry, the contractor said if he saw a koala in a tree he would spare it, and cut it down later once the Koala had left.
"To the end, regrettably, some 227 koalas were located alive, 40-odd were euthanised because of poor body condition and dehydration, and 21 were deceased," he said.
"[The director, Ken Hutchinson] would have been cognisant to what was going on around them and that the the reduction of the habitat would have led to the recognition it was insufficient for the population to survive adequately."
"If it were not for intervention in February 2020 the population of koalas would have starved to death within two months," Ms Locke said.
Australian Ethical is threatening to sell its $11 million worth of Lendlease shares because migration corridors are insufficient to protect one of the few chlamydia-free koala populations in Australia in Lendlease’s proposed housing development at Mount Gilead near Campbelltown on Sydney’s outskirts.
A new threat to Orange-bellied Parrot:
A contentious wind farm proposed for Tasmania's north-western tip has been given the green light from the state's environment watchdog, but under the condition it doesn't operate for five months of the year because it is a migration area for the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot, though the proponents are hopefully of getting this restriction reduced.
[The Proponent] "The wind turbines aren't so lucrative that we could get away with only running them for half the time so that, in its current form, would be problematic for us and we'll need to consider our options going forward."
He conceded it could impact the viability of the project, but wasn't yet sure how much.
"The condition can be removed by the board subject to the provision of suitable evidence so it could be possible to provide such evidence," he said.
[BirdLife Tasmania] "You cannot have a wind farm with 120-plus turbines in the middle of wetlands that are important for migratory shore birds, resident shore birds, orange-bellied parrots, eagles.
"You're going to kill birds. There's no doubt that this wind farm will kill birds."
[Christine Milne] "There's absolutely no doubt this company will appeal the decision of the Tasmanian EPA, and there is no doubt the EPA will go to water. There's also no doubt the federal government will go to water."
Compounding extremes:
The extreme floods are a boon for waterbirds and red gums, but many animals, such as kangaroos and wombats, are being flooded out and their grasses killed, de-oxygenated "blackwater" has killed large numbers of native fish, including iconic species such as the Murray cod, and the sediments washed out to sea are suffocating seagrasses and killing Dugongs and possibly turtles. The problem is that the effects of the series of extreme events from droughts and fires to floods will have compounding impacts imperilling many species.
We expect blackwater events in floods, but if you keep having drought, flood, drought, flood, then ultimately your ecosystems get degraded if there's not enough time in between those events to repair," Professor Bergstrom says.
"If you keep having rapid or multiple events, it's basically chipping away at the backbones of your ecosystem."
Professor Bergstrom says this leads to weaknesses in the system and, ultimately, tipping points.
"And you may not notice them … people may not see the process of collapse because there's just a little bit here and a little bit there and then all of a sudden, bang, how did that happen."
Christmas loss:
The University of Sydney and Invertebrates Australia are asking for citizen scientists to participate in a project to find out where all the Christmas beetles have gone, as populations have apparently crashed.
A citizen science project run by the University of Sydney and Invertebrates Australia aims to find out population trends and what's behind the anecdotal decline.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-08/christmas-beetle-mystery-citizen-science/101744318
THE DETERIORATING PROBLEM
European forests in decline:
European forests are increasingly suffering from the effects of global heating as stressed trees succumb to droughts and insect attack, with a recent study measuring tree rings finding European beech, Germany's most important native forest tree species, is suffering from increasing drought stress during summer, particularly on drier sites and sandy soils.
https://phys.org/news/2022-12-climate-forests-northern-germany-team.html
TURNING IT AROUND
Extreme alienation:
A study found that while extreme protest tactics can raise awareness they decreased popular support for a given cause because they reduced feelings of identification with the movement.
Social movements are critical agents of change that vary greatly in both tactics and popular support. Prior work shows that extreme protest tactics – actions that are highly counter-normative, disruptive, or harmful to others, including inflammatory rhetoric, blocking traffic, and damaging property – are effective for gaining publicity. However, we find across three experiments that extreme protest tactics decreased popular support for a given cause because they reduced feelings of identification with the movement. Though this effect obtained in tests of popular responses to extreme tactics used by animal rights, Black Lives Matter, and anti-Trump protests (Studies 1-3), we found that self-identified political activists were willing to use extreme tactics because they believed them to be effective for recruiting popular support (Studies 4a & 4b). The activist’s dilemma – wherein tactics that raise awareness also tend to reduce popular support – highlights a key challenge faced by social movements struggling to affect progressive change.
To raise awareness and “get the message out,” it is strategic to engage in extreme behaviors that will attract widespread attention and media coverage. However, such behaviors typically reduce movement credibility to the broader public, undermining efforts to recruit and mobilize popular support by alienating potential supporters.
… In addition, though we have emphasized that the same tactics that draw attention can often undermine support for a cause, some scholars have emphasized “agenda-setting” effects of social movements, arguing that the most viable path to social change is longer-term, by placing an issue in the consciousness of politicians and the public
Thus, while on face our findings appear to paint a dim picture of a social movement’s strategic options, we believe instead they highlight the high stakes associated with the planning of protest actions. History shows social movements can successfully affect social change. Future movements are most likely to follow in their footsteps when they strategically consider the perspective of the general public and how to win its favor.
https://pacscenter.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/SSRN-id2911177.pdf
All eyes on COP 15:
The Cop15 biodiversity summit will be held in Montreal from December 7-19 to work on a new framework agreement, theoretically to end biodiversity decline by halting extinctions, protecting 30% of the earth’s land and seas for conservation by 2030, and making sure business accounts for the impacts it has on nature by making nature-related financial disclosures.
The Greens environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, … said Australia would have “no credibility” on protecting biodiversity if native forest logging and clearing of critical habitat for the koala continued.
“The minister is set to announce the government’s response to the Samuel review in the midst of the Cop,” she said.
Australian Conservation Foundation CEO Kelly O'Shanassy …says it simply won't be possible to fix the nature crisis without a Paris-style pact to mobilise global ambition and hold nations to account.
"One million species across the world are threatened with extinction, 75 per cent of land environments and 66 per cent of marine environments have been significantly affected by humans,'' she says.
"And this is the statistic that freaks me out ... 96 per cent of the mass of all mammals on Earth are humans and the animals we grow to eat. Every other mammal is the other four per cent."
https://www.juneesoutherncross.com.au/story/8006811/australia-urged-to-lead-at-nature-summit/
The GBF consists of 21 individual targets and 10 milestones to achieve by the end of this decade. Broadly, these targets aim to reduce threats to biodiversity, enact a more sustainable relationship with the environment and get the world’s governments, private sector and, in general, people, to coexist with nature better.
One target – protecting 30 percent of the world’s land and sea areas – is expected to be a hotly contested topic. Even Australia, which has committed to this target, has a poor record in terms of land protection. A 2022 report from Australian Conservation Foundation investigators found over 200,000 hectares of land occupied by threatened species had been cleared for approval in the last decade. Most of those approvals took place in the last five years.
Australia is also considered fourth in the world for animal extinctions by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and eighth for all species.
https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/australia-to-attend-cop15-aimed-at-reversing-extinction-crisis/
In an article in Nature Sandra Diaz describes scientists efforts to have COP 15 take meaningful action on biodiversity, expressing dismay at how explicit targets in the initial draft were wound back or “bracketed” for debate, commenting “Now, to avert failure, we exhort the governments gathering in Montreal to be brave, long-sighted and open-hearted, and to produce a visionary, ambitious biodiversity framework, grounded in knowledge. … If not now, when?”
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04154-w
Nature is on the brink. Of 20 decadal targets to preserve nature that were set in Aichi, Japan, in 2010, not a single one had been fully met by 2020.
… protect primary forests:
An international alliance is calling for the protection of primary forests, with over a hundred groups signing on, including NEFA.
A new international alliance is calling on world leaders to include explicit protection for primary forests as part of the Global Biodiversity Framework being negotiated at the UN’s biodiversity meetings (COP15) in Montreal this week.
Primary forests protect by far the most terrestrial species (over two-thirds of all terrestrial species) and the largest terrestrial carbon stocks and also provide many other ecosystem services. Their protection is therefore essential to mitigate multiple overlapping crises from climate change to extinctions to freshwater access to pandemics. Only about 27 percent of the world’s forests are primary forests, and they are being destroyed at very high rates – at least 4.5 million hectares a year over the last thirty years (139 million hectares since 1990), though official statistics greatly underestimate the full extent of the loss.
https://www.oneearth.org/new-alliance-calls-for-a-global-agreement-to-protect-primary-forests/
… stop burning forests for electricity:
In the build-up to COP 15, more than 650 scientists wrote to world leaders urging them to stop burning trees to make energy because it destroys valuable habitats for wildlife, is more polluting than coal, is not ‘carbon neutral’, and undermines international climate and nature targets, arguing “The best thing for the climate and biodiversity is to leave forests standing – and biomass energy does the opposite,”
Prof Alexandre Antonelli, a lead author of the letter and director of science at Kew Gardens, said: “Ensuring energy security is a major societal challenge, but the answer is not to burn our precious forests. Calling this ‘green energy’ is misleading and risks accelerating the global biodiversity crisis.”
By 2030, bioenergy is expected to account for a third of “low-carbon” energy, according to a report by the International Energy Agency.
Prof William Moomaw … “Clearcutting for forest bioenergy is degrading the south-east US coastal forests, a global biodiversity hotspot, the Baltic states in Europe, boreal forests in Canada, and illegally cutting protected forest ecosystems in the Carpathians of eastern Europe. These are all home to irreplaceable rare plant species, mammals, and migratory and residential birds.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEjlAymvr1c
Clearfelling for electricity half a world away:
Enviva is the largest maker of wood pellets burned for energy in the world, claiming it only uses wood waste, “tops, limbs, thinnings, and/or low-value smaller trees”, though a whistleblower in North Carolina says that increased European demand is leading to clearfelling with “100% whole trees in our pellets” and that limbs and debris were “left laying on the ground; they don’t want that stuff.”
[Whistleblower] “We take giant, whole trees. We don’t care where they come from. The notion of sustainably managed forests is nonsense. We can’t get wood into the mills fast enough.”
“The company says that we use mostly waste like branches, treetops and debris to make pellets,” the whistleblower told me. “What a joke. We use 100% whole trees in our pellets. We hardly use any waste. Pellet density is critical. You get that from whole trees, not junk.”
Driving to work, he told me, he would sometimes follow behind trucks loaded with whole trees, “some longer than my house,” heading to his Enviva plant. On harvest sites, he also noticed that limbs and debris — from which Enviva claims its pellets are mostly sourced — were “left laying on the ground; they don’t want that stuff.”
Just before the recent United Nations COP27 climate summit in Egypt, the World Resources Institute (WRI) released a groundbreaking study that underlined the crucial role intact forests play in combating the climate crisis — a role that goes beyond how they absorb carbon as they grow, or release carbon when cleared or burned.
… ramping up demand:
As the European Union seeks to soon finalize its revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED), forest advocates urge last minute changes to significantly cut the use of woody biomass for energy and make deep reductions in EU subsidies to the wood pellet industry, if RED is approved as drafted, bioenergy use is projected to double between 2015 and 2050.
In the EU today, 60% of energy classified as renewable comes from burning woody biomass instead of coal. EU policy, which designates biomass as carbon neutral, enables countries to not count biomass emissions at the smokestack, resulting in dubious carbon accounting. A host of studies have found that burning biomass is more carbon intensive than coal per unit of energy.
“The simplest solution is for the EU to stop treating biomass from energy crops and wood harvests as carbon neutral,” Searchinger wrote, adding that “The European Parliament adopted an amendment [in September] to freeze the quantity of woody biomass that counts as ‘low carbon’ at each EU country’s 2020 level of use.”
If that rule within the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) survives the current trilogue — negotiations between the European Parliament, Council and Commission — “it could limit the damage” to standing forests, Searchinger said.
Unfortunately, although other parts of the plan should reduce emissions, the broad rules assigning climate benefits to bioenergy will undermine carbon storage and biodiversity both in Europe and globally, by expanding Europe’s outsourcing of agricultural production to other countries. By treating biomass as ‘carbon neutral’, the rules create incentives to harvest wood and to divert cropland to energy crops, regardless of the consequences for land-based carbon storage.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04133-1
Canadian forestry certification misleading:
In Canada eight environmental groups have filed a complaint with Canada’s Competition Bureau alleging the industry’s Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) forestry certification standard has made “false and misleading” claims in an effort to greenwash the country’s lumber and wood products.
Forest Media 2 December 2022
New South Wales
News of the Area reports Sue Higginson complaining about the $9 million dollars we paid last year for the unprofitable and irresponsible destruction of our public native forests. The South East Region Conservation Alliance put out a press release complaining that Allied Natural Wood Enterprises (ANWE), owner of the Eden woodchip mill has just reported a staggering profit of over $60 million for 2021/22, while the Forestry Corporation lost $9 million.
In a press release, a coalition of 10 forest conservation groups in the Coffs Harbour region attacked the Forestry Corporation’s sham consultation process, making it clear that they in no way want to condone the continued industrial logging of public native forests and the massive financial losses that taxpayers continue to incur.
Australia
There is a website extolling the virtues of Tasmania’s 100ha Grove of Giants (see Forest Media 4 November 2022) and requesting people sign an Open Letter Calling for the Protection of the Huon Valley’s Grove of Giants.
The Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council has released its bushfire seasonal outlook for summer 2022, suggesting above-normal fire potential in central western and southern WA, central Australia, southern Queensland and inland NSW due to increased fuel loads due to significant rainfall, with the east coastal forests in NSW and Victoria with below normal fire potential due to due to increased fuel moisture.
New Forests has launched the Australia New Zealand Landscapes and Forestry Fund (ANZLAFF) targeting A$600m (€392m) to invest across forest, land and agriculture markets in Australia and New Zealand, aimed at buying agricultural land with the potential to put it into forestry, while using carbon sequestration and emissions reduction opportunities.
The recent Victorian court decision to require surveys and increased habitat retention for Greater Glider and Yellow-bellied Glider is accused by The Australian of causing a looming pallet shortage in the new year, described as a “pallet-gate” crisis, though some manufacturers are seeking certified timber pallets – there is a surfeit of pine.
A new national Biosecurity Collaboration Agreement will establish a National Forest Pest Surveillance Program to improve the early detection of exotic forest pests and the likelihood of their eradication.
Dr Tony Bartlette argues against David Lindenmayer’s recommendation of keeping forests fire-free for 50 years to restore their natural resilience to fire, instead arguing for more fuel-reduction burns.
While counting in the Victorian elections are continuing, it is clear that the Andrews government has overwhelming control in the lower house (with 4 Greens), while of the 40 seats in the upper house, Labor and Liberal are likely to have 15 each, with 3 Greens. 3 Legalise Cannabis and 1 Animal Justice holding the balance of power.
Species
Federal planning for threatened species is a shambles, with 372 (89%) recovery plans (for 575 species) expiring next year, making it likely that many will be abandoned as late last year the then Environment Minister was faced with close to 200 plans overdue so scrapped recovery plan requirements for 176 species and habitats. We wait for the response to the Samuel Review next week.
The mountain frogs (Philoria kundagungan and Philoria richmondensis), which live in the wet forest ranges around the NSW/Queensland border, are being eliminated from lower altitudes as the world warms, possibly losing half their habitat with just 1.5oC warming and over 90% with 3o warming, and then there are the increasing pigs rooting through their homes. More species targeted for captivity as their habitat disappears.
A Tasmanian farmer is complaining because Sustainable Timber Tasmania started logging “high-density habitat” for the critically endangered swift parrot adjacent to his property, despite assuring him they were "unlikely" to log.
As the Southern Emu Wren is being considered for uplisting from vulnerable to endangered nationally, a proposal for a rocket launching site over critical habitat on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula has raised concerns it could contribute to its extinction.
Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital is expanding, purchasing the Raptor Rehabilitation Centre located at Fitzroy Falls, a facility for recovery and, where possible, release of injured raptors.
There is no shortage of Koala news. A study in south-east Queensland supports that, although primary forests should remain a priority for conservation, secondary forests have a great potential for koala conservation, with the reservation that mitigating anthropogenic threats and promoting resilience might need further consideration. New research shows Koala retrovirus, a mysterious AIDS-like virus that appears to weaken Koala's immune system, is far more prevalent in NSW and Queensland koalas compared to southern populations, leading to suggestions koala relocations in the north are limited to avoid introducing new virus subtypes into healthy populations. Danielle Clode has an interview in Forbes about Koala habitat, saying they need 200-400 of the particular species they prefer and asking why are the forests, and koala habitat, still disappearing?
Sue Higginson responded to baiting by Australian Rural and Regional News, in response to Brad Law’s “outlandish” claims that logging has no impact, and burning little impact, on Koalas, citing other experts, saying “the only voices suggesting that all is well for our Koalas, or that destroying their habitat is ok, are coming from the extractive logging industry and supporters”. The Greens have called on the New South Wales government to abandon any plans they have for koala translocations into the Royal National Park south of Sydney and other locations around the state.
Friends of the Koala said 42 koalas have been killed or injured since July, with a number of young taken into care, leading to them urging drivers to slow down and watch out. The ABC has an interview with Australian Koala Foundation's Deborah Tabart about a site in Gwydir Shire in NSW unveiled as the first location of what's called the "Koala Kiss Project", a project to restore habitat linkages. Employing their own ranger and opening a Save the Koala shop in Warialda.
World Animal Protection have called for an end to the profitable activity of koala cuddling in zoos and theme parks due to animal cruelty concerns and changing public attitudes. The NSW government will provide $5.624 million to cover cost blowouts for Gunnedah’s Koala theme park, bringing the total NSW Government investment to $12.1m, as the airport is expanded to cope with the expected influx of foreign visitors. Residents have celebrated Sydney Water's decision not to proceed with a planned housing subdivision at Woronora Heights on a wildlife corridor where koalas have been sighted.
NRMA Insurance released its Wildlife Road Safety Report revealing there were more than 900 animal collisions that caused injuries, ranging from minor through to fatal crashes, on New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory roads between 2015-2020, with 116 accidents reported in 2020 due to animal collisions including 30 serious injury crashes.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics found saltmarsh ecosystems are protecting more than 88,000 homes from storm surges and sequestered about 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2021 – a benefit that will come under increasing threat as seas rise.
The Deteriorating Problem
A UN delegation has once again recommended the Great Barrier Reef be added to the World Heritage 'in danger' list, and urged "ambitious, rapid and sustained" action on climate change to protect the site, in light of increasing coral bleaching due to global heating, a 26% increase in acidity retarding recovery, sediment runoff and gill-netting. Last year the Environment Minister Ms Ley convinced UNESCO's World Heritage Committee to over-rule the IUCN's scientific advice. The new minister, Tanya Plibersek, also wants to avoid having the reef “singled out” in this way.
Humanity is using nature 1.8 times faster than our planet’s biocapacity can regenerate, that’s equivalent to using the resources of 1.8 Earths, though if everyone lived like Australian residents we would need 4.5 Earths, not as high as Qatar at 9 Earths, but far higher than Yemen who only require 0.3 Earths.
A study of oxygen isotopes in tree rings has built a 700-year record of droughts in southwest China, finding before global warming started in the mid-nineteenth century, droughts were very similar to each other, but over the past 50 years there have been bigger and more-frequent droughts.
The Conversation has an article on the increasing fire risk as the planet heats (reported on last week), with fire risk linked to vapour pressure deficit (VPD), and the number of days per year above critical flammability thresholds increasing to at least 15-30 extra days per year depending on the emission scenario, with the Amazon increasing by 90-150 days.
In Canadian British Columbia, over a year ago the Government mapped 2.6 million hectares of old-growth forests identified as "rare, at-risk, and irreplaceable." and asked 204 First Nations to decide whether they supported the deferral of logging in those areas for an initial two-year period, with only 75 First Nations so-far agreeing, oldgrowth continues to be clearfelled. The B.C. Ministry of Forests continues to approve clearfelling of oldgrowth that is critical habitat for an imperilled Columbia North caribou.
Turning it Around
California has one of the world’s largest carbon offset programs, with tens of millions of dollars flowing through offset projects, though satellite tracking of carbon levels and logging activity in California forests found that carbon isn’t increasing in the state’s 37 offset project sites any more than in other areas, and timber companies aren’t logging less than they did before, resulting in a lack of real climate benefit over the 10 years of the program so far.
An article in Nature considers incoming policies will cause the European Union to harvest more wood, shift one-fifth of cropland to bioenergy and outsource deforestation. The fundamental problem is that by treating biomass as ‘carbon neutral’, the rules create incentives to harvest wood and to divert cropland to energy crops, regardless of the consequences for land-based carbon storage.
A study in subtropical forest found both species and genetic diversity promote forest productivity “by increasing the ability of trees to maximize the use of resources while reducing damage caused by herbivores and competition from soil fungi,"
Research on the regrowth of Panamanian rainforests have found that seed dispersal by birds and mammals are key to restoring diversity, arguing that reestablishing the animal-plant interactions that underpin ecosystem function should be accounted for in restoration projects.
Dailan Pugh
NEW SOUTH WALES
Compounding losses:
News of the Area reports Sue Higginson complaining about the $9 million dollars we paid last year for the unprofitable and irresponsible destruction of our public native forests.
“Frontier Economics has also shown us that the transition to 100 percent plantations could cost as little as $30 million per year over ten years.
Ms Higginson said, “Forestry Corporation can justify it however they like, but where else is a public asset able to be sold off and still cost the public $9 million?
The South East Region Conservation Alliance put out a press release complaining that Allied Natural Wood Enterprises (ANWE), owner of the Eden woodchip mill has just reported a staggering profit of over $60 million for 2021/22, while the Forestry Corporation lost $9 million.
“To make such a massive profit from the destruction of forests still struggling to recover from bushfires exacerbated by decades of woodchipping is hard to take,” Ms Swift said.
The Eden chipmill continues to be the driver of all native forest logging on the South Coast, with some operations in the Eden Region yielding 100% woodchips.
The profit has been boosted by tens of millions of taxpayer dollars in subsidies, especially after the bushfires.
In a press release, a coalition of 10 forest conservation groups in the Coffs Harbour region attacked the Forestry Corporation’s sham consultation process, making it clear that they in no way want to condone the continued industrial logging of public native forests and the massive financial losses that taxpayers continue to incur.
“FCNSW can attempt to run as many sham online “consultation” or “engagement” processes as it wants, but nothing can change the facts. The facts are that this corporation has no social licence and absolutely fails to serve the public interest, that our Koalas are being rapidly sent to extinction by their logging of preferred habitats, that our water security is being lost because of their logging of our native forests, that our carbon reserves are being destroyed and our chances of limiting future temperature increases to 1.5C are being lost. We refuse to continue to foot the bill for this unnecessary destruction of our life support systems” said Cath Eaglesham of the Bellingen Environment Centre.
AUSTRALIA
Saving the giants:
There is a website extolling the virtues of Tasmania’s 100ha Grove of Giants (see Forest Media 4 November 2022) and requesting people sign an Open Letter Calling for the Protection of the Huon Valley’s Grove of Giants.
https://www.thetreeprojects.com/groveofgiants?
Less fire risk in coastal forests:
The Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council has released its bushfire seasonal outlook for summer 2022, suggesting above-normal fire potential in central western and southern WA, central Australia, southern Queensland and inland NSW due to increased fuel loads due to significant rainfall, with the east coastal forests in NSW and Victoria with below normal fire potential due to due to increased fuel moisture.
Forestry investment:
New Forests has launched the Australia New Zealand Landscapes and Forestry Fund (ANZLAFF) targeting A$600m (€392m) to invest across forest, land and agriculture markets in Australia and New Zealand, aimed at buying agricultural land with the potential to put it into forestry, while using carbon sequestration and emissions reduction opportunities.
Gliders pallet-gate:
The recent Victorian court decision to require surveys and increased habitat retention for Greater Glider and Yellow-bellied Glider is accused by The Australian of causing a looming pallet shortage in the new year, described as a “pallet-gate” crisis, though some manufacturers are seeking certified timber pallets – there is a surfeit of pine.
A spokeswoman for Brambles … “For 2023, plans are in place to mitigate any supply issues that might affect new pallet procurement. We have reliable access to certified timber from a range of sources both locally and from overseas and, over the past year, have brought on board several new pallet manufacturers to supply to CHEP.”
Forest pests:
A new national Biosecurity Collaboration Agreement will establish a National Forest Pest Surveillance Program to improve the early detection of exotic forest pests and the likelihood of their eradication.
https://www.miragenews.com/national-surveillance-partnership-to-protect-905703/
Fiery debate:
Dr Tony Bartlette argues against David Lindenmayer’s recommendation of keeping forests fire-free for 50 years to restore their natural resilience to fire, instead arguing for more fuel-reduction burns.
Balance of power:
While counting in the Victorian elections are continuing, it is clear that the Andrews government has overwhelming control in the lower house (with 4 Greens), while of the 40 seats in the upper house, Labor and Liberal are likely to have 15 each, with 3 Greens. 3 Legalise Cannabis and 1 Animal Justice holding the balance of power.
The ABC’s summary page for the upper house, based on using its upper house calculator, has Labor on 15 of the 40 seats, the Coalition 15, the Greens three, Legalise Cannabis three and one each for Animal Justice, the Shooters, Labour DLP and One Nation. This calculator assumes all votes are above the line; about 10% were below the line.
SPECIES
Time is running out for threatened species:
Federal planning for threatened species is a shambles, with 372 (89%) recovery plans (for 575 species) expiring next year, making it likely that many will be abandoned as late last year the then Environment Minister was faced with close to 200 plans overdue so scrapped recovery plan requirements for 176 species and habitats. We wait for the response to the Samuel Review next week.
Frogs running out of mountains:
The mountain frogs (Philoria kundagungan and Philoria richmondensis), which live in the wet forest ranges around the NSW/Queensland border, are being eliminated from lower altitudes as the world warms, possibly losing half their habitat with just 1.5oC warming and over 90% with 3o warming, and then there are the increasing pigs rooting through their homes.
‘Under the worst-case scenario of three degrees of warming, up to 91 per cent of their ecological niche will be lost within a relatively short time,’ says lead author and Southern Cross University PhD researcher Liam Bolitho.
‘Even under current projections of warming by 1.5 degrees celsius, we expect that these frogs will not survive in half of their current mountain habitats.
Wildfires in 2019/2020 impacted large areas of mountain frog habitat that had previously not been affected by fires.
‘We have little doubt that these events are linked to climate change. Post-fire monitoring has revealed ongoing declines and localised extinctions as well as the emergence of an additional threat – feral pigs. Pigs can completely destroy the habitat of these frogs within a very short period,’ Dr Newell said.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/12/climate-change-a-threat-to-local-gondwana-rainforest-mountain-frogs/
More species targeted for captivity as their habitat disappears.
Southern Cross University senior lecturer and project lead, David Newell, said six of the seven species of mountain frogs lived solely in the cool, upland mountain rainforests within the Gondwana World Heritage-listed national parks around the New South Wales/Queensland border.
Southern Cross University has been working with WWF Australia and a number of government agencies to breed the frogs in captivity to help bolster remaining populations.
Pulling a swifty:
A Tasmanian farmer is complaining because Sustainable Timber Tasmania started logging “high-density habitat” for the critically endangered swift parrot adjacent to his property, despite assuring him they were "unlikely" to log.
Forestry Watch used this metric to find that two of the coupe's sections were high-density habitat and one was medium.
One section had 10 trees per hectare greater than 1 metre in diameter at breast height, and a further 10 per hectare with recorded nesting hollows.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-30/tasmanian-farmer-wages-battle-over-logging-plan/101716526
Blasting the Southern Emu Wren into extinction:
As the Southern Emu Wren is being considered for uplisting from vulnerable to endangered nationally, a proposal for a rocket launching site over critical habitat on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula has raised concerns it could contribute to its extinction.
Growing rehabilitation business:
Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital is expanding, purchasing the Raptor Rehabilitation Centre located at Fitzroy Falls, a facility for recovery and, where possible, release of injured raptors.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-28/raptor-rehabilitation-centre-injured-birds-of-prey/101683638
Tracking Koalas:
A study in south-east Queensland supports that, although primary forests should remain a priority for conservation, secondary forests have a great potential for koala conservation, with the reservation that mitigating anthropogenic threats and promoting resilience might need further consideration.
Overall koala occurrence was negatively associated with secondary eucalyptus forests compared to primary forests, while there was no effect of total forest area present at any scale. However, we found interactive effects between secondary forest and (1) distance from the closest major road at the smallest landscape scale (250 m radii) and (2) water area at the larger landscape scales (500 m, 1500 m radii). This suggests that occurrence of koalas in secondary forests are predicted to increase when the distance to major roads, and the water area, increase. While protecting primary eucalyptus forests should always be a prioritisation for the conservation of koalas, our results emphasize the important role that secondary eucalyptus forests can play in conservation, as long as these are carefully considered in the landscape context to maximise restoration investments.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-022-02493-8
… Koala worries:
New research shows Koala retrovirus, a mysterious AIDS-like virus that appears to weaken Koala's immune system, is far more prevalent in NSW and Queensland koalas compared to southern populations, leading to suggestions koala relocations in the north are limited to avoid introducing new virus subtypes into healthy populations.
https://www.southernriverinanews.com.au/national/koala-virus-worse-for-northern-populations/
… clearing Koalas:
Danielle Clode has an interview in Forbes about Koala habitat, saying they need 200-400 of the particular species they prefer and asking why are the forests, and koala habitat, still disappearing?
Koalas need a lot of eucalypt trees to survive – around 200-400 of the particular species they prefer. A koala may need one hectare (about the size of an average sports field) if they live in lush forests or up to 300 hectares (the size of New York’s Central Park) if they live in dry inland forest. Koalas are fussy eaters because eucalypts contain a lot of toxins, which differs by species, individual tree, environmental conditions, and even different leaves on the same tree at different times.
And the few remaining forests are still under threat. There are a lot of exemptions for native forest protection, including for mining, forestry and agriculture. Forestry often promotes tree species that are too toxic for koalas to eat. Australia is one of the few developed nations listed as a global deforestation hotspot – mainly through continued land clearance in New South Wales and Queensland – the two states where koalas (unsurprisingly) are endangered.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2022/11/30/how-we-can-preserve-koala-habitats/?sh=724aface6227
… Koala wars:
Sue Higginson responded to baiting by Australian Rural and Regional News, in response to Brad Law’s “outlandish” claims that logging has no impact, and burning little impact, on Koalas, citing other experts, saying “the only voices suggesting that all is well for our Koalas, or that destroying their habitat is ok, are coming from the extractive logging industry and supporters”.
… moving Koalas:
The Greens have called on the New South Wales government to abandon any plans they have for koala translocations into the Royal National Park south of Sydney and other locations around the state.
The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage said its translocation program was in the early stages.
"Translocating koalas to improve health, abundance and genetic diversity is one conservation tool among a suite of tools that the NSW Koala Strategy includes," a spokesperson said.
"The translocation program is in the early stages of a state-wide suitability assessment, with translocation sites yet to be selected."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-02/koala-translocation-policy-questioned/101726936
… Koala casualties:
Friends of the Koala said 42 koalas have been killed or injured since July, with a number of young taken into care, leading to them urging drivers to slow down and watch out.
… kissing Koalas:
The ABC has an interview with Australian Koala Foundation's Deborah Tabart about a site in Gwydir Shire in NSW unveiled as the first location of what's called the "Koala Kiss Project", a project to restore habitat linkages. Employing their own ranger and opening a Save the Koala shop in Warialda.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-28/new-plan-to-better-protect-koala-habitat/101706828
… cuddling Koalas:
World Animal Protection have called for an end to the profitable activity of koala cuddling in zoos and theme parks due to animal cruelty concerns and changing public attitudes.
https://7news.com.au/video/news/animal-activists-call-for-ban-on-koala-cuddles-bc-6316272554112
… Koala money:
The NSW government will provide $5.624 million to cover cost blowouts for Gunnedah’s Koala theme park, bringing the total NSW Government investment to $12.1m, as the airport is expanded to cope with the expected influx of foreign visitors.
The NSW Nationals in the state government’s Resources for Region Round 9 has delivered for Gunnedah’s proposed Koala sanctuary with $5.624 million locked in to ensure work can begin on Stage 2 of the project.
Nationals Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson said this funding is on top of the NSW Government’s $6.48 million investment from the Regional Communities Development Fund in 2018, bringing the total NSW Government investment to $12.1m.
https://www.nationaltribune.com.au/nats-deliver-for-gunnedah-koala-sanctuary/
… housing Koalas:
Residents have celebrated Sydney Water's decision not to proceed with a planned housing subdivision at Woronora Heights on a wildlife corridor where koalas have been sighted.
https://www.theleader.com.au/story/7974573/down-comes-the-da-sign/
Road toll:
NRMA Insurance released its Wildlife Road Safety Report revealing there were more than 900 animal collisions that caused injuries, ranging from minor through to fatal crashes, on New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory roads between 2015-2020, with 116 accidents reported in 2020 due to animal collisions including 30 serious injury crashes.
NRMA Spokesperson Peter Khoury said:
“It’s estimated that 10 million animals die on Australian roads every year[ii] and what people might not know is that approximately 3% of crashes in regional areas are the result of impact collisions with wildlife.”
Beyond vehicle damage, NRMA data analysis suggests societal costs of road trauma as a result of animal collisions are approximately $7 billion per year.
2015-2020 Centre for Road Safety Wildlife Collision Data: Reports and publications - Statistics - NSW Centre for Road Safety
Benefiting from saltmarsh:
The Australian Bureau of Statistics found saltmarsh ecosystems are protecting more than 88,000 homes from storm surges and sequestered about 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2021 – a benefit that will come under increasing threat as seas rise.
THE DETERIORATING PROBLEM
A UN delegation has once again recommended the Great Barrier Reef be added to the World Heritage 'in danger' list, and urged "ambitious, rapid and sustained" action on climate change to protect the site, in light of increasing coral bleaching due to global heating, a 26% increase in acidity retarding recovery, sediment runoff and gill-netting. Last year the Environment Minister Ms Ley convinced UNESCO's World Heritage Committee to over-rule the IUCN's scientific advice. The new minister, Tanya Plibersek, also wants to avoid having the reef “singled out” in this way.
Given the report was written before those changes occurred, and the government is relatively new, Richard Leck from WWF-Australia said the In Danger listing should be deferred until 2024.
If you dive the reef for the first time this year, you might wonder if there really is a problem. After all, there are still fish and coral. When I first dove on the reef more than 35 years ago, it was in much better condition. What you see now may seem okay – but it’s a pale shadow of what it could or should be. It’s death by a thousand cuts.
We’re never going to restore the reef to its pre-European conditions. But unless we take real action, future generations will wonder how and why we failed them so badly. We don’t need to wait for the World Heritage Committee to make in-danger listing to know the reef is in real trouble.
Consuming multiple earths:
Humanity is using nature 1.8 times faster than our planet’s biocapacity can regenerate, that’s equivalent to using the resources of 1.8 Earths, though if everyone lived like Australian residents we would need 4.5 Earths, not as high as Qatar at 9 Earths, but far higher than Yemen who only require 0.3 Earths.
https://www.overshootday.org/how-many-earths-or-countries-do-we-need/
Amplifying droughts:
A study of oxygen isotopes in tree rings has built a 700-year record of droughts in southwest China, finding before global warming started in the mid-nineteenth century, droughts were very similar to each other, but over the past 50 years there have been bigger and more-frequent droughts.
More on increasing fire risk:
The Conversation has an article on the increasing fire risk as the planet heats (reported on last week), with fire risk linked to vapour pressure deficit (VPD), and the number of days per year above critical flammability thresholds increasing to at least 15-30 extra days per year depending on the emission scenario, with the Amazon increasing by 90-150 days.
Importantly, warmer air can hold more water, which means VPD increases. We refer to the air being “thirsty” when the gap between full and empty air becomes bigger, meaning there’s a greater demand (thirst) for the water to come out of living and dead plant material, drying it out.
For example, in boreal forests (predominantly northern European and American coniferous forests), this threshold is 0.7-1.4 kilopascals (a unit of pressure). In subtropical and tropical forests such as the Amazon, the threshold rises dramatically to 1.5-4.0 kilopascals. This means the air must be a lot thirstier to spark fire in the tropical forests of Borneo and Sumatra than in the spruce, pine and larch of Canada.
We can also expect increasing harms to human health from wildfire smoke. It is estimated that around the world, more than 330,000 people die each year from smoke inhalation. This number could increase notably by the turn of the century, particularly in the most populated areas of South Asia and East Africa.
Canada’s disappearing oldgrowth:
In Canadian British Columbia, over a year ago the Government mapped 2.6 million hectares of old-growth forests identified as "rare, at-risk, and irreplaceable." and asked 204 First Nations to decide whether they supported the deferral of logging in those areas for an initial two-year period, with only 75 First Nations so-far agreeing, oldgrowth continues to be clearfelled.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/old-growth-logging-still-happening-in-bc-1.6666047
The B.C. Ministry of Forests continues to approve clearfelling of oldgrowth that is critical habitat for an imperilled Columbia North caribou.
https://thenarwhal.ca/bc-logging-endangered-caribou-habitat/
TURNING IT AROUND
Carbon offsets make no difference:
California has one of the world’s largest carbon offset programs, with tens of millions of dollars flowing through offset projects, though satellite tracking of carbon levels and logging activity in California forests found that carbon isn’t increasing in the state’s 37 offset project sites any more than in other areas, and timber companies aren’t logging less than they did before, resulting in a lack of real climate benefit over the 10 years of the program so far.
Our study used satellite data to track carbon levels, tree harvesting rates and tree species in forest offset projects compared with other similar forests in California.
From this broad view, we identified three problems indicating a lack of climate benefit:
- Carbon isn’t being added to these projects faster than before the projects began or faster than in non-offset areas.
- Many of the projects are owned and operated by large timber companies, which manage to meet requirements for offset credits by keeping carbon above the minimum baseline level. However, these lands have been heavily harvested and continue to be harvested.
- In some regions, projects are being put on lands with lower-value tree species that aren’t at risk from logging. For example, at one large timber company in the redwood forests of northwestern California, the offset project is only 4% redwood, compared with 25% redwood on the rest of the company’s property. Instead, the offset project’s area is overgrown with tanoak, which is not marketable timber and doesn’t need to be protected from logging.
Without improvements to the current system, we may be underestimating our net emissions, contributing to the profits of large emitters and landowners and distracting from the real solutions of transitioning to a clean-energy economy.
Accounting for biomass carbon emissions:
An article in Nature considers incoming policies will cause the European Union to harvest more wood, shift one-fifth of cropland to bioenergy and outsource deforestation. The fundamental problem is that by treating biomass as ‘carbon neutral’, the rules create incentives to harvest wood and to divert cropland to energy crops, regardless of the consequences for land-based carbon storage.
Diversity benefits restoration:
A study in subtropical forest found both species and genetic diversity promote forest productivity “by increasing the ability of trees to maximize the use of resources while reducing damage caused by herbivores and competition from soil fungi,"
The team's investigations showed that trees grown in forests with multiple tree species were more productive than those grown in single-species (or monoculture) forests. Forests with four different tree species had less diversity in soil fungi than monoculture forests, reducing the need for the trees to compete with fungi for resources. There was also less pressure from herbivores than in monoculture forests.
Xiaojuan Liu, associate professor at the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing. "Our results suggest that scientists leading reforestation projects should include multiple species of trees and genetically diverse individual trees within each species to ensure healthier forests."
https://phys.org/news/2022-11-forests-benefit-tree-species-variety.html
Wildlife aid restoration:
Research on the regrowth of Panamanian rainforests have found that seed dispersal by birds and mammals are key to restoring diversity, arguing that re-establishing the animal-plant interactions that underpin ecosystem function should be accounted for in restoration projects.
https://phys.org/news/2022-11-animals-key-world-forests-long-term.html
https://newatlas.com/environment/animals-seeds-forest-regeneration/
Forest Media 25 November 2022
New South Wales
Justice Sandra Duggan in the Land and Environment Court has directed the Court will hear two challenges by Wudjebal/Wahlubal Elder David Mundine to the logging approvals over 800 hectares of critical habitat in the Cherry Tree State Forest, forcing the Forestry Corporation to give undertakings to the Court in lieu of an injunction to cease all logging operations in Cherry Tree SF until the case is heard. The case is challenging the validity of the harvesting plan in relation to implementing ESFM. The judgement makes it clear that the Harvest and Haul Plans are statutory instruments and therefore open to legal challenge (though this has to be within 3 months of the plan being made). It only gives leave for one expert witness to be called, to address whether the Plan is able to achieve the principles of ecologically sustainable forest management as defined in section 69L(2) of the Forestry Act 2012 (NSW), the argument being it is not a valid plan unless it does.
Mid-north Coast conservation groups are boycotting Forestry Corporation’s consultation process on forest management, on the grounds that it is inadequate, flawed and not a genuine process, and is chiefly aimed at ticking the box to meet their Australian Forestry Standard Certification requirements.
The Monthly has a good article about the loss of majestic River Red Gum trees on an industrial scale, including in protected areas, as old dead trees and live old-growth redgums are increasingly being felled for an illegal firewood trade.
Construction has begun on a 67-kilometre Great Southern Walk, a five-day, four-night journey from Sydney's Kamay Botany Bay National Park, along the coastline of Royal National Park, then down to Bulli Tops in the Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area. New camping and accommodation facilities, will allow people to stay in cabins or "glamping" sites at the end of each day's hike.
The Climate 200 group have supported Joeline Hackman for the state seat of Manly against Environment minister James Griffin as their first endorsed target of for the March state election. Climate 200 are considering up to 7-10 seats, though because of optional preferential voting and spending caps, and the NSW Government being more progressive, a replication of the federal results will be hard. Sue Arnold writes that Dominic Perrottet's claim to "have the strongest record on environment anywhere in the country" doesn't stack up against his dismal failure to protect koala habitat in NSW. Bega ALP MP Michael Holland did a long interview with ABC SE Regional Breakfast about forestry, leaving forest campaigners dismayed by his support for forestry, and his apparent lack of awareness about export woodchipping and exporting of pine logs.
The push from the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council to clear bushland to build 450 homes, a community cultural centre, recreation facilities and neighbourhood shop on a 71 ha site at Lizard Rock in Belrose, progressed under new planning rules championed by Planning Minister Anthony Roberts, is raising the ire of local residents, local Liberal members and Council, making it an election issue in Liberal heartland, while also leading to claims of “prejudice and discrimination”.
Closing the walking track up to the significant men’s site atop Mount Wollumbin at the behest of the Aboriginal Wollumbin Consultative Group (with male and female representatives) is being attacked by a group of Aboriginal women as contravening their customary law right, women’s rights, human rights and cultural responsibilities.
The 18 winning and highly commended entries, out of 6,000 across eight categories in the 2022 POEM FOREST competition (from Kindergarten to Year 12) have been announced, with a tree planted for every entry received in the POEM FOREST within the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan.
Australia
A study by the Australian Academy of Science, requested by the independent Chubb review, examined strengths and limitations of four methods used to generate Australian carbon credit units by reducing or avoiding emissions, finding that that they have flaws that potentially undermine investor and community confidence in credits.
In Queensland, more than 6,800 square kilometres of land was cleared in 2018/19, according to the latest state government data, with a report prepared for ACF identifying about 4,212sq km likely to be threatened species habitat, identified as matters of national environmental significance (MNES) habitat, was cleared for pasture without Federal government approval. Its also happening in the urban interface as core Koala habitat is approved for clearing with offsets. In response the Federal Government said its response to the Samuel Review will be delivered by the end of the year, and a key component of the response will be outlining the next steps to deliver a national EPA, a tough cop on the beat, resourced and empowered to enforce Australia's national environmental laws.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found that the ABC breached accuracy rules in stories about Victoria’s native forest industry by misrepresenting that the Office of the Conservation Regulator (OCR) in Victoria had found logging breaches by VicForests had put Melbourne’s drinking water at risk, during three radio broadcasts
The Andrews government recently set aside Special Protection Zones (SPZs) in native forests across the state for protection of the endangered greater glider, though the Victorian Forest Alliance found 17 areas were logged within the past 24 months before being protected, leading them to question “Why is the government protecting recently logged areas, and still destroying prime greater glider habitat?”.
The Governments Major Event Review of the 2019-20 Victorian bushfires examined the impacts, identifying a number of improvements which could be made to land and fire management practices, including expanding active and adaptive management, increasing collaboration with Traditional Owners and expanding the range of forest industries – more burning and logging is just what the forests need.
This election the issue of native forest logging has never been more prominent in Victoria, with the Greens advocating an immediate end to logging of public native forests, Labor sticking by their 2030 phase out, and Liberals wanting logging for ever more. The Reason Party and 2 Teal independents also want logging ended.
Species
A NSW parliamentary inquiry into biodiversity offsets has slammed the scheme as doing more harm than good, allows too much flexibility for threatened species to be “traded away for cash” and should be reformed to ensure offsetting is “genuinely used as a last resort only”, making 19 recommendations including establishing clear thresholds for when offsets should not be permitted for the most threatened ecosystems and species, with NCC calling for an immediate moratorium.
A world-wide review identifies that animals bred in captivity can experience significant physical, health and behavioural changes that may disadvantage their survival chances once released into the wild. Some of the findings are: “the erosion of and divergence from wild behaviours can occur quickly in captivity”, such as vocalisations (ie Regent Honeyeater), migratory movements (ie Monarch Butterflies), social interactions, cognitive abilities (ie Northern Quoll), and anti-predator behaviour (ie Northern Quoll); “There is abundant evidence of morphological change in captivity relative to wild conspecifics with respect to body and organ size, shape and skeletomuscular structure”, such as wing structure and size (ie Orange-bellied Parrot, Zebra Finch), and skull changes (weaker bite strength, smaller brains); and positive and negative changes in “the health of animals as well as underlying aspects of their physiology”, such as elevated stress, higher prevalence of certain diseases, loss of immunity to natural diseases (ie Orange-bellied Parrot) and parasites, oral health, gut microbiomes, wild food preferences, and physical strength.
A Superb Lyrebird in Sydney’s Taronga Zoo recently became famous for imitating alarm sirens and evacuation calls, while David Attenborough recently featured one that could imitate a camera click, what they have in common is that being raised in captivity they have lost the song culture they learn from their peers. A similar problem occurred with captive reared Regent Honeyeaters, where males lost their call appeal to females. 50 Taronga zoo-bred Regent Honeyeaters have been released in the Lower Hunter Valley, this time after being schooled in calling by captive wild-caught males. 39 will be monitored for up to 10 weeks.
In North Queensland paralysis ticks are killing mother Spectacled Flying Foxes resulting in pups being taken into care in significant numbers, a consequence of loss of canopy nectar resources forcing feeding closer to the ground in Tobacco Bush where the ticks are. Many of the species found only in the cooler upland rainforests of Queensland’s Wet Tropics are being eliminated from lower altitudes, as rising temperatures and heatwaves increasingly restrict them to the mountain tops, with four species of ringtail possums (Lemuroid Ringtail, Green Ringtail, Herbert River Ringtail and Daintree River Ringtail) now identified at risk of being wiped out from their mountain refuges in less than three decades as climate heating progresses, and extreme heatwaves become more frequent.
The Australian Rural and Regional News presents synopsises of an array of their articles on Koalas, relying heavily on DPI Forestry’s Brad Law’s claims that logging has no impacts on Koalas and Vic Jurskis’s claims that the bushfires had no impacts on Koalas (based on NRC statements) and that rather than declining, Koala’s are irruptive due to the increase in regrowth forests. I find this reasoned attack on Koala concerns (along with an array of other issues), under the guise of balanced journalism, based upon Government propaganda and the extreme views of Jurskis, which most journalists ignore, an interesting approach. Another of ARRN’s campaigns has been to try to discredit Zylstra’s burning studies, after engaging for a while, Zylstra has now had enough stating “Reasoned discussion would engage with those arguments, not simply repeat itself as if I had said nothing”.
Sixteen Victorian advocacy groups formed the Koala Leaders Unite alliance to urge the next Victorian government to immediately improve protection for koalas, with a list of 10 key commitments, topped by "immediately cease all native forest logging". Total Environment Centre is supporting the new Sydney Basin Koala Network, with funding from WIRES, which will focus “on bringing the "critical" issue of the Sydney basin's koala protection to the forefront of the political agenda at the state and federal level”. Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary is offering koala lovers the opportunity to purchase a ‘Koala Crusader’ annual pass, for which you receive various ‘goodies’ including a pledge certificate, plush Koala, baseball cap, lapel pin, sticker and writing pen, as well as a 10% discount. ABC has a one hour podcast on Koalas, apparently focused on the Blue Mountains.
The Conversation has an article questioning the benefits of feeding wildlife, particularly after disasters, such as the bushfires, and is asking for people who have fed wildlife to respond to a survey.
Given that 97% of animals are invertebrates, and they play crucial roles in ecosystems, entomologists consider they should be a key component of rewilding, Researchers took invertebrates, mostly mites, ticks, ants, beetles and springtails in leaf litter, from paired national parks, and reintroduced them to six revegetated sites isolated by farmland, finding beetles were most likely to survive and thrive in their new habitat,
Fish deaths in the lower Murray-Darling system are rapidly increasing as rotting vegetation depletes oxygen levels, with the blackwater event expected to last 2-3 months and worsen as waters warm, with some farmers claiming water set aside for the environment has worsened the situation - without recognising that their conversion of floodplain vegetation is the primary cause.
The Deteriorating Problem
The World Meteorological Organization’s provisional State of the Global Climate in 2022 report identifies the past eight years are on track to be the eight warmest on record, fuelled by ever-rising greenhouse gas concentrations and accumulated heat. Extreme heatwaves, drought and devastating flooding have affected millions and cost billions this year, glaciers are undergoing a “record-shattering melt”, the rate of sea level rise has doubled in the past 30 years (rising by nearly 10 mm since January 2020), annual increase in methane concentration was the highest on record, and the lower 1.5°C of the Paris Agreement is barely within reach.
We are world leaders, as the latest BOM/CSIRO State of Climate report shows we have already almost reached 1.5oC warming. 2019 remains Australia’s warmest year on record, and we experienced the consequences. Going up are average temperatures by 1.47 ± 0.24 °C, very hot days, ocean temperatures by >1°C, sea levels, ocean acidification, extreme fire weather, rainfall across the north, and extreme rainfall events. Going down are autumn/winter rainfall in south-west (15-19%) and south-east (10%), streamflows (except far north-west), numbers of cyclones, and snow. Its no surprise the world is warming, seas rising, ice melting, fires worsening, floods worsening and ecosystems collapsing.
The Washington Post has an in-depth article on the death of the Amazon, with rainfall decreasing in dry seasons, river flows declining, burning increasing, and ecosystems transitioning to drier states, some scientists are concerned that a series of tipping points have been triggered which herald the demise of the greatest rainforest on earth. The article focusses on water shortage effects on people, once use to plenty.
Unprecedented fire activity and severity has been occurring around the world, which researchers have linked to exceedance of thresholds in atmospheric water demand (vapour pressure deficit), being a reliable predictor of dead fuel moisture content and increased tree mortality, finding that climate change is projected to lead to widespread increases in risk, with at least 30 additional days above critical thresholds for fire activity in forest biomes on every continent by 2100 under rising emissions scenarios, with the Amazon hardest hit.
Turning it Around
Weeks of the world’s nations, and fossil fuel companies, negotiating at COP 27 have left many profoundly disappointed as we continue “on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.” The best that can be said is that we didn’t go backwards, and that there was an in-principle agreement to create a new funding facility by which rich nations would pay poor ones for damage caused by climate catastrophes (yet to be funded). The principal concerns were that there was no commitment to phase out or reduce oil and gas, with a “surprise last-minute addition” by Egypt that “‘low-emission’ energy should be part of the world’s response to rising seas and searing heat waves”, meaning accelerated development of gas.
For the first time ever at a climate summit, the final text of this month’s COP27 included a “forests” section and a reference to “nature-based solutions,” being welcomed by some as providing a financial incentive for forest protection, though creating concerns from others that it could encourage dubious carbon accounting and offsetting. Representatives of the world’s three forest giants – Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo – have signed a cooperation agreement in Jakarta calling for more funding to help protect half of the world’s rainforests. The Conversation has a discussion emphasising how essential it is to remove atmospheric carbon, dismissing planting trees because of fire risk and instead promoting air scrubbing (“direct air capture and storage”) and burning biomass (“bioenergy, carbon capture and storage”).
ANU’s Disaster Solutions are developing potential solutions “to stop bushfires, storms and floods in their tracks”; nature-based solutions for flood risk, floating houses to rise with floodwaters, quicker automated fire detection and suppression, using shockwave generators to disrupt hailstone formation, and cloud seeding to reduce hailstone size (ripe for conspiracies).
COP15, a United Nations conference that will set the 2030 targets to ensure nature is in a better place than it is now, starts in Montréal, Canada, on December 7, Tanya Pliberseck will attend, but with Federal oversight of biodiversity a shambles the task ahead for us is immense.
Dailan Pugh
NEW SOUTH WALES
Legal challenge to logging in Cherry Tree SF proceeding:
Justice Sandra Duggan in the Land and Environment Court has directed the Court will hear two challenges by Wudjebal/Wahlubal Elder David Mundine to the logging approvals over 800 hectares of critical habitat in the Cherry Tree State Forest, forcing the Forestry Corporation to give undertakings to the Court in lieu of an injunction to cease all logging operations in Cherry Tree SF until the case is heard. The case is challenging the validity of the harvesting plan in relation to implementing ESFM.
In a media release Al Oshlack from the Indigenous Justice Advocacy Network reports:
Mr Mundine, a lead Native Tile Applicant for the Western Bundjalung is claiming he has been denied procedural fairness by Forestry failing to consult with Traditional Owners as required under the Native Title agreement.
The Court has ordered that Mr Mundine can adduce expert evidence for the case that the Harvest Plan for Cherry Tree will not deliver Ecological Sustainable Forest Management as required under section 67L of the Forestry Act.
The precedent case is set down for 5 days commencing the 5th of April, 2023 and is already causing controversy as it will impact on all logging approvals in the State.
The judgement makes it clear that the Harvest and Haul Plans are statutory instruments and therefore open to legal challenge (though this has to be within 3 months of the plan being made). It only gives leave for one expert witness to be called, to address whether the Plan is able to achieve the principles of ecologically sustainable forest management as defined in section 69L(2) of the Forestry Act 2012 (NSW), the argument being it is not a valid plan unless it does.
https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/184ac6d34695a611236ffea0
Boycotting sham consultation:
Mid-north Coast conservation groups are boycotting Forestry Corporation’s consultation process on forest management, on the grounds that it is inadequate, flawed and not a genuine process, and is chiefly aimed at ticking the box to meet their Australian Forestry Standard Certification requirements.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/coffs-coast-news-of-the-area-25-november-2022
Vanishing red gums:
The Monthly has a good article about the loss of majestic River Red Gum trees on an industrial scale, including in protected areas, as old dead trees and live old-growth redgums are increasingly being felled for an illegal firewood trade.
Greg Chant, a conservation regulator with the Victorian government, told me that when the illegal timber market first became an issue, thieves focused on trees that had already died. Skeleton trees. Those trees still provided habitat and had cultural meaning, so it’s a loss, but there was worse to come. “Now only the big old ones are left,” Chant said. “Soon there’ll be nothing left.”
The rangers tell me that 80 per cent of the thefts are commercial, which means that the timber is stolen by fly-by-night big collectors to be sold for firewood. ...
… He describes turning up to an area that had been hit during the night and seeing sugar gliders coming out of a tree that once stood 30 metres high, koalas sitting among the ruins and sea eagle nests on the ground. ...
… People are usually arrested, pay their fines, and then head back out to the forest for another load of wood.
… Wells tells me that at least 200 habitat trees a year disappear, alongside thousands of other, younger trees. Hume considers the loss of habitat trees as the worst aspect of the entire illegal timber industry. “These trees are where the totemic species live,” he says. …
Great Southern Walk:
Construction has begun on a 67-kilometre Great Southern Walk, a five-day, four-night journey from Sydney's Kamay Botany Bay National Park, along the coastline of Royal National Park, then down to Bulli Tops in the Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area. New camping and accommodation facilities, will allow people to stay in cabins or "glamping" sites at the end of each day's hike.
Getting their ducks in a row:
The Climate 200 group have supported Joeline Hackman for the state seat of Manly against Environment minister James Griffin as their first endorsed target of for the March state election. Climate 200 are considering up to 7-10 seats, though because of optional preferential voting and spending caps, and the NSW Government being more progressive, a replication of the federal results will be hard.
Despite her website already adopting a teal colour scheme, development-focused independent Vaucluse candidate Karen Freyer is also still only in talks with Climate 200.
Sue Arnold writes that Dominic Perrottet's claim to "have the strongest record on environment anywhere in the country" doesn't stack up against his dismal failure to protect koala habitat in NSW.
ALP a worry:
Bega ALP MP Michael Holland did a long interview with ABC SE Regional Breakfast about forestry, leaving forest campaigners dismayed by his support for forestry, and his apparent lack of awareness about export woodchipping and exporting of pine logs.
https://www.abc.net.au/southeastnsw/programs/breakfast/breakfast/14105090
starting at approx 1.18.44 and ending 1.21.35.
Clearing Aboriginal land for housing creates political furore:
The push from the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council to clear bushland to build 450 homes, a community cultural centre, recreation facilities and neighbourhood shop on a 71 ha site at Lizard Rock in Belrose, progressed under new planning rules championed by Planning Minister Anthony Roberts, is raising the ire of local residents, local Liberal members and Council, making it an election issue in Liberal heartland, while also leading to claims of “prejudice and discrimination”.
A warning on Aboriginal women’s rights:
Closing the walking track up to the significant men’s site atop Mount Wollumbin at the behest of the Aboriginal Wollumbin Consultative Group (with male and female representatives) is being attacked by a group of Aboriginal women as contravening their customary law right, women’s rights, human rights and cultural responsibilities.
“A group of men appears to be extinguishing the ancestral women’s lore by claiming everything in Mount Warning National Park is exclusively male and Bundjalung,” Ms Wheildon said.
Elder Elizabeth Davis Boyd, whose totemic tribal name is “Eelemarni”, hit out at the government’s plans – saying she would not even be allowed to visit her own mother’s memorial in the park if they are enacted.
A poem as lovely as a tree:
The 18 winning and highly commended entries, out of 6,000 across eight categories in the 2022 POEM FOREST competition (from Kindergarten to Year 12) have been announced, with a tree planted for every entry received in the POEM FOREST within the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan.
https://www.artshub.com.au/news/news/a-poem-for-a-tree-poem-forest-2594354/
AUSTRALIA
Sham carbon credits:
A study by the Australian Academy of Science, requested by the independent Chubb review, examined strengths and limitations of four methods used to generate Australian carbon credit units by reducing or avoiding emissions, finding that that they have flaws that potentially undermine investor and community confidence in credits.
Andrew Macintosh, an Australian National University professor and former head of the government’s emissions reduction assurance committee who warned much of the carbon market was a waste of taxpayer funds, said the report findings “support our position that the carbon market has significant integrity problems that are in need of urgent attention”.
“In simple terms, proponents will get credits for growing trees that would have grown anyway,” Macintosh said.
The report also recommended such projects be limited to “areas with higher rainfall and showing clearer signals of human activity”, findings in line with his group’s views.
Similarly, landfill operators were claiming credits for cutting methane emissions that were often already earning large-scale generation credits for electricity production.
Clearing on:
In Queensland, more than 6,800 square kilometres of land was cleared in 2018/19, according to the latest state government data, with a report prepared for ACF identifying about 4,212sq km likely to be threatened species habitat, identified as matters of national environmental significance (MNES) habitat, was cleared for pasture without Federal government approval.
https://www.portstephensexaminer.com.au/story/7990501/habitat-destruction-lacks-oversight-in-qld/
Its also happening in the urban interface as core Koala habitat is approved for clearing with offsets.
What they found was shocking. In just a year, over 400,000 hectares of habitat for threatened species and ecological communities was cleared in Queensland—without approval or assessment from the federal regulator, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Under Australia’s national environment law—the EPBC Act—that land clearing should have been referred to the regulator for approval. Instead no approvals were sought or granted, and habitat destruction continued unabated.
In response the Federal Government said its response to the Samuel Review will be delivered by the end of the year, and a key component of the response will be outlining the next steps to deliver a national EPA, a tough cop on the beat, resourced and empowered to enforce Australia's national environmental laws.
ABC misleading:
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found that the ABC breached accuracy rules in stories about Victoria’s native forest industry by misrepresenting that the Office of the Conservation Regulator (OCR) in Victoria had found logging breaches by VicForests had put Melbourne’s drinking water at risk, during three radio broadcasts.
Logging protected areas:
The Andrews government recently set aside Special Protection Zones (SPZs) in native forests across the state for protection of the endangered greater glider, though the Victorian Forest Alliance found 17 areas were logged within the past 24 months before being protected, leading them to question “Why is the government protecting recently logged areas, and still destroying prime greater glider habitat?”.
More logging and burning solution to Victorian fires:
The Governments Major Event Review of the 2019-20 Victorian bushfires examined the impacts, identifying a number of improvements which could be made to land and fire management practices, including expanding active and adaptive management, increasing collaboration with Traditional Owners and expanding the range of forest industries – more burning and logging is just what the forests need.
Forestry Australia member Dr Tony Bartlett ASFM (Australian Fire Service Medal), who was part of the review’s panel, said the report showed that old growth and fire sensitive forests would be lost if the if the extent and frequency of severe bushfires were not reduced.
“We also need to support the expansion of a range of forest industries to drive jobs and economic benefits to rural and regional communities, which serves the added benefit of having knowledgeable and trained crews on the ground when fires do occur.”
https://www.miragenews.com/major-event-review-of-2019-20-victorian-902427/
Voting for Victorian forests:
This election the issue of native forest logging has never been more prominent in Victoria, with the Greens advocating an immediate end to logging of public native forests, Labor sticking by their 2030 phase out, and Liberals wanting logging for ever more. The Reason Party and 2 Teal independents also want logging ended.
This year, the issue of native forest logging has never been more prominent. Victoria’s Supreme Court recently found state-owned logging agency, VicForests, failed to follow the law and protect endangered possum species. There have also been media reports about the agency logging protected forests and the carbon emissions that logging produces.
The community outcry has Labor rattled. The party has been leafleting inner-city suburbs like Northcote about an end to native logging (though the official closure date of 2030 only features on the back).
The political fallout over native forest logging is a “running sore” for Labor, Strangio says. “All the controversies surrounding continued logging and the behaviour of VicForests might cost them in places like Richmond and Northcote.”
In contrast, the Liberals’ policy is to extend logging indefinitely. The Greens want it to cease immediately.
The poll, prepared for the Victorian National Parks Association, found 36% of Victorians say their vote would be influenced by policy announcements regarding saving threatened species and stopping extinction.
The Victorian government’s own surveys have highlighted the enormous number of people who value nature. And research this year for the Australian Conservation Foundation found 95% of Australians agree it’s important to protect nature for future generations.
Despite the weight of public concern, Victoria is failing its wildlife. Last year the Victorian Auditor General’s Office handed down a damning report on biodiversity protection. It concluded that about a third of Victoria’s land-based plants, animals and ecological communities face extinction, their continued decline will likely have dire consequences for the state, and funding to protect them is grossly inadequate.
The Liberal-Nationals have pledged to immediately reverse both of the Andrews government’s 2019 decisions to end old-growth forest logging and to phase-out native forest logging by 2030. This would take us backwards in terms of biodiversity protection.
Labor and the Coalition have both been silent on reforms to land clearing in the lead up to this election.
SPECIES
Offsetting biodiversity:
A NSW parliamentary inquiry into biodiversity offsets has slammed the scheme as doing more harm than good, allows too much flexibility for threatened species to be “traded away for cash” and should be reformed to ensure offsetting is “genuinely used as a last resort only”, making 19 recommendations including establishing clear thresholds for when offsets should not be permitted for the most threatened ecosystems and species, with NCC calling for an immediate moratorium.
“No one came to us saying it was working well,” [chair of the inquiry, Greens MP Sue Higginson] said. “It is likely that the scheme has enabled biodiversity loss [rather] than achieved its objective of no net loss.”
Environmental Defenders Office head of policy and law reform Rachel Walmsley said the scheme did more harm than good.
“Our laws must recognise that some things are too precious and vulnerable to ever be offset. Since those laws came into force, land clearing rates have skyrocket and remain dangerously high. Plants and animals continue to be added to the list of threatened species every year.”
"The scheme's design allows too much flexibility to trade off threatened species in exchange for cash, without guarantee that genuinely equivalent offsets will ever be found," Greens MP and committee chair Sue Higginson said.
Allegations of insider trading and collusion with the scheme were not surprising considering the limited transparency regarding actual ecological outcomes, she said.
[Nature Conservation Council chief executive Jacqui Mumford] called on the government to impose an immediate moratorium on all new offset trades and rule out allowing offsets to enable the destruction of high value conservation habitat.
https://www.denipt.com.au/national/damning-review-of-nsw-biodiversity-scheme-2/
Captive modifications:
A world-wide review identifies that animals bred in captivity can experience significant physical, health and behavioural changes that may disadvantage their survival chances once released into the wild. Some of the findings are: “the erosion of and divergence from wild behaviours can occur quickly in captivity”, such as vocalisations (ie Regent Honeyeater), migratory movements (ie Monarch Butterflies), social interactions, cognitive abilities (ie Northern Quoll), and anti-predator behaviour (ie Northern Quoll); “There is abundant evidence of morphological change in captivity relative to wild conspecifics with respect to body and organ size, shape and skeletomuscular structure”, such as wing structure and size (ie Orange-bellied Parrot, Zebra Finch), and skull changes (weaker bite strength, smaller brains); and positive and negative changes in “the health of animals as well as underlying aspects of their physiology”, such as elevated stress, higher prevalence of certain diseases, loss of immunity to natural diseases (ie Orange-bellied Parrot) and parasites, oral health, gut microbiomes, wild food preferences, and physical strength.
- There is evidence across a range of taxa that animal phenotypes can change as a result of captivity.
- These effects vary from obvious deviations from (often poorly defined) wild phenotypes, to subtle changes that may go undetected.
- Captive-breeding programs should attempt to identify the multiple ways that captivity can affect animal phenotypes, because the phenotypic quality of animals bred for release is as important to conservation success as their quantity.
- Failure to detect, prevent or correct phenotypic changes arising from captive life can result in mortality of individuals and failure of expensive conservation programs.
- Adaptive management approaches that explicitly consider the links between different elements of captive-breeding programs and fitness in the wild post-release are essential to mitigating the phenotypic costs of captivity.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/brv.12913?af=R
“If we could avoid having to do a breeding program in the first place, we would,” Pitcher said. “The most successful and cost-effective method is to do early intervention so that a species never gets to the point where [it needs] reintroducing.”
Dr Marissa Parrott, a reproductive biologist at Zoos Victoria said captive breeding was now an essential tool.
“The IUCN [International Union for Conservation of Nature] recommends more than 2,000 species globally will need captive-breeding programs to not become extinct,” she said.
A Superb Lyrebird in Sydney’s Taronga Zoo recently became famous for imitating alarm sirens and evacuation calls, while David Attenborough recently featured one that could imitate a camera click, what they have in common is that being raised in captivity they have lost the song culture they learn from their peers.
A similar problem occurred with captive reared Regent Honeyeaters, where males lost their call appeal to females. 50 Taronga zoo-bred Regent Honeyeaters have been released in the Lower Hunter Valley, this time after being schooled in calling by captive wild-caught males. 39 will be monitored for up to 10 weeks.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/aap/article-11448503/Release-rare-honeyeaters-NSW.html
Taronga Zoo has revolutionised the way it raises the critically endangered birds, based on research that shows zoo-bred males sing differently from their wild counterparts, potentially slashing their chances to survive and breed.
“We tutor our birds in their wild song,” Taronga’s manager of conservation programs Andrew Elphinstone said. “We’re trying to develop a really strong New South Wales-style song culture in the birds we’re releasing.
Taronga has bred 600 regent honeyeaters since their conservation program began in 2000, but their honeyeaters were singing an altered mash-up of trills, clicks and mimicked calls of other inhabitants of the zoo such as friarbirds.
Paralysing Flying foxes:
In North Queensland paralysis ticks are killing mother Spectacled Flying Foxes resulting in pups being taken into care in significant numbers, a consequence of loss of canopy nectar resources forcing feeding closer to the ground in Tobacco Bush where the ticks are.
"You have to consider these flying foxes are normally feeding up high," she said.
"If there's plenty of food up there, they won't come down low to feed on this weed species that brings them into contact with the ticks, which are normally in that first metre above ground."
Ongoing wet weather down the east coast of Australia has led to fears of a spike in tick numbers this summer, with some vets reporting shortages of vital tick anti-toxin serum
McLean said in addition to ticks, the species are prone to heat stress events, which can lead to mass die-offs
https://tolgabathospital.org/tick-paralysis/
Ringtails running out of room:
Many of the species found only in the cooler upland rainforests of Queensland’s Wet Tropics are being eliminated from lower altitudes, as rising temperatures and heatwaves increasingly restrict them to the mountain tops, with four species of ringtail possums (Lemuroid Ringtail, Green Ringtail, Herbert River Ringtail and Daintree River Ringtail) now identified at risk of being wiped out from their mountain refuges in less than three decades as climate heating progresses, and extreme heatwaves become more frequent.
Populations at lower elevations have been declining to basically “local extinction” as possums that evolved in cool rainforests are forced into higher altitudes, James Cook University Professor Stephen Williams says.
“Somewhere between 2010 and 2014 … things just started to get too bad, and the combination of increasing temperatures and increasing frequency and intensity of heatwaves have just caused this exponential decline,” Prof Williams said.
In heatwave years, analysis suggests there is likely both an increase in the death rate and a decline in reproduction rates.
The impact of climate change isn’t confined to possums, and most of the unique birds that live in the rainforest have declined by between 30 to 50 per cent of their total population, and as well as pushed up to higher elevations.
https://www.aap.com.au/news/extinction-threat-for-wet-tropic-possums/
Reasoned attack on Koalas not reasonable:
The Australian Rural and Regional News presents synopsises of an array of their articles on Koalas, relying heavily on DPI Forestry’s Brad Law’s claims that logging has no impacts on Koalas and Vic Jurskis’s claims that the bushfires had no impacts on Koalas (based on NRC statements) and that rather than declining, Koala’s are irruptive due to the increase in regrowth forests. I find this reasoned attack on Koala concerns (along with an array of other issues), under the guise of balanced journalism, based upon Government propaganda and the extreme views of Jurskis, which most journalists ignore, an interesting approach.
Another of ARRN’s campaigns has been to try to discredit Zylstra’s burning studies, after engaging for a while, Zylstra has now had enough stating “Reasoned discussion would engage with those arguments, not simply repeat itself as if I had said nothing”.
We reported that according to Departmental records, bushfires were seven times more likely in areas of forest that still had the dense understorey that had been germinated by prescribed burns than they were in other areas where the understorey had self-thinned because it had been left alone.
The confusing thing is that when fires occur in NSW, pressure is placed on National Parks to burn more, but rates of burning decrease elsewhere. As a result, the rate of burning in NSW overall has fallen, while the rate in National Parks such as the Blue Mtns has risen dramatically – as shown by Mr Rutherford’s data. The biggest fire that ignited in that World Heritage Area (Gospers Mtn) started in a 100,000ha patch burned 5 years earlier. Analysis by the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC after the event found that the bushfire was more severe in that 5-year-old area than it was in the long-unburned, self-thinned forest. This is hard reality, and we either adjust to it or fade into irrelevance.
More about Koalas:
Sixteen Victorian advocacy groups formed the Koala Leaders Unite alliance to urge the next Victorian government to immediately improve protection for koalas, with a list of 10 key commitments, topped by "immediately cease all native forest logging".
Total Environment Centre is supporting the new Sydney Basin Koala Network, with funding from WIRES, which will focus “on bringing the "critical" issue of the Sydney basin's koala protection to the forefront of the political agenda at the state and federal level”.
https://www.oberonreview.com.au/story/7993884/wildlife-advocacy-group-joins-koala-wars/
Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary is offering koala lovers the opportunity to purchase a ‘Koala Crusader’ annual pass, for which you receive various ‘goodies’ including a pledge certificate, plush Koala, baseball cap, lapel pin, sticker and writing pen, as well as a 10% discount.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/koala-sanctuary-calls-for-local-koala-crusaders
ABC has a one hour podcast on Koalas, apparently focused on the Blue Mountains.
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bigideas/saving-the-koala/14105618
To feed or not to feed:
The Conversation has an article questioning the benefits of feeding wildlife, particularly after disasters, such as the bushfires, and is asking for people who have fed wildlife to respond to a survey.
Here, the scientific consensus suggests feeding is a net negative. While it can help individual animals survive and thrive, it has wider flow-on effects.
It can increase disease by drawing unusual numbers of animals close together.
It can also disturb the natural balance of predator-prey systems, altering ecosystems and drawing invasive species. If you always put seed out, for instance, you may draw beautiful native birds to your backyard – but you may also draw mynah birds, feral pigeons and predators.
This is where you could help. If you were involved in giving food, water or shelter to wildlife during or after the Black Summer fires, we’d love to hear about your experience through our anonymous survey.
Spineless rewilding:
Given that 97% of animals are invertebrates, and they play crucial roles in ecosystems, entomologists consider they should be a key component of rewilding, Researchers took invertebrates, mostly mites, ticks, ants, beetles and springtails in leaf litter, from paired national parks, and reintroduced them to six revegetated sites isolated by farmland, finding beetles were most likely to survive and thrive in their new habitat,
Meanwhile, invertebrates are often overlooked. But our new research shows rewilding with invertebrates – insects, worms, spiders and the like – can go a long way in bringing our degraded landscapes back to life.
But invertebrate species are declining at shocking rates around the world, especially as climate change worsens. They also need our help to re-colonise new areas.
Understanding why some groups are more likely to survive leaf litter transplants than others is a vital step in the development of invertebrate rewilding. Nonetheless, our results show the relatively simple act of moving leaf litter can lead to comparatively large increases in species richness in a short time.
From droughts to floods, the fish continue to die:
Fish deaths in the lower Murray-Darling system are rapidly increasing as rotting vegetation depletes oxygen levels, with the blackwater event expected to last 2-3 months and worsen as waters warm, with some farmers claiming water set aside for the environment has worsened the situation - without recognising that their conversion of floodplain vegetation is the primary cause.
Jarod Lyon from Victoria's Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning said oxygen levels in the water would likely drop further.
"The further you move into summer, the faster that microbial bacterial action occurs and that speeds up the rate at which the oxygen was taken out of the water," he said.
"I think, as a fish ecologist and someone who's worked in the river restoration game for a long time, I know myself and my colleagues are really, really worried about this situation, really upset."
THE DETERIORATING PROBLEM
Profound consequences:
The World Meteorological Organization’s provisional State of the Global Climate in 2022 report identifies the past eight years are on track to be the eight warmest on record, fuelled by ever-rising greenhouse gas concentrations and accumulated heat. Extreme heatwaves, drought and devastating flooding have affected millions and cost billions this year, glaciers are undergoing a “record-shattering melt”, the rate of sea level rise has doubled in the past 30 years (rising by nearly 10 mm since January 2020), annual increase in methane concentration was the highest on record, and the lower 1.5°C of the Paris Agreement is barely within reach.
https://johnmenadue.com/environment-1-5-is-still-alive-just-but-the-icu-is-yet-to-be-built/
We are world leaders, as the latest BOM/CSIRO State of Climate report shows we have already almost reached 1.5oC warming. 2019 remains Australia’s warmest year on record, and we experienced the consequences. Going up are average temperatures by 1.47 ± 0.24 °C, very hot days, ocean temperatures by >1°C, sea levels, ocean acidification, extreme fire weather, rainfall across the north, and extreme rainfall events. Going down are autumn/winter rainfall in south-west (15-19%) and south-east (10%), streamflows (except far north-west), numbers of cyclones, and snow. Its no surprise the world is warming, seas rising, ice melting, fires worsening, floods worsening and ecosystems collapsing.
https://www.csiro.au/en/research/environmental-impacts/climate-change/state-of-the-climate
Australia must take this report seriously and start to prepare for a world of increased droughts, bushfires, heatwaves, acid oceans, rising sea levels and flash floods.
Given these pressures, it is vital Australia looks for the most cost effective and evidence-based solutions, rather than the current haphazard politicised approach.
While the urgency for action has never been more pressing, we still hold the future in our hands - the choices we make today will decide our future for generations to come. Every 0.1℃ of warming we can avoid will make a big difference.
Tipping over:
The Washington Post has an in-depth article on the death of the Amazon, with rainfall decreasing in dry seasons, river flows declining, burning increasing, and ecosystems transitioning to drier states, some scientists are concerned that a series of tipping points have been triggered which herald the demise of the greatest rainforest on earth. The article focusses on water shortage effects on people, once use to plenty.
More than three-quarters of the rainforest, research indicates, is showing signs of lost resilience. In fire-scorched areas of the Rio Negro floodplains, one research group noted a “drastic ecosystem shift” that has reduced jungle to savanna. In the southeastern Amazon, which has been assaulted by rapacious cattle ranching, trees are dying off and being pushed aside by species better acclimated to drier climes. In the southwestern Amazon, fast-growing bamboo is overtaking lands ravaged by fire and drought. And in the devastated transitional forests of Mato Grosso state, researchers believe a local tipping point is imminent.
The stakes are highest in the forest itself, where millions of people are for the first time reckoning with a hotter, smokier and drier Amazon. Strange sights are being reported: Wells that have gone dry. Streams that have vanished. The arrival of the maned wolf, a species native to South American savannas. Even a scourge familiar elsewhere in Brazil but not here: thirst.
“We stand exactly in a moment of destiny: The tipping point is here,” Brazilian climatologist Carlos Nobre and American ecologist Thomas Lovejoy wrote in Science Advances in 2019. “It is now.”
Some say the biome that rises from the fires will be a degraded, open-canopy forest. Others say it will remain closed, but deformed. But perhaps the most likely outcome is far more drastic — the destroyed forest giving way to an expansive grassland.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2022/amazon-brazil-tipping-point/
World on Fire:
Unprecedented fire activity and severity has been occurring around the world, which researchers have linked to exceedance of thresholds in atmospheric water demand (vapour pressure deficit), being a reliable predictor of dead fuel moisture content and increased tree mortality, finding that climate change is projected to lead to widespread increases in risk, with at least 30 additional days above critical thresholds for fire activity in forest biomes on every continent by 2100 under rising emissions scenarios, with the Amazon hardest hit.
Levels of fire activity and severity that are unprecedented in the instrumental record have recently been observed in forested regions around the world. Using a large sample of daily fire events and hourly climate data, here we show that fire activity in all global forest biomes responds strongly and predictably to exceedance of thresholds in atmospheric water demand, as measured by maximum daily vapour pressure deficit. The climatology of vapour pressure deficit can therefore be reliably used to predict forest fire risk under projected future climates. We find that climate change is projected to lead to widespread increases in risk, with at least 30 additional days above critical thresholds for fire activity in forest biomes on every continent by 2100 under rising emissions scenarios. Escalating forest fire risk threatens catastrophic carbon losses in the Amazon and major population health impacts from wildfire smoke in south Asia and east Africa.
There is already evidence that recent increases in fire may have tipped the Amazon from a net carbon sink to a net carbon source54. Increasing wildfire at the scale described here could interact with other sources of dieback such as drought and deforestation to further undermine the role that the Amazon plays within the carbon cycle and regional climate, as a contributor to human welfare and as a unique feature of the biosphere. Likewise boreal forests, another biome for which we project increases in fire activity, have also been identified as tipping elements53. Our findings highlight the risks posed by conditions of increasing atmospheric moisture demand to forest-based efforts to enhance terrestrial carbon storage such as reforestation, offsetting and improved forest management55.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-34966-3
TURNING IT AROUND
Pedal to the metal:
Weeks of the world’s nations, and fossil fuel companies, negotiating at COP 27 have left many profoundly disappointed as we continue “on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.” The best that can be said is that we didn’t go backwards, and that there was an in-principle agreement to create a new funding facility by which rich nations would pay poor ones for damage caused by climate catastrophes (yet to be funded). The principal concerns were that there was no commitment to phase out or reduce oil and gas, with a “surprise last-minute addition” by Egypt that “‘low-emission’ energy should be part of the world’s response to rising seas and searing heat waves”, meaning accelerated development of gas.
In the end, exhausted delegates signed off on an inadequate agreement, but largely avoided the backsliding that looked possible over fraught days of negotiations.
The establishment of a fund for loss and damage is clearly an important outcome of COP27, even with details yet to be fleshed out.
https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2022/11/what-you-need-to-know-about-cop27/
Language calling for a phase out of fossil fuels was jettisoned from the final text, while new wording was added calling for accelerated development of “low-emission” energy systems, which many fear will be used to justify further natural gas development.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03807-0
… nature-based solutions on the agenda:
For the first time ever at a climate summit, the final text of this month’s COP27 included a “forests” section and a reference to “nature-based solutions,” being welcomed by some as providing a financial incentive for forest protection, though creating concerns from others that it could encourage dubious carbon accounting and offsetting.
The REDD+ framework was originally designed to evaluate, quantify, and support avoided emissions via the preservation, rather than the exploitation, of carbon-storing ecosystems including forests. The COP27 text could allow developing nations to sell vetted sovereign carbon credits, making it more profitable to keep ecosystems intact rather than disrupting them for timber, minerals or agriculture.
Ultimately, the nod to REDD+ made it into the final COP27 text, as did a significant footnote stipulating that not only countries, but also private companies, could buy sovereign carbon credits.
Carbon markets are ultimately a form of offsetting, say some critics, which can allow bad actors to pay their way to net zero, never reducing their own high emissions, while buying credits for reductions elsewhere. The voluntary carbon markets that already exist are contributing to “net-zero greenwashing” by countries and companies due to a lack “standards, regulations and rigor,” a report commissioned by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said this month.
Representatives of the world’s three forest giants – Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo – have signed a cooperation agreement in Jakarta calling for more funding to help protect half of the world’s rainforests.
The Conversation has a discussion emphasising how essential it is to remove atmospheric carbon, dismissing planting trees because of fire risk and instead promoting air scrubbing (“direct air capture and storage”) and burning biomass (“bioenergy, carbon capture and storage”).
Proponents argue carbon removal is required at a massive scale to avoid dangerous warming. But the practice is fraught. Successfully stripping carbon from the atmosphere at the scale our planet requires is a deeply uncertain prospect.
The IPCC said in a report this year that large-scale deployment of carbon dioxide removal was “unavoidable” if the world is to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
Consider trees. While forests store a lot of carbon, if they burn then the carbon goes straight back into the atmosphere. What’s more, there’s not enough land for forests to deliver negative emissions on the scales we require to limit global warming.
As a result, some experts and civil society groups are calling for more complex methods of carbon removal. Two widely discussed examples include “direct air capture and storage” (use fans to force air through carbon-capturing filers) and “bioenergy, carbon capture and storage” (grow forests, burn them for electricity, capture and store the carbon).
ANU’s Disaster Solutions are developing potential solutions “to stop bushfires, storms and floods in their tracks”; nature-based solutions for flood risk, floating houses to rise with floodwaters, quicker automated fire detection and suppression, using shockwave generators to disrupt hailstone formation, and cloud seeding to reduce hailstone size (ripe for conspiracies).
COP 27 failed, now its on to COP 15:
COP15, a United Nations conference that will set the 2030 targets to ensure nature is in a better place than it is now, starts in Montréal, Canada, on December 7, Tanya Pliberseck will attend, but with Federal oversight of biodiversity a shambles the task ahead for us is immense.
Australia is currently at the top of the world leader board when it comes to mammal extinctions. It's not a gold medal we wear proudly.
Australia is one of 17 megadiverse countries, which means our species are unique and found nowhere else on Earth. Once they are gone, they are gone. The damage is irreversible.
Species that define Australia, like the koala and the gang-gang cockatoo, are at threat of extinction because we keep knocking down the trees they need to breed in and feed in.
If we don't take immediate action to manage these pressures, it will mean more extinctions and a continued decline of the environmental capital on which all Australians depend.
https://www.macleayargus.com.au/story/7991564/the-other-cop-you-need-to-know-about/
Forest Media 18 November 2022
New South Wales
On Monday morning the Government’s private native forestry bill, aimed at removing protection for core Koala habitat, gained attention, with Climate 200 regarding it as an election gift, the ALP opposing it, and speculation that Liberals Felicity Wilson and Leslie Williams, and Nationals Geoff Provest, could cross the floor or abstain. By Monday afternoon Fred Nile had declared he wouldn’t support the bill, killing its chances of getting through the upper house, Liberals Felicity Wilson and Leslie Williams, and Nationals Geoff Provest, firmed up their commitments to vote it down, and to cap it off millionaire Geoff Cousins threatened to run an advertising campaign targeting the premier. It was the living dead, the Premier had to bury it for the second time, to rise again in the next government. Catherine Cusack accused the Liberals "screwing up" on the issue of protecting koalas and that the Nationals deserved to be "removed from power" because of it.
Sue Arnold argues NSW Premier Perrottet has shown complete ignorance towards the plight of endangered koalas, and has diminished his chances of re-election next year by reigniting the Koala wars. Dailan Pugh thanks Geoff Provest for following Catherine Cusack’s lead and threatening to cross the floor over the same draconian legislation, though warns that it is likely to rise from the dead for the third time if Perrottet is re-elected.
On the same day Koalla-killing Bill II was withdrawn, in an apparently politically co-ordinated move Kyogle Council voted to scrap the dual approval process for native forestry on private land, leaving approvals entirely in the hands of Local Land Services (LLS). It transpired that while Council requires consent, none of the 133 current PNF operations have ever applied. In an ABC north-coast radio interview Andrew Hurford said they have been working on these legislative changes for at least 6 years, and promised them for 2 years, maintaining logging is good for Koalas. He claimed he wasn’t aware of the necessity to get council approval until recently, while the industry pretended that in Kyogle “200 applications are awaiting approval”.
On Tuesday, in Olney State Forest, west of Morisset, a person used a suspended tree sit over the access road to block forestry from entering.
The Forestry Corporation only lost $9 million last financial year through logging public native forests, as well as getting massive subsidies for roads, transport, bushfire recovery and community service obligations, leading some to question why we still do it. The South East Timber Association have commissioned their own economic report to counter the ANU/Frontier Economics report that found stopping logging in south-east NSW would produce a net economic benefit to the state of approximately $60 million, while also reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by almost 1 million tonnes per year over the period 2022-2041, compared to logging, instead claiming it would cost -$252.43 million. Echo Voice focusses on the Frontiers Economics report on transitioning out of NSW’s public native forests, concluding “now is the time”.
The Sydney Review of Books has a lengthy article on Kate Holden’s The Winter Road, that traces a history of relationships to the Australian soil to explore how in 2014, Ian Turnbull, an 80-year old farmer with several properties to his name, came to murder Glen Turner, an environmental officer trying to protect the brigalow.
Country mayors and MPs are calling for the Biodiversity Offsets Scheme to be dumped, claiming it strangles development and jobs in regional NSW, making some developments cost prohibitive. Hornsby Shire Council recently voted to lobby the NSW Government for “standards to ensure native wildlife found on development sites are given the best possible chance of survival”, though on a similar motion, The Hills Shire Council quashed an attempt to introduce enforceable and consistent standards for the handling and management of wildlife on development sites.
One of the largest ever flood responses in NSW’s history was under way on Tuesday morning, with 17 flood warnings in place and eight major warnings affecting 25 locations. Spring 2022 is on track to be the wettest on record for south-east Australia. With catchments sodden, flooding is happening rapidly. As Forbes was cut in half, deputy mayor, Chris Roylance, said it “will be the biggest we’ve ever seen”. Condobolin was entirely isolated as it suffered its biggest recorded flood. As the atmosphere warms it can hold more water, supercharging atmospheric rivers, requiring a rethink of floods. With the floods come the mosquitos, big ones, small ones, benign ones, and plagues of disease ridden biting ones, attacking livestock, with water persisting long after the rains so will they.
Australia
When the Victorian Government made its announcement that logging would be phased out by 2030, they announced that “90,000 hectares of Victoria’s remaining rare and precious old growth forest...will be protected immediately”, what they didn’t say was that they would allow Vicforests to review the mapped oldgrowth to decide whether it qualified, and mostly they decided it didn’t, as exemplified by a coupe aptly called Duped which had mapped oldgrowth that they were logging at the time and continued to log. Now the Flora and Fauna Research Collective (FFRC) has a legal case currently before the Victorian Supreme Court claiming enough is enough.
A study of Victoria’s Central Highlands by right-leaning Blueprint Institute finds preserving trees generates more in tourism, water supply benefits, and carbon credits than cutting them down, protecting them now would generate $487 million in benefits, with a net profit of $59 million between 2022/23 and 2030.
Victorian federal teal independent for Kooyong MP Monique Ryan, supported by Zoe Daniel, moved for an end to the RFA exemption for logging from EPBC Act, particularly to address climate change. They have been joined by NSW Teals Mackellar MP Sophie Scamps and Warringah MP Zali Steggall.
Mining company Magnetic South cleared 218 hectares of land at Dingo in central Queensland, 130 kilometres west of Rockhampton, without requiring approval for either the clearing or their mine, adjoining land that protects the only significant population of the bridled nailtail wallaby.
Species
As well as coronaviruses, flying foxes are hosts to a variety of diseases which can spread directly or indirectly to humans, such as rabies, Nipah and Hendra, which can have limited impacts on the bats due to their supercharged immune systems. Researchers have found that it is winter nectar shortages that force flying foxes into urban areas and closer contacts with people, thereby increasing the risk of disease spill-overs, notably increasing the risk of Hendra virus, their solution being more plantings of nectar feed trees in rural areas (away from horses) – I think the best first step is to stop cutting down mature nectar feed trees, as the older trees flower more prolifically and regularly.
The Conversation has an article about the plight of urban wildlife in deluges, pointing out that prolonged rain may confine microbats to their roosts, and sometimes starve, while in deluges Brush Turkey mounds can become saturated and their eggs drown, meanwhile exotic cockroaches can revel in the humidity inside your house.
The Green’s Forestry Amendment (Koala Habitats) Bill 2022, which was introduced on 9 November, makes “it a requirement of an integrated forestry operations approval that forestry operations are not carried out in koala habitats”, continues to garner attention, though won’t be voted on until after the election.
A reminder that Satin Bowerbirds like the blue-rings from milk and cream bottle tops and can get them stuck around their necks, it helps to snip them – some years ago some school kids ran a campaign and got Norco to stop using blue, though corporate memories are short.
ABC have an article about the insect relationships of Tasmanian orchids and sundews, with some orchids mimicking the scent and visual appearance of wasps to fool them into trying to mate, and sundews having the dilemma of avoiding eating their pollinators.
Researchers have concluded that the 2015 die-off of nearly 10 percent of mangrove forest along northern Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria was a result of extreme low tides associated with a 18.6 year moon wobble cycle, amplified by El Niño, that creates regular, sustained periods of unusually high or low tides n certain places.
The Deteriorating Problem
This year, the world is projected to emit 40.6 billion tonnes of CO₂ from all human activities, leaving 380 billion tonnes of CO₂ as the remaining carbon budget for a 50% chance the planet will limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5℃, at current rates there is a 50% chance the planet will reach the 1.5℃ global average temperature rise in just nine years. Ocean and forest sinks continue to take up around half of our emissions. While discounted by claimed reforestation, deforestation remains a significant driver.
A bevy of scientists express profound concern for the future of many species of insects that are declining rapidly across many parts of the biosphere primarily due to habitat loss and fragmentation, chemical and organic pollution, invasive species and other human-mediated changes to the environment, which are now being amplified by climate change, notably extreme events, threatening an insect apocalypse.
As another example of mismatching resulting from species responding at different rates to climate heating, in north America, deciduous trees are leafing-out earlier while understorey wildflowers are not flowering earlier, resulting in more shade and less sunlight for photosynthesis which could lead to wildflower declines.
A new report has shown at least 27% of undisturbed rainforests in the Congo Basin present in 2020 will disappear by 2050 if the rate of deforestation and forest degradation continues at current rates.
The Boreal forest which encircles the arctic and stretches across Canada, Scandinavia, Russia and Alaska has in recent times been weakened by forest fires, the melting of permafrost, an insect infestation, warming temperatures and drifting trees, as the tipping point approaches. Across Europe’s northern forests clearcutting of older, natural forest appears to be widespread but oldgrowth hasn’t been mapped, a Swedish study found that almost a quarter of the few remaining forests of this type were lost between 2003 and 2019, and are expected to be cut-out in the 2070s. As Alaska warms twice as fast as the rest of the U.S., once frozen land is now thawed out and up for grabs as boreal forests are carved up, sold off and cleared for agriculture in an Alaskan land rush.
Turning it Around
The big issue of COP 27 is whether the big polluting countries who have caused climate heating should be compensating the poorer developing countries who are bearing the disastrous consequences. Australia, as the highest per capita polluter, and one of the top 20 polluters, is responsible for $200 million worth of damage to other countries. Developed countries have pledged just over $250 million for a global fund for “loss and damage” to help developing countries adapt to climate change, though the recent commitments fall drastically short of the $200 billion in annual funding for “climate reparations” that the U.N. says is needed this decade alone to adequately address the issue. Meanwhile rich countries and companies’ efforts to address the problems with carbon credits and offsets, rather than real emissions reductions, are plagued with poor management and regulation, while delaying meaningful action. Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen thinks the world is unlikely to come to an agreement over contentious calls for wealthy nations to pay loss and damage compensation for climate impacts on developing countries.
An analysis blamed the slow progress at COP27 in part on continuing misinformation by right-wing media, singling out Fox News as the principal organisation misleading millions of Americans. Others consider the 600 fossil fuel delegates at the meeting as a significant problem.
The U.S. Center at the COP27 climate talks hosted a panel Monday focused on ending global deforestation by 2030, with some panelists expressing concern that high carbon mature and oldgrowth forests continue to be logged, some stressed and overheated forests could soon emit more carbon than they store, and some argued we need to move beyond failed market-based carbon offsets and start actual protection. In welcome news, Brazil's new president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced he would seek an end to the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest by 2030. Fashion accounts for about 10 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions, leading to an announcement by 33 brands, printers and producers, timed to coincide with COP27, they will purchase over half a million tonnes of non-forest alternative fibres for clothing and packaging to help reduce global emissions.
As talks at COP27 enter the final stretch, government ministers and negotiators from nearly 200 countries are scrambling to build consensus on an array of issues critical to tackling the climate emergency based on a 20-page first draft released on Thursday that has left some profoundly disappointed as we continue “on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.” Principal concerns are the failure of wealthy nations to agree to pay loss and damage compensation for climate impacts on developing countries, or mention taking action on oil and gas due to over 600 fossil fuel industry delegates.
Some think the debate over whether humans can physically survive climate change is misguided, we should be looking ahead with more interest to next month’s COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the treaty aimed at saving the planet’s wild species, because we are sustained by a disintegrating intricate living system.
In New Zealand the conflict between graziers and carbon farmers grows as more pasture is bought-up by overseas investors and converted to trees, with graziers now pooling their resources buy farms approved for carbon forests.
Dailan Pugh
NEW SOUTH WALES
Koala Killing Bill Killed:
On Monday morning the Government’s private native forestry bill, aimed at removing protection for core Koala habitat, gained attention, with Climate 200 regarding it as an election gift, the ALP opposing it, and speculation that Liberals Felicity Wilson and Leslie Williams, and Nationals Geoff Provest, could cross the floor or abstain.
Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes a Court described revisiting the koala wars as a “gift” for the teal movement in NSW, which would seize on the NSW government’s position in northern Sydney seats.
“Dominic Perrottet has handed the movement a gift through deciding to flood a UNESCO site with many significant Aboriginal sites, reopening the koala wars and putting Angus Taylor’s gas man in the Premier’s office.”
However, several senior government sources said other at-risk Liberals, including North Shore MP Felicity Wilson and Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams, are considering crossing the floor or abstaining. Nationals MP for Tweed Geoff Provest could also abstain.
By Monday afternoon Fred Nile had declared he wouldn’t support the bill, killing its chances of getting through the upper house, Liberals Felicity Wilson and Leslie Williams, and Nationals Geoff Provest, firmed up their commitments to vote it down, and to cap it off millionaire Geoff Cousins threatened to run an advertising campaign targeting the premier. It was the living dead, the Premier had to bury it for the second time, to rise again in the next government. Catherine Cusack accused the Liberals "screwing up" on the issue of protecting koalas and that the Nationals deserved to be "removed from power" because of it.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-government-faces-defeat-in-koala-wars-as-mp-fred-nile-refuses-to-back-bill-20221114-p5by3c.htmlhttps://www.perthnow.com.au/politics/nsw-koala-wars-bill-quickly-ditched-c-8858998https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/7981782/nsw-koala-wars-bill-quickly-ditched/https://www.irrigator.com.au/story/7981782/nsw-koala-wars-bill-quickly-ditched/?cs=12https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/nsw-government-pulls-forestry-bill-after-it-threatened-to-reignite-koala-wars-rift/vi-AA146Ofv?category=foryouhttps://www.newsofthearea.com.au/nationals-retreat-in-koala-warshttps://www.newsofthearea.com.au/coffs-coast-news-of-the-area-18-november-2022
The legislation was dumped after significant internal agitation from within the Coalition, including from Nationals MP Geoff Provest and Liberals Shayne Mallard and Felicity Wilson, who were threatening to cross the floor.
“We need to be hyper cautious of any policy that could put koalas at future risk of extinction,” Wilson told Guardian Australia an hour before the bill was pulled.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Provest wrote: “We have worked so hard in the Tweed, doubling protected areas and building our first ever koala hospital. If the government insists on putting this legislation to parliament, it will not get my vote.”
The Greens said almost 2,000 emails calling for the legislation to be scrapped had been sent to government MPs – including the treasurer, Matt Kean, Griffen, Provest and Wilson – in less than 24 hours.
But Mr Provest disputed that.
"I haven't been advised once that there has been a problem with the dual consent," the Tweed MP said.
"So I don't know why we are touching something where there's not been a problem before."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-14/nsw-government-abandons-forestry-koala-laws/101653090
Reverend Fred Nile publicly announced his opposition to the government’s private native forestry bill on Monday evening, meaning the reform would be dead on arrival if it successfully navigated the Legislative Assembly.
Moderate MPs were incensed the Nationals brought on the bill the final sitting week of the year, saying it could prove political kryptonite for them as they try to fend off a challenge from teal independents.
But after Reverend Nile declared his intention to vote against the reform, multiple MPs confirmed that the bill had been culled, sparing the party a potentially toxic debate.
Another Liberal MP said the bill was the No 1 election priority for Nationals leader Paul Toole, but there appeared little rationale for the push, saying it did not seem to be a major vote winner for the junior Coalition partner, and risked already under-pressure coastal seats.
Former upper house MP Catherine Cusack, who stepped down from Parliament earlier this year, said the Coalition was "screwing up" on the issue of protecting koalas and that the Nationals deserved to be "removed from power" because of it.
"I find the entire lazy exploitative relationship between Liberals and Nationals is not to be trusted," she said. "They keep screwing up on this issue, angering koala advocates. The Liberals' pattern of allowing Nationals to accelerate destruction of habitat in exchange for peace and discipline in the Coalition is, in my opinion, going to prove costly.
https://www.crikey.com.au/2022/11/15/catherine-cusack-ex-mp-koala-wars-coalition-pay/
Sue Arnold argues NSW Premier Perrottet has shown complete ignorance towards the plight of endangered koalas, and has diminished his chances of re-election next year by reigniting the Koala wars.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/perrottets-koala-death-wish,16973
Dailan Pugh thanks Geoff Provest for following Catherine Cusack’s lead and threatening to cross the floor over the same draconian legislation, though warns that it is likely to rise from the dead for the third time if Perrottet is re-elected.
‘Mr Provest told the Government he was not prepared to support the bill. The Government withdrew the bill,’ a spoklespeson for Mr Provest told The Echo.
‘This is the second time that these same proposed legislative changes have been defeated by a member of the Government, last time it was Catherine Cusack crossing the floor to defeat the Local Land Services Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill,’ said North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) spokesperson Dailan Pugh.
‘The PNF bill was not just an attack on koalas in an attempt to allow logging everywhere, it is also an attempt to remove community’s rights to be informed and have a say in what happens in their areas,’ explained Mr Pugh.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/11/tweed-mp-saves-koalas-from-logging-for-now/
The Perrottet Government seeks to distract the community with the pretence of doubling koala numbers and tree plantings, as they seek to systematically remove protections for occupied koala habitat and community rights to protect them.
… Kyogle council’s machinations:
On the same day Koalla-killing Bill II was withdrawn, in an apparently politically co-ordinated move Kyogle Council voted to scrap the dual approval process for native forestry on private land, leaving approvals entirely in the hands of Local Land Services (LLS). It transpired that while Council requires consent, none of the 133 current PNF operations have ever applied. In an ABC north-coast radio interview Andrew Hurford said they have been working on these legislative changes for at least 6 years, and promised them for 2 years, maintaining logging is good for Koalas. He claimed he wasn’t aware of the necessity to get council approval until recently, while the industry pretended that in Kyogle “200 applications are awaiting approval”.
The meeting heard there were 133 private native forestry (PNF) plans in place across the Kyogle Shire which have been approved by the LLS but have not been put forward to the council.
A staff report said the council would struggle to approve any PNF plans, because it could not approve proposals that would have an adverse effect on the environment.
Timber NSW chairman Andrew Hurford thinks the debate has become too political.
"You can get an approval to clear your land from LLS and councils are not involved in that discussion — but you try to manage your land for sustainable forestry and suddenly councils have say."
On Friday, the NSW Farmers said landholders seeking to harvest timber on their properties need to go through a duplicated approvals process at a state and local government level, reducing supply of hardwoods, delaying rebuilding efforts, and driving construction costs higher when people can least afford it.
The state's peak body of shires and councils, Local Government NSW said councils were being sidelined,
https://www.flownews24.com.au/post/nsw-native-forestry-bill-mauled-by-political-drop-bears
A last minute decision to ditch key farm forestry legislation has placed state government investment into the sector at risk, says the timber industry.
"We're frustrated. The bill was a big deal. Government has promised us for six years that it would unwind the Green tape; remove the need for duplicate approval."
The fact that local government is ill-prepared to handle PNF approval has been highlighted in the Kyogle Council area where more than 200 applications are awaiting approval.
Mr Dobbins said the 65pc of councils state wide who require a DA (25pc on the north coast) could continue to demand landholders carry out a koala survey at a cost of between $20,000 and $40,000 for 100ha.
NSW Farmers CEO Pete Arkle … “That’s why it’s so crazy that some of these councils – particularly those dominated by environmental politics – are desperate to cling to control of timber approvals.
“Cutting some of this senseless red tape is one common-sense way the government can improve timber supply, and in turn ease the burden on local councils whose staff already have their hands full with development applications and road repairs.”
https://www.timberbiz.com.au/nsw-farmers-say-sidelining-councils-should-be-welcomed-by-them/
Olney ignites:
On Tuesday, in Olney State Forest, west of Morisset, a person used a suspended tree sit over the access road to block forestry from entering.
“There has been strong community opposition to the logging of Olney forest. We are now taking direct action to physically block this destruction. Action like this is an effective means to fight for this forest, for our lives, and for the planet.” Said Brad Long spokesperson for Forest Defence NSW.
“Native forest logging is in direct conflict with the interests of our communities and with a liveable planet. Logging projects like this turn public native forest into private wealth. Collectively, we can resist this destruction with direct action.”
The person taking action this morning said, “Direct action is the most effective thing I can do to give my own and future generations a fighting chance, We will continue to put our bodies on the line to end native forest logging.”
Forest Defence media release.
FOOTAGE: https://gmail.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=00a0d314cc7612e6410b236da&id=3c96eb5084&e=47ee9b0076
Another $9 million down the drain:
The Forestry Corporation only lost $9 million last financial year through logging public native forests, as well as getting massive subsidies for roads, transport, bushfire recovery and community service obligations, leading some to question why we still do it.
Greens MP and spokesperson for the Environment Sue Higginson says the hardwood division conducts logging operations in public native forests and is directly driving the climate and extinction crises.
‘The people of NSW have lost another $9 million dollars to the unprofitable and irresponsible destruction of our public native forests,’ said Ms Higginson.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/11/costs-of-native-forest-logging-to-nsw-residents-revealed/
Is it more profitable than it appears?:
The South East Timber Association have commissioned their own economic report to counter the ANU/Frontier Economics report that found stopping logging in south-east NSW would produce a net economic benefit to the state of approximately $60 million, while also reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by almost 1 million tonnes per year over the period 2022-2041, compared to logging, instead claiming it would cost -$252.43 million.
South East Timber Association (SETA) secretary, Peter Rutherford said “this week, a review of the ANU cost-benefit analysis, commissioned by SETA, confirmed the ANU/Macintosh report had a number of serious flaws.
Mr Rutherford stated “the flaws identified in the report totally undermine the alleged economic benefits of closing the native forest industry in southern NSW. Rather than a net present value (NPV) of $61.96 million over 30 years, closure of the industry would result in a negative NPV of -$252.43 million.”
Mr Rutherford went on to say, “coincidently, last week, WWF Australia have released a Frontier Economics report, advocating for the closure of the whole of the NSW native forest industry.”
“SETA has simple advice to any politician or decision maker, who think they should use the report. Don’t!”
Its not worth it:
Echo Voice focuses on the Frontiers Economics report on transitioning out of NSW’s public native forests, concluding “now is the time”.
Murder most foul:
The Sydney Review of Books has a lengthy article on Kate Holden’s The Winter Road, that traces a history of relationships to the Australian soil to explore how in 2014, Ian Turnbull, an 80-year old farmer with several properties to his name, came to murder Glen Turner, an environmental officer trying to protect the brigalow.
https://sydneyreviewofbooks.com/review/winter-road-holden/
Biodiversity offsets upsetting:
Country mayors and MPs are calling for the Biodiversity Offsets Scheme to be dumped, claiming it strangles development and jobs in regional NSW, making some developments cost prohibitive.
In one case Bourke Shire Council created $48,000 commercial blocks to help businesses tackle unemployment.
The project was shelved when the Biodiversity Offset was set at a whopping $480,000 per block.
Moree Environmental Scientist Peter Taylor … “An investor wanted to buy 17 acres of grassy scrub on the edge of town for $400,000 was told it would mean he had to pay between $4 and $6 million in biodiversity offsets. So the college and all the jobs it would have provided did not go ahead.”
Looking after wildlife affected by development:
Hornsby Shire Council recently voted to lobby the NSW Government for “standards to ensure native wildlife found on development sites are given the best possible chance of survival”, though on a similar motion, The Hills Shire Council quashed an attempt to introduce enforceable and consistent standards for the handling and management of wildlife on development sites.
“Our native animals do not deserve to be buried alive, or mulched up, or crushed to death, or just moved and left to die slowly because Codes of Practice are not being applied and because a Fauna Management Plan is not a requirement,” Ms Emmett told the Councillors.
She said wildlife rescuers and vets were witnessing the “complete disregard for our native wildlife on so many development sites”.
Relentless flooding:
One of the largest ever flood responses in NSW’s history was under way on Tuesday morning, with 17 flood warnings in place and eight major warnings affecting 25 locations. Spring 2022 is on track to be the wettest on record for south-east Australia. With catchments sodden, flooding is happening rapidly. As Forbes was cut in half, deputy mayor, Chris Roylance, said it “will be the biggest we’ve ever seen”. Condobolin was entirely isolated as it suffered its biggest recorded flood. As the atmosphere warms it can hold more water, supercharging atmospheric rivers, requiring a rethink of floods.
About 100 Australian defence force personnel have been deployed to help in rescue operations with 12 New Zealand volunteers arriving, along with 14 aircraft supporting and rescuing residents and another four helping with logistics and transport.
The SES commissioner, Carlene York, described the response “as one of the biggest operations … across NSW in its history”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzS5hLydVw4
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-11/spring-tracking-to-become-the-wettest-on-record/101641378
Flooding in Condobolin has surpassed the record-setting flood of 1952 - and may yet rise further in coming days.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-18/condobolin-is-expecting-its-worst-flood-on-record/101670726
We will also have to redraw flood maps more often, as climate change brings more extreme weather. As climate change progresses, the atmosphere can hold more water. This supercharges atmospheric rivers – huge torrents of water carried above our heads.
Many of this year’s floods, by contrast, have come from heavy rain falling on lower catchment areas, with repeated soaking priming the area for near-instant floods. That’s partly why cities like Forbes have been taken by surprise, with the worst floods in decades.
With the floods come the mosquitos, big ones, small ones, benign ones, and plagues of disease ridden biting ones, attacking livestock, with water persisting long after the rains so will they.
AUSTRALIA
Defining oldgrowth out of existence:
When the Victorian Government made its announcement that logging would be phased out by 2030, they announced that “90,000 hectares of Victoria’s remaining rare and precious old growth forest...will be protected immediately”, what they didn’t say was that they would allow Vicforests to review the mapped oldgrowth to decide whether it qualified, and mostly they decided it didn’t, as exemplified by a coupe aptly called Duped which had mapped oldgrowth that they were logging at the time and continued to log. Now the Flora and Fauna Research Collective (FFRC) has a legal case currently before the Victorian Supreme Court claiming enough is enough.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-13/our-vanishing-old-growth-forests/101641964
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-13/old-growth-forests-still-being-logged-despite-bans/101648702
Victorian forests worth more standing:
A study of Victoria’s Central Highlands by right-leaning Blueprint Institute finds preserving trees generates more in tourism, water supply benefits, and carbon credits than cutting them down, protecting them now would generate $487 million in benefits, with a net profit of $59 million between 2022/23 and 2030.
The Labor government has said it is spending $200 million to keep the industry alive until 2030, but Mr Cross says subsidies, which were not counted in Blueprint’s figures, were really about protecting 500 to 600 jobs, “which are overwhelmingly CFMEU members”.
“The thing that has really baffled us from analysing the central highlands as a case study is that for a long period of time it’s been a completely loss-making, government subsidised industry that can’t compete against plantation forests.”
Blueprint estimates that halting native wet forest logging in one of the world’s most “biodiverse environments” would generate $487 million in benefits, offset by $428 million in costs to create a net present value of $59 million between 2022/23 and 2030.
“The native logging industry is propped up by government to protect an ever-decreasing number of jobs and placate misguided pressure from vested interests,” the report’s authors state.
“Economic protectionism is damaging and regressive at the best of times. This is amplified exponentially when it results in severe environmental degradation.
Teals want RFA’s repealed:
Victorian federal teal independent for Kooyong MP Monique Ryan, supported by Zoe Daniel, moved for an end to the RFA exemption for logging from EPBC Act, particularly to address climate change.
https://twitter.com/Mon4Kooyong/status/1589888923521912832
They have been joined by NSW Teals Mackellar MP Sophie Scamps and Warringah MP Zali Steggall.
“The carve-out of state logging from the EPBC Act over the last couple of decades is the reason why, 20 years on, the common glider is no longer common, but is now endangered,” Scamps said.
She said climate change and environment protection, including native forestry, are the top two issues in Mackellar, on Sydney’s northern beaches, and her community is demanding change.
“Having the government negotiating with the forestry industry on logging is akin to it negotiating with the tobacco industry on health.”
Queensland’s broken laws:
Mining company Magnetic South cleared 218 hectares of land at Dingo in central Queensland, 130 kilometres west of Rockhampton, without requiring approval for either the clearing or their mine, adjoining land that protects the only significant population of the bridled nailtail wallaby.
"The firebreak and regrowth clearing is for our cattle operation on those properties and not at all within the boundaries of the national park," Mr Xu said.
Mr Dudley said the fact the company was able to clear the land without a permit was "difficult to conceive".
Environmental Defenders Office managing lawyer Andrew Kwan said at a state level, the Department of Environment and Science (DES) had not been requiring a complete EIS assessment for new coal projects producing under 2 million-tonnes-per-year.
This particular mine, Gemini, it's almost progressed to production without an environmental impact statement and without even a referral to the Commonwealth," he said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-15/magnetic-south-mine-clears-land-near-national-park/101598670
SPECIES
Clearing and logging force bats into farms and urban areas, creating annoyance and disease risks:
As well as coronaviruses, flying foxes are hosts to a variety of diseases which can spread directly or indirectly to humans, such as rabies, Nipah and Hendra, which can have limited impacts on the bats due to their supercharged immune systems. Researchers have found that it is winter nectar shortages that force flying foxes into urban areas and closer contacts with people, thereby increasing the risk of disease spill-overs, notably increasing the risk of Hendra virus, their solution being more plantings of nectar feed trees in rural areas (away from horses) – I think the best first step is to stop cutting down mature nectar feed trees, as the older trees flower more prolifically and regularly.
We found one surprisingly simple answer in our new research on flying foxes in Australia: protect and restore native bat habitat to boost natural protection.
When we destroy native forests, we force nectar-eating flying foxes into survival mode. They shift from primarily nomadic animals following eucalypt flowering and forming large roosts to less mobile animals living in a large number of small roosts near agricultural land where they may come in contact with horses.
Now we know how habitat destruction and spillover are linked, we can act. Protecting the eucalyptus species flying foxes rely on will reduce the risk of the virus spreading to horses and then humans. The data we gathered also makes it possible to predict times of heightened Hendra virus risk – up to two years in advance.
Our models confirmed strong El Niño events caused nectar shortages for flying foxes, splintering their large nomadic populations into many small populations in urban and agricultural areas.
Importantly, the models showed a strong link between food shortages and clusters of Hendra virus spillovers from these new roosts in the following year.
This means by tracking drought conditions and food shortages for flying foxes, we can get crucial early warning of riskier times for Hendra virus – up to two years in advance.
We found Hendra virus never jumped from flying foxes to horses when there was abundant winter nectar.
Protecting and restoring bat habitat and replanting key tree species well away from horse paddocks will boost bat health – and keep us safer.
Dr Alison Peel … “It’s fair to say that our models show that when there is a [flying fox] food shortage then no winter flowering in the following year, there’s about a 90 per cent probability of there being a cluster of Hendra virus spillovers (three or more),” she said.
“On the other hand, if there’s a food shortage, then abundant winter flowering, then there is about a 90 per cent probability of there being no cluster.”
That impact was lessened even in droughts if the bats had a large natural environment in which to source food.
We propose that the loss of winter flowering habitat and consequent decline in the abundance of winter nectar contributes to the persistence of bats in agricultural and urban areas … The consequences of more bats in areas with human settlements include not only increased risk of viral spillover from bats to horses to humans, but also increased conflict with humans.
Our data suggest that increasingly rare winter flowering pulses reduce the risk of spillover. Bats reverted to nomadism and left agricultural and urban areas during pulses of winter flowering in remnant native forest, and spillovers did not occur during these flowering pulses (Fig. 2C). We propose these pulses of flowering may mitigate zoonotic risk by drawing large numbers of bats (Supplementary Information 1132) away from feeding in agricultural areas and therefore decreasing contact between bats and horses. … the loss of native forest that supports large aggregations of nomadic bats appears to be fundamental to the cascade of events that lead to spillover. An extensive program of ecological protection and restoration of winter-flowering forests (ecological countermeasures) could be a sustainable, long-term strategy to reduce spillover and protect the health of livestock and humans.
Spare a thought for our urban poor:
The Conversation has an article about the plight of urban wildlife in deluges, pointing out that prolonged rain may confine microbats to their roosts, and sometimes starve, while in deluges Brush Turkey mounds can become saturated and their eggs drown, meanwhile exotic cockroaches can revel in the humidity inside your house.
Koala Bill:
The Green’s Forestry Amendment (Koala Habitats) Bill 2022, which was introduced on 9 November, makes “it a requirement of an integrated forestry operations approval that forestry operations are not carried out in koala habitats”, continues to garner attention, though won’t be voted on until after the election.
NSW Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson said “This bill is a signal to the Government that this is an essential step to saving koalas from extinction and is as simple as an amendment to the Forestry Act. We could save money, protect jobs and stimulate the economy while also taking immediate action to slow the extinction crisis in NSW,
Strangling bowerbirds:
A reminder that Satin Bowerbirds like the blue-rings from milk and cream bottle tops and can get them stuck around their necks, it helps to snip them – some years ago some school kids ran a campaign and got Norco to stop using blue, though corporate memories are short.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/coffs-coast-news-of-the-area-18-november-2022
Fooling insects:
ABC have an article about the insect relationships of Tasmanian orchids and sundews, with some orchids mimicking the scent and visual appearance of wasps to fool them into trying to mate, and sundews having the dilemma of avoiding eating their pollinators.
Male wasps buzzing around the forest, looking for an eligible female among the leaf litter, often use her scent to discover her.
Unfortunately for the male, the bird orchids have evolved to produce just that scent. Not only that, but they also have a series of raised dark bumps on their petals that look like a female wasp.
Botanist Laura Skates explains that Australia is a "hot spot" for carnivorous plants, with about 250 flesh-eating plants calling the continent home out of an estimated 800 species worldwide.
Wobbling moon killing mangroves:
Researchers have concluded that the 2015 die-off of nearly 10 percent of mangrove forest along northern Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria was a result of extreme low tides associated with a 18.6 year moon wobble cycle, amplified by El Niño, that creates regular, sustained periods of unusually high or low tides n certain places.
They also want to study how sea-level rise driven by climate change will alter this natural ecological pattern. A moderate rise might mitigate some of the tidal drop, helping to preserve mangrove forests, but an extreme rise could drown the trees at the cycle’s highest tidal point. “We might be able to anticipate when—or if—we’ll start to see some big problems in terms of mangroves coping,” Saintilan says.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-the-moon-devastated-a-mangrove-forest/
THE DETERIORATING PROBLEM
Budget deficit:
This year, the world is projected to emit 40.6 billion tonnes of CO₂ from all human activities, leaving 380 billion tonnes of CO₂ as the remaining carbon budget for a 50% chance the planet will limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5℃, at current rates there is a 50% chance the planet will reach the 1.5℃ global average temperature rise in just nine years. Ocean and forest sinks continue to take up around half of our emissions. While discounted by claimed reforestation, deforestation remains a significant driver.
Another major source of global CO₂ emissions is land-use change – the net balance between deforestation and reforestation. We project 3.9 billion tonnes of CO₂ will be released overall this year (though we should note that data uncertainties are higher for land-use change emissions than for fossil CO₂ emissions).
While land-use change emissions remain high, we’ve seen a slight decline over the past two decades largely due to increased reforestation. Rates of deforestation worldwide, however, are still high.
Together, fossil fuel and land-use change are responsible for 40.6 billion tonnes of CO₂.
Ocean and land act as CO₂ sinks. The ocean absorbs CO₂ as it dissolves in seawater. On land, plants absorb CO₂ and build it into their trunks, branches, leaves and soils.
This makes ocean and land sinks a crucial part of regulating the global climate. Our data shows that on average, land and ocean sinks remove about half of all CO₂ emissions from human activities, acting like a 50% discount on climate change.
Despite this help from nature, the concentration of atmospheric CO₂ continues to climb. In 2022 it’ll reach a projected average of 417.2 parts per million. This is 51% above pre-industrial levels and higher than any time in the past 800,000 years.
Insect apocalypse:
A bevy of scientists express profound concern for the future of many species of insects that are declining rapidly across many parts of the biosphere primarily due to habitat loss and fragmentation, chemical and organic pollution, invasive species and other human-mediated changes to the environment, which are now being amplified by climate change, notably extreme events, threatening an insect apocalypse.
In a new scientific review, a team of 70 scientists from 19 countries warned that if no steps are taken to shield insects from the consequences of climate change, it will "drastically reduce our ability to build a sustainable future based on healthy, functional ecosystems."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/11/221107110028.htm
A growing body of empirical literature is showing that many populations of insects are declining rapidly across many parts of the biosphere, although patterns vary geographically and among different taxa or functional groups … These
declines are considered to be of profound concern, with terms like an emerging “insect apocalypse” being increasingly used by the media and even some scientists to describe this phenomenon (Goulson, 2019; Jarvis, 2018).
Observed trends in the demographics of many taxa—including important functional groups like pollinators, nutrient cyclers, and natural enemies, as well as in the abundance of crop, forest, and urban pests—is currently considered serious enough to merit profound concern …
Given that climate change continues unabated and climatic extremes in particular pose an immediate, short-term threat to insects, with long-term consequences for ecosystems, it is essential to also consider the importance of managing and restoring habitats that make them as “climate-proof” as possible and enable insects to find refuges in which they can “ride out” extreme climatic events. At larger scales, corridors should be maintained that enable insects to disperse over time to more climatically suitable habitats. Most importantly, there are means of safeguarding insect populations for posterity, and we need to take the initiative to implement them.
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecm.1553
Out of sync, out of luck:
As another example of mismatching resulting from species responding at different rates to climate heating, in north America, deciduous trees are leafing-out earlier while understorey wildflowers are not flowering earlier, resulting in more shade and less sunlight for photosynthesis which could lead to wildflower declines.
A new study found that deciduous trees and shrubs are advancing their leaf out timing with warming temperatures faster than native wildflowers are across eastern North America. This mismatch may lead to declines in native wildflowers as they receive less sunlight for photosynthesis in the spring.
The authors provide suggestions for land managers and wildflower enthusiasts, who may consider steps such as thinning overhead tree and shrub canopy, removing non-native species, and planting rare wildflowers further north to conserve native wildflower populations.
https://phys.org/news/2022-11-warmer-temperatures-linked-mismatch-forest.html
Congo loss accelerating;
A new report has shown at least 27% of undisturbed rainforests in the Congo Basin present in 2020 will disappear by 2050 if the rate of deforestation and forest degradation continues at current rates.
There was an estimated 200 million hectares of evergreen and semi-deciduous forests in Central Africa, including Angola and Uganda, in January 2020 – with 184.7 million hectares showing no signs of disturbance, according to a report on the state of Congo Basin forests produced by the Observatory for Central Africa Forests (OFAC). Unfortunately, the rate of loss of intact forests has since then accelerated, with no fewer than 18 million hectares of forests disappearing so far.
Boreal decline:
The Boreal forest which encircles the arctic and stretches across Canada, Scandinavia, Russia and Alaska has in recent times been weakened by forest fires, the melting of permafrost, an insect infestation, warming temperatures and drifting trees, as the tipping point approaches.
As per AFP experts have categorically warned that “the forest is encroaching on the tundra, and the prairies are slowly taking the place of the trees.”
With the rising temperatures “drunken trees” have become a common phenomenon; trees are tilted sideways due to the melting permafrost. Eventually, the soil will completely erode and the fauna will tumble down.
Scientists as per AFP say that for now there’s still hope for the ecosystem's continued resilience, even as they ponder whether the forest’s “tipping point”, a threshold after which emissions will be inevitable and changes to the ecosystem irreversible is approaching.
… Europe’s disappearing oldgrowth:
Across Europe’s northern forests clearcutting of older, natural forest appears to be widespread but oldgrowth hasn’t been mapped, a Swedish study found that almost a quarter of the few remaining forests of this type were lost between 2003 and 2019, and are expected to be cut-out in the 2070s.
We cannot afford to lose more of the world’s old growth forests to humanitys’ insatiable appetite for resources. Old growth forests play a key role in biodiversity conservation and planetary stability in the face of rapid climate change”, says Pep Canadell, Director for the Global Carbon Project CSIRO in Australia.
Clearcutting of older, natural forest appears to be widespread across most northern countries, but there has been little monitoring of the distribution and extent of this practice, mainly because there are no official maps of the location and extent of the forests and that natural boreal forest is difficult to distinguish in satellite images.
… Alaskan land rush:
As Alaska warms twice as fast as the rest of the U.S., once frozen land is now thawed out and up for grabs as boreal forests are carved up, sold off and cleared for agriculture in an Alaskan land rush.
"I see climate change in Alaska as an opportunity to bring in more crops, to develop more land," said Erik Johnson, who oversees the Nenana-Totchaket Agricultural Project for the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alaska-farmland-climate-change-boreal-forest/
TURNING IT AROUND
COP 27
The big issue of COP 27 is whether the big polluting countries who have caused climate heating should be compensating the poorer developing countries who are bearing the disastrous consequences. Australia, as the highest per capita polluter, and one of the top 20 polluters, is responsible for $200 million worth of damage to other countries.
This is the human side of a contentious issue that will likely dominate climate negotiations in Egypt this month. It’s about big bucks, justice, blame and taking responsibility. Extreme weather is worsening as the world warms, with a study calculating that human-caused climate change increased Pakistan’s flood-causing rain by up to 50%.
While Pakistan was flooding, six energy companies — ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell,BP, Saudi Aramco and Total Energies — made $97.49 billion in profits from July to September.
Developed countries have pledged just over $250 million for a global fund for “loss and damage” to help developing countries adapt to climate change, though the recent commitments fall drastically short of the $200 billion in annual funding for “climate reparations” that the U.N. says is needed this decade alone to adequately address the issue. Meanwhile rich countries and companies efforts to address the problems with carbon credits and offsets, rather than real emissions reductions, are plagued with poor management and regulation, while delaying meaningful action.
But carbon markets, along with other voluntary market-based solutions that rely on incentives, not regulation, to reduce emission, have long been a source of controversy in the climate community. It’s not surprising, then, that the U.S. announcement this week was met by fierce backlash from environmental advocates who say carbon markets rarely deliver the climate benefits they promise, suffer from poor management and regulation and delay meaningful efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by promising to address the issue in the future. Rather, advocates say, that money should be spent on proven climate solutions, such as building new renewable energy sources.
Take California, for example, which runs one of the world’s largest carbon markets. Instead of reducing their own emissions, companies participating in the state’s carbon market—including major conglomerates like Microsoft—have poured billions of dollars into projects that planted trees. But even though an estimated 153,000 acres of forests that were part of the state’s carbon market burned in wildfires last summer, the companies can still claim those forests for credits in the program.
“The absence of standards, regulations and rigor in voluntary carbon market credits is deeply concerning,” Gutteres said in a speech Tuesday. “Shadow markets for carbon credits cannot undermine genuine emission reduction efforts, including in the short term. Targets must be reached through real emissions cuts.”
https://us2.campaign-archive.com/?e=6624c72df8&u=7c733794100bcc7e083a163f0&id=cef6774d19
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen thinks the world is unlikely to come to an agreement over contentious calls for wealthy nations to pay loss and damage compensation for climate impacts on developing countries.
… the fox in the hen house:
An analysis blamed the slow progress at COP27 in part on continuing misinformation by right-wing media, singling out Fox News as the principal organisation misleading millions of Americans. Others consider the 600 fossil fuel delegates at the meeting as a significant problem.
Specifically, 59 percent of Fox News consumers believe that a significant number of scientists disagree on the cause of climate change, compared to just 35 percent of the broader U.S. sample. Additionally, 56 percent of Fox viewers think renewable energy is more expensive than energy from fossil fuels, compared to 34 percent of the bigger sample. And 60 percent of respondents who watch Fox say that renewables are unreliable energy sources, compared to 32 percent of the American sample as a whole.
Regular Fox viewers were also far more likely to believe that natural gas is needed to reduce climate-warming emissions, with 57 percent of those respondents agreeing with that premise, compared to 38 percent of overall U.S. respondents.
[King] “The final thing I wanted to mention is a renewed energy and investment in fossil fuel greenwashing, being pushed very heavily by the fossil fuel lobby, which we’ve seen here at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh,” she said, noting the record number of fossil fuel lobbyists and other representatives at the climate conference. “In particular, the African gas lobby has been very vocal in making the suggestion that net zero transitions are a form of neocolonialism or Western imperialism, and that maintaining the use of fossil fuels is essential to human rights.”
There are the recent reports out by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, as well as from the University of Exeter, showing that fossil fuel companies are spending millions of dollars to run as many as 850 ads a day and getting tens of millions of views “that aim to confuse the public about what are viable climate solutions going forward,” she said.
https://us2.campaign-archive.com/?e=6624c72df8&u=7c733794100bcc7e083a163f0&id=f24d0305e5
The U.S. Center at the COP27 climate talks hosted a panel Monday focused on ending global deforestation by 2030, with some panelists expressing concern that high carbon mature and oldgrowth forests continue to be logged, some stressed and overheated forests could soon emit more carbon than they store, and some argued we need to move beyond failed market-based carbon offsets and start actual protection.
In 2021, just the tropics lost about 43,000 square miles of forest cover, an area the size of Tennessee, said panelist Craig Hanson, executive vice president for programs at the World Resources Institute. Additionally, in the U.S. wildfires burned across an Indiana-size swath of land, about 35,000 square miles, including some forests being used as carbon offsets by major U.S. corporations. Wildfires in Siberia that year burned up another 72,000 square miles, an area a bit larger than Oklahoma. Altogether, wildfires emitted 6,450 megatons of carbon dioxide in 2021, about equal to total European Union CO2 emissions from fossil fuels that year.
If world leaders want to take their forest pledges seriously, Su said, it’s time to move beyond market-based mechanisms, and beyond using forests as carbon offsets.
“That is a scheme that has never worked to achieve deep decarbonisation,” she said. “The best thing that we can do is ditch these market mechanisms, to stop talking about commodification of forests, and start actual protection. What we’re asking for from a domestic standpoint is, President Biden, if you want to live up to your global pledge, start at home.”
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/15112022/cop27-deforestation-united-states-logging/
… saving the Amazon:
In welcome news, Brazil's new president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced he would seek an end to the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest by 2030.
Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has told cheering crowds at the UN climate conference in Egypt that he would crack down on illegal deforestation in the Amazon, reinitiate ties with countries that finance forest protection efforts and push to host an upcoming world climate summit in the rainforest.
https://www.trtworld.com/life/brazil-s-lula-pledges-to-defeat-all-crimes-in-amazon-forest-62613
Data released by a Brazilian research institute showed that about 13,000 square kilometers of the Amazon was lost from August 2020 to July 2021.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221117_15/
… making forests unfashionable:
Fashion accounts for about 10 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions, leading to an announcement by 33 brands, printers and producers, timed to coincide with COP27, will purchase over half a million tonnes of non-forest alternative fibres for clothing and packaging to help reduce global emissions.
Retailers agreed to purchase 550,000 tonnes of alternative fibres – made from waste textiles and agricultural residues instead of forest fibres. Every tonne of clothing produced using these alternative fibres will save between four and 15 tonnes of carbon per tonne of product, NGO Canopy, which convened the group, said.
Over 3.2 billion trees are cut down each year to produce fibre for packaging and clothing. Moving to low-carbon alternatives could help the industry to avoid almost a giga-tonne of CO2 emissions between now and 2030, Canopy said.
https://insideretail.asia/2022/11/15/retailers-accelerate-shift-to-forest-friendly-fibres-at-cop27/
… pedal to the metal on the highway to climate hell:
As talks at COP27 enter the final stretch, government ministers and negotiators from nearly 200 countries are scrambling to build consensus on an array of issues critical to tackling the climate emergency based on a 20-page first draft released on Thursday that has left some profoundly disappointed as we continue “on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.” Principal concerns are the failure of wealthy nations to agree to pay loss and damage compensation for climate impacts on developing countries, or mention taking action on oil and gas due to over 600 fossil fuel industry delegates.
The U.N. climate agency on Thursday published a 20-page first draft of a hoped-for final agreement. It is highly likely to be reworked in the coming days as climate envoys in Egypt’s Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh strive to reach an overarching deal before Friday’s deadline.
“As climate impacts and injustice accelerate, lives, livelihoods, cultures and even whole countries are lost, the latest draft cover note from the COP27 Presidency pushes the pedal to the metal on the highway to climate hell,” Yeb Saño, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said in a statement.
Berman said via Twitter that the document fails to mention oil and gas, does not mention fossil fuel expansion and warned that while “phase down unabated coal” is in, the term “unabated” was “a loophole big enough to drive a drill rig through.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/17/cop27-draft-deal-critcized-for-paving-the-way-to-climate-hell.html
COP 15 more important than COP 27:
Some think the debate over whether humans can physically survive climate change is misguided, we should be looking ahead with more interest to next month’s COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the treaty aimed at saving the planet’s wild species, because we are sustained by a disintegrating intricate living system.
Under likely warming scenarios, virtually all the globe’s coral reefs (which feed and otherwise benefit a billion people) will be gone. Parts of the Amazon will flip into degraded grasslands, putting one in ten of the planet’s species at risk and draining the biggest tropical carbon sink. Billions of migratory birds will lose boreal forest breeding habitat. Already, bizarre biological tragedies are unfolding; hot Queensland beaches are yielding all-female hatches of green sea turtles …
The biodiversity crisis is arguably a good deal further along than the climate crisis—and fully linked to it. And still, some of us are asking whether our world, some decades hence, equipped with sea walls, cooling centers, and windmills, may still function as a terrarium for humans. This is a morally vapid question. It ignores the fact that the planet is an intricate living system of which humans are a part.
Black sheep:
In New Zealand the conflict between graziers and carbon farmers grows as more pasture is bought-up by overseas investors and converted to trees, with graziers now pooling their resources buy farms approved for carbon forests.
With more than 175,000ha of whole farms sold for afforestation since 2017, the country could expect a decline of around 1 million stock units of sheep and beef, the report said.
But a group of farmers is raising $45 million to keep a large central North Island station out of foreign hands and save it from potentially being planted as a carbon forest.
Leader of Forever Farming NZ, Mike Barham, said if the bid was successful the 5000ha Mangaohane Station in the central North Island would continue as a livestock station.
Forest Media 11 November 2022
New South Wales
The Sydney Moring Herald has a lengthy article about the Koala conference, focussing on a trip to Ellis State Forest with Mark Graham as the introduction in which the destruction is writ large, while also focusing on Koala’s decline, the Great Koala National Park, and the Frontier Economic’s report about the costs and benefits of stopping logging of public forests.
The infamous “Koala Wars” of 2020 have been resurrected, as the Liberals follow thru on their promise to the Nationals to stop core Koala habitat on private lands being protected from logging. The Perrottet Government introduced the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Private Native Forestry) Bill 2022 that proposes to allow existing logging prohibitions in LEP zones and State Environmental Planning Policies (SEPPs) to stand, though no new LEP or SEPP will be allowed to impose any new prohibitions on carrying out forestry operations. Council LEP’s that currently require consent for logging will no longer apply. PNF plans will be extended from 15 years to 30 years. The bill may be debated as early as next week so a concerted effort is required to stop it. There has already been a strong reaction. Independent MP Alex Greenwich is campaigning on it, and the independent candidate for Vaucluse, Karen Freyer, said “Stopping logging in native forests is one of my top campaign issues.” The ABC reports Catherine Cusack says it is “a broken promise”, and Sean O’Shannessy gets a run for NEFA. Labor have condemned the bill, a North Shore Liberal MP, Felicity Wilson, said we shouldn’t be logging native forests, and even the Environment Minister declined to support it. We are reminded that Leslie Williams, Member for Port Macquarie, left the Nationals for the Liberals over this issue, and Sue Higginson says that many Liberals are uncomfortable with this bill.
Local Government NSW has slammed the State Government’s latest attempts to strip councils of the ability to regulate private logging, as it “undermines the crucial role councils play in the regulation of private forestry operations”. The NSW Local Government conference carried a motion ‘That, Local Government NSW advocates for the ending of logging in NSW Native Forests’.
The Greens, Sue Higginson, introduced a bill to amend forestry laws to stop logging of koala habitat on State forests. Its unlikely to be debated this term. NBN covered Sue’s bill and combined it with WWF’s proposal to transition out of logging public forests. Voices for the Earth considers the writing is on the wall, due to a strong mood for change within the community, to see an end to the logging of public native forests.
Sydney philanthropists Andrew and Jane Clifford bought a 4,000 ha property in the Hunter Valley next to Ghin-Doo-Ee national park that is to be managed for conservation by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. A Hunter developer is touting a 860-hectare property, Mount Malumla, next to Barrington Tops National Park that was purchased as an environmental offset, part of 20,000 hectares of biodiversity land, mainly next to national parks and in environmental corridors, that the company owns, saying the property has 10 koalas and may now be sold to the NSW government under its $193 million koala strategy.
The NSW Government is touting completion of its $30 million program to plant one million new trees by 2022 across Greater Sydney, though they have come under attack from Labor for permitting developers to cut down established trees and clear urban bushland.
Seat-by-seat polling by Climate 200 suggests the NSW Coalition is in danger of losing several electorates to teal independents at the March election, with the primary vote of Environment Minister James Griffin perilously low at 31 per cent, leaving him in considerable risk of losing his seat of Manly on Sydney’s northern beaches.
Australia
VicForests has called on timber contractors to halt harvesting in many areas, primarily because of the need to comply with last Friday’s Supreme Court ruling that more thorough pre-logging surveys are needed to identify the distribution of Greater Glider and Yellow-bellied Glider, they are also complaining that the judge’s preference to retain 3ha around a possum sighting and retain 60 per cent of the trees in the rest of the coupe would make logging of many areas unviable.
Species
The Weekly Times has an article about Friends of the Koala identifying habitat loss as the principal threat, including logging, leading to lost Koalas and disease, emphasizing both their rescue efforts and replanting of corridors and habitat.
The Queensland Government has released its environment report for the $2.1 billion Coomera Connector, a major highway bisecting a Koala colony, which the Coomera Conservation Group considers will mark a "final cut" for koalas living in Gold Coast urban areas, with 68 ha of Koala habitat to be cleared and about 35 koalas out of the 58 identified who may need to be relocated, and two properties (totaling 800ha) purchased as “offsets”.
An 11-year-old boy's campaign to save the habitat of the vulnerable glossy black cockatoo at Sunrise Beach, near Noosa, to make way for a Uniting Church aged care and residential village, has had 65,000 people sign his online petition and was featured on the 7.30 report.
A study found of the 1,889 species of world palms with enough data to investigate, more than half (56%) may be threatened with extinction, primarily because of habitat destruction from agricultural and urban expansion.
The Deteriorating Problem
Over the past 2 decades the intensity of rapid rain bursts in Sydney has increased by 40%, increasing the risk of flash flooding, and overwhelming of stormwater systems.
Why is it that 45 years since climate change became widely known that there has there been so little action in response, some attribute it to the “fossil fuel hegemony”, a coalition of corporate and political actors with interests aligned around carbon-dependent economic growth, that maintain “endless economic growth fuelled by fossil energy is so fundamental and commonsensical it cannot be questioned”.
In the next couple of weeks the human population on earth will reach 8 billion, an exponential increase from 2 billion in 1928 (considered by some to be the earth’s carrying capacity at advanced living standards), a problem that Julian Cribb describes as “the unmentionable – but inescapable – elephant in the room of the human future”.
Turning it Around
A U.N. report says promises by companies, banks and cities to achieve net-zero emissions often amount to little more than greenwashing, their recommendations including that “Non‑state actors cannot claim to be net zero while continuing to build or invest in new fossil fuel supply” and “Non-state actors cannot buy cheap credits that often lack integrity instead of immediately cutting their own emissions across their value chain”. The Environmental Defenders Office filed a complaint to Australia’s consumer watchdog and corporate regulator late last month alleging Shell Australia has misled the public about its plans to achieve net-zero by 2050 on its website and social media, one of many examples, with the Federal Government one of the worst offenders
Australia’s carbon credit system for projects meant to regenerate Australia’s outback forests to store carbon dioxide have been awarded millions of carbon credits, despite new research finding that in many of them forest cover has dramatically declined, resulting in increased emissions..
Dailan Pugh
NEW SOUTH WALES
Time to stop logging:
The Sydney Moring Herald has a lengthy article about the Koala conference, focussing on a trip to Ellis State Forest with Mark Graham as the introduction in which the destruction is writ large, while also focusing on Koala’s decline, the Great Koala National Park, and the Frontier Economic’s report about the costs and benefits of stopping logging of public forests.
This coupe has been logged just days before. But for a handful of giant trees marked with fluorescent pink spray paint to identify them as potential habitat trees to be protected, everything is gone.
The ground is undulating drying soil compacted by the treads of mechanised logging harvesters and skidders. It resembles a construction site before a concrete slab is poured, but for the occasional mounds of leaf litter and forest trash.
There was a time when regulations dictated that trees marked for preservation be protected by five-metre buffer zones, not just to protect the big trees but to maintain an understory around them. That regulation was scrapped in 2018 and Graham shows us the scars where machinery has ripped through the bark at the base of the preserved trees.
The report estimates the phase-out would cost the government about $302 million over 10 years for a support package that would include worker redundancies and retraining, buy-backs of wood supply contracts, and support for diversifying regional economies.
But it would save the government hundreds of millions in payments it makes to sustain the state-owned forestry company, Forestry Corp NSW, the report says. It lists as examples an estimated $180 million in “regular structural adjustment and event-related payments” since 2010, as well as so-called Community Service Obligation payments that the industry must pay to use state-owned resources, estimated at around $160 million over the past decade.
It also notes a recent one-off payment from the government to Forestry Corp of $105 million in the form of “stimulus, equity and dividend relief”.
Logging core Koala habitat:
The infamous “Koala Wars” of 2020 have been resurrected, as the Liberals follow thru on their promise to the Nationals to stop core Koala habitat on private lands being protected from logging. The Perrottet Government introduced the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Private Native Forestry) Bill 2022 that proposes to allow existing logging prohibitions in LEP zones and State Environmental Planning Policies (SEPPs) to stand, though no new LEP or SEPP will be allowed to impose any new prohibitions on carrying out forestry operations. Council LEP’s that currently require consent for logging will no longer apply. PNF plans will be extended from 15 years to 30 years. The bill may be debated as early as next week so a concerted effort is required to stop it. There has already been a strong reaction.
Independent upper house MP Justin Field says the bill reduces regulation on about 689,300 hectares of forestry, concentrated in northern NSW, and undermines claims by moderate Liberals the government is taking the protection of koalas seriously.
"It's crazy for Premier (Dominic) Perrottet and the so-called moderate Liberals to capitulate again to the Nationals on koala protections so close to an election," he said.
https://www.singletonargus.com.au/story/7975739/nsw-govt-logging-bill-crazy-politics-mp/?cs=7
https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/7975739/nsw-govt-logging-bill-crazy-politics-mp/?cs=9397
https://www.cessnockadvertiser.com.au/story/7975739/nsw-govt-logging-bill-crazy-politics-mp/
https://www.thewire.org.au/story/nsw-government-proposes-logging-deregulation/
Independent MP Alex Greenwich is campaigning on it, and the independent candidate for Vaucluse, Karen Freyer, said “Stopping logging in native forests is one of my top campaign issues.”
But the independent MP Alex Greenwich warned that there would be campaigns on the issue in the lead up to the election.
“I have been speaking to independent candidates … and the impact of deforestation and the need to transition to a more plantation-based model will be a major issue,” he said.
The independent candidate for Vaucluse, Karen Freyer, said it was “another example of the Nationals dictating Liberal party policy”.
“I’d also be very concerned if I was a moderate Liberal, questioning if the Liberals are taking protection of koalas seriously,” she told Guardian Australia.
“Stopping logging in native forests is one of my top campaign issues.”
The ABC reports Catherine Cusack says it is “a broken promise”, and Sean O’Shannessy gets a run for NEFA.
[Catherine Cusack] "I consider it dishonourable, a broken promise by them not to do this," she said.
"This is similar to legislation that was introduced in 2020, which I crossed the floor to refer to an inquiry.
"At that time the government completely scrapped the legislation and told us that it would not go down this track and it would not return to parliament with legislation like that again.
Labor have condemned the bill, a North Shore Liberal MP, Felicity Wilson, said we shouldn’t be logging native forests, and even the Environment Minister declined to support it.
On Thursday, Labor told Guardian Australia it would not support the changes, citing ecological concerns and a lack of community consultation.
Asked three times during question time about the bill – and once explicitly if he supported it – Griffin would not answer and instead spruiked the government’s environmental record.
The North Shore Liberal MP, Felicity Wilson, used a private member’s statement on Thursday evening to raise “deep concerns” about the future native forests and wildlife, including koalas.
She said the state should “transition the native forestry industry towards sustainable plantations”.
We are reminded that Leslie Williams, Member for Port Macquarie, left the Nationals for the Liberals over this issue, and that many Liberals are uncomfortable with this bill.
Leslie Williams, Member for Port Macquarie, was forced to leave The Nationals and apply for Liberal Party membership after she decided that the threats from John Barilaro to “blow up” the coalition was a bridge too far.
[Sue Higginson] “The minister has blundered into the trap of assuming that The Nationals will be blindly followed on natural resource policy with the Liberals tripping along in their wake. To his detriment, there are many Liberals members who are genuinely concerned about the ongoing destruction of the environment and koala habitat.
“This legislation is set to be debated next week and the coalition government should be prepared for an internally driven hurricane of dissension as moderate liberals revolt against the shortsighted and destructive ideas of the NSW Nationals.
“Premier Dominic Perrottet should read the writing on the wall and recognise that his Government is walking on a precipice on the verge of the 2023 election, that people want the environment and koalas protected and that refuelling the koala wars may well be a deadly move for koalas and his Government”.
… Local Government not happy:
Local Government NSW has slammed the State Government’s latest attempts to strip councils of the ability to regulate private logging, as it “undermines the crucial role councils play in the regulation of private forestry operations”.
LGNSW President Darriea Turley … “It will have devastating impacts on important native habitats, particularly for koalas and many of the state’s other threatened species.
“In addition, it removes the ability of councils to consider the broader impacts of forestry operations on their communities, such as noise, traffic, amenity and infrastructure impacts.
“This also includes the impact private logging has on a road network that is on the verge of collapse after devastating floods this year.
“Councils need to know where forestry is being approved in relation to other planning approvals to ensure impacts on the community are minimised.
https://www.miragenews.com/state-government-weakening-environment-891841/
… and wants logging stopped:
The NSW Local Government conference carried a motion ‘That, Local Government NSW advocates for the ending of logging in NSW Native Forests’.
This motion was moved by the Mayor of Shoalhaven, Amanda Finley, who reserved her right of reply, after an industry supporter suggested that if we ceased native forest logging, we would be depending on the rainforest timbers of the Pacific and Asia, Dominic King, Bellingen Council, and Greg Clancy, Clarence, both spoke in favour of the motion which was carried.
How about ending logging of Koala habitat:
The Greens, Sue Higginson, introduced a bill to amend forestry laws to stop logging of koala habitat on State forests. Its unlikely to be debated this term.
https://www.triplem.com.au/story/greens-introduce-bill-to-prohibit-logging-in-koala-habitats-208289
NBN covered Sue’s bill and combined it with WWF’s proposal to transition out of logging public forests.
The writing is on the wall:
Voices for the Earth considers the writing is on the wall, due to a strong mood for change within the community, to see an end to the logging of public native forests.
Eurobodalla Shire was the first to request an end to logging in state forests, with a just transition to 100% sustainable plantation forestry, followed earlier this month by the Bellingen Shire Council. Both councils identified logging as being incompatible with the district’s nature-based tourism industry, and the urgent need to combat climate change and protect rapidly declining biodiversity.
Shortly thereafter, the Clarence Valley Council’s Biodiversity Advisory Committee put forward a similar motion for Council’s consideration, adding that logging is incompatible with efforts to improve water quality across the valley, particularly in the region’s drinking water catchment.
https://clarencevalleynews.com.au/voices-for-the-earth-43/
Private conservation:
Sydney philanthropists Andrew and Jane Clifford bought a 4,000 ha property in the Hunter Valley next to Ghin-Doo-Ee national park that is to be managed for conservation by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy.
… selling offsets:
A Hunter developer is touting a 860-hectare property, Mount Malumla, next to Barrington Tops National Park that was purchased as an environmental offset, part of 20,000 hectares of biodiversity land, mainly next to national parks and in environmental corridors, that the company owns, saying the property has 10 koalas and may now be sold to the NSW government under its $193 million koala strategy.
The site could be sold to the NSW government under its $193 million koala strategy, which aims to protect 22,000 hectares of koala habitat.
Biodiversity Land's portfolio has so far provided environmental offsets for projects including Bengalla mine, Integra Coal, PWC T4 terminal, Huntlee and various other residential land developments in the Hunter.
Million planted while mature trees cut down:
The NSW Government is touting completion of its $30 million program to plant one million new trees by 2022 across Greater Sydney, though they have come under attack from Labor for permitting developers to cut down established trees and clear urban bushland.
Labor’s environment spokeswoman Penny Sharpe … “After 12 years, the government’s approach has been to allow the chopping down of established trees and clearing of urban bushland rather than finding ways to genuinely try to maintain what is already there,” .
Sydney researchers have warned more than 90 per cent of tree species in Australia’s two biggest cities are at risk from climate change.
Blues in danger from teals:
Seat-by-seat polling by Climate 200 suggests the NSW Coalition is in danger of losing several electorates to teal independents at the March election, with the primary vote of Environment Minister James Griffin perilously low at 31 per cent, leaving him in considerable risk of losing his seat of Manly on Sydney’s northern beaches.
AUSTRALIA
Victorian logging grinds to a halt:
VicForests has called on timber contractors to halt harvesting in many areas, primarily because of the need to comply with last Friday’s Supreme Court ruling that more thorough pre-logging surveys are needed to identify the distribution of Greater Glider and Yellow-bellied Glider, they are also complaining that the judge’s preference to retain 3ha around a possum sighting and retain 60 per cent of the trees in the rest of the coupe would make logging of many areas unviable.
MWM Logging operator Andy Westaway said most coupes would no longer be viable if only 40 per cent of trees could be cut.
East Gippsland harvest and haulage contractor Rob Brunt said the ruling marked “the end of the industry”.
“It will make most coupes impossible to harvest,” Mr Brunt said.
As for resurveying Mr Brunt said “by the time VicForests gets them done I won’t have a business left. It’s just not workable.”
Central Highlands harvest and haulage contractor Brett Robin said “we may as well pack up and go home”.
SPECIES
Koala losing habitat:
The Weekly Times has an article about Friends of the Koala identifying habitat loss as the principal threat, including logging, leading to lost Koalas and disease, emphasising both their rescue efforts and replanting of corridors and habitat.
Nearly all rescues are because of habitat destruction.
Friends of the Koala veterinarian Jodie Wakeman said property development, fires and floods had left the Northern Rivers koalas with nowhere to go – forcing them into suburban areas where it was more likely cars would hit them or dogs could attack.
The disruption to koala colonies because of a lack of habitat has also aggravated the diseases koalas in the region are suffering.
“Since the nursery started in 1990, we have distributed 336,500 koala food trees and approximately 600,000 various trees, shrubs, ground covers and grasses,” nursery manager Mark Wilson said.
Friends of the Koala president Aliison Kelly … “We need to strengthen our laws around habitat removal. We need to seriously look at the native forest logging,”.
Coomera disconnect:
The Queensland Government has released its environment report for the $2.1 billion Coomera Connector, a major highway bisecting a Koala colony, which the Coomera Conservation Group considers will mark a "final cut" for koalas living in Gold Coast urban areas, with 68 ha of Koala habitat to be cleared and about 35 koalas out of the 58 identified who may need to be relocated, and two properties (totalling 800ha) purchased as “offsets”.
Putting the gloss on glossies:
An 11-year-old boy's campaign to save the habitat of the vulnerable glossy black cockatoo at Sunrise Beach, near Noosa, to make way for a Uniting Church aged care and residential village, has had 65,000 people sign his online petition and was featured on the 7.30 report.
Palms declining:
A study found of the 1,889 species of world palms with enough data to investigate, more than half (56%) may be threatened with extinction, primarily because of habitat destruction from agricultural and urban expansion.
THE DETERIORATING PROBLEM
Rain bursts intensifying:
Over the past 2 decades the intensity of rapid rain bursts in Sydney has increased by 40%, increasing the risk of flash flooding, and overwhelming of stormwater systems.
Our research has found an alarming increase of at least 40% in the rate at which rain falls in the most intense rapid rain bursts in Sydney over the past two decades. This rapid increase in peak rainfall intensity has never been reported elsewhere, but may be happening in other parts of the world.
Our findings, published today in Science, have major implications for the city’s preparedness for flash flooding. More intense downpours are likely to overwhelm stormwater systems that were designed for past conditions.
It’s concerning because flood control infrastructure has been designed according to rainfall observed years ago. This change in rain bursts hasn’t been considered properly in design standards for structures such as drains, channels, detention basins and coastal flood defences.
It’s the fossil fuel hegemony:
Why is it that 45 years since climate change became widely known that there has there been so little action in response, some attribute it to the “fossil fuel hegemony”, a coalition of corporate and political actors with interests aligned around carbon-dependent economic growth, that maintain “endless economic growth fuelled by fossil energy is so fundamental and commonsensical it cannot be questioned”.
As social scientists, this is both horrifying and fascinating to observe. How is it that a technologically advanced society could choose to destroy itself by failing to act to avert a climate catastrophe?
The answer, we argue, rests on a prevailing assumption organised by corporate and political elites: that endless economic growth fuelled by fossil energy is so fundamental and commonsensical it cannot be questioned.
We term this all-consuming ideology the “fossil fuel hegemony”. It asserts that corporate capitalism based on fossil energy is a natural state of being, one that’s beyond challenge.
For instance, a range of recent studies have explored the “fossil fuel hegemony” in countries such as Australia, Canada and the US. These studies argue such hegemony comprises a coalition of corporate and political actors with interests aligned around carbon-dependent economic growth. This leads to limited progress on legislation to reduce carbon emissions.
The hegemony has also extended to corporate-political activity seeding doubt about climate science, lobbying against emissions reduction and renewable energy, and the capture of political parties by interests aligned with fossil fuels.
It’s the exploding population bomb:
In the next couple of weeks the human population on earth will reach 8 billion, an exponential increase from 2 billion in 1928 (considered by some to be the earth’s carrying capacity at advanced living standards), a problem that Julian Cribb describes as “the unmentionable – but inescapable – elephant in the room of the human future”.
The proof of this is all around us, in our faces and on the news, every single day: wild floods, heat waves, fierce droughts, raging wildfires, dust storms sweeping topsoil off our farms, dying rivers and lakes, melting glaciers, staggering losses of birds, animals, fish, insects and other life, shrinking forests and spreading deserts, polluted water, oceans, food and air, declining oxygen levels, hunger and starvation, the spread of formerly unknown diseases, the mass migration of 350 million people a year, the uncontrolled rise of dangerous new technologies, and the insidious worldwide spread of misinformation and delusion about it all.
Those who advocate a larger population, for either the planet or country, are calling for disaster. Whether they admit it or not, in the same breath they are advocating:
– Rising scarcity of resources such as water, soil, timber, fish and certain minerals, leading to a greater risk of war.
– Accelerated climate change
– Worse pollution, environmental degradation and extinction of species,
– Higher food prices for all; greater risk of famines.
– More child deaths and greater human suffering.
– Increased risk of pandemic diseases; poorer levels of population health.
– An increase in mass population movements, potentially reaching 1 billion a year.
– Increased risk of megacity collapse and government failure.
– Increased risk of worldwide economic and civilisational collapse
– Housing, food and other basic goods that are unaffordable to the young or the poor.
https://johnmenadue.com/8-billionth-human-has-the-population-bomb-exploded/
TURNING IT AROUND
Greenwashing spin:
A U.N. report says promises by companies, banks and cities to achieve net-zero emissions often amount to little more than greenwashing, their recommendations including that “Non‑state actors cannot claim to be net zero while continuing to build or invest in new fossil fuel supply” and “Non-state actors cannot buy cheap credits that often
lack integrity instead of immediately cutting their own emissions across their value chain”.
https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/high-level_expert_group_n7b.pdf
… Australia leading the pack:
The Environmental Defenders Office filed a complaint to Australia’s consumer watchdog and corporate regulator late last month alleging Shell Australia has misled the public about its plans to achieve net-zero by 2050 on its website and social media, one of many examples, with the Federal Government one of the worst offenders.
Senior researcher with the institute Polly Hemming says the federal government’s own record with greenwashing is poor.
“In real terms emissions from fossil fuels in Australia really haven’t declined and we have a pipeline of over 100 new gas and coal projects in development,” she said. “And greenwash is enabled by the fact that we have no credible regulatory framework that requires the private sector to comprehensively report or reduce emissions in Australia. The private sector is technically not breaking any rules when it makes claims that you or I might find misleading because there are none.”
Australia’s carbon credit system for projects meant to regenerate Australia’s outback forests to store carbon dioxide have been awarded millions of carbon credits, despite new research finding that in many of them forest cover has dramatically declined, resulting in increased emissions.
The analysis by six academics, including the former carbon credit scheme integrity chair Prof Andrew Macintosh, has been presented to a review of the system commissioned by the climate change minister, Chris Bowen.
The team examined 169 projects that together received about 24m credits between 2015 and 2021. They said 92 projects in NSW received 13.6m carbon credits, but the combined area of forest and sparse woody vegetation cover in the affected areas was more than 10,000 hectares less than when the projects were first registered. In Queensland, they said, 73 projects were found to have received 9.9m carbon credits while forest cover went backwards by more than 50,000 hectares.
Forest Media 4 November 2022
New South Wales
The Vanishing Koala conference was a success, with some interesting scientific and community and organisation presentations, and good food provided by the legendary Trees not Bombs crew. The ALP were a bit underwhelming with Penny Sharpe saying they are yet to develop a Koala plan, though they will reinstate a national parks establishment plan, and within that the top priority is the Great Koala National Park. WWF launched a costing for ending logging of public native forests. The Gumbaynggirr Good Koala Country Plan received a lot of media attention with the emphasis “it is not just about koala conservation. It is about making sure our culture lives on.", though its not yet available.
The Koala Conference Organising Committee, including Catherine Cusack, WWF, The Nature Conservation Council, the NSW National Parks Association and North East Forest Alliance, will this week send a statement to all MPs outlining a suite of policy asks, including an immediate stop to logging in koala habitat, a plan to create the Great Koala National Park and stronger rules and more funding to protect koala habitat on private land. The day before the conference open letter signed by 65 Coffs Coast businesses in support of the proposal for creating The Great Koala National Park (GKNP) was presented to Catherine Cusack. The Koala Family Picnic in the North Coast Regional Botanic Garden following the conference saw people gather to hear more about how koalas and show their support for the Great Koala National Park.
A Frontier Economics report prepared for WWF and released at The Vanishing Koala conference, identifies that ending logging NSW’s public native forests would cost $302 million for a generous government-funded structural adjustment package, including for the 1,000 affected workers, with this cost greatly outweighed by a range of positive economic and environmental benefits.
The Uniting Church’s Forest Advocacy Ministry story from some time ago had another run, with its goals to achieve a rapid end to industrial native forest logging in NSW, increase the involvement of Christians in efforts for forest protection, and to acknowledge, encourage and support spiritual connection with Earth.
Evacuation orders are being issued for hundreds of residents in Gunnedah, Wagga Wagga and Forbes in New South Wales as river levels rise once again, with some experiencing their fourth flood peak in two months, dams are releasing water, though similar flood peaks were experienced 10-20 years ago, with Forbes anticipating flood levels not seen in 70 years. A one-in-twenty year polar blast of freezing air from Antarctica brought cold weather to south-east Australia and snowfalls to the Alps.
Australia
The Conversation has an article highlighting that this year is the 40th anniversary of the direct-action campaign to stop the building of Tasmania’s Franklin River dam, highlighting the draconian anti-protest laws that have recently been enacted around Australia, and the threat they pose to people’s democratic rights to protest as more groups are forced into abandoning direct action.
A study done for the Victorian Forest Alliance found native forest logging in Victoria emits at least three million tonnes of carbon emissions each year, equivalent to 700,000 medium-sized cars, with up to 14 million tonnes of carbon emissions preventable if the logging of native forests were to end immediately instead of in 2030. If protected, Victoria’s forests could absorb around 90 million tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere by 2050 - this is equivalent to $3.1 billion in carbon sequestration services.
Justice Melinda Richards of Victoria’s supreme court has ordered VicForests to carry out full surveys of areas for greater gliders and yellow-bellied gliders before logging, and to include buffers around habitats, after finding that logging presented “a threat of serious and irreversible harm to both the greater glider and the yellow-bellied glider as a species”. Victorian timber processors may lose more wood supply after the state government announced a halving of the native timber supplied by VicForests by 2024 under the Victorian Forestry Plan.
In Tasmania people go hunting for giant trees, last year finding a 500 year old 80m tall Blue Gum, named Lathamus Keep, the biggest left of its kind, precariously situated in a logging coupe that has about 150 trees with diameters over 4 metres, leading to its being labelled the Grove of Giants, as part of a campaign to save the grove, Lathamus Keep has now been photographed in its entirety, top to toe. An awesome tree.
The Newcastle Herald has an article about Aboriginal communities being disproportionally affected by natural disasters, arguing First Nations knowledge could have blunted the force of the 2019-20 wildfires by burning Country at the right time and frequently, with Firesticks Alliance expanding rapidly in the past three years.
Species
As a harbinger of more major fish kills in the Murray-Darling, hundreds of Murray crayfish are abandoning the toxic water in the southern Riverina as levels of dissolved oxygen in floodwaters plummet due to the rapid breakdown of submerged organic matter (particularly pasture) sucking oxygen out of the water, creating hypoxic blackwater. At least 540 native fish have been relocated from flood-affected waters in central and northern Victoria, by community members and ecologists. Not long ago fish were dying due to too little water, now its because of too much in the compromised system. Though anglers are champing at the bit to get back to fishing.
At the Australian Geographic Society Awards, President of Bangalow Koalas Linda Sparrow was awarded Conservationist of the Year for the group’s creating a wildlife corridor by planting 215,160 trees on 63 properties across four shires in northern NSW, with a goal to increase this to 500,000 trees. Sutherland Shire Council will urge Sydney Water to reconsider its proposed plans for a housing subdivision on a wildlife corridor at Woronora Heights "to preserve wildlife and koala habitat that passes through the proposed subdivision".
The new phase of the National Koala Monitoring Program has seen CSIRO allocated $10million over 4 years to deliver a robust estimate of the national koala population, by collecting koala sightings “using consistent methods across the country and build survey know-how with citizen scientists”. It kicked off in the Northern Murray Darling catchment, Queensland earlier this month.
The Newcastle Herald has a wide ranging story about our extinction crisis, focussing on platypuses range shrinking by at least 22 per cent over 30 years (with an additional 14 to 18 per cent decline in areas affected by the 2019/20 fires), issues such as the extinction lag time as declines are masked by long lived species and the loss of tree-hollows, though primarily blaming hundreds of thousands of hectares of land that is cleared every year, mostly in Queensland and NSW, now being compounded by climate heating.
Australian Museum is holding its 2022 FrogID Week from 11 – 20 November and is calling for citizen scientists to take part in Australia’s biggest frog count, inviting people to download the free app and register now.
The debate about shooting feral animals continues, with some considering "It's barbaric. It's the most horrific thing" and others maintaining claiming "We need to do something to get rid of all of these introduced species”.
Turning it Around
Officials from nearly 200 nations are gathering in Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt, for the 27th United Nations climate change conference (COP27) which will go on for two weeks of what has been described as blah blah. Here we go again, COP 27 is starting amidst low expectations, CO2 emissions continue to rise as oil and gas companies make obscene profits, doubling to an unprecedented US$4 trillion, meanwhile record heatwaves and floods ravish countries and communities, as reefs and kids succumb to rising temperatures in increasing numbers, and tipping points threaten to cruel our chances of turning it around. Australia remains a laggard and Anthony Albanese will be missing in action.
The University of Melbourne Land Gap Report has calculated for countries to meet their Paris Agreement pledges they would collectively need 633 million hectares of tree plantings and 551 million hectares to restore degraded lands and primary forests, concluding taking up so much land to plant more trees is unrealistic and would swallow land desperately needed for food production and ecology, while also being used as a distraction from the urgent need to reduce emissions. They identify that primary forests are an order of magnitude more effective than plantations for storing carbon, making them the best option for slowing global climate change.
In his book Elderflora historian Jared Farmer chronicles the complex roles ancient trees have played in the modern world, in an article in the New York Times he laments the loss of the world’s ancient trees, those thousands of years old, as they succumb to droughts, their attendant wildfires, and the increased attacks of insects and diseases on the weakened trees, stating “This is a great diminution: fewer megaflora (massive trees), fewer elderflora (ancient trees), fewer old-growth forests, fewer ancient species, fewer species overall”.
Dailan Pugh
NEW SOUTH WALES
The Vanishing is over:
The Vanishing Koala conference was a success, with some interesting scientific and community and organisation presentations, and good food provided by the legendary Trees not Bombs crew. The ALP were a bit underwhelming with Penny Sharpe saying they are yet to develop a Koala plan, though they will reinstate a national parks establishment plan, and within that the top priority is the Great Koala National Park. WWF launched a costing for ending logging of public native forests. The Gumbaynggirr Good Koala Country Plan received a lot of media attention with the emphasis “it is not just about koala conservation. It is about making sure our culture lives on.", though its not yet available.
https://www.nbnnews.com.au/2022/10/30/nsw-koala-conference-wraps-up-in-coffs-harbour/
[Steve Philips] "The greater part of the [koala] populations are on this slippery slope to extinction and that is what we should be focusing on," Dr Phillips said.
"I hope this doesn't sound cynical — I get sick to death of hearing people blathering on about what's wrong … while nothing is happening to reverse [it]."
Ms Cusack said she would like the state government to stop funding and subsidising the timber industry as well as stronger protection for native forestry.
"This election is really seen as the last chance to make those policy improvements," she said.
World Wildlife Fund Australia's Stuart Blanch, one of the speakers, said the state's rhetoric on increasing the number of koalas needed to match actions by curbing logging of native habitat.
"NSW is at a crossroads in working out what it does with forests, what it does with koalas and other forest wildlife and ...what we do with cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/7961386/nsw-koalas-could-vanish-by-2050-advocates/
[Catherine Cusack] "We need convincing new policies that prohibit the destruction of forests and trees that koalas are relying on to survive. We are at the brink.
"This is a choice - voters need to understand the looming koala extinction is preventable. That choice will be made by voters next March," she said.
She said a simple answer is a "ban on logging trees in which koalas live".
If koalas aren't saved in NSW, she said it will be "a taxpayer-funded extinction event".
She said logging of koala habitat on public and private land is "taxpayer subsidised" and koala habitat was being destroyed for "cringeworthy reasons".
Ms Faehrmann said that the government's goal to double koala numbers by 2050 was "a hollow promise for a headline".
"It's just greenwashing because they're not doing anything to protect koala habitat - it's still being logged and bulldozed every day.
Port Stephens MP Kate Washington said the situation for the koala is dire.
"The coming election presents an important chance for change. If elected, a Labor government will act as quickly as possible to protect koala habitat."
https://www.portnews.com.au/story/7961999/nsw-election-looms-as-last-chance-for-our-koalas/
https://www.sconeadvocate.com.au/story/7961999/nsw-election-looms-as-last-chance-for-our-koalas/
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7961358/nsw-koalas-could-be-extinct-by-2050/
… Koala asks:
The Koala Conference Organising Committee, including Catherine Cusack, WWF, The Nature Conservation Council, the NSW National Parks Association and North East Forest Alliance, will this week send a statement to all MPs outlining a suite of policy asks, including an immediate stop to logging in koala habitat, a plan to create the Great Koala National Park and stronger rules and more funding to protect koala habitat on private land.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/just-do-it-campaign-for-great-koala-national-park-gathers-pace
…. Koala tourism:
The day before the conference open letter signed by 65 Coffs Coast businesses in support of the proposal for creating The Great Koala National Park (GKNP) was presented to Catherine Cusack.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/businesses-support-the-great-koala-national-park
… a Koala picnic:
The Koala Family Picnic in the North Coast Regional Botanic Garden following the conference saw people gather to hear more about how koalas and show their support for the Great Koala National Park.
Making Money by Stopping Logging
A Frontier Economics report prepared for WWF and released at The Vanishing Koala conference, identifies that ending logging NSW’s public native forests would cost $302 million for a generous government-funded structural adjustment package, including for the 1,000 affected workers, with this cost greatly outweighed by a range of positive economic and environmental benefits.
‘The report makes it clear that we would be far better off economically if we stopped logging public forests,’ explained North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) spokesperson Dailan Pugh.
‘By stopping logging of public native forests we can re-direct the immense public subsidies into assisting affected workers and communities transition, while realising real economic and environmental benefits from avoiding CO2 emissions, increasing carbon storage, increasing tourism, increasing water yields and restoring habitats of threatened species, such as the koala,’ said Mr Pugh.
NEFA are calling for a commitment from the NSW Government to ‘immediately commit to a truly independent cost-benefit assessment of the logging of public native forests, with the principal aim of building on the work of Frontier Economics in developing a fair and equitable structural adjustment package for affected workers and communities.
‘If they continue to refuse to, we call upon the NSW Labor Party to commit to immediately undertaking such a review should they win government at the next election.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/11/call-for-support-to-transition-1000-jobs-in-nsw-logging-industry/
Frontier Economic’s report ‘Transition support for the NSW native forest sector’
For god’s sake:
The Uniting Church’s Forest Advocacy Ministry story from some time ago had another run, with its goals to achieve a rapid end to industrial native forest logging in NSW, increase the involvement of Christians in efforts for forest protection, and to acknowledge, encourage and support spiritual connection with Earth.
Flood not of biblical proportions:
Evacuation orders are being issued for hundreds of residents in Gunnedah, Wagga Wagga and Forbes in New South Wales as river levels rise once again, with some experiencing their fourth flood peak in two months, dams are releasing water, though most flood peaks were experienced decades ago, with Forbes anticipating flood levels not seen in 70 years. A one-in-twenty year polar blast of freezing air from Antarctica brought cold weather and snowfalls to the Alps.
AUSTRALIA
Authoritarian suppression of Direct Action:
The Conversation has an article highlighting that this year is the 40th anniversary of the direct-action campaign to stop the building of Tasmania’s Franklin River dam, highlighting the draconian anti-protest laws that have recently been enacted around Australia, and the threat they pose to people’s democratic rights to protest as more groups are forced into abandoning direct action.
Those events are now being recounted in the documentary Franklin, screening throughout the country.
A citizen trying to emulate the Franklin dam protesters today would likely pay a very high price. This silencing of dissent means an important tool for environmental advocacy is closed – and both nature and democracy will suffer.
NSW’s harsh approach prompted Amnesty International to launch a petition urging the state government to respect citizens’ right to protest.
Franklin celebrates the role of non-violent direct action as a tool for social change. It tells of a people exercising their rights and coming together to fight for environmental justice. Let’s hope those kinds of stories are not consigned to history.
Victorian logging emits 3 million tonnes of carbon each year:
A study done for the Victorian Forest Alliance found native forest logging in Victoria emits at least three million tonnes of carbon emissions each year, equivalent to 700,000 medium-sized cars, with up to 14 million tonnes of carbon emissions preventable if the logging of native forests were to end immediately instead of in 2030. If protected, Victoria’s forests could absorb around 90 million tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere by 2050 - this is equivalent to $3.1 billion in carbon sequestration services.
During logging, an estimated two-thirds of a forest's carbon is released within a few years while the remainder can take up to 50 years to be released.
About 60 per cent of the total biomass is left on the ground to be burnt as post-logging waste. From the 40 per cent that is sent away, most is woodchipped to make cardboard and packaging products that usually end up in landfill.
https://www.theleader.com.au/story/7968066/victoria-logging-emits-3m-tonnes-of-carbon/?cs=2265
https://www.northerndailyleader.com.au/story/7968066/victoria-logging-emits-3m-tonnes-of-carbon/
… logging a serious and irreversible harm:
Justice Melinda Richards of Victoria’s supreme court has ordered VicForests to carry out full surveys of areas for greater gliders and yellow-bellied gliders before logging, and to include buffers around habitats, after finding that logging presented “a threat of serious and irreversible harm to both the greater glider and the yellow-bellied glider as a species”.
Two conservation groups – Environment East Gippsland and Kinglake Friends of the Forest – brought cases against the state logger that were heard together. The court ordered VicForests should pay the court costs of the groups.
In the judgment, Richards said VicForests had not been applying a precautionary principle to conserving the gliders when planning and conducting logging.
She told the court VicForests logging in East Gippsland and Central Highlands presented “a threat of serious and irreversible harm to both the greater glider and the yellow-bellied glider as a species”.
The actions the logger did take to protect gliders that had been detected in logging coupes “are inadequate and in many cases unlikely to be effective”
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7969823/logging-agency-failing-to-protect-possums/
... cutbacks happening too fast for some:
Victorian timber processors may lose more wood supply after the state government announced a halving of the native timber supplied by VicForests by 2024 under the Victorian Forestry Plan.
Currently, VicForests is supplying 253,000 cubic metres of D+ saw logs per annum until 2023-24. According to the plan, this will reduce to 185,000m3 in 2024-25 and to 140,000m3 from 2025-26 until 2029-30, when all harvesting will cease.
https://arr.news/2022/11/04/industry-confidence-undermined-vfpa/
Big tree hunters:
In Tasmania people go hunting for giant trees, last year finding a 500 year old 80m tall Blue Gum, named Lathamus Keep, the biggest left of its kind, precariously situated in a logging coupe that has about 150 trees with diameters over 4 metres, leading to its being labelled the Grove of Giants, as part of a campaign to save the grove, Lathamus Keep has now been photographed in its entirety, top to toe. An awesome tree.
More burning needed to stop burning:
The Newcastle Herald has an article about Aboriginal communities being disproportionally affected by natural disasters, arguing First Nations knowledge could have blunted the force of the 2019-20 wildfires by burning Country at the right time and frequently, with Firesticks Alliance expanded rapidly in the past three years.
SPECIES
Fish drowning:
As a harbinger of more major fish kills in the Murray-Darling, hundreds of Murray crayfish are abandoning the toxic water in the southern Riverina as levels of dissolved oxygen in floodwaters plummet due to the rapid breakdown of submerged organic matter (particularly pasture) sucking oxygen out of the water, creating hypoxic blackwater. At least 540 native fish have been relocated from flood-affected waters in central and northern Victoria, by community members and ecologists. Not long ago fish were dying due to too little water, now its because of too much in the compromised system. Though anglers are champing at the bit to get back to fishing.
Linking Koalas:
At the Australian Geographic Society Awards, President of Bangalow Koalas Linda Sparrow was awarded Conservationist of the Year for the group’s creating a wildlife corridor by planting 215,160 trees on 63 properties across four shires in northern NSW, with a goal to increase this to 500,000 trees.
https://awol.com.au/australias-top-adventurers-conservationists/96898
Sutherland Shire Council will urge Sydney Water to reconsider its proposed plans for a housing subdivision on a wildlife corridor at Woronora Heights "to preserve wildlife and koala habitat that passes through the proposed subdivision".
https://www.theleader.com.au/story/7964009/councils-koalas-appeal/
Robust Koala numbers?:
The new phase of the National Koala Monitoring Program has seen CSIRO allocated $10million over 4 years to deliver a robust estimate of the national koala population, by collecting koala sightings “using consistent methods across the country and build survey know-how with citizen scientists”. It kicked off in the Northern Murray Darling catchment, Queensland earlier this month.
https://www.nationaltribune.com.au/csiro-announces-new-phase-of-national-koala-monitoring-program/
Clearing platypuses away:
The Newcastle Herald has a wide ranging story about our extinction crisis, focussing on platypuses range shrinking by at least 22 per cent over 30 years (with an additional 14 to 18 per cent decline in areas affected by the 2019/20 fires), issues such as the extinction lag time as declines are masked by long lived species and the loss of tree-hollows, though primarily blaming hundreds of thousands of hectares of land is cleared every year, mostly in Queensland and NSW, now being compounded by climate heating.
Landcare Tasmania chief executive Peter Stronach … "We're currently in what's known as an extinction lag period,"
Mr Stronach said past clearing and logging practices may yet come back to bite our wildlife.
"Insufficient tree hollows - again from past activities and continuing today through logging - the removal of paddock trees for [irrigation] pivots and other agricultural changes, pest species such as galahs and rainbow lorikeets, and the long time it takes to create hollows in a forest all contribute to the imbalance of biodiversity," he said.
FrogID week:
Australian Museum is holding its 2022 FrogID Week from 11 – 20 November and is calling for citizen scientists to take part in Australia’s biggest frog count, inviting people to download the free app and register now.
Our frogs are under threat from habitat loss, disease and climate change. Recording frog calls with the FrogID app will help provide our scientists with valuable data for the protection and conservation of frogs.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/coffs-coast-news-of-the-area-4-november-2022
To shoot or not to shoot:
The debate about shooting feral animals continues, with some considering "It's barbaric. It's the most horrific thing" and others maintaining claiming "We need to do something to get rid of all of these introduced species”.
TURNING IT AROUND
Copping blah blah:
Officials from nearly 200 nations are gathering in Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt, for the 27th United Nations climate change conference (COP27) which will go on for two weeks of what has been described as blah blah. Here we go again, COP 27 is starting amidst low expectations, CO2 emissions continue to rise as oil and gas companies make obscene profits, doubling to an unprecedented US$4 trillion, meanwhile record heatwaves and floods ravish countries and communities, as reefs and kids succumb to rising temperatures in increasing numbers, and tipping points threaten to cruel our chances of turning it around. Australia remains a laggard and Anthony Albanese will be missing in action.
Only concerted efforts from all nations will avoid destroying our most sensitive ecosystems, such as coral reefs. We should be doing everything we can to stop this by transitioning away from fossil fuels. Any new fossil fuel development is just making the problem worse and will cost humanity and the environment far more in future.
And yet, the International Energy Agency last week projected that the net income for oil and gas producers will double in 2022 “to an unprecedented US$4 trillion”, a $2 trillion windfall.
A report released today by the Climate Council shows the world is in the grip of a deepening climate crisis. Without more ambitious emission cuts this decade, we are headed for a full-blown catastrophe.
However, Australia’s new 2030 target – to cut emissions by 43% from 2005 levels – is still one of the weakest in the developed world. And dozens of major fossil fuel projects remain in the pipeline.
Australia recorded its equal-hottest day on record and its costliest flood disaster.
China endured its most intense heatwave. In Pakistan, extreme floods affected more than 30 million people and killed thousands.
Europe’s hottest summer on record smashed the record from just last year. The continent also suffered one of its worst ever droughts. UK temperatures topped 40℃ for the first time.
The western United States also recorded its worst heatwave.
In South Africa, record rainfall led to hundreds of deaths. Drought in East Africa has left millions at risk of starvation.
https://theconversation.com/this-is-what-australia-needs-to-bring-to-egypt-for-cop27-193531?utm_
Keeping what is left preferable to making new ones:
The University of Melbourne Land Gap Report has calculated for countries to meet their Paris Agreement pledges they would collectively need 633 million hectares of tree plantings and 551 million hectares to restore degraded lands and primary forests, concluding taking up so much land to plant more trees is unrealistic and would swallow land desperately needed for food production and ecology, while also being used as a distraction from the urgent need to reduce emissions. They identify that primary forests are an order of magnitude more effective than plantations for storing carbon, making them the best option for slowing global climate change.
Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) or carbon drawdown is the process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Australia's former chief scientist Ian Chubb said the main way that could be achieved right now was through photosynthesis.
"The only mechanism that we know now that we can implement at scale that has the capacity to draw CO2 out of the atmosphere is photosynthesis," Professor Chubb said.
"And that means that we need more capacity, more plants available, and we need to stop cutting down plants, trees, vegetation."
“Land has a critical role to play in global efforts to keep the planet cool, but it's not a silver bullet solution,” said Kate Dooley, the lead author of The Land Gap Report and a researcher at the University of Melbourne. “This study reveals that countries’ climate pledges are dangerously over reliant on inequitable and unsustainable land-based measures to capture and store carbon. Clearly, countries are loading up on land pledges to avoid the hard work of steeply reducing emissions from fossil fuels, decarbonizing food systems and stopping the destruction of forests and other ecosystems.”
“Faced with a global land squeeze, we must think carefully about how we use each and every plot of land,” said Dooley. “Yet countries treat land like a limitless resource in their climate plans.Using a land area equivalent to half of current global croplands for tree planting simply won’t work, particularly when the evidence in front of us shows the fragility of tree planting to worsening climate impacts like fires and droughts.”
The report lays out how countries – as well as companies seeking to deliver on zero-carbon pledges – could reorient their climate plans towards these three goals.
- Focus on protecting and restoring forests. Forests already remove a third of the carbon emissions added to the atmosphere each year. Protecting standing forests should be the first priority. The study outlines the actions countries can take to achieve this, which include, among other measures, safeguarding all primary forests and including the full cost of logging in the price of wood.
“There are no shortcuts. We can’t continue cutting down standing forests if we hope to keep the planet cool. Primary forests are an order of magnitude more effective than plantations for storing carbon, making them the best option for slowing global climate change. Furthermore, protecting and restoring forests is essential for solving the overlapping biodiversity, climate change, social justice and zoonotic disease crises,” said Heather Keith, a report co-author and professor at Radford University.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/969176
Elderflora:
In his book Elderflora historian Jared Farmer chronicles the complex roles ancient trees have played in the modern world, in an article in the New York Times he laments the loss of the world’s ancient trees, those thousands of years old, as they succumb to droughts, their attendant wildfires, and the increased attacks of insects and diseases on the weakened trees, stating “This is a great diminution: fewer megaflora (massive trees), fewer elderflora (ancient trees), fewer old-growth forests, fewer ancient species, fewer species overall”.
Ancient trees provide services too, but really, they are gift givers. Of all their gifts, the greatest are temporal and ethical. They inspire long-term thinking and encourage us to be sapient. They engage our deepest faculties: to revere, analyze and meditate. If we can recognize how they call upon our ethical imperative to care for them, then we should slow down climate change now, and pay forward to people who will need a future planet with chronodiversity as well as biodiversity.
… some organizations and corporations scrambling to offset their emissions have single-mindedly pursued tree planting. But these initiatives have a spotty record. Protecting existing old-growth should take priority over generating new tree cover.
Among plants, there are ephemerals, annuals, biennials, perennials — and beyond them all a category I call “perdurables.” Perdurance is resilience over time. Humans can recultivate this attribute by caring for old trees and the old-to-be. Sustaining long-term relationships with long-lived plants is a rejection of The End, an affirmation that there will be — must be — tomorrow. That is a gift.
Forest Media 28 October 2022
New South Wales
The Sydney Morning Herald has republished a 1982 article on reactions to the Rainforest Decision, with the conservation movement saying “the Government is to be congratulated” and the loggers and the trade-union movement saying “it could place in jeopardy the jobs of many people in the limber industry.”
The Glenn Innes Examiner has another strong editorial calling for an end to native forest logging, highlighting the Forestry Corporation’s illegalities and costs, and growing community opposition, that the National Party ignore.
An Aboriginal Place Management Plan has been prepared to document Wollumbin's significant cultural heritage values and articulate the aspirations of Aboriginal communities about the long-term management of the site, documenting the decision of the Wollumbin Consultative Group that the walk to the top of Wollumbin (Mount Warning) “is not culturally appropriate or culturally safe” and should be immediately closed. NSW Environment Minister Mr Griffin supports the closure, emphasising a series of alternative walks are proposed, but not yet constructed: 38km Tweed Byron Hinterland Trail, 7.2 km Caldera Rim Walk, and 2.5km Mount Chowan Link. The master plan for the Tweed Byron Hinterland Trail is currently on exhibition and open for submissions. The Australian has an article attacking the decision of the Wollumbin Consultative Group to close the summit track, leading to claims by a purported “Indigenous leader and Wollumbin local” to question the consultative committee and local tourist operators to complain about the lack of access to national parks. Quadrant Magazine has an article by long-term campaigner against closure of Aboriginal sites.
As climate heating gains momentum, monthly and yearly rainfall records continue to be broken across NSW, with Sydney’s annual record already surpassed with months to go, and low-lying communities suffering from flood fatigue. There was chaos across south-east Australia, with multiple communities being evacuated, some on multiple occasions. Major flood levels in the twin-towns of Echuca and Moama on the Victoria-New South Wales border exceeded the 1993 record of 94.77 metres above sea level. The ABC has an informative article about the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), driven by the contraction and expansion of a band of high-altitude westerly winds surrounding Antarctica, such that when they contract closer to Antarctica in spring they drive an increased chance of rain across south-eastern Australia, called a positive SAM, which is also happening this year as the 3rd major contributor to our floods.
NSW Transport Minister David Elliott has announced he will quit state politics at the next election rather than contest a factional preselection battle with the NSW right, with NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard quickly following, bringing to 12 the number of coalition MPs jumping ship. Independent Vaucluse candidate Karen Freyer said environmental issues, including halting new fossil fuel projects in NSW, were a top concern, her policies including to end logging on publicly-owned land.
The state government is ramming through an ‘agritourism’ policy which effectively removes restrictions on tourism development on rural lands, with ‘exempt’ developments able to be carried out without the need for planning or building approval if it meets specified development standards and doesn’t require notification of Council or neighbours – something like PNF.
Australia
The Saturday Paper has a good article about the increasing restrictions on, and penalties for, protest actions, across Australia, by both Labor and Liberal, with Bob Brown lamenting the loss of the ability to protest while ACF maintain they can achieve results without protests.
Despite risks of prosecutions, on the night of October 2nd, 66 citizen scientists surveyed for endangered Greater Gliders in 12 coupes slated for logging across Victoria, locating 60 Greater Gliders and triggering court ordered protections for them. Even though the Victorian Labor Government promised to phase out logging of public forests by 2030, both The Greens and Teal independents (backed by Climate 200) have protecting forests now as major campaign issues.
An article in The Conversation emphasises that the federal budget was required to include a section on wellbeing, which aims to measure how well Australians are doing in life, including assessing the state of our natural places using a set of environmental indicators, with the authors arguing for application of the United Nation’s System of Environmental-Economic Accounting.
There are many takes on the environmental benefits and dis-benefits of the Federal budget, so the Government’s own propaganda seemed to be the best as to what we can expect, which is basically business as usual. The Federal Government’s budget is allocating money to dealing with climate change (including $263.7 million for Carbon Capture Use and Storage), the Great Barrier Reef gets $1.01b and Antarctica $804.4m, aside from this it is continuing $100 million funding for the existing Environment Restoration Fund for a further 3 years, and $181 million for a range of projects that seem to be primarily focused of fast tracking and simplifying approvals for developers. Given the success of the forestry Regional Forest Agreements, they now seem intent on rolling them out for mining. The Australian Conservation Foundation considers the Albanese government has started to turn around a decade of savage cuts to the environment budget, but it has a long way to go before nature protection and restoration is adequately funded. Others say we need to protect forests. The biodiversity “offsets” scheme is of concern as its unclear as to whether it is rewarding environmental stewardship or a trade off for destruction elsewhere, the former able to provide benefits while the later has been fraught with abuses, and at best results in a net decline. Rather than relying upon private investors to finance conservation, governments need to fund it themselves as its not much in a budgetary context.
The Opposition has slammed the restoration of $9.8 million over four years in Federal funding to the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) and Environmental Justice Australia (EJA) for "empowering far-left activists" and inflicting "massive damage on our national economy". Australian Forest Products Association thought the budget was great with $100 million for the promised new National Institute for Forest Products Innovation, $8.6 million to extend Regional Forestry Hubs from 2024‑25 and to provide extension services, and $10 million for skills and training to equip the forest industries workforce with competencies, credentials, training and accreditations. It’s a worry that Timberbiz reports that the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Senator Murray Watt has recommitted the Federal government’s support for the sustainable management of the native timber industry.
The Australian Rural and Regional News has been running a series of articles in a debate between Philip Zylstra and Jack Bradshaw on the merits of controlled burning, with Zylstra re-iterating that in Western Australia bushfires have been seven times more likely on land previously burned than on land that they have not burned which he attributes to the dense understorey regrowth following burning, stating “the hard empirical evidence quite clearly shows that bushfires are much less likely in forests where the shrubs have been allowed to self-thin”. The advocates of increased fuel-reduction burning, Bushfire Front Inc (BFF), have now piled on to discredit Zylstra.
Species
National Geographic has an article quoting a range of scientists lamenting the Federal Government’s appalling record on species’ extinction and endangerment, the new Government’s underwhelming species action (extinction) plan, the lack of funding for threatened species and the ongoing habitat destruction.
Catherine Cusack reflects on her belief in loyalty to the Liberal Party, making her crossing the floor to refer the Koala Killing Bill for review a fraught decision, but her duty to koalas outweighed her willingness to support a corrupt political deal. To her credit she was the only coalition member to stand up for Koalas, which she is doing again with her efforts to get Koalas onto the political agenda for March with The Vanishing Koala conference. According to multiple media stories we will be enlightened by the lessons from South Australia’s koalas’ success to help protect our Koalas. From 12-3pm on Sunday, 30 October, members of the public are encouraged to attend a Koala Family Picnic in the North Coast Regional Botanic Garden to show their support for the proposed Great Koala National Park.
The Koala Friendly Carbon Farming Program pilot program is aimed at landholders with “at least 25 hectares that can be set aside for tree planting and show evidence of koalas nearby with a focus on reconnecting fragmented habitat”, where planting of “a bio-diverse koala and rainforest habitat” is undertaken free of charge, as is maintenance for the first three years, and the landholder will earn carbon credits over a 25-year period.
Eurobodalla Shire Council has become the first council in NSW to launch a virtual fence, with roadside posts set to emit sound and blue lights when they detect an approaching car, aimed at warning animals of the cars and reducing roadkills. It will be interesting to see how well they work, as initial tests weren’t that effective (see Forest Media 18 March 2022).
The endangered Manning River Turtle lives only in the middle and upper reaches of the Manning River catchment on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, after the fires eggs were taken into care and the hatchlings raised by Aussie Ark, with 10 two year olds now released back into the river, with another 10 planned for release, and a captive breeding program underway.
Since 2000 Bird Flu (AKA Avian influenza, particularly a strain called H5N1) has been rampaging throughout the northern hemisphere, while in the past outbreaks have been controlled by culling of domestic birds, this strain appears to have mutated as it has a sustained spread among wild birds, frequently crossing to (but not yet between) mammals.
Some American researchers believe there’s an opportunity to reduce the number of ticks by using prescribed fire as it reduces habitat quality by opening-up and drying out the forest, increases predators such as fire-ants, and reduces their small-mammalian hosts – though the solution could be worse than the problem.
In response to an anonymous complaint in September to 2GB host Ray Hadley that NPWS undertook aerial shooting of deer near to where guests were walking, NSW Environment Minister James Griffin immediately suspended the shooting of feral animals in national parks across NSW while undertaking a soon to be released review, much to the disgust of farming and conservation groups. This was soon after Hadley had successfully made Griffin agree to review the brumby plan after 11 feral horses were humanely shot (see Forest Media 16 September 2022).
The Deteriorating Problem
The UNEP report Emissions Gap Report 2022: The Closing Window – Climate crisis calls for rapid transformation of societies shows that updated national pledges since COP26 – held in 2021 in Glasgow, UK – make a negligible difference to predicted 2030 emissions and that we are far from the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C, preferably 1.5°C. Policies currently in place point to a 2.8°C temperature rise by the end of the century. Implementation of the current pledges will only reduce this to a 2.4-2.6°C temperature rise by the end of the century, for conditional and unconditional pledges respectively. With COP27 starting in Egypt next week it is clear that the time for multilateral action is now, the Emissions Gap Report 2022 finds that the world must cut emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 to avoid global catastrophe, yet annual emissions continue to grow, with increasing emissions masked by claimed sequestrations from vegetation, which are often dubious. Protecting forests will help buy time, though we need to do it now.
While it doesn’t get much attention, Africa has been ravaged by a series of extreme weather events. AP reports above-average rainfall and devastating flooding have affected 5 million people this year in 19 countries across West and Central Africa, killing hundreds and destroying crops, coming on top of West Africa’s worst food crisis in 10 years with more than 27 million hungry people. Carbon Brief’s in-depth analysis of African disaster records found that extreme weather events, including droughts, extreme heat, wildfires, floods, and cyclones, have killed at least 4,000 people and affected a further 19 million since the start of 2022.
A new UC Berkeley study quantifies that nearly a third of the conifer forests in California’s southern Sierra Nevada mountains have died from a combination of fire, drought and drought-related bark beetle infestations in the last decade, which is blamed on climate change impacts compounding the conversion of multi-aged forests to regrowth and a reduction in understorey burning.
Turning it Around
Countries are failing to meet international targets to stop global forest loss and degradation by 2030 according to a recent analysis, called the Forest Declaration Assessment, which found that the rate of global deforestation slowed by 6.3% in 2021, compared with the baseline average for 2018–20. But this “modest” progress falls short of the annual 10% cut needed to end deforestation by 2030. Forests are not just important for carbon sequestration, also cooling the planet through "evapotranspiration", stabilising regional rainfalls and temperatures, reducing flooding, stabilising soils, providing habitat, and foods and medicines.
The international day of action on big bad biomass was a success, with Australia featured prominently as kick-starting the day.
Forest canopies are the interface between the atmosphere and biosphere, home to half of land-based plants, insects, and animals, and responsible for maintaining stable microclimates beneath. Meg Lowman is obsessed by canopies (particularly oldgrowth ones) and aims through Mission Green to open their wonders up to the everyday person by constructing 10 canopy walkways in biodiversity hotspots around the world, with two already constructed.
It seems that forests are redundant, we can look after their inhabitants better in open-range zoos and seed/sperm banks, and now we can experience their health benefits using virtual reality, or at least a semblance of them.
Dailan Pugh
NEW SOUTH WALES
Rainforest Decision remembered:
The Sydney Morning Herald has republished a 1982 article on reactions to the Rainforest Decision, with the conservation movement saying “the Government is to be congratulated” and the loggers and the trade-union movement saying “it could place in jeopardy the jobs of many people in the limber industry.”
Time to vote Nationals out:
The Glenn Innes Examiner has another strong editorial calling for an end to native forest logging, highlighting the Forestry Corporation’s illegalities and costs, and growing community opposition, that the National Party ignore.
How many times does the NSW Forestry Corporation need to be taken to court, found guilty of breaching NSW law, be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars, fines paid by NSW taxpayers (that's you and me), before questions get asked within the halls of government?
The National Party's commitment to rip it up and rip it out regardless, is costing the region and the state economically, socially and environmentally.
It is clear that the National Party are more than willing to sacrifice the community good on the altar of resource exploitation at all cost ... even at a loss.
Closing Wollumbin:
An Aboriginal Place Management Plan has been prepared to document Wollumbin's significant cultural heritage values and articulate the aspirations of Aboriginal communities about the long-term management of the site, documenting the decision of the Wollumbin Consultative Group that the walk to the top of Wollumbin (Mount Warning) “is not culturally appropriate or culturally safe” and should be immediately closed.
'Wollumbin is of the highest significance to the Aboriginal nations, particularly the Bundjalung nation in northern NSW, as a sacred ceremonial and cultural complex linked to traditional law and custom. Wollumbin is interconnected to a broader cultural and spiritual landscape that includes Creation, Dreaming stories and men's initiation rites of deep antiquity.
NSW Environment Minister Mr Griffin supports the closure, emphasising a series of alternative walks are proposed, but not yet constructed: 38km Tweed Byron Hinterland Trail, 7.2 km Caldera Rim Walk, and 2.5km Mount Chowan Link.
‘Wollumbin holds deep significance for the Bundjalung people and this step recognises the importance of protecting its cultural value,’ Mr Griffin said.
While the summit track at Wollumbin remains closed, there are alternative trails for visitors and hikers to choose from in the region, with new visitor infrastructure being developed as part of the largest investment in the history of national parks.
‘The $7.35 million Tweed Byron Hinterland Trail, for example, will be a stunning new 38km, four-day hiking trail, and cement the North Coast of NSW as a premier destination to visit.’
In addition, plans for two new walk experiences are being finalised:
- Caldera Rim Walk – a 2 kilometre walk with rainforest, caldera rim and mountain views
- Mount Chowan Link – a 2.5 kilometre walk linking the Tweed Byron Hinterland Trail and potentially the Northern Rivers Rail Trail.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/10/summit-track-for-wollumbin-mt-warning-remains-closed/
The master plan for the Tweed Byron Hinterland Trail is currently on exhibition and open for submissions.
The Australian has an article attacking the decision of the Wollumbin Consultative Group to close the summit track, leading to claims by a purported “Indigenous leader and Wollumbin local” to question the consultative committee and local tourist operators to complain about the lack of access to national parks. Quadrant Magazine has an article by long-term campaigner against closure of Aboriginal sites.
https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2022/10/the-grim-warning-of-mount-warning/
The sinking ship:
As climate heating gains momentum, monthly and yearly rainfall records continue to be broken across NSW, with Sydney’s annual record already surpassed with months to go, and low-lying communities suffering from flood fatigue.
Monthly records were also broken in March and July while Sydney's annual total is also at records levels reaching 2391mm, nearly double the long-term average of 1214mm.
The previous wettest year for Sydney was 1950 when 2194mm was recorded. Weather data has been collected at Observatory Hill since 1858 and in only four previous years has the yearly total exceeded 2000mm.
Sydney joins dozens of regional NSW towns which are also in the middle of their wettest October on record including Deniliquin, Balranold, Wilcannia, Bourke, Cobar, Griffith and Moree.
There was chaos across south-east Australia, with multiple communities being evacuated, some on multiple occasions. Major flood levels in the twin-towns of Echuca and Moama on the Victoria-New South Wales border exceeded the 1993 record of 94.77 metres above sea level.
The ABC has an informative article about the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), driven by the contraction and expansion of a band of high-altitude westerly winds surrounding Antarctica, such that when they contract closer to Antarctica in spring they drive an increased chance of rain across south-eastern Australia, called a positive SAM, which is also happening this year as the 3rd major contributor to our floods.
Deserting rats:
NSW Transport Minister David Elliott has announced he will quit state politics at the next election rather than contest a factional preselection battle with the NSW right, with NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard quickly following, bringing to 12 the number of coalition MPs jumping ship.
https://www.northernbeachesadvocate.com.au/2022/10/25/race-on-as-hazzard-steps-aside/
The Teals make their move:
Independent Vaucluse candidate Karen Freyer said environmental issues, including halting new fossil fuel projects in NSW, were a top concern, her policies including to end logging on publicly-owned land.
Farming tourists:
The state government is ramming through an ‘agritourism’ policy which effectively removes restrictions on tourism development on rural lands, with ‘exempt’ developments able to be carried out without the need for planning or building approval if it meets specified development standards and doesn’t require notification of Council or neighbours.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/10/state-govt-overrules-councils-to-push-agritourism-on-rural-land/
AUSTRALIA
The end of protests:
The Saturday Paper has a good article about the increasing restrictions on, and penalties for, protest actions, across Australia, Labor and Liberal, with Bob Brown lamenting the loss of the ability to protest while ACF maintain they can achieve results without protests.
“Now, if you stand in front of a tree in Tasmania full of wildlife that they want to knock down, you face a greater penalty than if you go into a neighbour’s house with a shotgun and terrorise them,” [Bob Brown] says
As of a couple of months ago, an individual protesting against the destruction of old-growth forests in Tasmania faces up to two years in prison and substantial fines. A community member who obstructs access to a workplace as part of a protest – such as by simply blocking traffic – could face 12 months in prison. Any organisation that supports them may be fined $45,000.
“The way the environmental movement has historically got its power has been through organised direct action, you know, things like the Franklin campaign.” Now, [Curmin] says, the major environmental groups have been “reduced to lobbyists”.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/10/22/the-end-direct-action#mtr
Greater forest protection:
Despite risks of prosecutions, on the night of October 2nd, 66 citizen scientists surveyed for endangered Greater Gliders in 12 coupes slated for logging across Victoria, locating 60 Greater Gliders and triggering court ordered protections for them.
Due to a current court case against state logging agency VicForests, run by community groups Kinglake Friends of the Forest, Environment East Gippsland, and Gippsland Environment Group, confirmed detections of Greater Gliders currently trigger the protection of the forest in which they are found.
Expert witness for the community groups, Professor Grant Wardell-Johnson stated in court that Greater Gliders in logging coupes are likely to be dead soon after the logging operation, in some cases from starvation or predation.1
Last month VicForests sought permission from the Supreme Court to log 4 areas of forest known to contain Greater Gliders. The court gave permission to log 3 of the 4 areas with 240m buffer zones established around each Greater Glider that had already been detected by citizen scientists.
Forests the election issue:
Despite the Victorian Labor Government promising to phase out logging of public forests by 2030, both The Greens and Teal independents backed by Climate 200 have protecting forests now as major campaign issues.
https://www.facebook.com/climate200/videos/943516456622009/?extid=NS-UNK-UNK-UNK-IOS_GK0T-GK1C
Balancing the budget:
An article in The Conversation emphasises that the federal budget was required to include a section on wellbeing, which aims to measure how well Australians are doing in life, including assessing the state of our natural places using a set of environmental indicators, with the authors arguing for application of the United Nation’s System of Environmental-Economic Accounting.
The United Nation’s System of Environmental-Economic Accounting offers a way forward
This UN-backed system was only completed in 2021, so real-world examples remain few. But one Victorian study shows the potential.
The accounts in the study showed the economic benefit of harvesting Central Highlands native forests for timber were far outweighed by the economic benefit of maintaining the forests for carbon storage and water supply. In other words, the forest is more valuable if you just leave it alone.
Ceasing harvesting would also bring major biodiversity gains. An assessment of all regional forest agreement areas in Victoria gave similar results.
Budget a worry for forests:
There are many takes on the environmental benefits and disbenefits of the Federal budget, so the Government’s own propaganda seemed to be the best as to what we can expect, which is basically business as usual. The Federal Government’s budget is allocating money to dealing with climate change (including $263.7 million for Carbon Capture Use and Storage), the Great Barrier Reef gets $1.01b and Antarctica $804.4m, aside from this it is continuing $100 million funding for the existing Environment Restoration Fund for a further 3 years, and $181 million for a range of projects that seem to be primarily focussed of fast tracking and simplifying approvals for developers. Given the success of the forestry Regional Forest Agreements, they now seem intent on rolling them out for mining.
$100 million to extend the existing Environment Restoration Fund for a further 3 years, starting in 2022–23 (which had already been identified) - the aim is “to protect Australia’s water, soil, plants and animals and support their productive and sustainable use”.
$62 million focussed on accelerated regional planning, delivering up to 10 regional plans in priority development regions.
$19 million to simplify and reform environmental offsets to deliver greater flexibility and certainty for business while encouraging investment in environmental protection and restoration.
$28 million additional investment over 12 months to sustain on-time environmental assessments and approvals under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
$52.5 million to slash green tape for industry, protect the environment and improve transparency in project approvals.
$10 million to finalise single touch environmental approval agreements, removing duplication between national and state-level environmental approvals.
$9.5 million to strengthen environmental compliance and enforcement functions, including increasing funding for an appropriate risk based approach to compliance and enforcement activities and supporting approval holders to comply with their obligations.
https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/env-overarching-infographic.pdf
The Australian Conservation Foundation considers the Albanese government has started to turn around a decade of savage cuts to the environment budget, but it has a long way to go before nature protection and restoration is adequately funded. Others say we need to protect forests.
Nature highlights
- $204m for Great Barrier Reef recovery, including ‘blue carbon’ projects to support ecosystem restoration.
- $670m over six years to protect Australia’s iconic species and landscapes, help conserve World Heritage listed properties and wetlands and expand funding for Indigenous Protected Areas.
- $90m for Landcare rangers.
- $91.1 million for clean-up and restoration of urban river and water areas, local species protection.
https://www.acf.org.au/october-2022-budget-night
So what climate measures should the government be taking?
Many of the policies at its disposal would require new legislation and would not necessarily appear in the budget. They include ending logging of old-growth forest to reduce forestry emissions, and changes to the safeguard mechanism.
The biodiversity “offsets” scheme is of concern as its unclear as to whether it is rewarding environmental stewardship or a trade off for destruction elsewhere, the former able to provide benefits while the later has been fraught with abuses, and at best results in a net decline. Rather than relying upon private investors to finance conservation, governments need to fund it themselves as its not much in a budgetary context.
A biodiversity market would see landholders granted certificates for restoring or managing local habitats. Landholders could then sell these certificates to, for instance, businesses.
But the effectiveness of such schemes overseas and in Australia can at best be described as mixed. Whether biodiversity markets can actually improve the dire trajectory of our native plants and animals depends heavily on two things:
- whether they reward environmental stewardship, which delivers overall benefits for biodiversity or
- whether they rely on the use of “offsets”, and the loss of biodiversity elsewhere, to generate market demand.
Unfortunately, the government is sending mixed messages on this critical issue.
“Biodiversity offset schemes” similarly offer financial incentives to land managers, but with a critical difference: on-ground work to benefit nature is used to offset, or compensate for, biodiversity losses elsewhere.
This means offsets don’t usually result in overall improvements to nature, but rather maintain existing declines.
The government hopes voluntary private sector demand will drive this biodiversity market. This is because the government says it cannot afford the A$1-2 billion a year needed to adequately protect Australia’s natural environments and reverse biodiversity decline.
This sounds like a lot, but let’s put $1 billion into perspective.
It’s about one-tenth of the public money spent every year subsiding fossil fuel extraction in this country. It’s about a fifth of the cost of cancelling the submarine contract with France.
And it’s about a 25th of the annual cost of the stage three tax cuts promised in this week’s federal budget.
But in practice, offsets have never been a good news story, with scheme failure, misapplication and abuse regularly making headlines. Including offsets in the mix might scare off buyers and sellers.
The Opposition has slammed the restoration of $9.8 million over four years in Federal funding to the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) and Environmental Justice Australia (EJA) for "empowering far-left activists" and inflicting "massive damage on our national economy".
[Tanya Plibersek] “If you're up against a big company and they've got billions of dollars to throw at a project and you’re some poor little farmer who doesn't want their back paddock done up, perhaps you’ve got a right to the same level of justice.”
[shadow environment Jonno Duniam ] “The handing over of $9.8 million of taxpayers money to the EDO and EJA is clearly about Labor teaming up with the Greens and encouraging and empowering far-left activists – and it will inflict massive damage on our national economy.
Australian Forest Products Association thought the budget was great with $100 million for the promised new National Institute for Forest Products Innovation, $8.6 million to extend Regional Forestry Hubs from 2024‑25 and to provide extension services, and $10 million for skills and training to equip the forest industries workforce with competencies, credentials, training and accreditations.
https://www.miragenews.com/federal-budget-heralds-new-era-of-forest-881662/
Feds a worry:
It’s a worry that Timberbiz reports that the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Senator Murray Watt has recommitted the Federal government’s support for the sustainable management of the native timber industry.
https://www.timberbiz.com.au/labor-declares-economic-importance-of-forestry-at-symposium/
Controlling fires:
The Australian Rural and Regional News has been running a series of articles in a debate between Philip Zylstra and Jack Bradshaw on the merits of controlled burning, with Zylstra re-iterating that in Western Australia bushfires have been seven times more likely on land previously burned than on land that they have not burned which he attributes to the dense understorey regrowth following burning, stating “the hard empirical evidence quite clearly shows that bushfires are much less likely in forests where the shrubs have been allowed to self-thin”.
The advocates of increased fuel-reduction burning, Bushfire Front Inc (BFF), have now piled on to discredit Zylstra.
SPECIES
Commonwealth extinction plan:
National Geographic has an article quoting a range of scientists lamenting the Federal Government’s appalling record on species’ extinction and endangerment, the new Government’s underwhelming species action (extinction) plan, the lack of funding for threatened species and the ongoing habitat destruction.
“Most ecologists and conservationists would say it’s nice to hear more positive ambition [from the new government] and there has been marginal improvement, but it’s marginal at best. There’s a lot of greenwashing going on,” Euan [Ritchie] says, citing ongoing federal approval for fossil fuel ventures and projects that destroy key species’ habitat. “It’s well and good to say you love wildlife and be photographed cuddling koalas, but if you’re still approving the destruction of their habitat, if you’re still committing to fossil fuel use…it’s very hard to see how those things are aligned with a zero-extinction ambition.”
“We lead the world in mammal extinctions, we’re one of the highest land-clearing countries in the world, we’re still opening up coal and gas mines and we’re still logging native forests – we’re still doing all sorts of really dumb, stupid things,” David [Lindenmayer] says. “I think unless something seriously changes in terms of investment then we’re going to be seen to be the frauds that we are.”
Resigning for the vanishing:
Catherine Cusack reflects on her belief in loyalty to the Liberal Party, making her crossing the floor to refer the Koala Killing Bill for review a fraught decision, but her duty to koalas outweighed her willingness to support a corrupt political deal. To her credit she was the only coalition member to stand up for Koalas, which she is doing again with her efforts to get Koalas onto the political agenda for March with The Vanishing Koala conference. According to multiple media stories we will be enlightened by the lessons from South Australia’s koalas’ success to help protect our Koalas.
Cusack says with the koalas, ‘the first time it came up, it was political deal between the Liberal and the National parties. It hadn’t been dealt with properly, either in Cabinet or in the party room.
‘Then I found out that the legislation that was being put into Parliament by the National Party minister didn’t even reflect the decision of the cabinet.
‘So the process was absolutely broken at every level. I’d been trying for weeks to get the legislation reviewed and improved. Promises were made – none of them were kept. So by the time it came into the House, I considered whole thing corrupt. It was not a normal Bill, on any level.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/10/vanishing-koalas-why-risk-their-extinction/
“They are so abundant that in recent years they have moved into the suburbs (of Adelaide), travelling along linear parks from the foothill forests into residential gardens and city parklands,” says Associate Professor Clode, who will MC the NSW State Koala Conference in Coffs Harbour this weekend.
At the Koala Conference, biologist and natural history author Associate Professor Clode will speak on habitat loss and bushfire recovery, covering some of the main points from her new book which draws on research on ecology, palaeontology, morphology and archaeology by several other Flinders scientists.
“What can we learn from the southern koalas’ success to help protect their northern cousins,” she asks.
https://www.ecovoice.com.au/southern-australias-koala-comeback-can-it-help-stave-off-extinction/
https://phys.org/news/2022-10-major-australia-koalas.html
https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/southern-australian-koalas-research/
From 12-3pm on Sunday, 30 October, members of the public are encouraged to attend a Koala Family Picnic in the North Coast Regional Botanic Garden to show their support for the proposed Great Koala National Park.
“Visitors will hear from visiting non-fiction author of ‘Koala – A life in Trees’, Danielle Clode, and dedicated koala advocate and former school teacher Dave Wood who will both explain why community support is needed to create the Great Koala National Park.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/picnic-to-support-great-koala-national-park
Free Koalas earn carbon credits:
The Koala Friendly Carbon Farming Program pilot program is aimed at landholders with “at least 25 hectares that can be set aside for tree planting and show evidence of koalas nearby with a focus on reconnecting fragmented habitat”, where planting of “a bio-diverse koala and rainforest habitat” is undertaken free of charge, as is maintenance for the first three years, and the landholder will earn carbon credits over a 25-year period.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-23/koala-friendly-carbon-farming-program-/101554146
Will virtual fences be effective:
Eurobodalla Shire Council has become the first council in NSW to launch a virtual fence, with roadside posts set to emit sound and blue lights when they detect an approaching car, aimed at warning animals of the cars and reducing roadkills. It will be interesting to see how well they work, as initial tests weren’t that effective (see Forest Media 18 March 2022).
Rewilding turtles:
The endangered Manning River Turtle lives only in the middle and upper reaches of the Manning River catchment on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, after the fires eggs were taken into care and the hatchlings raised by Aussie Ark, with 10 two year olds now being released back into the river, with another 10 planned for release, and a captive breeding programme underway.
Awarding feral-proofing:
The Australian Geographic Society has awarded John Wamsley the Lifetime of Conservation medallion for his outstanding contribution to conservation in Australia, most notable for his pioneering of feral-proof fenced “Earth Sanctuaries”.
Flying flu:
Since 2000 Bird Flu (AKA Avian influenza, particularly a strain called H5N1) has been rampaging throughout the northern hemisphere, while in the past outbreaks have been controlled by culling of domestic birds, this strain appears to have mutated as it has a sustained spread among wild birds, frequently crossing to (but not yet between) mammals.
Controlling ticks:
Some American researchers believe there’s an opportunity to reduce the number of ticks by using prescribed fire as it reduces habitat quality by opening-up and drying out the forest, increases predators such as fire-ants, and reduces their small-mammalian hosts – though the solution could be worse than the problem.
“Reductions in canopy and understory density and the creation of gap space from prescribed burning can increase sun exposure and wind speed and reduce evapotranspiration from plants, promoting hotter and drier conditions during the daytime and colder temperatures at night,” said Machtinger
… fire-driven habitat change is likely to increase the population of certain wildlife predators of ticks, such as red imported fire ants …
… reduced woody plant density and debris as a result of fire actually may decrease populations of some small mammal hosts of ticks by removing cover and making them more vulnerable to predation,” Machtinger said.
https://www.technologynetworks.com/immunology/news/fighting-tick-borne-disease-with-fire-366903
Setting ferals free:
In response to an anonymous complaint in September to 2GB host Ray Hadley that NPWS undertook aerial shooting of deer near to where guests were walking, NSW Environment Minister James Griffin immediately suspended the shooting of feral animals in national parks across NSW while undertaking a soon to be released review. This was soon after Hadley had successfully made Griffin agree to review the brumby plan after 11 feral horses were humanely shot (see Forest Media 16 September 2022).
[NSW Farmers] “We were flabbergasted to learn the government had put a stop to controlling feral animals in national parks,” he said. “Feral animal control is something all land managers – public and private – must do. Putting a stop to feral animal control is irresponsible as it will impact the public, nature and private landowners such as farmers.”
“All this ban does is give them safe haven to breed. It’s crazy. If the government is smart, it will resume feral animal control immediately.”
… More than 70,000 pigs, goats, deer, foxes, cats and rabbits have been removed from the state’s national parks in the past two years.
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party MLC Mark Banasiak supports a review of aerial shooting for feral animals in national parks but only found out about the six-week-old ban this morning.
"I would suggest that the government obviously has to do this safety review but in the meantime why can't they maintain their ground shooting activities?"
South coast-based NSW Independent Justin Field believes a scare campaign from a "noisy bunch" opposed to aerial culling of feral horses has influenced the government.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-27/feral-animal-cull-halt-nsw-national-parks/101583396
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/aap/article-11358815/Resume-culling-NSW-Farmers-Greens.html
THE DETERIORATING PROBLEM
We have until next week …:
The UNEP report Emissions Gap Report 2022: The Closing Window – Climate crisis calls for rapid transformation of societies shows that updated national pledges since COP26 – held in 2021 in Glasgow, UK – make a negligible difference to predicted 2030 emissions and that we are far from the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C, preferably 1.5°C. Policies currently in place point to a 2.8°C temperature rise by the end of the century. Implementation of the current pledges will only reduce this to a 2.4-2.6°C temperature rise by the end of the century, for conditional and unconditional pledges respectively. With COP27 starting in Egypt next week it is clear that the time for multilateral action is now, the Emissions Gap Report 2022 finds that the world must cut emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 to avoid global catastrophe, yet annual emissions continue to grow, with increasing emissions masked by claimed sequestrations from vegetation, which are often dubious. Protecting forests will help buy time, though we need to do it now.
To get on track for limiting global warming to 1.5°C, global annual GHG emissions must be reduced by 45 per cent compared with emissions projections under policies currently in place in just eight years, and they must continue to decline rapidly after 2030, to avoid exhausting the limited remaining atmospheric carbon budget.
Inger Andersen, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme:
The science from UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report and indeed science presented by our friends at the UNFCCC and the WMO earlier this week is resounding: we are sliding from climate crisis to climate disaster.
This report sends us a very clear message. If we are serious about climate change, we need to kick start a system-wide transformation, now. We need a root-and-branch redesign of the electricity sector, of the transport sector, of the building sector and of food systems. And we need to reform financial systems so that they can bankroll the transformations we cannot escape.
I know some people think this can’t be done over the next eight years. But we can’t just throw up our hands and say we failed before we have even really tried. We must try, because every fraction of a degree matters: to vulnerable communities, to those that are yet to be connected to the electricity grid, to species and ecosystems, and to every one of us.
https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2022
This analysis finds that new efforts to cut carbon would see global emissions fall by less than 1% by 2030, when according to scientists, reductions of 45% are needed to keep 1.5C in play.
Africa getting more extreme:
While it doesn’t get much attention, Africa has been ravaged by a series of extreme weather events. AP reports above-average rainfall and devastating flooding have affected 5 million people this year in 19 countries across West and Central Africa, killing hundreds and destroying crops, coming on top of West Africa’s worst food crisis in 10 years with more than 27 million hungry people.
https://apnews.com/article/floods-west-africa-chad-central-c3a5be6d0f262e5c4fa6f77126a8f6fc
Carbon Brief’s in-depth analysis of African disaster records found that extreme weather events, including droughts, extreme heat, wildfires, floods, and cyclones, have killed at least 4,000 people and affected a further 19 million since the start of 2022.
The investigation also shows that:
- Drought and famine have killed 2,500 people in Uganda and affected eight million in Ethiopia this year.
- More than 600 people have died in Nigeria’s worst floods in a decade. This includes 76 people who were killed when a boat carrying flood victims capsized.
- Southern African countries, including Madagascar and Mozambique, were battered by six severe storms this year, killing at least 890 people.
- Temperatures reached 48C in Tunisia in July, fanning the flames of extreme wildfires.
- Nearly two million people in Chad were affected by floods in August and October.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-africas-unreported-extreme-weather-in-2022-and-climate-change/
Degraded forests dying:
A new UC Berkeley study quantifies that nearly a third of the conifer forests in California’s southern Sierra Nevada mountains have died from a combination of fire, drought and drought-related bark beetle infestations in the last decade, which is blamed on climate change impacts compounding the conversion of multi-aged forests to regrowth and a reduction in understorey burning.
In early statehood, clear cutting practices of the logging industry left young, regrowing forests less ecologically resilient to wildfire and beetle infestation. For most of the 20th century and after, management of forests heavily relied on fire suppression to avoid destructive and deadly conflagrations. These practices, coupled with a warming climate, pose an “existential threat” to remaining mature forests, wrote study authors. Management must transition to prescribed burns and thinning lower parts of the forest to make natural fires less catastrophic, a perspective now widely held by subject experts.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article267885597.html
TURNING IT AROUND
Deforestation not slowing fast enough:
Countries are failing to meet international targets to stop global forest loss and degradation by 2030 according to a recent analysis, called the Forest Declaration Assessment, which found that the rate of global deforestation slowed by 6.3% in 2021, compared with the baseline average for 2018–20. But this “modest” progress falls short of the annual 10% cut needed to end deforestation by 2030.
“It’s a good start, but we are not on track,” Matson said at a press briefing, although she cautioned that the assessment looks at only one year’s worth of data. A clearer picture of deforestation trends will emerge in successive years, she added.
Forests are not just important for carbon sequestration, also cooling the planet through "evapotranspiration", stabilising regional rainfalls and temperatures, reducing flooding, stabilising soils, providing habitat, and foods and medicines,
Forests are the largest carbon sinks on land, removing approximately 7.6 billion metric tonnes of CO2 each year from the atmosphere, which is around one-and-a-half times the average annual emissions of the United States. Governments are taking action to protect these natural stores of CO2, with more than 140 countries pledging at last year's U.N. COP26 talks to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030, although a recent analysis found they are not on track.
Keeping tropical forests standing provides a 50% greater impact on lowering global temperatures then can be accounted for simply through their carbon-absorbing abilities, according to a new report by the World Resources Institute (WRI), a think tank. "Forests are even more important than we thought for stabilising the climate," said Frances Seymour, a WRI senior fellow who co-authored the report.
Tree canopies can intercept rainfall and slow it down in a storm, allowing up to 30% of the water to evaporate into the atmosphere without reaching the ground, according to Britain's Woodland Trust charity. Some cities are using urban forests to become more resilient to flooding, as trees provide more permeable land to absorb rainwater.
Big Bad Biomass:
The international day of action on big bad biomass was a success, with Australia featured prominently as kick-starting the day.
https://environmentalpaper.org/2022/07/idoa-22/
Crowning glory:
Forest canopies are the interface between the atmosphere and biosphere, home to half of land-based plants, insects, and animals, and responsible for maintaining stable microclimates beneath. Meg Lowman is obsessed by canopies (particularly oldgrowth ones) and aims through Mission Green to open their wonders up to the everyday person by constructing 10 canopy walkways in biodiversity hotspots around the world, with two already constructed.
Parker uses lidar, a laser sensor technology, to map the structure of canopies from a bird’s eye view.“Forests tend to get ‘bumpier’ as they get older – more full of holes and more detailed in how they’re organised vertically inside,” he says. “Those things tend to accommodate higher diversity of species, not just of trees but all the other organisms that rely on the trees.”
A staggering number of species live in the upper layers of forests. “We now believe that 50 per cent of land-based plants, insects, and animals live in our treetops,” says Lowman.
Still, progress in treetop science can be frustratingly slow. “Canopies have been described as the last biotic frontier,” says Majcher. “Millions of species live there, and we’ve accessed only a minute proportion of them.”
For species that dwell in the understorey, the canopy “creates a buffer to stresses in the environment” by acting as a “gatekeeper between the atmosphere and ground,” says Gotsch. The architecture and physiology of a canopy govern a forest’s microclimate, helping to keep it cooler than its surroundings by intercepting rainfall, slowing wind speed, and influencing the rate of evaporation and transpiration.
“This buffering effect is quite large,” says forest ecologist Pieter de Frenne from Belgium’s Ghent University. In a meta-analysis of more than 70 forest sites scattered across five continents, de Frenne discovered that daytime temperatures within a forest are on average 4C cooler than outside. That difference increases in hotter climes, sometimes by as much as 15C.
“That means that this thermal regulation, this protective sheltering layer of canopies becomes more important with climate change,” he says.
“We need to have the big trees most of all, and it’s my job to speak for them,” [Lowman] says.
https://www.eco-business.com/news/a-mission-to-conserve-forest-canopies/
Virtual forest bathing:
It seems that forests are redundant, we can look after their inhabitants better in open-range zoos and seed/sperm banks, and now we can experience their health benefits using virtual reality, or at least a semblance of them.
After analyzing 21 studies conducted at home and abroad, the state-run National Institute of Forest Science (NiFoS) concluded that experiencing forests in realistic digital content such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and holograms can bring psychological changes. Digital treatment was more effective in reducing negative emotions than increasing positive feelings. Those who were exposed to digital forest content for more than 10 minutes showed more consistent psychological effects.
"The result of this study proves that the convergence of digital technology and forests is effective in the restoration of mentality," NiFoS researcher Kim Gun-woo said in a statement on October 27. The institute will develop various forest-related digital content.
An earlier NiFoS study showed that walking in a forest is one of the most effective ways in handling depression and anxiety. Just walking or sitting in the forest to look at the scenery was found to relieve inflammatory reactions in the body and reduce stress.
https://www.ajudaily.com/view/20221027103156647
Forest Media 21 October 2022
New South Wales
As part of Friday’s International Day of Action on Big Bad Biomass, and to highlight the last day for submissions on the question of whether the Federal Government should exclude the burning of native forest biomass from the Renewable Energy Target, in NSW NEFA held a gathering outside Member for Richmond Justine Elliot’s office, No Electricity from Forests outside Herons Creek Mill on the Mid North Coast, Redbank Action Group (RAG) held a gathering outside Member for Hunter Dan Repacholi’s office, Bob Brown Foundation outside Member for Sydney Tanya Pliberseck’s office and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s office, South-east Forest Rescue outside Member for Eden-Monaro Kristy McBain’s office.
October 26 marks the 40th anniversary of the 1982 Rainforest Decision by the ALP government of Neville Wran, which resulted in 120,000ha of some of our most important rainforests and old-growth forests on public lands across North East NSW being protected from logging in national parks and flora reserves, an outcome that Dailan Pugh attributes to forest blockades at Terania Creek in 1979 and Mount Nardi in 1982. A big celebration will be held Saturday night, October 22, at the Nimbin Hall, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Nightcap Action Group’s direct actions on Mt. Nardi, which resulted in the cessation of logging and the creation of the Nightcap National Park.
Green Left Weekly has an article citing Michael Jones talking about forest actions Ellis SF, the inspiration of stopping logging in Nambucca SF, and the need to protect the Great Koala National Park. Friendly Jordies now has a You Tube video of Mark Graham being assaulted by Grensill Brothers, FC contractors, with the footage taken by a Forestry Corporation employee who made no attempt to stop the assault, and the police actually charged Mark with assault. When last seen it had over 180,000 views.
The Echo had another article on the parliamentary petition, this time focusing on my complaint that the four propositions were not considered individually and debated on their merits. I am misquoted. The Australian Forestry Contractors Association (AFCA) has a weak response to the forests petition, citing Chris Gulaptis that it was about “misconceptions, misinformation and unfounded beliefs”, and claiming the fires were the problem not them.
Justin Field confirms his retirement, advocating for a strong independent south coast candidate, as he considers it's highly likely that the crossbench will be in the balance of power after the next state election - he will be missed as a strong and effective environmental advocate, and leaves with our gratitude.
The NCC picnics were a success with picnics across NSW, though not much media. Around 40 volunteers from 11 separate environmental groups gathered in the Goulburn wetlands for the NCC picnic, which organisers said they found inspirational, though lamented the dearth of young blood.
The ACCC has outlined preliminary concerns with Forestry Corporation of New South Wales’ proposed acquisition of the assets of Hume Forests Ltd as it will give them a monopoly and reduce competition for pine in the Tumut/Tumbarumba and Bathurst/Oberon regions, and is inviting submissions.
The Department of Planning and Environment has issued a Stop Work Order over 235 ha of land at Doyalson following reports of unauthorised clearing in a conservation zone, on land sold by the Central Coast Council to developers to recover losses.
Australia
Extinction Rebellion deployed tripods, barrels and theatre to shut down part of the Melbourne CBD for three hours, as part of ongoing protests against logging by Vic Forests. Orbost used to be a vehemently pro-logging town, now in the East Gippsland Shire that unanimously passed a position paper for an end to clear-felling, protection of biodiversity, investment in nature-based tourism and recreation, protection of the unburnt, and a just transition for affected communities.
Western Australia’s draft Forest Management Plan 2024-2033 has been released for public comment, this is intended to implement the protection of 400,000 ha of public forests. and while it does promise an end to large scale commercial logging, it still intends to allow ecological thinning and approved mine site clearing for “products such as high value furniture, joinery, artisanal products, charcoal, and firewood”.
The theme of this week's 2 day Forestry Australia’s National Symposium at Albury is "reimagining forestry", with an emphasis on the role forestry can play in mitigating climate change and resulting flood and fire events, its good to know that contrary to all the evidence about logging increasing fire and carbon emissions, logging is going to be our saviour. Though one of the speakers talked about their experience with growing and milling timber on the family farm, highlighting problems with growing trees and selling products, but their current success.
In Victoria a Bairnsdale man has been convicted and fined $1500 after pleading guilty to two charges relating to illegal off-road driving in the Nunniong State Forest, after he broke through a gate and churned up a sensitive alpine area.
Species
Euan Ritchie points out that 38 native mammal species have been driven to extinction since colonisation, along with possibly 7 subspecies, with a further 52 mammal species classified as either Critically Endangered or Endangered, and 58 as Vulnerable, urgent action is required, but first we genuinely need to care, and generate the political will.
Australian taxonomists are garnering support to achieve the goal of documenting all Australian species by 2050, which is a big ask for insects, spiders and fungi, and a race against extinction. Australia has at least 404 mammal species, including 2 monotremes, 175 marsupials and 227 placentals, which includes 11 species (and numerous subspecies) that have only been discovered and formally named in the past decade, and there are still likely more out there waiting to be found, though we have so far made 39 extinct as our species’ populations plummet towards the great extinction.
NBN has a story about the Great Koala National Park, the (sold out) The Vanishing conference, and the need for political commitments for the upcoming election. Catherine Cusack believes that neither of the major parties have a credible rescue plan for Koalas and that collective action by citizens is the last line of defence.
Koalas introduced into Western Australia’s Yanchep National Park are in rapid decline, reduced from 8 to 4 in the national park’s enclosure since the 2019 Yanchep bushfire, and are now offering to house fire refugees from the eastern states.
Strzelecki koalas have long been recognised as more genetically diverse and distinct than other Victorian koala populations, though the Commonwealth rejected a submission to list the population as threatened saying more work was required to confirm it was “demographically separate from adjacent populations”. A free dog training ‘Leave It’ app has been developed by the Social Marketing @ Griffith, with funding from WIRES, will soon be available to help owners teach their pets to leave koalas and other wildlife alone. Danielle Clode describes her experience with Koalas in the Adelaide hills, their invasion of the city, and the recent wildfires in an article promoting her book: Koala: a Life in Trees.
Australia’s launching of global tourism campaign using a cartoon Kangaroo to lure tourists Down Under has raised the ire of animal welfare groups on World Kangaroo Day, as they campaign to stop the slaughter of kangaroos for meat and skins and the European Union is considering a ban on kangaroo meat and skin imports.
The Deteriorating Problem
Forests help counter global warming, but they are also threatened by it. In Europe, 500 000 hectares of forest were wiped out as a result of drought between 1987 and 2016 and many tree species struggled this past summer as much of Europe was hit by heat waves and a severe drought – thought to be the worst in 500 years. Researchers are focussing on developing improved models, for example large tall trees are considered to be particularly vulnerable during droughts, though this is not necessarily so as their roots go deeper, they can expand their water-conducting pipes, and their thicker trunks store more carbohydrates and water. In California the U.S. Forest Service estimated 62 million trees died in 2016, 9.5 million trees died last year, and scientists are concerned one more year of drought could lead to another mass die-off worse than in 2016. Forest deaths are increasing because drought stressed trees are weakened and less able to fight off boring beetles, beetles are increasingly active as winters warm, mistletoes deplete vital resources, collapsing dead trees provide more fuels and wildfires worsen.
Turning it Around
In sort-of welcome news, the Paris-based International Energy Agency claims CO2 pollution from fossil fuels will rise by about 300 million tonnes this year, which is “only a small fraction” of last year’s two-billion-tonne increase, and a lot less than expected in the midst of a global energy crisis brought on by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Dailan Pugh
NEW SOUTH WALES
Big Bad Biomass:
As part of Friday’s International Day of Action on Big Bad Biomass, and to highlight the last day for submissions on the question of whether the Federal Government should exclude the burning of native forest biomass from the Renewable Energy Target, in NSW NEFA held a gathering outside Member for Richmond Justine Elliot’s office, No Electricity from Forests outside Herons Creek Mill on the Mid North Coast, Redbank Action Group (RAG) held a gathering outside Member for Hunter Dan Repacholi’s office, Bob Brown Foundation outside Member for Sydney Tanya Pliberseck’s office, and, South-east Forest Rescue outside Member for Eden-Monaro Kristy McBain’s office.
“With Verdant Earth Technologies’ proposal to burn the native forests of NSW right here in the Hunter at Redbank Power Station, supplied by the newly acquired Sweetmans sawmill at Millfield, there is no more important time to demand that the federal government rules out subsidizing this destruction,” said RAG spokesperson David Burgess.
“If approved, the Redbank / Sweetmans proposal would see the native forests of the Hunter and well beyond turned into one big woodchip farm,” said Millfield resident Llynda Nairn.
Saving rainforests:
October 26 marks the 40th anniversary of the 1982 Rainforest Decision by the ALP government of Neville Wran, which resulted in 120,000ha of some of our most important rainforests and old-growth forests on public lands across North East NSW being protected from logging in national parks and flora reserves, an outcome that Dailan Pugh attributes to forest blockades at Terania Creek in 1979 and Mount Nardi in 1982.
The decision was the culmination of over a decade of campaigning that primarily gained public recognition and support through forest blockades at Terania Creek in 1979 and Mount Nardi in 1982. It was those actions that focused public attention on rainforests, created the need for political resolution, and ultimately stopped rainforest logging in NSW. Forty years later climate heating necessitates a renewed effort to save our rainforests.
Most of our rainforests were cleared; those surviving haven’t yet recovered from 150 years of logging degradation. Their buffers are still being logged, and a new threat became apparent when over a third of NSW’s rainforests were burnt in the 2019–20 wildfires.
Unfortunately we can’t rest on our laurels, as we need to step up once again to save our rainforests, this time from intensifying droughts and wildfires caused by climate heating.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/10/saving-north-east-nsws-rainforests-40-years-on/
A big celebration will be held Saturday night, October 22, at the Nimbin Hall, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Nightcap Action Group’s direct actions on Mt. Nardi, which resulted in the cessation of logging and the creation of the Nightcap National Park.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/10/nightcap-action-group-celebrates-40th-anniversary/
Saving the Great Koala National Park:
Green Left Weekly has an article citing Michael Jones talking about forest actions Ellis SF, the inspiration of stopping logging in Nambucca SF, and the need to protect the Great Koala National Park.
[Sign the petition supporting the Great Koala National Park here.]
https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/stopping-logging-ellis-state-forest
Loggers assaulting:
Friendly Jordies now has a You Tube video of Mark Graham being assaulted by Grensill Brothers, FC contractors, with the footage taken by a Forestry Corporation employee who made no attempt to stop the assault, and the police actually charged Mark with assault. When last seen it had over 180,000 views.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMQiXXCEoQ8
Forest petition lingers:
The Echo had another article on the parliamentary petition, this time focusing on my complaint that the four propositions were not considered individually and debated on their merits. I am misquoted.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/10/no-real-parliamentary-debate-on-logging-nsw-public-native-forests/
The Australian Forestry Contractors Association (AFCA) has a weak response to the forests petition, citing Chris Gulaptis that it was about “misconceptions, misinformation and unfounded beliefs”, and claiming the fires were the problem not them.
https://www.timberbiz.com.au/debated-petition-on-native-forestry-flawed-says-afca/
Field of dreams:
Justin Field confirms his retirement, advocating for a strong independent south coast candidate, as he considers it's highly likely that the crossbench will be in the balance of power after the next state election - he will be missed as a strong and effective environmental advocate, and leaves with our gratitude.
"It has been a fast-moving train wreck, watching the way in which this government has allowed the destruction of nature in NSW," he told parliament.
"There is not one bright spot on the horizon when it comes to the protection of biodiversity from my perspective with this government."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-17/nsw-south-coast-mp-justin-field-retires/101540664
Wet dreams:
The NCC picnics were a success with picnics across NSW, though not much media. Around 40 volunteers from 11 separate environmental groups gathered in the Goulburn wetlands for the NCC picnic, which organisers said they found inspirational, though lamented the dearth of young blood.
Ms West said volunteers were an ageing population with few younger candidates looking to fill the void.
"Most of them are over 60 and many are now tipping into their 70s and 80s, but it is really nice that everyone who comes through the wetlands compliments us on the work that is done and how it has evolved," she said.
https://www.goulburnpost.com.au/story/7944885/nature-picnic-enjoyed-by-environmental-groups/
Pine monopoly:
The ACCC has outlined preliminary concerns with Forestry Corporation of New South Wales’ proposed acquisition of the assets of Hume Forests Ltd as it will give them a monopoly and reduce competition for pine in the Tumut/Tumbarumba and Bathurst/Oberon regions, and is inviting submissions.
“We are concerned that this acquisition is likely to lead to price increases or reductions in service levels for the supply of softwood logs in the Tumut/Tumbarumba and Bathurst/Oberon regions by removing a significant competitor to FCNSW,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.
The ACCC invites submissions from interested parties in response to the statement of issues by 3 November 2022.
The ACCC’s final decision is scheduled for 27 January 2023. More information, including the statement of issues, is available at: Forestry Corporation of NSW – Hume Forests Ltd
https://www.miragenews.com/forestry-corporation-of-nsws-proposed-878482/
Stopping land clearing.
The Department of Planning and Environment has issued a Stop Work Order over 235 ha of land at Doyalson following reports of unauthorised clearing in a conservation zone, on land sold by the Central Coast Council to developers to recover losses.
AUSTRALIA
Shutting down Melbourne CBD to shut-down logging:
Extinction Rebellion deployed tripods, barrels and theatre to shut down part of the Melbourne CBD for three hours, as part of ongoing protests against logging by Vic Forests.
Two protesters on Queen Street were seen hanging from six-metre-high tripods in koala suits.
Around the corner on Bourke Street, two other activists had their hands in barrels which had been glued to the road.
One protester donned a mask of Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ face and proceeded to pretend to cut down a tree using a fake chainsaw.
Extinction Rebellion announced on the Facebook livestream they were going to “have a party” at the police station while waiting for arrested members to be released.
Melbourne's streets have descended into chaos as Extinction Rebellion protesters shut down a major intersection to protest tree-logging in Victoria's forests.
Over 100 protesters gathered on the Bourke and Queen Street intersection at about midday on Wednesday with one demonstrator arrested by police.
The activists later gathered outside the logging agency office and were heard chanting 'VicForests, lawless loggers' and 'Arrest the real climate criminals'.
A Victoria Police spokesperson said the demonstrations were mostly peaceful but had disrupted the flow of traffic and caused diversions.
https://www.rebelnews.com/climate_extremists_disrupt_melbourne_dressed_as_koalas
https://tdpelmedia.com/melbourne-koala-clad-extinction-rebellion-protestors-block-intersection
Now they have seen the light:
Orbost used to be a vehemently pro-logging town, now in East Gippsland Shire that unanimously passed a position paper for an end to clear-felling, protection of biodiversity, investment in nature-based tourism and recreation, protection of the unburnt, and a just transition for affected communities.
The shires of Strathbogie, Murrindindi, Yarra Ranges and South Gippsland have now passed motions to end logging, but are ignored, Thorpe says. “It’s horrifying going into clear-felled forests. You can’t hear anything: no insects, no birds. They say they’re regenerating but they’re slashed to smithereens.”
A 2016 PwC audit found each native forest industry job costs Victorians more than $5 million and brings at best 14 cents return for every dollar invested.
The logging you have when you don’t have logging:
Western Australia’s draft Forest Management Plan 2024-2033 has been released for public comment, this is intended to implement the protection of 400,000 ha of public forests. and while it does promise an end to large scale commercial logging, it still intends to allow ecological thinning and approved mine site clearing for “products such as high value furniture, joinery, artisanal products, charcoal, and firewood”.
Western Australians can now have their say on the draft Forest Management Plan 2024-2033,
“This does not mean an end to forest management activities – such as ecological thinning and approved mine site clearing – but an end to large scale commercial logging in our native forests.
“Native timber sourced from these activities will continue to be available for products such as high value furniture, joinery, artisanal products, charcoal, and firewood post 2023.
https://safetowork.com.au/historic-new-plan-to-protect-was-forests/
https://arr.news/2022/10/19/historic-new-plan-to-protect-was-forests-whitby-kelly/
https://www.begadistrictnews.com.au/story/7946580/wa-to-end-native-forest-logging/
Greenwashing forestry:
The theme of this week's 2 day Forestry Australia’s National Symposium at Albury is "reimagining forestry", with an emphasis on the role forestry can play in mitigating climate change and resulting flood and fire events, its good to know that contrary to all the evidence about logging increasing fire and carbon emissions, logging is going to be our saviour. Though one of the speakers talked about their experience with growing and milling timber on the family farm, highlighting problems with growing trees and selling products, but their current success.
“Prepared by Forestry Australia’s Forest Fire Management Committee and the Forest Fire Management Group, Turning the Goals of the National Bushfire Management Policy Statement into Objectives and Key Performance Indicators aims to guide improvements in bushfire management and provide consistent reporting nationally on achievements.
“The ultimate outcome is that Australian lives will be saved from bushfires, Australia’s environment will be better protected with enhanced ecosystem biodiversity, conservation and maintenance of soils and water catchments in a healthy state, and Australia shall be able to better address climate change impacts and reduce carbon emissions.”
https://www.miragenews.com/forestry-australia-symposium-day-2-879530/
Turning the Goals of the National Bushfire Management Policy Statement into Objectives and Key Performance Indicators aims to guide improvements in bushfire management and provide consistent reporting nationally on achievements.
Radiata Pine, however, has proven profitable - and yet only a few years ago the market was different and logs from nearby Niangala were being shipped by container to the lowest bidders in China.
…. New Zealand built Mahoe sawmill that efficiently cuts boards in one pass with two blades and allows the Taylors to produce up to eight cubic meters of sawn product per day with one or two operators. Current orders are being strapped green, bound in packs, and sent straight for treatment at Tamworth.
The contrast between value added sawn timber versus pulp is highlighted by the fact that two tonnes of pulp sold is equivalent to the purchase price of one nursery grown pine seedling whereas rough sawn pine prices are currently as high as $500 a cubic meter at the farm gate.
https://www.theland.com.au/story/7939324/timber-part-of-the-mix-in-this-diverse-farm-scape/
In Victoria a Bairnsdale man has been convicted and fined $1500 after pleading guilty to two charges relating to illegal off-road driving in the Nunniong State Forest, after he broke through a gate and churned up a sensitive alpine area.
SPECIES
Watching them disappear:
Euan Ritchie points out that 38 native mammal species have been driven to extinction since colonisation, along with possibly 7 subspecies, with a further 52 mammal species classified as either Critically Endangered or Endangered, and 58 as Vulnerable, urgent action is required, but first we genuinely need to care, and generate the political will.
Improving the prognosis for mammals is eminently achievable but conditional on political will. Broadly speaking, we must:
- minimise or remove their key threats
- align policies (such as energy sources, resource use, and biodiversity conservation)
- strengthen and enforce environmental laws
- listen to, learn from and work with First Nations peoples as part of healing Country
- invest what’s actually required – billions, not breadcrumbs.
The recently announced Threatened Species Action plan sets an ambitious objective of preventing new extinctions. Of the 110 species considered a “priority” to save, 21 are mammals. The plan, however, is not fit for purpose and is highly unlikely to succeed.
Political commitments appear wafer thin when the same politicians continue to approve the destruction of the homes critically endangered species depend upon.
The race to name them before they go:
Australian taxonomists are garnering support to achieve the goal of documenting all Australian species by 2050, which is a big ask for insects, spiders and fungi, and a race against extinction. Australia has at least 404 mammal species, including 2 monotremes, 175 marsupials and 227 placentals, which includes 11 species (and numerous subspecies) that have only been discovered and formally named in the past decade, and there are still likely more out there waiting to be found, though we have so far made 39 extinct as our species’ populations plummet towards the great extinction.
Vanishing Koalas:
NBN has a story about the Great Koala National Park, the (sold out) The Vanishing conference, and the need for political commitments for the upcoming election. Catherine Cusack believes that neither of the major parties have a credible rescue plan for Koalas and that collective action by citizens is the last line of defence.
“As a former MP who served in opposition and government, I saw up close how our political process is failing koalas”, Ms Cusack said.
“Yes, there has been significant media coverage of their decline, nice words and lots of sympathy – but we are yet to see a credible rescue plan from the major parties who will form Government after the March 2023 election”
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/coffs-coast-news-of-the-area-21-october-2022
Koalas introduced into Western Australia’s Yanchep National Park are in rapid decline, reduced from 8 to 4 in the national park’s enclosure since the 2019 Yanchep bushfire, and are now offering to house fire refugees from the eastern states.
https://arr.news/2022/10/20/koala-numbers-fall-at-yanchep-national-park/
… not distinct enough:
Strzelecki koalas have long been recognised as more genetically diverse and distinct than other Victorian koala populations, though the Commonwealth rejected a submission to list the population as threatened saying more work was required to confirm it was “demographically separate from adjacent populations”
Environmentalists are concerned Strzelecki koalas are being impacted by the logging of the plantations where they live, and the clearing of land for agriculture.
… making Koalas less attractive:
A free dog training ‘Leave It’ app has been developed by the Social Marketing @ Griffith, with funding from WIRES, will soon be available to help owners teach their pets to leave koalas and other wildlife alone.
Dr Rundle-Thiele said the in-person program reduced koala deaths from dog attacks by 40 per cent, and they’re hoping to see further improvements from an app that’s available for owners to use anywhere, anytime, at their own convenience and free of charge.
https://news.griffith.edu.au/2022/10/21/getting-dogs-the-right-koalafications-with-new-app/
… invading Adelaide:
Danielle Clode describes her experience with Koalas in the Adelaide hills, their invasion of the city, and the recent wildfires in an article promoting her book: Koala: a Life in Trees.
Koala: a Life in Trees by Danielle Clode (Black Inc).
Attractive kangaroos:
Australia’s launching of global tourism campaign using a cartoon Kangaroo to lure tourists Down Under has raised the ire of animal welfare groups on World Kangaroo Day, as they campaign to stop the slaughter of kangaroos for meat and skins and the European Union is considering a ban on kangaroo meat and skin imports.
I highly doubt Tourism Australia thought choosing a cartoon kangaroo as its ambassador would create any waves. But the backlash from animal advocates and concerned Australians has forced Australia actor Rose Byrne, the voice of the computer-animated marsupial, to switch off her social media.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/10/hopping-mad-over-roo-ad-campaign/
THE DETERIORATING PROBLEM
Declining health:
Forests help counter global warming, but they are also threatened by it. In Europe, 500 000 hectares of forest were wiped out as a result of drought between 1987 and 2016 and many tree species struggled this past summer as much of Europe was hit by heat waves and a severe drought – thought to be the worst in 500 years. Researchers are focussing on developing improved models, for example large tall trees are considered to be particularly vulnerable during droughts, though this is not necessarily so as their roots go deeper, they can expand their water-conducting pipes, and their thicker trunks store more carbohydrates and water.
During a drought, it is harder for trees to extract water from dry soil and draw it upwards. This increases the risk of water-transporting conduits sucking in air bubbles, which can block the flow (similar to embolisms in human blood vessels). If any bubbles occur, parts of a tree can be denied water and die.
In California the U.S. Forest Service estimated 62 million trees died in 2016, 9.5 million trees died last year, and scientists are concerned one more year of drought could lead to another mass die-off worse than in 2016. Forest deaths are increasing because drought stressed trees are weakened and less able to fight off boring beetles, beetles are increasingly active as winters warm, mistletoes deplete vital resources, collapsing dead trees provide more fuels and wildfires worsen.
A healthy tree produces sap, or a thicker compound called pitch, that pushes pests out. But trees weakened by years of drought are left defenseless against invasive beetles that bore into them like drills.
“They have a very low water pressure inside them,” Ewing explained. “Their roots are compromised. Everything is compromised. So they just cannot fight them off.”
TURNING IT AROUND
Slowing the growth:
In sort-of welcome news, the Paris-based International Energy Agency claims CO2 pollution from fossil fuels will rise by about 300 million tonnes this year, which is “only a small fraction” of last year’s two-billion-tonne increase, and a lot less than expected in the midst of a global energy crisis brought on by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The rise in emissions would have been closer to a billion tonnes if not for some of the key technologies at the heart of the energy transition. Renewable energy generation around the world is up by more than 700 terawatt-hours this year, with wind and solar photovoltaics leading the growth. And while coal emissions around the world are on track to grow by about 200 million tonnes, overall carbon pollution in the European Union is set to decline—and the continent is expected to install about 50 gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity next year.
… IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “This means that CO2 emissions are growing far less quickly this year than some people feared—and that policy actions by governments are driving real structural changes in the energy economy. Those changes are set to accelerate thanks to the major clean energy policy plans that have advanced around the world in recent months.”
Forest Media 14 October 2022
Your chance to take action on Big Bad Biomass
Submissions on the Federal Government’s ‘Native forest biomass in the Renewable Energy Target’ consultation paper are open until the 21st of October. This is a window of opportunity to stop the Redbank power station (near Singleton) being restarted with 850,000 tonnes p.a. of north-east NSW’s forests, and many similar proposals around Australia to substitute native forests for coal while pretending there are no CO2 emissions. Please make a submission and encourage any groups you can to do likewise. Its most important to make submissions unique (so they are not dismissed as a single group sub) and state Electricity generated by burning wood from native forests must be prohibited from being eligible for Large-scale Generation Certificates (LGCs) under the Renewable Energy Target (RET).
https://www.nefa.org.au/biomass
https://consult.industry.gov.au/native-forest-biomass-in-the-ret
The International Day of Action on Big Biomass will take place on the 21st of October 2022 and you are invited to take part. It would seem that the Feds have organised their closing date for submissions to coincide? So this makes it a special day for us to act up, and show solidarity with campaigners world wide. NEFA are planning a number of actions targeting federal parliamentarians offices.
Link to the main international organising group https://environmentalpaper.org/2022/07/idoa-22/
Please list your own actions into this link main organising google doc
New South Wales
The petition to end logging of public native forests, stop burning native forests for electricity, and implement the NRC bushfire recommendations, was finally considered on Thursday, in the end it was just noted with none of the proposals voted on. While the parliamentary debate was a let-down, the public debate was worthwhile.
The debate was informative in that it showed the level of ignorance we are dealing with, Chris Gulaptis insisted on misrepresenting the importance of the industry “We must remember that the forestry sector is worth around $2.8 billion. It directly supports almost 20,000 jobs, 40 per cent of which are in regional New South Wales” (he failed to mention that <1,000 are employed in logging public native forests). Melinda Pavey seems to think native forests are plantations “agree with the proposition put by the member for Ballina, that the Government should only be doing this type of work on plantations, and it is. Those native forestry plantations have been logged for more than 100 years”. The Minister, Dougald Saunders, contributions to the debate included “logging does not occur in State forests; selective harvesting occurs in State forests” (he has not read the Forestry Act which states its all about logging), and “The sawlog part of a tree is not used for biomass production; it is the roots, the bark and the other parts that cannot be used for anything apart from chipping, burning or pulping” (he has not read the DPI report which states its all about pulplogs – straight bits of timber 2.1+ m long, 10+ cm diameter that they can carry on logging trucks). Green Left reports that the rally outside was attended by over a 100 people.
The loggers counter-petition for a safer work environment by increasing penalties for forest protestors to match Victoria’s draconian laws, while allowing organisations to be fined for actions of their members, has so far had 628 people sign on, and it closes on 7 November.
The EPA are prosecuting FCNSW in the Batemans Bay Local Court for felling four hollow-bearing trees in Mogo State Forest in 2020, when the Site Specific Operating Conditions required them to retain all such trees.
NEFA is outraged that its complaints about obvious and blatant damage to retained hollow-bearing and Koala feed trees in Wild Cattle Creek State Forest have been dismissed by the EPA on the grounds it does not constitute damage.
FriendlyJordies has done a YouTube ‘The Worst Crime I’ve Ever Seen’ with Mark Graham on breaches in Wedding Bells State Forest, when I last checked it was up to 156,804 views (and rising quickly) with 1,315 comments.
With the assistance of the EDO, two knitting nanas have launched a Constitutional challenge in the NSW Supreme Court to new anti-protest laws, to preserve the democratic freedoms of speech and assembly in NSW. Meanwhile some unions are seeking to have the ALP commit to over-turning the laws if elected, despite having voted for them.
The NCC’s first ever "Picnic for Nature" will be held this Sunday at 44 sites across the state, it has been garnering some publicity.
Australia
David Lindenmayer argues that it is only native forests that can remove carbon from the atmosphere at the scale and speed required, arguing that if we were to stop logging native forests, the avoided emissions alone are close to what is needed annually (15.5 Mt CO2) to achieve our 43 per cent reduction by 2030 target. Professor Brendan Mackey and Dr Heather Keith participated in the originating media release, with Keith emphasising that forests are worth more for carbon storage than logging.
The sooner the better. A campaign by the Maribyrnong Council to call for an early phase out of native timber forestry in Victoria has apparently been successful in getting the backing of other city councils (though the story is paywalled). A fresh row has erupted over the prohibition of native logging in Western Australia, with members of the forestry industry arguing state government documents prove there is no "scientific evidence" justifying the ban on logging. While the loggers winge, conservationists are celebrating the first anniversary of the decision to end logging of 400,000 ha of Western Australia’s public native forests.
As part of a worldwide trend of targeting famous artworks to focus attention on climate heating, two Extinction Rebellion protesters glued themselves to the 1951 Picasso painting Massacre in Korea at the National Gallery of Victoria, and were released without being charged.
In response to Queensland clearing 6,800 km2 of land in 2018-19, the Queensland Conservation Council, Australian Conservation Foundation, the Wilderness Society and WWF Australia have launched a campaign to halt deforestation to protect native species and reduce carbon emissions, while the Government still awaits the overdue report by the expert panel, led by chief scientist Professor Hugh Possingham, and the clearing continues.
Species
WWF have released their latest Living Planet Report, their key message is that we are living through both climate and biodiversity crises that must be tackled concurrently, the report showing
- an average 69% decrease in monitored wildlife populations since 1970.
- The Asia Pacific (including Australia) had an average decrease of only 55% while Latin America and the Caribbean decreased 94%.
- Monitored freshwater populations have seen an alarming decline of 83% since 1970
- The global abundance of oceanic sharks and rays has declined by 71% over the last 50 years, due primarily to an 18-fold increase in fishing pressure since 1970.
- Identifies six key threats – agriculture, hunting, logging, pollution, invasive species and climate change – to terrestrial vertebrates. Identifying the east coast of Australia as a hotspot ‘high-priority areas for risk mitigation’ for all taxonomic groups across all threat categories.
- Ecological Footprint accounts document that humanity overuses our planet by at least 75%, the equivalent to living off 1.75 Earths
It needs to be recognised that by 1970 many species had already been severely depleted, particularly in developed countries, so we are measuring from a depleted baseline.
The Federal Government’s ‘2022–2032 Threatened Species Action Plan: Towards Zero Extinctions’ is focussed on taking actions for 110 priority (6% out of over 1900 listed) threatened species and 20 places, encouraging biodiversity markets, establishing more predator-free “safe-havens” for fauna, seed banks for plants, and “insurance populations” of plants affected by Myrtle Rust. Clearing and logging are not mentioned, and forests only in passing. Relevant species to NSW forests include Red Goshawk, Regent Honeyeater, Swift Parrot, Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby, Koala, New Holland Mouse, Mountain Frog, Pink Underwing Moth, Bellinger River Snapping Turtle, Native Guava, and Smooth Davidson’s Plum, with the Blue Mountains and South East Coastal Ranges being the only priority places. There is a commitment to a national goal to protect and conserve 30 per cent of Australia’s land and 30 per cent of Australia’s oceans by 2030, though they say we are already over target for oceans, but they may look at actually increasing the area really protected in sanctuaries, and claim that for terrestrial areas we are at 22% (ignoring that most of this is IPAs with no funding) and therefore there is only 61 million hectares to go (and it doesn’t seem to matter that IPAs are mostly arid lands). It is ironic that at the same time the Commonwealth are saying they are only going to deal with 110 priority species, they announced new listing decisions for 20 threatened species and three threatened ecological communities, including for east coast forests:
- Critically Endangered: Ben Halls Gap Sphagnum Moss Cool Temperate Rainforest, (sth coast) Grey Deua Pomaderris
- Endangered: (nth coast) Oxleyan pygmy perch, Corokia whiteana, Bertya Clouds Creek, Johnson’s Cycad, Duck’s-head wasp-orchid (sth coast) Pomaderris gilmourii var. gilmourii, Pretty Beard Orchid.
- Vulnerable: Parma Wallaby
Some researchers consider the $225 million committed is less than the $1,700 million identified as needed per year to actually bring these threatened species back from oblivion, the plan only focuses on just 110 of the more than 2,000 federally listed species and ecosystems, there is no intent to address threatening processes such as logging and clearing, the 30% reserve target is to be made up by grossly underfunded Indigenous Protected Areas, they want to rely upon biodiversity trading, and there’s no legislation to back it up.
The Vanishing Koala Conference on Saturday, October 29 will see scientists, conservationists and wildlife carers gather at the Cavanbah Centre in Coffs Harbour to highlight the extinction risk facing koalas in NSW and policy solutions to protect koalas and their habitat. Sue Arnold considers the Federal Government’s Threatened Species Action Plan is short on details and fails to address the substantive issues driving Australia’s extinction crisis, of particular concern is its failure to deal with the ongoing destruction of koala habitat by industrial logging, major urbanisation projects and infrastructure.
Koala Conservation Australia (KCA) (Port Macquarie Koala Hospital) has been granted more funding through the NSW Koala Strategy, including a $600,000 regional partnership (including employment of a Koala Officer) and $500,000 habitat restoration project (to restore 250 hectares of local koala habitat?), with $150,000 also going to help local councils prevent vehicle strikes. The Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary, including the Port Stephens Koala Hospital, the Newcastle Airport Skywalk, the Sanctuary Story Walk, Fat Possum Café and deluxe 4 star glamping accommodation, has been named a finalist in the prestigious NSW Tourism Awards for 2022.
The Gold Coast suburb of Coomera, was home to 500 koalas in 2018 but they are experiencing a “death by a thousand cuts” as their habitat is rapidly being cleared and fragmented for shopping centres, highways and housing. Residents are opposing a proposal by Sydney Water for a subdivision of a 32,760 square metre bushland site in Woronora Heights (Sutherland Shire) for homes, claiming it is part of a wildlife corridor linking koala habitats.
The Secret Creek Sanctuary at Lithgow’s new custom-designed and built enclosure for Mountain Pygmy Possum is now in operation, with the intent of combining their captive-bred possums with wild-caught possums to breed a "super possum" adapted to climate change, before attempting to release their naive progeny into the warming wild. The Long-footed Potoroo has not been sighted in NSW since the 1990s, as an assessment of predator scats is undertaken to see if any survive, a 24 km long fence is being constructed to create the 2084 hectare Nungatta enclosure in the South East Forest National Park to enclose a captive population in a new “feral-free rewilding site”.
Concerns are growing for species, such as wombats, echidnas and snakes, that are most likely to have their homes flooded in current rain events, after footage emerged of a wombat digging its way into a flooded burrow. WIRES estimates that 90% of wombats have the debilitating skin disease ‘mange’, another pass-on from domestic animals, and are encouraging people to become 'community wombat warriors' to help treat the disease.
Scientists at Southern Cross University found that after initially being badly affected, Fleay's Barred Frogs in northern New South Wales and south-east Queensland, may have developed a natural immune response to the amphibian chytrid fungus, a disease that has so far wiped out 7 other Australian species. Meanwhile it has been another winter of mysterious deaths for many other frog species.
The Deteriorating Problem
The documentary ‘The Big Burn’ looks at the wood pellets industry in British Columbia, used to feed into Drax’s UK power stations, since this exposé British Columbian politicians have called for its licenses to be suspended and investors are dropping their shares. Gives an insight of their propaganda and what the industry want to do here.
Cyclones can open up forest canopies, drying the forest and promoting growth of grasses or bushes that also make good fuel, while also creating dead material which is fuel for fires – not dissimilar to logging.
Turning it Around
Since the 2011 Bonn Challenge set a goal of restoring some 860 million acres of forest globally by 2030 there have been billions of dollars spent on widespread replanting programs, though most of them have failed due to planting the wrong species in the wrong places, lack of follow-up action, and opposition from local communities, at the time governments and corporations promote the planting events for “greenwashing” though often ignore their failures, the consequence is that there are vast areas of expensive phantom forests supposed to be redressing our climate crisis. Now increasing fire frequencies are taking-out some of those that have been well managed. – our highest priority has to be to protect our existing natural forests. Comedian John Oliver delivers a brilliant expose of the rorted carbon offsets system.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has begun surveying the internet for companies making false claims about environmental action after a global investigation found as many as 40% may be fraudulent.
Tide detergent maker Procter & Gamble Co faces a challenge to its Chief Executive Jon Moeller as its chairman, as well as 2 board members, from environmental groups and ethical investors at its annual shareholder meeting, because of its reliance on virgin wood pulp to make paper products such as Charmin and Bounty.
An American environmental group filed a lawsuit against U.S. Forest Service officials alleging they polluted waterways during their campaigns against wildfires by inadvertently dropping large volumes of chemical flame retardant into streams, causing harm to some fish, frogs, crustaceans and other aquatic species.
Dailan Pugh
NEW SOUTH WALES
Protecting public forests petition:
The petition to end logging of public native forests, stop burning native forests for electricity, and implement the NRC bushfire recommendations, was finally considered on Thursday, in the end it was just noted with none of the proposals voted on. While the parliamentary debate was a let-down, the public debate was worthwhile.
The debate was informative in that it showed the level of ignorance we are dealing with, Chris Gulaptis insisted on misrepresenting the importance of the industry “The proposal to create public native forests would have substantial negative impacts on the State's economy and finances. We must remember that the forestry sector is worth around $2.8 billion. It directly supports almost 20,000 jobs, 40 per cent of which are in regional New South Wales (he failed to mention that <1,000 are employed in logging public native forests). Melinda Pavey seems to think native forests are plantations “agree with the proposition put by the member for Ballina, that the Government should only be doing this type of work on plantations, and it is. Those native forestry plantations have been logged for more than 100 years”. The Minister, Dougald Saunders, contributions to the debate included “logging does not occur in State forests; selective harvesting occurs in State forests” (he has not read the Forestry Act which states its all about logging), and “The sawlog part of a tree is not used for biomass production; it is the roots, the bark and the other parts that cannot be used for anything apart from chipping, burning or pulping” (he has not read the DPI report which states its all about pulplogs – straight bits of timber 2.1+ m long, 10+ cm diameter that they can carry on logging trucks).
https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Hansard/Pages/HansardResult.aspx#/docid/HANSARD-1323879322-128109
If that doesn’t work, Hansard can be found at https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/hansard/pages/home.aspx?tab=Browse&s=1
The petition also comes after conflict between the Forestry Corporation and members of the community have escalated in recent months, with multiple arrests in Ellis State Forest on the mid north coast last month. In response Bellingen Shire Council, last month passed a resolution calling for the NSW Government to develop a plan for the just transition of the Forestry Corporation NSW native forest sector to ecologically sustainable plantations and farm forestry.
https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/7939481/nsw-government-to-debate-native-forest-logging/
[Dailan Pugh] ‘Stopping logging is in the best interests of the state and workers, protection of flora and fauna, reduction in greenhouse emissions, reducing fire risk, and carbon sequestration. There are many reasons to do it but I’m not sure the ALP are ready to stop logging. We have hopes they will do something in the future.’
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/10/today-the-nsw-parliament-debates-stopping-logging-our-forests/
Greens MP Tamara Smith described logging native forests "a travesty that must be phased out".
"Public native forest logging is pushing iconic species towards extinction," she told parliament.
But Nationals MP Chris Gulaptis defended the timber industry saying the opposition should "stop villainising" it.
"The forestry sector is worth around $2.8 billion and directly supports almost 20,000 jobs of which 40 per cent are in regional NSW."
https://thewest.com.au/politics/nsw-debates-petition-to-end-forest-logging-c-8537281
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7941523/nsw-debates-petition-to-end-forest-logging/
https://www.perthnow.com.au/politics/nsw-debates-petition-to-end-forest-logging-c-8537283
Green Left reports that the rally outside was attended by over a 100 people.
“So much of our public native forest estate has been impacted by drought, fires and floods,” [Higginson] said. Native forests are “a vitally important line of defence against both the climate and the extinction crisis”.
https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/rally-calls-native-forests-be-protected
North East Forest Alliance campaigner Sean O'Shannessy, who watched from the public gallery, observed that "The debate revealed a remarkable degree of common ground across the chamber with supportive comments from Liberal, ALP, Greens and Independant representatives. The only substantial dispute with the petiton came from the National Party. Minister Dugald Saunders denied that there was logging in State Forests. Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis heckled his Liberal Party colleague Shelly Hancock as she introduced and spoke for the petition on behalf of her constituents."
Counter petition
The loggers counter-petition for a safer work environment by increasing penalties for forest protestors to match Victoria’s draconian laws, while allowing organisations to be fined for actions of their members, has so far had 628 people sign on, and it closes on 7 November.
Forestry in court again:
The EPA are prosecuting FCNSW in the Batemans Bay Local Court for felling four hollow-bearing trees in Mogo State Forest in 2020, when the Site Specific Operating Conditions required them to retain all such trees.
Rotten regulation:
NEFA is outraged that its complaints about obvious and blatant damage to retained hollow-bearing and Koala feed trees in Wild Cattle Creek State Forest have been dismissed by the EPA on the grounds it does not constitute damage.
‘It is illegal to damage trees required to be retained, and this damage is blatantly obvious, yet the EPA claims it is not damage,’ NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh said.
‘Something is fundamentally rotten with logging regulation.’
‘l was shocked that according to the EPA the severe bashing of retained trees by machines that knocks off extensive slabs of basal bark, the crushing and severing of main roots, nor the knocking out of tree crowns by felling trees on them, constitute damage.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/10/tree-damaging-complaints-dismissed-by-epa/
Wedding crimes:
FriendlyJordies has done a YouTube ‘The Worst Crime I’ve Ever Seen’ with Mark Graham on breaches in Wedding Bells State Forest, when I last checked it was up to 156,804 views (and rising quickly) with 1,315 comments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tBzperMySA
Nanas challenge to anti protest laws:
With the assistance of the EDO, two knitting nanas have launched a Constitutional challenge in the NSW Supreme Court to new anti-protest laws, to preserve the democratic freedoms of speech and assembly in NSW. Meanwhile some unions are seeking to have the ALP commit to over-turning the laws if elected, despite having voted for them.
“As mothers, wildlife carers and Knitting Nannas who use our freedom to protest to push for climate action while floods and bushfires destroy our communities around us, this attack on our democratic freedoms is a slap in the face,” Plaintiff, Knitting Nanna, mother and wildlife carer Dominique said.
“We will ask the Court to find that aspects of these new laws are unconstitutional. Australians like us shouldn’t have to risk imprisonment or bankruptcy to participate in our democracy, and the Government should not be taking away our democratic freedoms.”
The legal challenge comes as the union movement begins its own push to force NSW Labor to commit to reversing the laws if elected at the March state poll.
A motion put forward by the Australian Services Union before Labor’s state conference on the weekend calls for the party to repeal the bill and “never support any legislation” restricting peaceful protest in the state.
Picnics in the parks:
The NCC’s first ever "Picnic for Nature" will be held this Sunday at 44 sites across the state, it has been garnering some publicity.
https://monaropost.com.au/post-rail/picnic-for-nature
AUSTRALIA
Protecting forests the only way:
David Lindenmayer argues that it is only native forests that can remove carbon from the atmosphere at the scale and speed required, arguing that if we were to stop logging native forests, the avoided emissions alone are close to what is needed annually (15.5 Mt CO2) to achieve our 43 per cent reduction by 2030 target.
Beyond the climate change and carbon storage benefits of forest protection, there are many other reasons why native forests should no longer be logged. One of these is the elevated fire severity problems created by logging - which endangers people's lives and property. Forests are more flammable for up to 70 years after they are logged and regenerated, with the elevated fire severity created by logging adding to further carbon emissions.
Switching to a long-term carbon storage role for native forests will still require a major skilled workforce in rural and regional Australia. This workforce will be needed to manage carbon stocks, including regular measurements to quantify change in carbon storage levels over time. A skilled workforce also will be critical for fire protection. A workforce will be needed to facilitate replanting programs in extensive areas of former forest where regeneration has failed after repeated past wildfires, past logging operations, or a combination of both. Additional work will be needed to repair damage from soil erosion and stream sedimentation so that water catchments are protected, and to monitor the health of forests, for example to provide early detection of pest and disease outbreaks.
Professor Brendan Mackey and Dr Heather Keith participated in the originating media release, with Keith emphasising that forests are worth more for carbon storage than logging.
Leading researchers are calling for a cease to native forest logging if Australia wants to meet its net zero targets in coming decades.
The researchers, from The Australian National University (ANU) and Griffith University, say only native forests can remove carbon from the atmosphere at the rapid rate required.
“The economic value of native forests for carbon storage is greater than the value of forests for woodchips and paper production,” Dr Keith said.
“Failure to properly protect forests makes no environmental sense nor any economic sense in a carbon-constrained world where dealing with climate change is a must.”
https://www.miragenews.com/stopping-native-forest-logging-key-to-getting-874781/
The sooner the better:
A campaign by the Maribyrnong Council to call for an early phase out of native timber forestry in Victoria has apparently been successful in getting the backing of other city councils (though the story is paywalled).
Fighting to the end:
A fresh row has erupted over the prohibition of native logging in Western Australia, with members of the forestry industry arguing state government documents prove there is no "scientific evidence" justifying the ban on logging.
Mr Butcher said he was hoping the FOI documents would the reveal scientific data which shows the effect climate change and logging was having on the forests of Western Australia
While the loggers winge, conservationists are celebrating the first anniversary of the decision to end logging of 400,000 ha of Western Australia’s public native forests.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOEf6KcvpQs
The art of protesting:
As part of a worldwide trend of targeting famous artworks to focus attention on climate heating, two Extinction Rebellion protesters glued themselves to the 1951 Picasso painting Massacre in Korea at the National Gallery of Victoria, and were released without being charged.
Seeing clearly now:
In response to Queensland clearing 6,800 km2 of land in 2018-19, the Queensland Conservation Council, Australian Conservation Foundation, the Wilderness Society and WWF Australia have launched a campaign to halt deforestation to protect native species and reduce carbon emissions, while the Government still awaits the overdue report by the expert panel, led by chief scientist Professor Hugh Possingham, and the clearing continues.
https://www.juneesoutherncross.com.au/story/7937955/qld-green-groups-seek-new-forest-plan/
The Alliance is working to secure a future for Queensland to:
- Manage, regulate, and restore 100 million hectares of Queensland forests and woodlands to protect biodiversity and carbon stocks. This would see 58% of all land in Queensland once again forested.
- Sequester hundreds of millions tonnes of CO2 in land carbon, setting Queensland on an emissions reductions pathway consistent with our Paris commitment to keep warming to 1.5 degrees.
- Ensure 100% of QLD’s beef is deforestation-free.
SPECIES
Dying Planet:
WWF have released their latest Living Planet Report, their key message is that we are living through both climate and biodiversity crises that must be tackled concurrently, the report showing
- an average 69% decrease in monitored wildlife populations since 1970.
- The Asia Pacific (including Australia) had an average decrease of only 55% while Latin America and the Caribbean decreased 94%.
- Monitored freshwater populations have seen an alarming decline of 83% since 1970
- The global abundance of oceanic sharks and rays has declined by 71% over the last 50 years, due primarily to an 18-fold increase in fishing pressure since 1970.
- Identifies six key threats – agriculture, hunting, logging, pollution, invasive species and climate change – to terrestrial vertebrates. Identifying the east coast of Australia as a hotspot ‘high-priority areas for risk mitigation’ for all taxonomic groups across all threat categories.
- Ecological Footprint accounts document that humanity overuses our planet by at least 75%, the equivalent to living off 1.75 Earths
It needs to be recognised that by 1970 many species had already been severely depleted, particularly in developed countries, so we are measuring from a depleted baseline.
Forests are fundamental for regulating the Earth’s climate,
exchanging more carbon, water and energy with the atmosphere
than any other terrestrial ecosystem 1. Forests also affect rainfall
patterns and the severity of heatwaves, impacting the resilience of
agricultural systems and local communities 2
.
Forests store more carbon than all the Earth’s exploitable oil,
gas and coal 3,4, and between 2001 and 2019 forests absorbed
7.6 gigatonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere every year 5 , or about
18% of all human-caused carbon emissions 6.
In addition to carbon, the physical structure of forests also
affects both the global and local climates. Forests absorb energy
from the sun because they are dark. This energy is used to move
vast quantities of water from the soil back into the atmosphere,
through a process called evapotranspiration, cooling the surface
temperature locally and globally. The roughness of forest canopies
contributes to the upward mixing of warm air into the atmosphere,
drawing away heat and redistributing essential moisture. These
biophysical processes stabilise weather as well as climate, limiting
maximum daily temperatures by up to several degrees, reducing
the intensity and duration of extreme heat and dry spells, and
maintaining rainfall seasonality 7 . The combined net effect of forests
cools the planet by about 0.5ºC 7.
https://livingplanet.panda.org/
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-13/wwf-report-wild-animal-population-down-69-per-cent/101531208
The phrase “shifting baseline syndrome” was coined in 1995 by fisheries scientist Daniel Pauly. It’s the concept that each generation perceives environmental decline against the “baseline” of nature they experienced early in their lives. It can mean younger people underestimate how much biodiversity has been lost because they were already born into a nature-depleted world.
You might’ve noticed a shift in your life; king parrots hounded from suburbs by Indian mynas, Christmas beetles becoming rare, and road trips no longer interrupted by thick mats of insect meal on the dashboard.
For each generation, the shift becomes less obvious.
Federal Government claims no more extinctions:
The Federal Government’s 2022–2032 Threatened Species Action Plan: Towards Zero Extinctions is focussed on taking actions for 110 priority (6%) threatened species and 20 places, encouraging biodiversity markets, establishing more predator-free “safe-havens” for fauna, seed banks for plants, and “insurance populations” of plants affected by Myrtle Rust. Clearing and logging are not mentioned, and forests only in passing.
The Federal Government has only identified 110 priority threatened species out of over 1900 listed species and 20 priority places. Relevant species to NSW forests include Red Goshawk, Regent Honeyeater, Swift Parrot, Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby, Koala, New Holland Mouse, Mountain Frog, Pink Underwing Moth, Bellinger River Snapping Turtle, Native Guava, and Smooth Davidson’s Plum, with the Blue Mountains and South East Coastal Ranges being the only priority places.
There is a commitment to a national goal to protect and conserve 30 per cent of Australia’s land and 30 per cent of Australia’s oceans by 2030, though they say we are already over target for ocens, though they may look at actually increasing the area really protected in sanctuaries, and claim that for terrestrial areas we are at 22% (ignoring that most of this is IPAs with no funding) and therefore there is only 61 million hectares to go (and it doesn’t seem to matter that these are mostly arid lands).
https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/threatened-species-action-plan-2022-2032.pdf
It is the first time a federal government has announced a zero extinctions target for the country’s plants and animals. The goal forms part of a 10-year plan to improve the trajectory of 110 species and 20 places, and protect an additional 50m hectares of land and sea area by 2027.
Basha Stasak, the nature program manager at the Australian Conservation Foundation, said stopping the ongoing destruction of habitat was key to reversing Australia’s “woeful” record on extinction.
It is ironic that at the same time the Commonwealth are saying they are only going to deal with 110 priority species, they announced new listing decisions for 20 threatened species and three threatened ecological communities, including for east coast forests:
- Critically Endangered: Ben Halls Gap Sphagnum Moss Cool Temperate Rainforest, (sth coast) Grey Deua Pomaderris
- Endangered: (nth coast) Oxleyan pygmy perch, Corokia whiteana, Bertya Clouds Creek, Johnson’s Cycad, Duck’s-head wasp-orchid (sth coast) Pomaderris gilmourii var. gilmourii, Pretty Beard Orchid.
- Vulnerable: Parma Wallaby
Some researchers consider the A$225 million committed is less than the $1,700 million identified as need per year to actually bring these threatened species back from oblivion, the plan only focuses on just 110 of the more than 2,000 federally listed species and ecosystems, there is no intent to address threatening processes such as logging and clearing, the 30% reserve target is to be made up by grossly underfunded Indigenous Protected Areas, they want to rely upon biodiversity trading, and there’s no legislation to back it up.
How much is enough? Estimates put it at A$1.7 billion per year. This is around one-seventh of the money Australian governments spent on fossil fuel subsidies last financial year. If there’s funding for that, there should be funding for wildlife.
Alignment of policies is vital. What’s the point of saving a rare finch from land clearing if you’re simultaneously opening up huge areas to fracking, polluting groundwater and adding yet more emissions to our overheated atmosphere? Despite Labor’s rhetoric on threatened species and climate change, they are still committed to more coal and gas.
Similarly, native vegetation clearing and habitat loss is barely mentioned in the threatened species plan. Yet these are leading causes of environmental degradation, as the 2021 State of the Environment Report makes clear.
Protecting 30% of Australia’s lands and oceans by 2030 sounds great. But protecting degraded farmland is not the same as protecting a biodiverse grassland or wetland. And establishing protected areas is not the same as effective management.
To get this right, the new areas must add to our existing conservation estates by adding species and ecological communities with little or no representation. They must help species move as they would have before European colonisation, by connecting protected areas separated by human settlement or farms. And there must be enough money to actually look after the land. There’s no point protecting ever-larger tracts of degraded, weed-infested, rabbit, deer, horse, pig, fox and cat-filled land.
If you liked it, you should have put a law around it. If the federal government is serious about ending extinctions, it should be enshrined in legislation. As it stands, “zero extinctions” is a promise with no clear way for us to see who is responsible or how the promise will be kept.
So far, the new government has announced inadequate funding, a non-binding strategy with an aspirational goal, and a seemingly rushed idea of a biodiversity market, dubbed “green Wall Street”, which made conservationists including the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists very concerned.
Vanishing Koalas:
The Vanishing Koala Conference on Saturday, October 29 will see scientists, conservationists and wildlife carers gather at the Cavanbah Centre in Coffs Harbour to highlight the extinction risk facing koalas in NSW and policy solutions to protect koalas and their habitat.
Tickets for the events can be found here NSWKoalaConference.eventbrite.com or register to watch remotely.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/10/the-vanishing-nsw-koala-conference/
… what about habitat:
Sue Arnold considers the Federal Government’s Threatened Species Action Plan is short on details and fails to address the substantive issues driving Australia’s extinction crisis, of particular concern is its failure to deal with the ongoing destruction of koala habitat by industrial logging, major urbanisation projects and infrastructure.
Given the millions and millions of taxpayer dollars allocated to the conservation of the koala and the extent of research into major threats, it is abundantly clear that the only successful way to protect remaining species is to legally protect habitat. Without legally protected habitat, there is no future for koalas.
The NSW Government’s spending of tens of millions on koala hospitals, open-range zoos and planting seedlings won’t stop koalas from becoming extinct in the wild unless they save and stabilise surviving koalas by protecting their existing homes, NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh said.
The money rolls in:
Koala Conservation Australia (KCA) (Port Macquarie Koala Hospital) has been granted more funding through the NSW Koala Strategy, including a $600,000 regional partnership (including employment of a Koala Officer) and $500,000 habitat restoration project (to restore 250 hectares of local koala habitat?), with $150,000 also going to help local councils prevent vehicle strikes.
“The regional partnership funding for KCA will support the employment of a Koala Officer, which will help ensure that projects across Port Macquarie and Kempsey are incorporating local knowledge and being strategically delivered,” Mrs Williams said.
https://afndaily.com.au/2022/10/09/protecting-port-macquarie-and-kempsey-koalas/
… tourist attractions:
The Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary, including the Port Stephens Koala Hospital, the Newcastle Airport Skywalk, the Sanctuary Story Walk, Fat Possum Café and deluxe 4 star glamping accommodation, has been named a finalist in the prestigious NSW Tourism Awards for 2022.
https://www.miragenews.com/port-stephens-koala-sanctuary-finalist-in-2022-871928/
… bit by bit:
The Gold Coast suburb of Coomera, was home to 500 koalas in 2018 but they are experiencing a “death by a thousand cuts” as their habitat is rapidly being cleared and fragmented for shopping centres, highways and housing.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/aussie-suburb-thats-destroying-its-endangered-koala-habitat-045529742.html
… not this bit:
Residents are opposing a proposal by Sydney Water for a subdivision of a 32,760 square metre bushland site in Woronora Heights (Sutherland Shire) for homes, claiming it is part of a wildlife corridor linking koala habitats.
https://www.theleader.com.au/story/7933132/koala-campaign-ramps-up/
Breeding super possums:
The Secret Creek Sanctuary at Lithgow’s new custom-designed and built enclosure for Mountain Pygmy Possum is now in operation, with the intent of combining their captive-bred possums with wild-caught possums to breed a "super possum" adapted to climate change, before attempting to release their naive progeny into the warming wild.
Doctor Hayley Bates from the University of New South Wales said reduced snow cover, bushfires and the reduction of a major food source — the Bogong Moth — were all impacting the possum.
With wild colonies facing numerous threats, the captive-bred possums have moved into the new Lithgow facility to begin a breeding plan that hopes to future-proof the species.
As well as providing a backup population, scientists plan to bring wild populations into the enclosure and breed a "super possum" more suited to warmer climates.
Linda Broome said when the possums have successfully adapted to the warmer temperatures in Lithgow, they will look to create new wild populations of possums, outside of the fragile alpine environment.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-10/mountain-pygmy-possum-climate-change-protection/101453130
Dewilding:
The Long-footed Potoroo has not been sighted in NSW since the 1990s, as an assessment of predator scats is undertaken to see if any survive, a 24 km long fence is being constructed to create the 2084 hectare Nungatta enclosure in the South East Forest National Park to enclose a captive population in a new “feral-free rewilding site”.
But Labor’s environment spokeswoman Penny Sharpe said the program’s funding had been cut by 25 per cent. The target for the number of threatened species on track to be secured in the wild had also been lowered.
Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek last week said Australia’s extinction crisis will be halted by the Albanese government’s updated wildlife protection plan. But the Threatened Species Action Plan does not include new measures to reduce land clearing or native forest logging.
Sharpe said rewilding was an important part of saving threatened species: “However, Labor is concerned that the government is prioritising rewilding over the protection of habitat across all land tenures as the biodiversity crises get worse.”
Flooded homes:
Concerns are growing for species, such as wombats, echidnas and snakes, that are most likely to have their homes flooded in current rain events, after footage emerged of a wombat digging its way into a flooded burrow.
Managing Mange:
WIRES estimates that 90% of wombats have the debilitating skin disease ‘mange’, another pass-on from domestic animals, and are encouraging people to become 'community wombat warriors' to help treat the disease.
WIRES are calling on people around NSW to become 'community wombat warriors' with a new program that allows people to treat wombats suffering from mange in their local area after completing an online course.
[Dr Carver] "With Bravecto we're able to cure and reduce more severe disease in wombats across these locations. It's an effective treatment."
Dr Julie Old's citizen science project Womsat encourages people to document wombats in their local area, to collect data and aid their conservation.
Resistance wins battle, but war far from over:
Scientists at Southern Cross University found that after initially being badly affected, Fleay's Barred Frogs in northern New South Wales and south-east Queensland, may have developed a natural immune response to the amphibian chytrid fungus, a disease that has so far wiped out 7 other Australian species. Meanwhile it has been another winter of mysterious deaths for many other frog species.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-06/native-frog-species-fights-deadly-fungus-nsw-qld/101503242
THE DETERIORATING PROBLEM
Big Bad Biomass
The documentary ‘The Big Burn’ looks at the wood pellets industry in British Columbia, used to feed into Drax’s UK power stations, since this exposé, British Columbian politicians have called for its licenses to be suspended and investors are dropping their shares. Gives an insight of their propaganda and what they want to do here.
The Fifth Estate (2022) ‘The Big Burn’, CBC News, 3 October. Available at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/fifthestate/the-big-burn-1.6603564
Cyclones and logging have a lot in common:
Cyclones can open up forest canopies, drying the forest and promoting growth of grasses or bushes that also make good fuel, while also creating dead material which is fuel for fires – not dissimilar to logging.
"When the wind from a cyclone blows, it damages trees, bringing down a lot of leaves, twigs, branches, and logs to the ground, which make great fuel for future fire," says Ibanez. "Wind also opens the canopy, bringing more light in the undergrowth, which can promote the growth of grasses or bushes that also make good fuel. Also, when the canopy is opened, it makes the undergrowth drier because the canopy usually shades it from the sun and locks in moisture."
"An important component of global change is that ecosystems do not face just one disturbance, but a mix of several disturbances, and the interaction between new disturbances can result in unexpected effects."
https://phys.org/news/2022-10-cyclone-vulnerable-forest.html
TURNING IT AROUND
The phantom menace:
Since the 2011 Bonn Challenge set a goal of restoring some 860 million acres of forest globally by 2030 there have been billions of dollars spent on widespread replanting programs, though most of them have failed due to planting the wrong species in the wrong places, lack of follow-up action, and opposition from local communities, at the time governments and corporations promote the planting events for “greenwashing” though often ignore their failures, the consequence is that there are vast areas of expensive phantom forests supposed to be redressing our climate crisis. Now increasing fire frequencies are taking-out some of those that have been well managed. – our highest priority has to be to protect our existing natural forests.
In fact, many forest ecologists say creating space to allow nature to do its thing is usually a better approach to restoring forests than planting. “Allowing nature to choose which species predominate … allows for local adaptation and higher functional diversity,” argues one advocate, Robin Chazdon of the University of Connecticut, in her book Second Growth. For mangroves, Wetlands International now recommends abandoning widespread planting and instead creating areas of slack water along coastlines, where mangroves can naturally reseed and grow.
https://e360.yale.edu/features/phantom-forests-tree-planting-climate-change
Upsetting offsets:
Comedian John Oliver delivers a brilliant expose of the rorted carbon offsets system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p8zAbFKpW0
Focus on greenwashing:
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has begun surveying the internet for companies making false claims about environmental action after a global investigation found as many as 40% may be fraudulent.
Polly Hemming, a senior researcher at the Australia Institute, said it was “very hard to see how Australian regulators can effectively tackle greenwashing if they can’t get to the root cause”.
“That is, other regulators or arms of government rubber-stamping dodgy offsets or misleading carbon neutral claims,” she said. “In Australia gas companies can literally say they are a carbon-neutral-certified organisation because they have offset the emissions from their offices.”
The turning tide:
Tide detergent maker Procter & Gamble Co faces a challenge to its Chief Executive Jon Moeller as its chairman, as well as 2 board members, from environmental groups and ethical investors at its annual shareholder meeting, because of its reliance on virgin wood pulp to make paper products such as Charmin and Bounty.
Retarding retardant:
An American environmental group filed a lawsuit against U.S. Forest Service officials alleging they polluted waterways during their campaigns against wildfires by inadvertently dropping large volumes of chemical flame retardant into streams, causing harm to some fish, frogs, crustaceans and other aquatic species.
“The Forest Service’s own research shows no evidence that retardant makes a meaningful difference,” the group's executive director, Andy Stahl, said. “Fires grow when the wind blows them up. Retardant does nothing except look good on CNN. In reality, it put pilots in danger and kills fish.”
The main ingredients in fire retardant are inorganic fertilizers and salts that can be harmful to some fish, frogs, crustaceans and other aquatic species. In one Oregon case, 22,000 fish were killed in Central Oregon’s Fall River in 2002 after a Forest Service plane accidently dropped more than a thousand pounds of retardant into the stream.
Forest Media 30 September 2022
PS: here will be no forest media from me next week.
Seize the chance to stop burning forests being classed as renewable energy:
As you may recall, the Greens secured a commitment from the Federal ALP to look into removing a Coalition loophole from the Renewable Energy Act, which allows the destruction and burning of native forests to be classified as renewable energy (to displace solar and wind power). This afternoon, the Federal Government’s ‘Native forest biomass in the Renewable Energy Target’ consultation paper was released and public submissions are open until the 21st of October. This is a window of opportunity to stop the Redbank power station (near Singleton) being restarted with 850,000 tonnes p.a. of north-east NSW’s forests, and many similar proposals around Australia to substitute native forests for coal while pretending there are no CO2 emissions. Please make a submission and encourage any groups you can to do likewise. Its most important to make submissions unique (so they are not dismissed as a single group sub) and state you oppose native forest biomass being eligible for Large-scale Generation Certificates (LGCs) through the Renewable Energy Target.
https://consult.industry.gov.au/native-forest-biomass-in-the-ret
New South Wales
To mark Save the Koala Day (Friday 30 September), the North East Forest Alliance appealed to the NSW Government to stop approving core Koala habitat for clearing and logging, if they have any genuine intent to stop Koalas becoming extinct in the wild by 2050. With logging resuming in Cherry Tree State Forest on the Richmond Range, Fridays4Forests NSW held a vigil in the forest on National Save the Koala Day to protest Forest Corp logging of koala homes, calling for the NSW government to put an end to the logging of public native forests and the creation of a reserve system that will stop the slide of our koalas to extinction. Other reactions to the day are under species.
There is a YouTube video of the Kalang Headwaters rally.
Friends of the Forest and the Brooman State Forest Conservation Group staged a campout protest against native forest logging near Batemans Bay, focusing on the NSW Natural Resources Commission’s recommendation that following the 2019-20 wildfires that 75 per cent of the state forest in the Batemans Bay Management Zone be protected to "allow forests to recover and protect environmental values". Manyana Matters and Brooman State Forest Conservation Group were part of a gathering outside Shoalhaven City Council to show their support for a motion for an end to native forest logging in NSW and to support a call for the creation of the Manyana Special Conservation Reserve. Unfortunately after lengthy debate, and pleas from loggers for their jobs, the motion failed, with only 3 councillors voting in favour.
With its $28 million dedicated to encouraging and promoting logging on private lands, and its new Private Native Forestry (a.k.a. Farm Forestry) Codes of Practice, the NSW Government is hoping there will be an increase in logging, as they aim for accreditation of their “sustainable” logging.
The New Bush Telegraph has an emotive article describing the clearing of bush in the Shoalhaven City Council area for urban development, focussing on the destruction of an old hollow-bearing Blackbutt - a reflection of what goes on in our public forests every day.
Australia
The Victorian Greens’ election policy is to bring forward the phasing out of logging of public native forests from 2030 to 2023 and offering logging workers and contractors to either take a transition package, or be redeployed into a special emergency and disaster response team, using their existing skills in earthmoving, heavy machinery and firefighting, and Victoria's Parliamentary Budget Office assessed it would save the state an estimated $205 million over the next decade.
ABC’s 7.30 report looks at an example of 3,700 hectares of tree clearing taking place in Queensland without any requirement for an assessment of its impact on threatened species, because it’s classed as 50 year old regrowth. Australia’s land use measured annually from June 2020 to June 2021 has seen dramatic shifts towards forestation, cropping and conservation, land for forestry saw the most significant percentage shift with 47.4pc increase over 12 months, followed by cropping at 20.7pc, conservation at 11.1pc, and grazing at a mild 2.2pc increase, while cattle decline exclusion fencing, sheep and goats increase.
The ABC has an article about some farmers on the Murray who started planting trees 30 years ago, and are now doing well out of sawing them up for timber and firewood, with the aim of producing timber indefinitely. The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) (now chaired by Diana Gibbs who used to be Forestry’s favourite economist) is excited by the opportunities for them from the Forests and Climate Leaders’ Partnership and the prospects of a massive government funded plantation expansion, with its first annual meeting to be held in Egypt at COP27 in November.
Species
Researchers assessed data from the past 30-odd years on the survival of birds in semi-arid landscapes near Grenfell and West Wyalong, finding that in hot summers with 30 days above 38℃ just 59% of birds survived, leading them to predict that with about 1℃ warming compared to pre-industrial levels annual survival will fall from 63% to 43%, and with the 3.7℃ warming we could experience later this century the survival rate drops to a shocking 11%. They also followed the fates of 40 breeding pairs of Jacky Winter, a small robin, living in semi-arid mallee woodland in South Australia between 2018 and 2021 to assess their reaction to heat stress, finding that at around 35℃ birds moved to the top of the highest trees where greater wind speeds cooled their bodies, and at around 40℃ they moved to the ground to shelter in tree-base hollows in the largest mallees and crevices, the only places that offered the needed thermal insulation, leading them to recommend as the key action “identifying and protecting thermal refuges such as tree hollows by, for example, managing fire to reduce the loss of large trees”.
A study analysed 670 wildlife images posted to Instagram by wildlife organisations and research group accounts, and recorded the number of “likes” the image received in proportion to each organisation’s follower count, finding “mammals were, indeed, more engaging than other species, but only by a tiny amount, with birds, reptiles, invertebrates, amphibians and fish all equally as engaging for Instagram users”, advocating for promotion of all species as research has found “when we put effort into promoting underrepresented species, we can improve their chances of receiving a public donation by 26%”.
Birdlife Australia is calling on citizen scientists to take part in Coffs Coast Glossy Count on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 October to identify Glossy Black Cockatoos in Coffs Harbour, Bellingen and Clarence Valley.
The 42 minute documentary "Every Koala Counts" about Friends of the Koala and the fight to save koalas in NSW will premiere at Byron Bay International Film Festival on 22 October, and has been selected for the International Social Change Film Festival. Gunnedah's koala population used to be thriving but it's now in steep decline thanks, in part, to the ravages of chlamydia, so people are concerned that if Santos is allowed to generate seismic waves using thumper trucks that it could further stress Koalas and interfere with a chlamydia vaccination trial. Ten Koalas have been struck and killed by cars on the Mid North Coast this month.
The radio-tracking collaboration between DPI Forestry and the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital has finally been written up, its no surprise that it supports current forestry practices, though it is surprising that given it has been widely used to claim that Koalas have no tree size preference (ie NRC 2021: “Provided that the tree species composition within a stand is nutritionally suitable, koalas should be able to find food of adequate nutritional quality in a forest mosaic that includes regrowth dominated by trees as small as 10 cm DBH (noting the DPI GPS study showed koalas use the full range of tree sizes above eight centimetres)”), it now says they prefer trees 30-60cm (the paper is paywalled). Vic Jurskis, and his theory of Koalas erupting in response to regrowth (which is why they are being killed by cars), is having a field day with the propaganda being produced by Brad Law and being released by the Natural Resources Commission as part of their forest monitoring, notably their claim that the 2019-20 fires had no impact on Koalas: “This recent trend shows a stable meta-population over the last 5 years, including after fires burnt 30% of Koala habitat in 2019.” - these people, their pseudo-science, and misinterpretations, are dangerous.
Australian Koala Foundation had very widespread coverage for Save the Koala Day, citing that over the past two decades, koala populations have nearly halved because of urban expansion, loss of habitat, disease and climate change, and experts believe they remain under threat of extinction, with the AKF calling for a moratorium on habitats that are essential for breeding populations. Featherdale Wildlife Park's Chad Staples said habitat loss is one of the main reasons the koala population is struggling to survive, and urged people to take political action. Taronga Wildlife Hospital at Taronga Western Plains Zoo used Save the Koala Day to promote their new hospital that will open this summer. ACF identify five ways to save Koalas, adopting one (paying an organisation), finding out if they are in your area, watching a video about scats, planting trees and driving slower – nothing about stopping clearing and logging of their habitat. For their contribution the NSW Government, WWF and Climate Friendly Co announced that private landholders are being supported to restore 200 hectares of koala habitat in the Northern Rivers by planting 250,000 tree seedlings, going so far as to pretend it will also restore Greater Glider habitat. Though the Animal Justice Party complains it will take 30 years, that Koalas don’t have, for the trees to grow big enough for Koalas – and we will have to wait 200 years for those hollows Greater Gliders need to form
Researchers found that Noisy Miners become more aggressive to other native birds around cafes and in nectar rich gardens, where the extra sugar gives them more time to attack competitors and predators, leading to recommendations for planting less hybrid and exotic nectar-producing species, and more local endemics and dense small-flowered shrubs.
The finding of 19 cane toads around Lake Macquarie has raised concerns about the risk of a new outbreak.
“Radical feral horse-loving extremists” have threatened to ‘fire bomb’ the offices of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, and issued death threats to staff, as retribution for the sanctioned humane culling of 11 feral horses in the Kosciuszko National Park.
The Deteriorating Problem
After devastating Haiti, Hurricane Ian became rapidly turbocharged as it moved over the climate heated waters of the gulf before making landfall in Florida, due to warming oceans there is a growing problem with the rapid intensification and magnitude of hurricanes (cyclones) catching communities by surprise, while they are also becoming slower and wetter meaning the magnitude of rainfall events are increasing, and the magnitude of storm surges are increasing as sea-levels rise (as with the unprecedented storm surge from Hurricane Fiona that devastated some communities in eastern Canada last week).
In the space of less than a week, the new ultra-conservative British Truss government has launched an all-out assault on nature, starting with a bill to expunge all remaining EU-derived regulations including numerous environmental protections for endangered species and wild nature, as well as creating ‘Investment Zones’ “in which taxes will be cut, planning rules relaxed and environmental regulations ripped up”.
Mongabay report that a study published in June analyzed samples from 1,000 sites along waterways in more than 100 nations, looking for 61 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Their results suggest that concentrations of at least one API breached safe levels for aquatic life at nearly 40% of sites tested globally.
Turning it Around
In a Blockade Australia action, Lismore resident Mali Cooper, 22, stopped her car across the southbound entrance to the Sydney Harbour Tunnel, locked onto the steering wheel and bought traffic to a halt, under draconian laws she faced a fine of up to $22,000 or a two-year jail sentence, though Lismore magistrate Jeff Linden dismissed the charges on mental health grounds (a flood victim).
The UN human rights committee found Australia had breached Article 27 and 17 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights failed to protect Torres Strait Islanders against the impacts of climate change and violated their right to enjoy their culture, and to be free from arbitrary interference to privacy, family and home, by not taking measures such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and upgrading seawalls on the islands
Fridays for Future rallies were held in New York, Jakarta, Tokyo, Rome, Berlin and Montreal to highlight their fears about the effects of global warming and demand more aid for poor countries hit by wild weather, with 20,000 people attending the rally in Berlin and 5,000 in Rome. Workers for Climate Action and School Strike for Climate held a rally at Sydney’s Town Hall against the Albanese government’s “inadequate” 2030 emissions reduction target and Labor’s support of new coal and gas projects. Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) had a rally of 150 in Brisbane focussing on new coal and gas projects.
Researchers from the Ohio State University have determined that most species of trees in the USA are growing faster due to CO2 fertilisation, making growing trees even more effective at reducing atmospheric CO2, though this does not account for the growing impact of climate heating on forests.
A push by 600,000 Spanish citizens resulted in their Senate voting in favour of granting the 1,600 km2 Mar Menor lagoon and the nearby Mediterranean coastline the status of personhood, codifying the lagoon’s right “to exist as an ecosystem and to evolve naturally” and recognizes its right to protection, conservation and restoration, and it will be legally represented by a group of caretakers made up of local officials, local citizens and scientists.
Dailan Pugh
NEW SOUTH WALES
Save the Koala Day
To mark Save the Koala Day (Friday 30 September), the North East Forest Alliance appealed to the NSW Government to stop approving core Koala habitat for clearing and logging, if they have any genuine intent to stop Koalas becoming extinct in the wild by 2050.
With logging resuming in Cherry Tree State Forest on the Richmond Range, Fridays4Forests NSW held a vigil in the forest on National Save the Koala Day to protest Forest Corp logging of koala homes, calling for the NSW government to put an end to the logging of public native forests and the creation of a reserve system that will stop the slide of our koalas to extinction. Other reactions to the day are under species.
Cherry Tree: https://photos.app.goo.gl/YMDM7R7eS3UmTiPX6
There is a YouTube video of the Kalang Headwaters rally:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=4_YSsY5gAbk
The News of the Area story on native forest logging is now online
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/dismay-as-nsw-government-pushes-ahead-with-native-forest-logging
The end, not yet:
Friends of the Forest and the Brooman State Forest Conservation Group staged a campout protest against native forest logging near Batemans Bay, focusing on the NSW Natural Resources Commission’s recommendation that following the 2019-20 wildfires that 75 per cent of the state forest in the Batemans Bay Management Zone be protected to "allow forests to recover and protect environmental values".
Manyana Matters and Brooman State Forest Conservation Group were part of a gathering outside Shoalhaven City Council to show their support for a motion for an end to native forest logging in NSW and to support a call for the creation of the Manyana Special Conservation Reserve.
Unfortunately after lengthy debate, and pleas from loggers for their jobs, the motion failed, with only 3 councillors voting in favour.
At the council meeting, environmental activists from around the region filled the public gallery, along with members of the CFMEU representing workers in the local forestry sector.
Increasing logging:
With its $28 million dedicated to encouraging and promoting logging on private lands, and its new Private Native Forestry (a.k.a. Farm Forestry) Codes of Practice, the NSW Government is hoping there will be an increase in logging, as they aim for accreditation of their “sustainable” logging.
https://www.theland.com.au/story/7915985/timber-shortages-lead-to-new-farm-forestry-support/
A case in point:
The New Bush Telegraph has an emotive article describing the clearing of bush in the Shoalhaven City Council area for urban development, focussing on the destruction of an old hollow-bearing Blackbutt - a reflection of what goes on in our public forests every day.
https://newbushtelegraph.org.au/the-passing-of-a-matriarch/
AUSTRALIA
End Victorian logging by 2023, not 2030, and save $205M:
The Victorian Greens’ election policy is to bring forward the phasing out of logging of public native forests from 2030 to 2023 and offering logging workers and contractors to either take a transition package, or be redeployed into a special emergency and disaster response team, using their existing skills in earthmoving, heavy machinery and firefighting, and Victoria's Parliamentary Budget Office assessed it would save the state an estimated $205 million over the next decade.
https://www.miragenews.com/forestry-workers-would-form-emergency-response-862255/
Victoria's Parliamentary Budget Office has crunched the numbers on the Greens' new election policy to end native forest logging next year, instead of the 2030 deadline set by the Andrews government.
According to the PBO's costing, seen by AAP, the Greens policy would save Victoria $205m from 2022/23 to 2032/33.
A $101.3m estimated fall in revenue from abolishing VicForests on January 1 next year would be offset by $306.7m in projected savings from ending government grants to the state-owned business.
https://www.perthnow.com.au/politics/earlier-vic-logging-ban-would-save-205m-c-8364543
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7919460/earlier-vic-logging-ban-would-save-205m/
Extinction worsening:
ABC’s 7.30 report looks at an example of 3,700 hectares of tree clearing taking place in Queensland without any requirement for an assessment of its impact on threatened species, because it’s classed as 50 year old regrowth.
https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/questions-raised-over-queensland-land-clearing/14067990
Shifting agriculture:
Australia’s land use measured annually from June 2020 to June 2021 has seen dramatic shifts towards forestation, cropping and conservation, land for forestry saw the most significant percentage shift with 47.4pc increase over 12 months, followed by cropping at 20.7pc, conservation at 11.1pc, and grazing at a mild 2.2pc increase, while cattle decline exclusion fencing, sheep and goats increase.
In the last five years, thousands of kilometres of exclusion fencing have been erected in western NSW and western QLD. Before the drought, cattle had been predominately in these areas. Since the extreme drought conditions of 2019, cattle have been replaced by sheep and goats, which are more suitable for these marginal regions and easier to feed in droughts.
The ABC has an article about some farmers on the Murray who started planting trees 30 years ago, and are now doing well out of sawing them up for timber and firewood, with the aim of producing timber indefinitely.
Logging for climate:
The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) (now chaired by Diana Gibbs who used to be Forestry’s favourite economist) is excited by the opportunities for them from the Forests and Climate Leaders’ Partnership and the prospects of a massive government funded plantation expansion, with its first annual meeting to be held in Egypt at COP27 in November.
“If the world is to achieve its ambitious climate targets, there needs to be an expansion of the forest estate across the globe. This expansion will include biodiversity plantings, but also forests for sustainable harvest and replanting of trees for timber and other products.
https://www.miragenews.com/new-un-international-partnership-to-fight-861809/
SPECIES
Bye Bye Birdie:
Researchers assessed data from the past 30-odd years on the survival of birds in semi-arid landscapes near Grenfell and West Wyalong, finding that in hot summers with 30 days above 38℃ just 59% of birds survived, leading them to predict that with about 1℃ warming compared to pre-industrial levels annual survival will fall from 63% to 43%, and with the 3.7℃ warming we could experience later this century the survival rate drops to a shocking 11%.
Our studies show extremely high temperatures are already killing troubling numbers of birds in Australia’s arid and semi-arid regions. These regions comprise 70% of the Australian continent and 40% of the global landmass.
They also followed the fates of 40 breeding pairs of Jacky Winter, a small robin, living in semi-arid mallee woodland in South Australia between 2018 and 2021 to assess their reaction to heat stress, finding that at around 35℃ birds moved to the top of the highest trees where greater wind speeds cooled their bodies, and at around 40℃ they moved to the ground to shelter in tree-base hollows in the largest mallees and crevices, the only places that offered the needed thermal insulation, leading them to recommend as the key action “identifying and protecting thermal refuges such as tree hollows by, for example, managing fire to reduce the loss of large trees”.
We then examined what parts of the birds’ habitat offered the coolest place to shelter on extremely hot days. Hollows in tree bases were significantly cooler than all other locations we measured. The best of these cool hollows were rare and found only in the largest eucalypt mallees.
Even with their flexible behaviour, the ability of Jacky Winters to survive heatwaves was finite – and apparently dependent on whether large trees were available. Some 29% percent of adults we studied disappeared (and were presumed dead) within 24 hours of air temperatures reaching a record-breaking 49℃ in 2019.
Similarly, during two months of heatwaves in 2018, 20% of adults studied were lost, compared with only 6% in the two months prior.
Eggs and nestlings were even more susceptible to heat. All 41 egg clutches and 21 broods exposed to air temperatures above 42℃ died.
Survival probability declined strongly with increasing exposure to days >38°C and to a lesser extent to days <0°C, with temperature extremes explaining 43 and 13% of temporal variation in survival among years, respectively. Summer survival patterns were similar across avian guilds but only survival of nectarivores declined in winter. Our models predict that gains in winter survival will not offset reductions in summer survival. Annual survival is predicted to decline substantially by the end of the century: from .63 in 1986 to .43 in 2104 under an optimistic emission scenario and to .11 under a pessimistic scenario.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geb.13591
Cute and cuddly get all the attention, but what do people like?
A study analysed 670 wildlife images posted to Instagram by wildlife organisations and research group accounts, and recorded the number of “likes” the image received in proportion to each organisation’s follower count, finding “mammals were, indeed, more engaging than other species, but only by a tiny amount, with birds, reptiles, invertebrates, amphibians and fish all equally as engaging for Instagram users”, advocating for promotion of all species as research has found “when we put effort into promoting underrepresented species, we can improve their chances of receiving a public donation by 26%”.
Our findings suggest the media and conservation organisations can promote endangered species across all walks of life – from lizards to bugs and fish to frogs – without compromising viewer engagement. This will increase our knowledge of the amazing diversity of animals that we share this planet with. In turn, this will lead to underrepresented species receiving more of the conservation support they need to survive.
Glossy PR:
Birdlife Australia is calling on citizen scientists to take part in Coffs Coast Glossy Count on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 October to identify Glossy Black Cockatoos in the Coffs Harbour, Bellingen and the Clarence Valley.
Citizen scientists can register for the event and sign up for a workshop via the BirdLife website at bit.ly/glossyproject.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/join-the-coffs-coast-glossy-count-29-30-october-2022
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/coffs-coast-news-of-the-area-30-september-2022
Koalas,
The 42 minute documentary "Every Koala Counts" about Friends of the Koala and the fight to save koalas in NSW will premiere at Byron Bay International Film Festival on 22 October, and has been selected for the International Social Change Film Festival.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA0b4pDlUA4
… more concern about thumpers:
Gunnedah's koala population used to be thriving but it's now in steep decline thanks, in part, to the ravages of chlamydia, so people are concerned that if Santos is allowed to generate seismic waves using thumper trucks that it could further stress Koalas and interfere with a chlamydia vaccination trial.
"It was like an ongoing earthquake - and I've been through an earthquake - but it didn't stop. The vibrations were coming up through the ground and the reverberation, we could feel it through our feet, right up into our heart," the Liverpool Plains farmer says.
"It was a very disconcerting feeling. We had stock that were absolutely terrified, horses that were not bred to jump but jumped out of the paddock, fleeing the experience."
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/aap/article-11243989/Seismic-Santos-tests-hurt-koala-trial.html
https://www.westernadvocate.com.au/story/7916790/seismic-santos-tests-may-hurt-koala-trial/
… more concern about cars:
Ten Koalas have been struck and killed by cars on the Mid North Coast this month.
https://www.nbnnews.com.au/2022/09/27/increasing-concerns-over-the-number-of-koalas-struck-by-cars/
… no concern about logging:
The radio-tracking collaboration between DPI Forestry and the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital has finally been written up, its no surprise that it supports current forestry practices, though it is surprising that given it has been widely used to claim that Koalas have no tree size preference (ie NRC 2021: “Provided that the tree species composition within a stand is nutritionally suitable, koalas should be able to find food of adequate nutritional quality in a forest mosaic that includes regrowth dominated by trees as small as 10 cm DBH (noting the DPI GPS study showed koalas use the full range of tree sizes above eight centimetres)”), it now says they prefer trees 30-60cm (the paper is paywalled).
Key results: We tracked koalas to 429 day-trees and 70 night-trees during this time. Males and females displayed little difference in tree use. Blackbutt Eucalyptus pilularis and turpentine Syncarpia glomulifera were the most commonly used species during the day, but blackbutt was ranked with the highest preference relative to tree availability. Tallowwood Eucalyptus microcorys was by far the most commonly used tree at night. Koalas used a broad range of tree sizes during the day and night, but most often used medium-sized trees, with preferences for a diameter of 30–60 cm (slightly smaller at night). Koalas used all topographic positions in the landscape, but more than half of the trees used were in lower topographic areas (gullies and lower slopes). Areas mapped as having previous heavy timber harvesting were the most used forest category, followed by riparian exclusion zones.
https://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/WR22087
… or fires:
Vic Jurskis, and his theory of Koalas erupting in response to regrowth (which is why they are being killed by cars), is having a field day with the propaganda being produced by Brad Law and being released by the Natural Resources Commission as part of their forest monitoring, notably their claim that the 2019-20 fires had no impact on Koalas: “This recent trend shows a stable meta-population over the last 5 years, including after fires burnt 30% of Koala habitat in 2019.” - these people, their pseudo-science, and misinterpretations, are dangerous.
https://arr.news/2022/09/27/more-of-the-great-koala-scam-vic-jurskis/
Saving Koalas, or distracting from the real threats:
Australian Koala Foundation had very widespread coverage (only a fraction is identified below) for Save the Koala Day, citing that over the past two decades, koala populations have nearly halved because of urban expansion, loss of habitat, disease and climate change, and experts believe they remain under threat of extinction, with the AKF calling for a moratorium on habitats that are essential for breeding populations.
"Do I think that if we acted now and stopped cutting down the trees that they could recover? Yes I do. But I don't think the new minister has anywhere near the urgency that she needs, and that's why I'm calling for a moratorium on habitats that are essential for breeding populations."
https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/environment/koalas-at-risk-of-extinction-experts-warn-c-8400581
https://www.hawkesburygazette.com.au/story/7924232/koalas-at-risk-of-extinction-experts-warn/?cs=12
https://www.singletonargus.com.au/story/7924232/koalas-at-risk-of-extinction-experts-warn/
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7924232/koalas-at-risk-of-extinction-experts-warn/
https://www.katherinetimes.com.au/story/7924232/koalas-at-risk-of-extinction-experts-warn/?cs=356
https://www.greatlakesadvocate.com.au/story/7924232/koalas-at-risk-of-extinction-experts-warn/?cs=7
https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/7924232/koalas-at-risk-of-extinction-experts-warn/
https://www.areanews.com.au/story/7924232/koalas-at-risk-of-extinction-experts-warn/?cs=9351
Featherdale Wildlife Park's Chad Staples said habitat loss is one of the main reasons the koala population is struggling to survive, and urged people to take political action
Taronga Wildlife Hospital at Taronga Western Plains Zoo used Save the Koala Day on Friday 30 September to promote their new hospital that will open this summer.
ACF identify five ways to save Koalas, adopting one (paying an organisation), finding out if they are in your area, watching a video about scats, planting trees and driving slower – nothing about stopping clearing and logging of their habitat.
https://www.wwf.org.au/news/blogs/5-ways-to-help-koalas-this-save-the-koala-day#gs.ddvchj
For their contribution the NSW Government, WWF and Climate Friendly Co announced that private landholders are being supported to restore 200 hectares of koala habitat in the Northern Rivers by planting 250,000 tree seedlings, going so far as to pretend it will also restore Greater Glider habitat. Though the Animal Justice Party complains it will take 30 years, that Koalas don’t have, for the trees to grow big enough for Koalas – and we will have to wait 200 years for those hollows Greater Gliders need to form
WWF-Australia Landscape Restoration Project Manager Tanya Pritchard said the project is addressing some of the major threats facing koalas.
“We can’t turn around the decline of east coast koalas without bold actions to tackle habitat loss and fragmentation,” Ms Pritchard said.
Climate Friendly Co-CEO Skye Glenday said … “Our partnership with landowners, WWF-Australia and the NSW Government will replenish important feeding and safe living areas for koalas and potentially attract other wildlife such as greater gliders, while building biodiversity and flood impact mitigation,” Ms Glenday said.
https://afndaily.com.au/2022/09/29/habitat-boost-for-northern-rivers-koalas/
http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/2022-09/29/content_78444917.htm
Animal Justice Party Councillor for the City of Campbelltown Matt Stellino says the Environment Minister’s announcement is a distraction and a death sentence for koalas. ‘He hasn’t announced additional koala habitat: he’s announced the planting of seedlings. They won’t become koala habitat for 30 years. Koalas don’t have 30 years.
Sugar hits result in aggression:
Researchers found that Noisy Miners become more aggressive to other native birds around cafes and in nectar rich gardens, where the extra sugar gives them more time to attack competitors and predators, leading to recommendations for planting less hybrid and exotic nectar-producing species, and more local endemics and dense small-flowered shrubs.
Our study, published in the journal Emu - Austral Ornithology, found it wasn’t cafes with access to sugar-rich food that led to more miner aggression. In fact, gardens were where we recorded the highest amount of aggressive behaviour.
A secret cell:
The finding of 19 cane toads around Lake Macquarie has raised concerns about the risk of a new outbreak.
https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/7918855/more-cane-toads-caught-near-lake-macquarie/
Brumby wars escalate:
“Radical feral horse-loving extremists” have threatened to ‘fire bomb’ the offices of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, and issued death threats to staff, as retribution for the sanctioned humane culling of 11 feral horses in the Kosciuszko National Park.
Police have been alerted after a handwritten letter was sent to National Parks staff at their Kosciuszko region office last week stating: “ … as a little act of retribution we plan to pay a visit … and firebomb your premises! Make sure you are all very careful over the next couple of weeks, we would hate you to get burnt”.
Messages posted on social media and seen by The Daily Telegraph include “shoot the dogs that did this”.
Other messages directed at staff included “maybe we can give them some ‘gut shots’ and see if they can deny that!”, after inaccurate claims brumbies had been killed by being shot in the stomach – which would have lead to a slow, painful death.
THE DETERIORATING PROBLEM
Cyclones rapidly growing worse:
After devastating Haiti, Hurricane Ian became rapidly turbocharged as it moved over the climate heated waters of the gulf before making landfall in Florida, due to warming oceans there is a growing problem with the rapid intensification and magnitude of hurricanes (cyclones) catching communities by surprise, while they are also becoming slower and wetter meaning the magnitude of rainfall events are increasing, and the magnitude of storm surges are increasing as sea-levels rise (as with the unprecedented storm surge from Hurricane Fiona that devastated some communities in eastern Canada last week).
Britain rapidly getting worse:
In the space of less than a week, the new ultra-conservative British Truss government has launched an all-out assault on nature, starting with a bill to expunge all remaining EU-derived regulations including numerous environmental protections for endangered species and wild nature, as well as creating ‘Investment Zones’ “in which taxes will be cut, planning rules relaxed and environmental regulations ripped up”.
https://guyshrubsole.substack.com/p/trusss-anti-environmentalism-has
The chemicals we excrete:
Mongabay report that a study published in June analyzed samples from 1,000 sites along waterways in more than 100 nations, looking for 61 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Their results suggest that concentrations of at least one API breached safe levels for aquatic life at nearly 40% of sites tested globally.
TURNING IT AROUND
Legalising climate anxiety:
In a Blockade Australia action, Lismore resident Mali Cooper, 22, stopped her car across the southbound entrance to the Sydney Harbour Tunnel, locked onto the steering wheel and bought traffic to a halt, under draconian laws she faced a fine of up to $22,000 or a two-year jail sentence, though Lismore magistrate Jeff Linden dismissed the charges on mental health grounds.
Davis said he was pleased that the court “gave full consideration” to his client’s pre-existing anxiety disorder which “was profoundly impacted, exacerbated by the Lismore floods and her concerns about climate change to such a degree that it was clinically diagnosed after the Lismore floods as PTSD”
Mali Cooper has spent the last three months under harsh bail conditions of non-association with over 30 others, and ordered to report weekly to the Lismore police station, which was ironically shut due to flood-damage.
On social media, Blockade Australia said, ‘It is not a crime to attempt collective survival on earth. With every disaster, we need a stronger resistance to this planet-destroying system.’
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/09/lismore-activist-who-blocked-sydney-traffic-has-charges-dismissed/
The UN human rights committee found Australia had breached Article 27 and 17 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights failed to protect Torres Strait Islanders against the impacts of climate change and violated their right to enjoy their culture, and to be free from arbitrary interference to privacy, family and home, by not taking measures such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and upgrading seawalls on the islands
ClientEarth lawyer Sophie Marjanac, who acted for the claimants, said the outcome set a number of precedents. Specifically, it’s the first time an international tribunal has found:
- a country has violated human rights law through inadequate climate policy
- a nation state is responsible for their greenhouse gas emissions under international human rights law
- peoples’ right to culture is at risk from climate impacts.
https://lsj.com.au/articles/un-win-for-torres-strait-islanders-on-climate-change-damage/
Students are back:
Fridays for Future rallies were held in New York, Jakarta, Tokyo, Rome, Berlin and Montreal to highlight their fears about the effects of global warming and demand more aid for poor countries hit by wild weather, with 20,000 people attending the rally in Berlin and 5,000 in Rome.
Workers for Climate Action and School Strike for Climate held a rally at Sydney’s Town Hall against the Albanese government’s “inadequate” 2030 emissions reduction target and Labor’s support of new coal and gas projects.
Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) had a rally of 150 in Brisbane focussing on new coal and gas projects.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/09/young-people-rally-for-a-climate-positive-budget/
CO2 fertilisation:
Researchers from the Ohio State University have determined that most species of trees in the USA are growing faster due to CO2 fertilisation, making growing trees even more effective at reducing atmospheric CO2, though this does not account for the growing impact of climate heating on forests.
"Carbon fertilization certainly makes it cheaper to plant trees, avoid deforestation, or do other activities related to trying to enhance the carbon sink in forests. We should be planting more trees and preserving older ones, because at the end of the day they're probably our best bet for mitigating climate change," Sohngen continued.
Over the period 1970 to 2015, CO2 concentrations increased by 75 ppm, and we find that this increase in CO2 stimulated an increase in wood volume in naturally regenerated 75-year-old forests in the United States by 12.3% (7.5 and 17.1%: 99% CI).
… This suggests that from 1970 to 2015, wood volume on natural Loblolly/Shortleaf stands increased by about 0.5 m3 ha−1 yr−1 due to elevated CO2, while volume increased by 0.8 m3 ha−1 yr−1 on planted stands.
Although the proportional effect of elevated CO2 appears to decline for older stands, the additional accumulation of volume in older stands due to elevated CO2 remains substantial nonetheless because older stands have more wood volume.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-33196-x
Making nature personal:
A push by 600,000 Spanish citizens resulted in their Senate voting in favour of granting the 1,600 km2 Mar Menor lagoon and the nearby Mediterranean coastline the status of personhood, codifying the lagoon’s right “to exist as an ecosystem and to evolve naturally” and recognizes its right to protection, conservation and restoration, and it will be legally represented by a group of caretakers made up of local officials, local citizens and scientists.
Forest Media 23 September 2022
New South Wales
The NSW parliament debate on the 21,000 strong petition calling for an end to logging of public native forests, stopping burning them for electricity and implementing the NRC recommendations for burnt forests, has been rescheduled for 4pm 13th October. A rally out the front is being organised for 2:30pm: https://fb.me/e/5nWL3RSN0
NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson says the NSW Government’s response to the 21 thousand signatories on a petition to end native forest logging has failed to recognise the considered calls for a transition plan that makes economic and ecological sense, receiving great coverage in The Echo and The Northern Rivers Times this week. There was a protest march in Bellingen for the Kalang Headwaters, I saw a report on NBN (?) news mentioning 500 as participating, though I have been unable to find anything else. News of the Area has a long article combining the march in Bellingen (with no mention of numbers), the reaction to the petition from Minister Saunders and 10 major conservation groups (including NEFA and NCEC), and the reaction to the inquiry from Sue Higginson and Justin Field. Committed Christians, mostly from the Uniting Church, are working with forest defenders on developing a ministry to advocate for forests on the NSW North Coast after spending a few days exploring forests on Gumbaynggirr land.
In breaking news, forestry workers welcomed the government's rejection of native timber ban, mentioning they don’t try to rape and pillage. NSW parliamentarians from across the political spectrum joined to establish the inaugural Parliamentary Friends of Forestry group, co-chaired by Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders and Shadow Minister for Natural Resources Tania Mihailuk.
An assessment of vegetation change and carbon storage in 130,000 years of sediments in Sydney’s Thirlmere Lake found that thanks to erosion the lake was able to capture and store large quantities of carbon, the vegetation fluctuated from forests and shrubs in the inter-glacials to grass and herbs during drier and colder glacial periods, with forest reducing erosion of sediments by nearly 10 times, though because of increased carbon in the forests overall carbon storage in lake sediments were increased.
Heavy rainfall and flooding events have rendered up to 30 per cent of the state’s national parks and walking trails inaccessible, with remediation works taking months to complete, and more rain on the way.
Australia
After the Morrisson Dark Ages, the Australian government has signed the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature endorsed by more than 90 countries committing them to reversing biodiversity loss by 2030. NCEC’s Susie Russell put out a press release welcoming political recognition of the biodiversity crisis.
Species
Cosmos Magazine has an article explaining what a species is, how they get listed as threatened, and what action is required (or not), emphasising that a response to the Samuel Review is expected by the end of the year.
As part of AKF’s Save the Koala Month, Hope 103.2 has an interview with Dr Kara Youngentob talking about the role of Koalas in forests, apparently boosting trees’ immune systems, and Deborah Tabart calling for support to call on the Australian Government to enact the AKF’s Koala Protection Act. People are being asked to take care driving and keep dogs under control, as at least 30 koalas have been reported to have been hit by cars or attacked by dogs across the Northern Rivers since mid-July.
University of Sydney are concerned that a vaccine trial they are undertaking on the Liverpool Plains may be compromised by Santos’ proposal for seismic testing in areas that 46 out of 50 koalas in the study lived, being most concerned about the potential for seismic shocks to induce a stress response. Ballarat Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation are calling for an immediate moratorium on the harvesting of blue-gum plantations across Victoria, to protect koalas, until a management plan is established.
Narrandera held its inaugural Koala Festival on Saturday to celebrate and raise awareness of Narrandera’s treasured free-ranging koala colony through koala-themed displays and activities. Southern New England Landcare and Friends of the Koala have been granted $750,000 and $630,000 respectively from the NSW Koala Strategy, as well as $420,000 from the Commonwealth’s Regional Bushfire Recovery for Multiregional Species and Strategic Projects Program, to employ dedicated Koala Officers, develop Regional Koala Conservation Strategies, fund localised private land projects. and support for the koala rehabilitation sector. In an Area of Regional Koala Significance (ARKS) in the Southern Tablelands and Snowy Monaro Local Land Services have been using wildlife audio recorders to record koalas, detecting them at 63 per cent of the recording sites, and helping landowners to plant close to 5,000 koala habitat and feed trees and established livestock exclusion fencing, pest animal control and weed management, as part of their Cold Country Koala project.
An estimated 60 per cent of the Greater Glider population in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area was estimated to have been lost in the 2019-20 fires, though in the less heavily burnt areas there are signs of recovery. A new children's book Drawing Australian Gliders, which brings together art and natural history, has been launched.
Solar backpacks are being attached to captive-reared plains wanderers to track their movements when released;
Warming of reptile and fish eggs has been found to make the juveniles and adults less tolerant of higher temperatures, meaning many species of cold-blooded animals will struggle to handle more heat as their habitat warms up, with young particularly vulnerable.
The Deteriorating Problem
A world-wide study of wood decay found that decay rates from microbes approximately doubled across sites for each 10℃ increase in mean annual temperature, with decay increasing further with rainfall, though the greatest increase in decay came from termites, in a region with temperatures of 30℃ termites will eat wood seven times faster than in a place with temperatures of 20℃, meaning that rather than carbon being stored in dead wood for often considerable periods it will be released into the atmosphere more rapidly, accelerating global warming.
Scientists warn that when 25% of the Amazon is cleared under current climate pressures that it will reach a tipping point beyond which it would begin to transition from lush tropical forest into a dry degraded savanna, while so far only 13.2%. has been cleared, the problem is that 31% of the eastern Amazon is gone which is critical as the western Amazon gets up to half of its rain from recycling of rainfall by the eastern rainforests, meaning that the western Amazon is more vulnerable to drought losses, accelerating progress towards irrevocable collapse.
The Trembling Giant, an Aspen tree with a single root system and a forest of stems covering over 43 ha, considered one of the heaviest, oldest, and largest organisms in the world, is being fragmented by fences and browsing by cattle and deer.
Turning it Around
Around the world thousands of hectares of trees planted as offsets for big polluters are being consumed by wildfires, releasing hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, with densely packed plantations particularly vulnerable to burning, and fire risk increasing as CO2 levels increase, the only solution is to stop polluting – and of course restoring the resilience of standing forests.
Central to the UK government’s net-zero pledge is an aim to plant 7,000 hectares of woodland a year by May 2024, but the drought has taken a huge toll, the stressed plantings are susceptible the oak processionary moth, ash dieback and chestnut blight, putting the UK plan at risk – out weakened forests too are at risk from Myrtle Rust and Bell Miner Associated Dieback.
Researchers found that tree species diversity could enhance drought resistance in nearly half the world’s forests, emphasising “the importance of restoring tree species diversity in helping forests resist frequent and intense droughts that may occur as a result of global warming”.
A study of a Mexican mangrove forest, found that like other trees they are good at absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it in soil, in the wet low oxygen and carbon-rich peat under mangrove forests they can keep carbon out of the atmosphere for millennia – the problem I see is that as the seas rise mangroves have to retreat inland (if they aren’t stopped by development) and their soils will wash away.
Users of a new digital platform from non-profit CTrees will be able to track in near-real-time the carbon stored and emitted in the world’s forests, it’s being touted as the first-ever open-source global system for calculating the amount of carbon in every tree on the planet, and is to be launched at COP27 this November.
Dailan Pugh
NEW SOUTH WALES
Date for debate:
The NSW parliament debate on the 21,000 strong petition calling for an end to logging of public native forests, stopping burning them for electricity and implementing the NRC recommendations for burnt forests, has been rescheduled for 4pm 13th October. A rally out the front is being organised for 2:30pm: https://fb.me/e/5nWL3RSN0
Higginson attacks Saunders:
NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson says the NSW Government’s response to the 21 thousand signatories on a petition to end native forest logging has failed to recognise the considered calls for a transition plan that makes economic and ecological sense, receiving great coverage in The Echo and The Northern Rivers Times this week.
‘The legitimate concerns of many NSW residents have been completely disregarded by the Government in this response. It is clear that the Minister and this Government are not up for the job of taking us into the future.’
The Northern Rivers Times 22 September 2022
Marching for forests:
There was a protest march in Bellingen for the Kalang Headwaters, I saw a report on NBN news mentioning 500 as participating, though I have been unable to find anything else. News of the Area has a long article combining the march in Bellingen (with no mention of numbers), the reaction to the petition from Minister Saunders and 10 major conservation groups (including NEFA and NCEC), and the reaction to the inquiry from Sue Higginson and Justin Field.
Action to protest logging in native forests continues on the Coffs Coast, with a march in Bellingen last Saturday, September 17, to protest proposed logging of what activists say is over 1,500 hectares of prime native animal habitat near the Kalang headwaters.
NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh said “The NSW Government’s callous disregard for our threatened species is why Koalas, and hollow-dependent species such as Greater Gliders, Yellow-bellied Gliders, Gang Gang Cockatoos and Glossy Black Cockatoos are becoming increasingly endangered.”
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/coffs-coast-news-of-the-area-23-september-2022
The News of the Area Kalang story is online.
Christians for forests:
Committed Christians, mostly from the Uniting Church, are working with forest defenders on developing a ministry to advocate for forests on the NSW North Coast after spending a few days exploring forests on Gumbaynggirr land.
Jeff Kite, chair of the Forest Advocacy Ministry Implementation Committee of the Uniting Church said, “The weekend was a wonderful opportunity to listen to the concerns of First Nations Elders and forest defenders, and to see firsthand the magnificent native forests and headwater catchment areas of parts of the proposed Great Koala National Park.
Rev. Phil Dokmanovic from Bangalow-Byron Bay Uniting Church said, “Local people are standing up to protect the places that they love and on which we all depend.
Shocking news:
In breaking news, forestry workers welcomed the government's rejection of native timber ban, mentioning they don’t try to rape and pillage.
"Harvesting crews actually care way more about nature than most people believe," he said.
"We aren't trying to rape and pillage the earth."
https://www.braidwoodtimes.com.au/story/7912002/forestry-workers-welcome-decision-to-not-halt-native-operations/
https://www.timberbiz.com.au/online-petition-wont-sway-nsw-government-on-native-logging/
Friends in high places:
NSW parliamentarians from across the political spectrum joined yesterday to establish the inaugural Parliamentary Friends of Forestry group, co-chaired by Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders and Shadow Minister for Natural Resources Tania Mihailuk.
Australian Forest Products Association NSW chief executive Victor Violante said the strong parliamentary support shown – with around 20 parliamentarians attending – was testament to how important and prevalent NSW forest industries were to the community.
https://www.timberandforestryenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Issue-725-smaller.pdf
Forests bad for erosion, good for carbon:
An assessment of vegetation change and carbon storage in 130,000 years of sediments in Sydney’s Thirlmere Lake found that thanks to erosion the lake was able to capture and store large quantities if carbon, the vegetation fluctuated from forests and shrubs in the inter-glacials to grass and herbs during drier and colder glacial periods, with forest reducing erosion of sediments by nearly 10 times, though because of increased carbon in the forests overall carbon storage in lake sediments were increased.
Research shows 20% more carbon was captured from the Earth’s atmosphere during this La-Niña event due to increasing plant growth. Australia contributed more than half of this.
The deeper the carbon is buried in the sediments of these reservoirs, the more efficiently it is locked away from the atmosphere. In contrast, the longer it remains on the slopes and in soils close to the surface, the more it decomposes, and carbon dioxide is released back into the atmosphere.
Future climate change may raise the risk of the Thirlmere Lakes drying out, which means the sediments will be exposed, which promotes decomposition. This means the previously stored carbon will be emitted back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921818122001898
Walking curtailed:
Heavy rainfall and flooding events have rendered up to 30 per cent of the state’s national parks and walking trails inaccessible, with remediation works taking months to complete, and more rain on the way.
AUSTRALIA
Pledge to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030:
After the Morrisson Dark Ages, the Australian government has signed the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature endorsed by more than 90 countries committing them to reversing biodiversity loss by 2030. NCEC’s Susie Russell put out a press release welcoming political recognition of the biodiversity crisis.
Countries that have endorsed the pledge have promised actions including stronger global effort to reduce deforestation, halting unsustainable fishing practices, eliminating environmentally harmful subsidies, and beginning the transition to sustainable food production systems and a circular economy during the next decade.
Albanese told the event in New York that Australia understood “the urgency of the environmental challenges facing our planet and we’re committed to being a leader in the global fight to solve them”.
He noted Australia’s important position as one of only a handful of megadiverse countries that comprised 10% of the Earth’s surface but were home to more than 70% of its species.
https://www.ecovoice.com.au/australias-pledge-for-nature-comes-at-a-crucial-time/
“At last! A Prime Minister who understands there is a biodiversity crisis and who is prepared to make a public global commitment to reversing biodiversity loss. If Anthony Albanese follows through on this commitment we should see revitalised and strong environmental laws and an end to Commonwealth support for the logging of native forests,” said North Coast Environment Council Vice-President Susie Russell.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/09/time-is-up-for-business-as-usual-on-biodiversity/
SPECIES
What is a threatened species?:
Cosmos Magazine has an article explaining what a species is, how they get listed as threatened, and what action is required (or not), emphasising that a response to the Samuel Review is expected by the end of the year.
Unfortunately, team Australia is a world-leader when it comes to species extinctions and endangerments. It has the eighth-highest number of total threatened species - animal, plants and fungi - in the world.
It is third for threatened animals, behind Indonesia and the United States, and fourth globally for total extinctions.
… there are three times as many plants than animals on Australia's threatened species registers, and they face many similar threats.
Under the current system, there's no guaranteed funding to a listed species nor, as is the case in other jurisdictions such as the US and Canada, is a line drawn around critical habitat to protect it.
Time to save Koalas:
As part of AKF’s Save the Koala Month, Hope 103.2 has an interview with Dr Kara Youngentob talking about the role of Koalas in forests, apparently boosting trees’ immune systems, and Deborah Tabart calling for support to call on the Australian Government to enact the AKF’s Koala Protection Act.
https://hope1032.com.au/stories/life/2022/koalas-are-in-trouble-but-you-can-help-protect-them/
… take care Koalas about:
People are being asked to take care driving and keep dogs under control, as at least 30 koalas have been reported to have been hit by cars or attacked by dogs across the Northern Rivers since mid-July.
Koalas are at their most mobile at this time of year as they actively search for mates and new habitat. However, as their habitat is small and fragmented, koalas are often forced to travel long distances on foot through urbanised areas, where they are at risk of being struck by a vehicle or attacked by a dog.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/09/want-to-save-the-koala-slow-down-and-keep-your-dogs-inside/
https://councilmagazine.com.au/unprecedented-number-of-koala-deaths-since-mid-july/
… shocking responses:
University of Sydney are concerned that a vaccine trial they are undertaking on the Liverpool Plains may be compromised by Santos’ proposal for seismic testing in areas that 46 out of 50 koalas in the study lived, being most concerned about the potential for seismic shocks to induce a stress response.
…saving plantations for Koalas:
Ballarat Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation are calling for an immediate moratorium on the harvesting of blue-gum plantations across Victoria, to protect koalas, until a management plan is established.
According to the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) there are nearly 47,000 koalas living on blue-gum plantations across the state.
A Victorian government spokesperson said: "We've strengthened the rules for protection of koalas in blue-gum plantations which sets mandatory minimum requirements for koala management during harvest operations."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-18/victoria-bluegum-plantation-koala-moratorium/101448486
… Koala assistance:
Narrandera held its inaugural Koala Festival on Saturday to celebrate and raise awareness of Narrandera’s treasured free-ranging koala colony through koala-themed displays and activities.
https://arr.news/2022/09/22/koala-festival-brings-in-the-crowds/
Southern New England Landcare and Friends of the Koala have been granted $750,000 and $630,000 respectively from the NSW Koala Strategy, as well as $420,000 from the Commonwealth’s Regional Bushfire Recovery for Multiregional Species and Strategic Projects Program, to employ dedicated Koala Officers, develop Regional Koala Conservation Strategies, fund localised private land projects. and support for the koala rehabilitation sector.
“Amplifying their local expertise with funding and support from the NSW Koala Strategy will assist koala populations to become more climate resilient and persist for generations to come,” [Department of Planning and Environment Director of Biodiversity Conservation Alison Schumacher] said.
https://www.miragenews.com/nsw-koala-strategy-investing-in-states-north-860766/
In an Area of Regional Koala Significance (ARKS) in the Southern Tablelands and Snowy Monaro Local Land Services have been using wildlife audio recorders to record koalas, detecting them at 63 per cent of the recording sites, and helping landowners to plant close to 5,000 koala habitat and feed trees and established livestock exclusion fencing, pest animal control and weed management, as part of their Cold Country Koala project.
Greater gliders down but not out:
An estimated 60 per cent of the Greater Glider population in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area was estimated to have been lost in the 2019-20 fires, though in the less heavily burnt areas there are signs of recovery.
They discovered signs that the native marsupial had shown "surprising resilience." This year, for the first time, their research showed Greater Glider numbers are increasing in parts of the bushland where some eucalypt foliage had remained unburnt. Recovery is underway.
However, Greater Gliders have disappeared from areas that burnt at high to extreme severity, where there was no live eucalypt foliage in the aftermath of the fires. There is still no sign of them re-colonising these areas.
A new children's book Drawing Australian Gliders, which brings together art and natural history, has been launched.
https://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/7902792/books-gentle-plea-to-take-care-of-our-gliders/
Tracking wanderers:
Solar backpacks are being attached to captive-reared plains wanderers to track their movements when released;
Recent estimates suggest there are between 500 and 1,000 plains wanderers left in the wild. The Australian government declared the plains wanderer critically endangered in 2015.
Heating too rapid for the cold-blooded:
Warming of reptile and fish eggs has been found to make the juveniles and adults less tolerant of higher temperatures, meaning many species of cold-blooded animals will struggle to handle more heat as their habitat warms up, with young particularly vulnerable.
Overall, we found the heat tolerance of embryos and juvenile ectotherms increased very little in response to rising temperatures. For each degree of warming, the heat tolerance of young ectotherms only increased by an average 0.13℃.
These results show embryos are especially vulnerable to extreme heat. Instead of getting better at handling heat, warmer eggs tend to produce juveniles and adults less capable of withstanding a warmer future.
Overall, our findings suggest young cold-blooded animals are already struggling to cope with rising temperatures – and conditions during early life can have lifelong consequences.
THE DETERIORATING PROBLEM
Increasing hunger causing climate heating:
A world-wide study of wood decay found that decay rates from microbes approximately doubled across sites for each 10℃ increase in mean annual temperature, with decay increasing further with rainfall, though the greatest increase in decay came from termites, in a region with temperatures of 30℃ termites will eat wood seven times faster than in a place with temperatures of 20℃, meaning that rather than carbon being stored in dead wood for often considerable periods it will be released into the atmosphere more rapidly, accelerating global warming.
This will mean carbon cycling through the deadwood pool will get faster, returning carbon dioxide fixed by trees to the atmosphere, which could limit the storage of carbon in these ecosystems. Reducing the amount of carbon stored on land could then start a feedback loop to accelerate the pace of climate change.
We have long known human-caused climate change would favour a few winners but leave many losers. It would appear the humble termite is likely to be one such winner, about to experience a significant global expansion in its prime habitat.
When will the Amazon tip into savanna?:
Scientists warn that when 25% of the Amazon is cleared under current climate pressures that it will reach a tipping point beyond which it would begin to transition from lush tropical forest into a dry degraded savanna, while so far only 13.2%. has been cleared, the problem is that 31% of the eastern Amazon is gone which is critical as the western Amazon gets up to half of its rain from recycling of rainfall by the eastern rainforests, meaning that the western Amazon is more vulnerable to drought losses, accelerating progress towards irrevocable collapse.
“This finding is critical,” the report says, “because the tipping point will likely be triggered in the east.” Tree loss in the east is significant because moisture cycles through the forest from east to west, creating up to 50% of all rainfall across the Amazon.
Another recent study found that for every three trees that die due to drought in the Amazon Rainforest, a fourth tree, even if it’s not directly affected by drought, will also die. With fewer trees in the east to recycle moisture due to drought and deforestation, the rest of the Amazon becomes drier.
A study found that in the Amazon region deforestation for agriculture and fires more than doubled carbon emissions in 2019 and 2020, compared to the average of the previous eight years, which they attributed to a "collapse" in law enforcement in recent years encouraging forest clearing.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62999822
The Trembling Giant fragments:
The Trembling Giant, an Aspen tree with a single root system and a forest of stems covering over 43 ha, considered one of the heaviest, oldest, and largest organisms in the world, is being fragmented by fences and browsing by cattle and deer.
The research has been published in Conservation Science and Practice.
TURNING IT AROUND
Offsets are emitting:
Around the world thousands of hectares of trees planted as offsets for big polluters are being consumed by wildfires, releasing hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, with densely packed plantations particularly vulnerable to burning, and fire risk increasing as CO2 levels increase, the only solution is to stop polluting – and of course restoring the resilience of standing forests.
Meanwhile, wildfires increasingly threaten even those modest ambitions, says William Anderegg, a forest ecologist at the University of Utah. First, because the fires are made more likely – and more intense – as offset bakers try to increase carbon storage by packing in more trees, turning many forests into tinderboxes. And second, because of the impacts of climate change.
Central to the UK government’s net-zero pledge is an aim to plant 7,000 hectares of woodland a year by May 2024, but the drought has taken a huge toll, the stressed plantings are susceptible the oak processionary moth, ash dieback and chestnut blight, putting the UK plan at risk – out weakened forests too are at risk from Myrtle Rust and Bell Miner Associated Dieback.
The climate crisis is causing certain pests to thrive as well as making plants more susceptible to disease, as changing weather patterns make them weaker and so more likely to be affected by pests.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/21/drought-threatens-uk-mass-forestry-scheme-tree
Diversity resistance:
Researchers found that tree species diversity could enhance drought resistance in nearly half the world’s forests, emphasising “the importance of restoring tree species diversity in helping forests resist frequent and intense droughts that may occur as a result of global warming”.
They found that species-rich forests such as moist tropical broadleaf forests, which have an average of 65 tree species, showed the highest drought resistance. In contrast, species-poor forests such as xeric woodlands, which have only two or three tree species, showed the lowest drought resistance.
Moreover, the researchers mapped the global species-diversity effect on forest drought resistance. Based on their results, they predicted that higher species richness had a positive effect on drought resistance in nearly half of all global forests, with the largest effect in dry and drought-prone forests such as xeric woodlands or subtropical dry forests.
Their findings were published in Nature Geoscience on Sept. 19.
https://www.miragenews.com/tree-species-diversity-enhances-forest-drought-858667/
https://www.newswise.com/articles/tree-species-diversity-enhances-forest-drought-resistance
Are mangroves our saviours?:
A study of a Mexican mangrove forest, found that like other trees they are good at absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it in soil, in the wet low oxygen and carbon-rich peat under mangrove forests they can keep carbon out of the atmosphere for millennia – the problem I see is that as the seas rise mangroves have to retreat inland (if they aren’t stopped by development) and their soils will wash away.
A study published in Marine Ecology Progress Series has found that the carbon stored in peat under the mangrove forest is over 5,000 years old.
“If we let these forests keep functioning, they can retain the carbon they’ve sequestered out of our atmosphere, essentially permanently.
https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/mangrove-forest-carbon-sequestration/
Making every tree count:
Users of a new digital platform from nonprofit CTrees will be able to track in near-real-time the carbon stored and emitted in the world’s forests, it’s being touted as the first-ever open-source global system for calculating the amount of carbon in every tree on the planet, and is to be launched at COP27 this November.
However, because trees are so efficient at stashing away carbon dioxide, they release vast quantities of carbon back into the atmosphere when forests are degraded, felled or burned. Recent studies have shown that many forests are nearing a tipping point that compromises their ability to store carbon, with parts of Southeast Asia and the Amazon already net carbon emitters due to multiple human-induced stressors.
Forest Media 16 September 2022
New South Wales
Thursday was a busy day for forests. On Thursday morning the NSW Government released its response to the ePetition to end logging of public native forests, due to parliament, and thus the debate, being suspended because of the Queen’s death. It was the standard tripe saying how wonderful forestry is, while misrepresenting employment by including softwoods. On Thursday afternoon the report of the ‘Inquiry into the long term sustainability and future of the timber and forest products industry’ was released. It turned out to be better than expected, with recommendations such as “the NSW Government consider commissioning a cost benefit assessment of the native hardwood forestry sector to consider the most beneficial use of public native forests“ and “the NSW Government provide long term support to workers in the timber and forest products industry transitioning away from native forestry to other parts of the sector”. Some reports mixed the stories, while others focused on the Shooters and Fisher’s claims of a timber crisis (which failed to mention it was all about pine). While Saunders avoided it in his response to the ePetition, one of the recommendations of the Inquiry was for the leaked 2021 NRC report to be released and acted on, though the ABC thinks it demands a halt to native forestry by the end of 2022. In a widespread AAP story, The Shooters and Fishers focussed on the timber supply crisis, without mentioning the problem is pine, NCC called form more plantations and a transition, and Justin Field called for the Great Koala NP to be established despite the committee. NEFA welcomed the recommendation for a cost benefit assessment of the native hardwood forestry sector to consider the most beneficial use of public native forests because “There is no doubt that there are far greater financial and societal benefits to the community from protecting public forests for carbon sequestration, recreation, tourism, water supply, and habitat”.
Another forest protector stopped work in Ellis State Forest by using a 20m high tree-sit attached to machinery. The Nimbin Goodtimes ran the story by Susie Russell and me asking for a Stop Work Order on Ellis State Forest, protecting it as part of the Great Koala National Park, and the need for the EPA to police the damage to retained trees. In what could prove to be their downfall, the Forestry Corporation have started roading Orara East SF, 10 minutes from Coffs Harbour, much to the chagrin of local residents. With logging scheduled to start any day, News of the Area has a lengthy story citing Katherine Kelly about the risks of erosion and mass movement if the headwaters of the Kalang River are logged, citing the 1992 Oakes SF incident where 88,000 tonnes of soils were washed into the Kalang River before being stopped by a blockade.
Nimbin Goodtimes reports on a Friday for Forests action to protest logging on private land along the road 100m from the entrance to the Border Ranges National Park, reporting that subsequent EPA inspections identified alleged non-compliances and required erosion mitigation works.
Manyana Matters (from Manyana north of Ulladulla) continues to battle against residential development using an old approval in bushland, say their roots lie in anti-logging protests of the 90’s, and are part of the movement to end logging of public native forest. A video “Meet the faces behind the push to end native forest logging” with statements by Joslyn van der Moolen from Brooman State Forest Conservation Group and Bill Egar from Manyana Matters had widespread coverage. The Brooman State Forest Conservation Group is staging various activities to highlight its concerns about logging in the Brooman, Currowan and Shallow Crossing State Forests, including holding a Stop Logging Shoalhaven Big Canopy Campout.
Richard Poole, the businessman behind converting the disused Redbank Power Station near Singleton to burnt 850,000 tonnes of biomass p.a. says he has so far raised $80million, is waiting on approval of his DA and EIS, and has plans for more.
Once again a normally pristine creek in Royal National Park has been turned black, with thick black sludge floating on top, after US giant Peabody Energy spilled coal mining waste into it, Minister Griffin responded 'I have spoken directly with the company to express my deep concerns and my immediate focus is on ensuring that remediation occurs as an urgent priority'. Platypus releases are being delayed.
Australia
Our new leader, King Charles III, is being lauded across the media as a strong conservationist, though the consensus is that he will be more constrained as king.
Independent senator David Pocock and environment groups are demanding the $7 billion earmarked for regional dams, to placate the Nationals in return for allowing net zero, be transferred into conservation projects in the October budget.
There are fears new European Union regulations around deforestation-free products that would obligate companies to verify goods sold in the EU "have not been produced on deforested or degraded land anywhere in the world" will lock out many Australian beef producers from the European market.
The ABC has a podcast that talks about the immortality of trees, the increasing stress and death of trees due to declining rainfalls and worsening droughts, the irreplaceability of ancient trees, the increased volumes of carbon they sequester and store, the long-term storage of carbon in dead wood and its integration into soils, the need to retain forests for carbon sequestration and carbon storage.
Species
Volunteers are wanted to participate in the annual Aussie Bird Count, a project of Bird Life Australia that has been running since October 2014, where people are asked to record all the birds they see for blocks of 20 minutes at a time. One native bird that is doing too well is the Noisy Miner, taking over urban areas and degraded forests at an alarming rate, excluding a plethora of other native species.
September is the Australian Koala Foundation’s (AFK) “Save the Koala Month” intended to put the focus on this endangered species. Koala Action Gympie Region is one group to take up the theme, particularly as its peak breeding season so Koalas are on the move and vulnerable to dogs and cars. The Conversation has a discussion on the cognitive abilities of Koalas, discussing the relevance of brain size (marsupials match placental mammals for body size) and how we interpret intelligence, based on the book “Koalas, a life in the trees”. Climate Crisis Chronicles, Vol. 6, Racing against time to save the koalas, is an illustrated story about Ros Irwin’s (Friends of the Koala) experience with Koalas in the 2019-20 wildfires. NPWS are seeking volunteers to undertake their annual count of Koalas in Bongil Bongil National Park. News of the Area also has a letter complaining about Forestry Corporation being absent from a Coffs Harbour Koala workshop. Surendranie Cabral-de Mel, Ph.D. candidate, describes the importance of Koalas in the Australian ecosystem in a foreign language podcast.
Good to see the funds raised by the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital for bushfire survivors put to good use in their Guulabaa tourism precinct with their launch of Wildnets, a suspension playground replete with hammocks, treehouses, ball pits, slides, giant inflatable balls, and interactive toys, “So as you jump, play around and have fun you can also view adorable koalas nearby in their natural habitat”. Since its purpose-built hospital and rehabilitation facility opened in August 2020, the Port Stephens Koala Hospital has admitted 90 koalas and carried out more than 1,000 procedures, with an annual operating cost of approximately $750,000 per year. On National Threatened Species Day Transport NSW was ironically nominated for an award for its establishment of 130 ha of koala feed trees as compensation for its construction of the Pacific Highway through “regionally significant koala habitat supporting a well-known koala community”.
Bathurst Council is spending $260,000 to plant 3,500 native trees along the Macquarie Wambuul River to create roosting habitat for flying foxes to encourage them to move out of the town centre.
The NSW Government have propagated 3 species of threatened orchids and planted 6,000 out in suitable habitat across the Riverina landscape – at least they don’t need predator proof fences?
In south-west Australia a 77 year old alpaca farmer was savagely beaten to death by his 3 year old pet kangaroo, the first fatal attack by a kangaroo in 86 years, the kangaroo was shot dead.
2GB’s announcer Ray Hadley has gone on the attack against NPWS and James Griffin following complaints about the shooting of 11 horses in Kosciuszko National Park – the Brumby Pan requires reducing 14,380 horses to 3,000 horses by 30 June 2027. The brumby advocates who found them accuse the NPWS of falsifying the numbers of horses in the park, claiming there are only 10% of what NPWS have identified. Minister Griffin was quick to cave in and agree to review the brumby plan.
Representatives from WIRES and the RSPCA met with Eurobodalla Council staff to workshop better ways to raise community awareness of the risks posed by free-roaming cats – both to wildlife and themselves. The discovery of a single rat on the supply ship for Lord Howe Island caused it to go into quarantine for 7 days, deny the island of essential supplies, causing restaurants and the bakery to threaten to close, builders to complain, resulting in the RAAF flying in emergency supplies.
The Deteriorating Problem
The disastrous Pakistan floods resulting from a monsoon season intensified by climate change, killed 1,300 people, displaced 32 million people, destroyed 1.7 million homes and flooded a third of the country destroying crops, and accentuated the country’s financial crisis, leading to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres remarking “This is collective suicide. From Pakistan, I am issuing a global appeal: Stop the madness; end the war with nature; invest in renewable energy now.”
A new study found habitat loss and global heating are making extreme epidemics like COVID-19 three times more likely.
Not unsurprising researchers reinforced earlier findings that climate change sceptics are older, conservative and don’t value the environment, while their beliefs are entrenched they are a dying breed as the impacts of climate change manifest.
A study identified that between 2000 and 2019 intensive industrial mining activities in the tropics destroyed some 3,264 square kilometers of tropical forest, with Indonesia accounting for 58.2 percent.
With a third of the world’s tree species now threatened with extinction, scientists demonstrate how tree species extinction will lead to the loss of many other plants and animals and significantly alter the world's ecosystems, leading them to conclude “Although there is still much to learn about the biology, ecology and wonder of trees, we know how to conserve them. We also know that now is the time to act”. A new study suggests leaves in forest canopies are not able to cool themselves below the surrounding air temperature, likely meaning trees' ability to avoid damaging temperature increases, and to pull carbon from the atmosphere, will be compromised in a warmer, drier climate.
Biotechnology firm Living Carbon have genetically modified poplars (GM) into ‘supertrees’, by inserting genes from pumpkin and green algae, enabling them to grow 1.5 times faster and more rapidly take up CO2, intended to address the climate crisis.
Two years ago Canadian conservationists were elated when British Columbia’s government announced they were going to protect oldgrowth forests, and while they did protect the controversial Fairy Creek stand (after over 1,000 arrests) and some others, the moratorium over other high conservation value areas has yet to materialise as they continue to be clearcut. The Government fudges the figures by protecting poor unloggable areas, as well as leaving it up to first nation’s people to decide what to protect when they don’t have the resources to do the assessments, and in many cases depend on the revenue from logging.
Turning it Around
Conservationists urged EU parliamentarians to vote “yes” on September 13 to exclude most wood biomass from the European Commission’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED) to rebuild and preserve Europe’s forests as carbon sinks and as guardians of biodiversity. This had effect as on Wednesday, parliamentarians voted to phase down subsidies for “primary woody biomass”, namely healthy, standing trees logged for fuel, or fallen trees, and put a cap on the amount that can count as renewable energy. This is not the end, but it is seen as a first step,
Inside Climate News recognises the 2012 IPCC report as being clairvoyant as its all coming true, while also welcoming a new website launched by the Biden administration that allows Americans to see climate disasters unfolding in real time.
Dailan Pugh
NEW SOUTH WALES
Thursday was a busy day for forests. On Thursday morning the NSW Government released its response to the ePetition to end logging of public native forests, due to parliament, and thus the debate, being suspended because of the Queen’s death. It was the standard tripe saying how wonderful forestry is, while misrepresenting employment by including softwoods. On Thursday afternoon the report of the ‘Inquiry into the long term sustainability and future of the timber and forest products industry’ was released. It turned out to be better than expected, with recommendations such as “the NSW Government consider commissioning a cost benefit assessment of the native hardwood forestry sector to consider the most beneficial use of public native forests“ and “the NSW Government provide long term support to workers in the timber and forest products industry transitioning away from native forestry to other parts of the sector”. Some reports mixed the stories, while others focused on the Shooters and Fisher’s claims of a timber crisis (which failed to mention it was all about pine).
Mr Saunders added there were "thousands of jobs dependent on the industry continuing", with 22,000 people employed by the state's forest and wood product industries.
The petition's author and former Greens candidate Takesa Frank said the government's response was "disheartening".
"A lot of it I would I have to disagree with, especially in terms of forestry being a sustainable forest management group," she said.
Greens NSW MP and spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson said “The Government response to this petition has completely failed to address the looming and unavoidable end of public native forestry in NSW. The claims made by the Minister about the sustainability and lifespan for native forest logging are misleading and run completely contrary to community experience and independent science.
From a purely fiscal perspective NSW residents pay $441 per hectare of native forest that is logged, this added up to $20 million in 2021 alone. The likely cost of the native hardwood industry is much higher as the destruction of native forests has a significant effect on downstream water quality and the agricultural and fisheries industries.
“Around 1000 people are directly employed by the native forest logging industry in NSW, the petition is calling for a transition plan that allows for these people to remain in work while the industry transitions to a truly sustainable model.
While Saunders avoided it in his response to the ePetition, one of the recommendations of the Inquiry was for the leaked 2021 NRC report to be released and acted on, though the ABC thinks it demands a halt to native forestry by the end of 2022.
The Long Term Sustainability and Future of the Timber and Forest Products Industry inquiry also recommended the state government publicly release and respond to the findings of a leaked Natural Resources Commission's report that demanded a halt to native forestry by the end of 2022.
In a widespread AAP story, The Shooters and Fishers focussed on the timber supply crisis, without mentioning the problem is pine, NCC called form more plantations and a transition, and Justin Field called for the Great Koala NP to be established despite the committee claiming the economic assessment was inadequate because it did not account for all industry impacts, calling for an “independent and comprehensive” study.
https://www.southernriverinanews.com.au/national/why-nsw-is-heading-towards-timber-crisis/
https://www.wellingtontimes.com.au/story/7905105/why-nsw-is-heading-towards-timber-crisis/
Chief executive Jacqui Mumford said transitioning from native forestry to plantation logging would be a win for nature and industry.
"The need to protect native forests from industrial logging has never been greater, with koalas and many other forest species sliding towards extinction," she said.
Australian Forest Products Association NSW chief executive Victor Violante said the state couldn't afford to lose any more hardwood timber.
"It would result in significant cost and supply chain impacts for the housing construction sector and a range of other industries that rely on hardwood timber products," he said.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/aap/article-11214787/Why-NSW-heading-timber-crisis.html
[Justin Field] “I would have liked to see a stronger call for an exit from public native forest logging all together, but I welcome the bipartisan support, including from the Nationals and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers member for a recommendation that the NSW Government provide long term support to workers in the timber and forest products industry transitioning away from native forestry to other parts of the sector.
“There needs to be an honest conversation with the community, including the timber industry, about a restructure of the sector to exit public native forest logging and transition the industry to plantations.
NEFA welcomed the recommendation for a cost benefit assessment of the native hardwood forestry sector to consider the most beneficial use of public native forests because “There is no doubt that there are far greater financial and societal benefits to the community from protecting public forests for carbon sequestration, recreation, tourism, water supply, and habitat”.
“NEFA also supports the recommendation that the NSW Government releases and acts on the suppressed June 2021 Natural Resources Commission’s urgent recommendations for fire affected forests, and reviews the logging rules for both public and private forests in light of the fires and the findings of the 2021 NSW and Commonwealth State of the Environment Reports.
“NEFA also welcomes the recognition that the current timber supply crisis is related to a shortage of pine, and supports the proposal that there needs to be a domestic reservation policy that requires timber to be processed into products domestically rather than being exported.
“We also support a renewed focus on plantation establishment provided it is for the domestic market, and assistance for workers transitioning away from native forestry to other parts of the industry” Mr. Pugh said.
Logging stopped in Ellis SF:
Another forest protector stopped work in Ellis State Forest by using a 20m high tree-sit attached to machinery.
A spokesperson for the action said, ‘We know the value of forests when they are left un-logged. We know that healthy eco-systems are imperative to our survival on this heating planet. We must fight for all remaining forest because we are fighting for our lives.
‘There is a groundswell of people ready to take these sorts of non-violent direct actions, pushing us ever closer to the ending of logging of these publicly owned native forests.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/09/another-tree-sitter-stops-logging-in-ellis-state-forest/
https://www.triplem.com.au/story/activist-stops-logging-work-at-ellis-state-forest-205841
The Nimbin Goodtimes ran the story by Susie Russell and me asking for a Stop Work Order on Ellis State Forest, protecting it as part of the Great Koala National Park, and the need for the EPA to police the damage to retained trees.
The Nimbin GoodTimes September 2022
And started in Orara East SF:
In what could prove to be their downfall, the Forestry Corporation have started roading Orara East SF, 10 minutes from Coffs Harbour, much to the chagrin of local residents.
https://www.nbnnews.com.au/2022/09/15/bulldozers-arrive-at-orara-east-state-forest/
There is a video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlWHWZ_V378
And is due to start in the Kalang Headwaters:
With logging scheduled to start any day, News of the Area has a lengthy story citing Katherine Kelly about the risks of erosion and mass movement if the headwaters of the Kalang River are logged, citing the 1992 Oakes SF incident where 88,000 tonnes of soils were washed into the Kalang River before being stopped by a blockade.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/coffs-coast-news-of-the-area-16-september-2022-99915
Opening the gateway:
Nimbin Goodtimes reports on a Friday for Forests action to protest logging on private land along the road 100m from the entrance to the Border Ranges National Park, reporting that subsequent EPA inspections identified alleged non-compliances and required erosion mitigation works.
The Nimbin GoodTimes September 2022
Manyana Matters
Manyana Matters (from Manyana north of Ulladulla) continues to battle against residential development using an old approval in bushland, say their roots lie in anti-logging protests of the 90’s, and are part of the movement to end logging of public native forest.
Activist group Manyana Matters have spearheaded a new type of civic protest in the face of bushfires and the Covid pandemic, as small, atomised groups throughout the state gear-up to fight to end native forest logging.
Manyana Matters was one of numerous grassroots organisations to lends its support to a petition to end native forest logging in NSW, which was due to be tabled in NSW parliament on September 15.
Currently, the organisation is continuing its fight against the Manyana Beach Estate, which while in limbo has not been scrapped.
A video “Meet the faces behind the push to end native forest logging” with statements by Joslyn van der Moolen from Brooman State Forest Conservation Group and Bill Egar from Manyana Matters had widespread coverage.
The Brooman State Forest Conservation Group is staging various activities to highlight its concerns about logging in the Brooman, Currowan and Shallow Crossing State Forests, including holding a Stop Logging Shoalhaven Big Canopy Campout.
See full details of the event here.
Starting a biomass chain:
Richard Poole, the businessman behind converting the disused Redbank Power Station near Singleton to burnt 850,000 tonnes of biomass p.a. says he has so far raised $80million, is waiting on approval of his DA and EIS, and has plans for more.
Verdant Earth Technologies chief executive Richard Poole told the Newcastle Herald several "high net worth Australian families" had recently invested in the company's biomass strategy.
"I've got my funding in place and we are ready to go. I'm just waiting on approvals and we are working towards that. We could literally be generating within six to eight months if I could get the approvals," Mr Poole, who spoke to the Herald from the US where he is visiting several biomass plants.
Mr Poole said Verdant had plans to establish more biomass generators in Australia in the near future.
"I think the idea of modern bioenergy and the idea that we can eventually grow our own (biomass) is a phenomenal solution and putting green hydrogen behind 24 generators is a significant uptick in terms of what we're planning," he said.
Creating a home for Platypus
Once again a normally pristine creek in Royal National Park has been turned black, with thick black sludge floating on top, after US giant Peabody Energy spilled coal mining waste into it, Minister Griffin responded 'I have spoken directly with the company to express my deep concerns and my immediate focus is on ensuring that remediation occurs as an urgent priority'. Platypus releases are being delayed.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-15/nsw-environment-minister-says-royal-national-park/14054740
AUSTRALIA
Crowning nature’s glory;
Our new leader, King Charles III, is being lauded across the media as a strong conservationist, though the consensus is that he will be more constrained as king.
The natural world is close to the heart of Britain’s new King Charles III. For decades, he’s campaigned on environmental issues such as sustainability, climate change and conservation – often championing causes well before they were mainstream concerns.
In fact, Charles was this week hailed as “possibly most significant environmentalist in history”. Upon his elevation to the throne, the new king is expected to be less outspoken on environmental issues. But his advocacy work have helped create a momentum that will continue regardless.
Stopping damnation:
Independent senator David Pocock and environment groups are demanding the $7 billion earmarked for regional dams, to placate the Nationals in return for allowing net zero, be transferred into conservation projects in the October budget.
With virtually all the funds still unspent, the federal government is being urged to reallocate Joyce’s dam fund to halt the “extinction crisis” that federal Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek said in July had been fuelled by a lack of funding under successive Coalition governments.
“The State of the Environment report revealed just how desperately urgent this task is. Meaningful reform takes money,” Pocock said.
The cost of deforestation:
There are fears new European Union regulations around deforestation-free products that would obligate companies to verify goods sold in the EU "have not been produced on deforested or degraded land anywhere in the world" will lock out many Australian beef producers from the European market.
An analysis by the Australian Conservation Foundation found there was a real chance under the new EU rule, Australia would be deemed a high risk country for beef products.
The importance of ancient trees:
The ABC has a podcast that talks about the immortality of trees, the increasing stress and death of trees due to declining rainfalls and worsening droughts, the irreplaceability of ancient trees, the increased volumes of carbon they sequester and store, the long-term storage of carbon in dead wood and its integration into soils, the need to retain forests for carbon sequestration and carbon storage.
SPECIES
Making birds count:
Volunteers are wanted to participate in the annual Aussie Bird Count, a project of Bird Life Australia that has been running since October 2014, where people are asked to record all the birds they see for blocks of 20 minutes at a time.
In 2021, Australians counted 4,936,509 birds; a wonderful effort by 106,707 people. The rainbow lorikeet remains our most prevalent bird followed by the noisy miner, the Australian magpie, the sulphur-crested cockatoo, the galah, the house sparrow, the welcome swallow, the silver gull and the Australian white ibis. The good news was invasive, introduced common or Indian myna was no longer in the top ten list.
https://www.weekendnotes.com/aussie-bird-count/
Making a noise about miners taking over:
One native bird that is doing too well is the Noisy Miner, taking over urban areas and degraded forests at an alarming rate, excluding a plethora of other native species.
Griffith University researcher Carly Campbell, who has studied native birds in Australia's urban landscapes, said noisy miner numbers in Brisbane alone had tripled since the 1970s.
"They are quite territorial birds, and because we've created these large grassy areas with one or two remaining trees, what that really does for them is it allows them to really protect their space," she said.
In 2014, the federal environment department listed noisy miners as a "key threatening process" due to their impacts on endangered and vulnerable native birds.
University of Queensland conservation researcher Hugh Possingham said noisy miners were now considered as much an environmental problem as foxes, cats and weeds.
"Removing them from those patches completely, as in shooting every one on that patch, didn't have any effect, because they immediately re-colonised," Dr Beggs said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-16/noisy-miners-are-a-problem-across-australia/101442572
Save the Koala Month:
September is the Australian Koala Foundation’s (AFK) “Save the Koala Month” intended to put the focus on this endangered species. Koala Action Gympie Region is one group to take up the theme, particularly as its peak breeding season so Koalas are on the move and vulnerable to dogs and cars.
“It coincides with the peak of koala breeding season, when our koalas are at most risk especially on the roads and also from dog attacks,” Michelle said.
“These few months are the time they (koalas) really need the community to help them come through dispersal and breeding season safely.”
The KAGR recommends to always slowing down when driving in peak koala activity times from dusk until early morning, to always call wildlife rescue about any sick, injured or even dead koalas and to keep your dogs safely locked up during the night to prevent attacks.
https://gympietoday.com.au/news/2022/09/10/koala-ty-awareness-for-this-month/
… are Koalas smart:
The Conversation has a discussion on the cognitive abilities of Koalas, discussing the relevance of brain size (marsupials match placental mammals for body size) and how we interpret intelligence, based on the book “Koalas, a life in the trees”.
“I’m sure we underestimate animal cognition, partly because we need to believe humans are vastly superior, and partly because we have language and can tell of our plans whereas animals can’t,” says Mike. But just because animals don’t have language doesn’t mean they lack the mental capacity that underlies our evolution of complex language.
We need to stop looking for reflections of ourselves in other animals. There’s more than one way to be “smart”. And accepting a lift from those students to get across the river was, however you look at it, a smart move indeed.
https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-koala-when-its-smart-to-be-slow-187003
… burning Koalas:
Climate Crisis Chronicles, Vol. 6, Racing against time to save the koalas, is an illustrated story about Ros Irwin’s (Friends of the Koala) experience with Koalas in the 2019-20 wildfires.
https://www.nbcnews.com/specials/climate-crisis-chronicles-vol-6/index.html
… making Koalas count:
NPWS are seeking volunteers to undertake their annual count of Koalas in Bongil Bongil National Park. News of the Area also has a letter complaining about Forestry Corporation being absent from a Coffs Harbour Koala workshop.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/coffs-coast-news-of-the-area-16-september-2022-99915
… why we need Koalas:
Surendranie Cabral-de Mel, Ph.D. candidate, describes the importance of Koalas in the Australian ecosystem in a foreign language podcast.
… just what Koalas need:
Good to see the funds raised by the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital for bushfire survivors put to good use in their Guulabaa tourism precinct with their launch of Wildnets, a suspension playground replete with hammocks, treehouses, ball pits, slides, giant inflatable balls, and interactive toys, “So as you jump, play around and have fun you can also view adorable koalas nearby in their natural habitat”.
Ready to swing in hammocks, climb into treehouses and get lost in colourful ball pits? Do all this and more when Wildnets — Australia’s largest suspension playground opens in Port Macquarie next week. This happy hunting ground is filled with bouncy and creative fun for kids and adults alike. There’s slides, interactive toys, giant inflatable balls and much more to look forward to.
“Wildnets will offer visitors places to jump, slide, play and laugh in amongst the trees and help people to appreciate nature, the outdoors and wildlife including our unique koalas,” Sue Ashton, Chairperson of Koala Conservation Australia said.
https://secretsydney.com/wildnets-suspension-playground/
Since its purpose-built hospital and rehabilitation facility opened in August 2020, the Port Stephens Koala Hospital has admitted 90 koalas and carried out more than 1,000 procedures, with an annual operating cost of approximately $750,000 per year.
Port Stephens Koala Hospital has received a $100,000 boost, kickstarting its annual Save the Koala Month campaign.
https://newcastleweekly.com.au/save-the-koala-month-off-to-a-bear-y-good-start/
… rewarding habitat destruction:
On National Threatened Species Day Transport NSW was ironically nominated for an award for its establishment of 130 ha of koala feed trees as compensation for its construction of the Pacific Highway through “regionally significant koala habitat supporting a well-known koala community”.
The Northern Rivers Times September 15 2022.
Providing alternative accommodation:
Bathurst Council is spending $260,000 to plant 3,500 native trees along the Macquarie Wambuul River to create roosting habitat for flying foxes to encourage them to move out of the town centre.
Mayor Robert Taylor said the restoration work was the best and most cost-effective option to control the numbers in Bathurst's CBD and Machattie Park.
"They cause a bit of havoc so if we can do this restoration work it will get them to relocate along the Macquarie River," Cr Taylor said.
The Australian Conservation Foundation's Jess Abrahams wants us to change the way we think about them from being "a bit smelly and a bit noisy" to the fact they are "unique creatures who play an incredibly important role in nature".
"They were here first, we're the recent arrivals, we need to accommodate them because without them our forests and nature just wouldn't be healthy," he said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-16/bathurst-flying-foxes-get-new-home/101443720
Rewilding orchids:
The NSW Government have propagated 3 species of threatened orchids and planted 6,000 out in suitable habitat across the Riverina landscape – at least they don’t need predator proof fences?
“The NSW Government’s Saving our Species program found that there were fewer than 2,000 Sand-hill spider orchids, 1,300 Oaklands diuris and 650 crimson spider orchids left in the wild, meaning the future of those species were at risk,” he said.
“This project gives us enormous hope for the survival of these rare and beautiful species because their populations have been boosted with 6,000 additional healthy plants.”
Mr Griffin said the three orchids had been planted across public and private land on specially selected sites that had suitable soil conditions, pollinators and vegetation types to encourage growth.
https://psnews.com.au/2022/09/13/dpe-saves-dangered-orchids-from-extinction/?state=aps
Kangaroo killings:
In south-west Australia a 77 year old alpaca farmer was savagely beaten to death by his 3 year old pet kangaroo, the first fatal attack by a kangaroo in 86 years, the kangaroo was shot dead.
Brumby killings:
2GB’s announcer Ray Hadley has gone on the attack against NPWS and James Griffin following complaints about the shooting of 11 horses in Kosciuszko National Park – the Brumby Pan requires reducing 14,380 horses to 3,000 horses by 30 June 2027.
“I’ll drive you cuckoo right up until the election, demanding an answer as to whether National Parks and Wildlife had anything to do with the slaughter of these 11 horses, including mares in foal.”
https://www.2gb.com/ray-hadleys-steely-vow-to-minister-after-cruel-slaughter-of-brumbies/
The brumby advocates who found them accuse the NPWS of falsifying the numbers of horses in the park, claiming there are only 10% of what NPWS have identified. Minister Griffin was quick to cave in and agree to review the brumby plan.
[Ms Brown] 'National Parks and Wildlife Service and those involved with the removal of the brumbies state that there are 14,000 horses up there when in fact there are less than 1,500 now, maybe even less.
The act states that it, 'maintains the environmental values of the park by reducing the wild horse population from an estimated 14,380 horses to 3,000 horses by 30 June 2027. Under the plan, there will be no wild horses across 68 per cent of the park.'
National Party MP and former Member for Monaro Peter Cochran has lashed out at the killings, telling 2GB's Ray Hadley that no respect was shown to the animals.
'This was a professional ambush,' he said.
'I'm ashamed to be an Australian associated with people who would do it.'
[Minister Griffin] “In response to concerns raised by some members of the community, I have asked for an evaluation of the Plan’s implementation, with the assistance of RSPCA NSW.
https://www.2gb.com/minister-dodges-ray-hadley-as-accusations-fly-over-brumby-slaughter/
Cat killings:
Representatives from WIRES and the RSPCA met with Eurobodalla Council staff to workshop better ways to raise community awareness of the risks posed by free-roaming cats – both to wildlife and themselves.
“The toll on our native animals from cat attacks verges on unbelievable. Collectively, roaming cats kill around 390 million native animals and birds each year – they’ve played a leading role in many of the 34 mammal extinctions since colonisation.
WIRES Mid South Coast Branch possum and glider coordinator Shelley Clarke said in the previous week they had attended three animals – two ringtail possums and a feathertail glider – that died after cat attack.
Unlike other states and territories, Councils in NSW currently have no power to confine cats to their own property. At the 23 August Council meeting, councillors voted to advocate to the NSW Government and to their representative body – Local Government NSW – to introduce legislation empowering Councils to introduce containment policies.
https://www.beagleweekly.com.au/post/community-comes-together-on-cats-1
Rat closes Lord Howe Island:
The discovery of a single rat on the supply ship for Lord Howe Island caused it to go into quarantine for 7 days, deny the island of essential supplies, causing restaurants and the bakery to threaten to close, builders to complain, resulting in the RAAF flying in emergency supplies.
THE DETERIORATING PROBLEM
Stop the war with nature:
The disastrous Pakistan floods resulting from a monsoon season intensified by climate change, killed 1,300 people, displaced 32 million people, destroyed 1.7 million homes and flooded a third of the country destroying crops, and accentuated the country’s financial crisis, leading to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres remarking “This is collective suicide. From Pakistan, I am issuing a global appeal: Stop the madness; end the war with nature; invest in renewable energy now.”
“I have seen many humanitarian disasters in the world, but I have never seen climate carnage on the scale of the floods here in Pakistan,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said a weekend press conference in Karachi after touring the flooding that has resulted from the combination of melting glaciers and rainfall nearly six times the 30-year average.
“Emissions are rising as people die in floods and famines. And this is insanity,” Guterres said. “This is collective suicide. From Pakistan, I am issuing a global appeal: Stop the madness; end the war with nature; invest in renewable energy now.”
“There is an acute sense of despair in all corners of the country. In the immediate term, families are likely to go hungry as employment dries up and they cannot afford food," Shabnam Baloch, Pakistan director for the International Rescue Committee, said in Monday press release. "Meanwhile, we know that during times of crisis, women and girls are at an increased risk of violence, exploitation and abuse, as pressures mount for households to access an income and source food and essential household supplies."
More lockdowns coming:
A new study found habitat loss and global heating are making extreme epidemics like COVID-19 three times more likely.
The yearly probability of zoonotic diseases—conditions caused by germs spread from animals to people—“can increase up to threefold in the coming decades,” say the authors of a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Using data on the intensity of epidemics over the last 400 years, paired with “recent estimates of the rate of increase in disease emergence from zoonotic reservoirs associated with environmental change,” the researchers warned that “the probability of a person experiencing a pandemic like COVID-19 in one’s lifetime is around 38%,” reports ABC News. That estimate could double in the coming decades.
Climate skeptics being overwhelmed by reality:
Not unsurprising researchers reinforced earlier findings that climate change sceptics are older, conservative and don’t value the environment, while their beliefs are entrenched they are a dying breed as the impacts of climate change manifest.
Past research into climate change scepticism has focused on sociodemographics. It has found people are more likely to express scepticism if they are older, male, highly value individualistic beliefs and don’t value the environment.
These characteristics are generally entrenched. It means this information, while interesting, may be of little use when trying to increase public support for climate action.
Our latest study of Australian sceptics focused on potentially more malleable factors – including the thought processes of people who reject climate science messaging. Our findings suggest some people reject consensus science and generate other explanations due to mistrust in climate science and uncritical faith in “alternative science”.
Similar to previous research, our study found:
- older people were more likely to be sceptical of the reality of climate change
- conservatives were more likely to be sceptical of the reality, causes and impacts of climate change
- lower environmental values were strongly linked to all types of scepticism.
Climate change is upon us, and scepticism is rapidly becoming a topic for historians, not futurists.
Mining rainforest:
A study identified that between 2000 and 2019 intensive industrial mining activities in the tropics destroyed some 3,264 square kilometers of tropical forest, with Indonesia accounting for 58.2 percent.
https://grist.org/article/mining-is-necessary-for-a-clean-energy-future-it-also-destroys-forests/
Stop tree extinctions:
With a third of the world’s tree species now threatened with extinction, scientists demonstrate how tree species extinction will lead to the loss of many other plants and animals and significantly alter the world's ecosystems, leading them to conclude “Although there is still much to learn about the biology, ecology and wonder of trees, we know how to conserve them. We also know that now is the time to act”.
Trees are of exceptional ecological importance, playing a major functional role in the world's ecosystems, while also supporting many other plants, animals and fungi. Many tree species are also of direct value to people, providing a wide range of socio-economic benefits. Loss of tree diversity could lead to abrupt declines in biodiversity, ecosystem functions and services and ultimately ecosystem collapse. Here we provide an overview of the current knowledge regarding the number of tree species that are threatened with extinction, and the threats that affect them, based on results of the Global Tree Assessment. This evidence suggests that a third of the world's tree species are currently threatened with extinction, which represents a major ecological crisis. We then examine the potential implications of tree extinctions, in terms of the functioning of the biosphere and impacts on human well-being. Large-scale extinction of tree species will lead to major biodiversity losses in other species groups and substantially alter the cycling of carbon, water and nutrients in the world's ecosystems. Tree extinction will also undermine the livelihoods of the billions of people who currently depend on trees and the benefits they provide. This warning to humanity aims to raise awareness of the tree extinction crisis, which is a major environmental issue that requires urgent global attention. We also identify some priority actions that need to be taken to reduce the extinction risk of tree species and to avert the ecological and socio-economic catastrophe that will result from large-scale extinction of tree species.
Our message for humanity is to remember how trees enrich and support our lives, as they have throughout human history. Yet we need to acknowledge that these values are at risk if we fail to consider the impacts of our actions and to change our collective behaviour in relation to trees. Although there is still much to learn about the biology, ecology and wonder of trees, we know how to conserve them. We also know that now is the time to act.
https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ppp3.10314
Trees overheating:
A new study suggests leaves in forest canopies are not able to cool themselves below the surrounding air temperature, likely meaning trees' ability to avoid damaging temperature increases, and to pull carbon from the atmosphere, will be compromised in a warmer, drier climate.
Existing research suggests that many of the world’s forests are approaching their thermal limit for carbon uptake.
In warmer climates, forest leavers are already approaching or even surpassing thresholds to process carbon dioxide.
Because future climate warming is likely to lead to even greater forest temperatures, leaves’ carbon cycling process would be negatively impacted. Scientists say this could enhance the mortality risks of forests.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/09/220912152920.htm
The study underscores the importance and precarity of forests around the world, she said.
“Forests play such an important role not just as habitat for biodiversity but they play an important role in keeping our planet at livable temperatures,” Pau said. “We need to work to protect them.”
Creating monsters to consume carbon:
Biotechnology firm Living Carbon have genetically modified poplars (GM) into ‘supertrees’, by inserting genes from pumpkin and green algae, enabling them to grow 1.5 times faster and more rapidly take up CO2, intended to address the climate crisis.
Results are crucial given the rate of climate change and climbing CO2 levels in the atmosphere. The long breeding cycle of trees means genetic engineering can produce quicker results. But critics say there are risks to planting GM trees in the wild if they breed with other trees, or negatively affect other plant and animal species.
https://www.discovery.com/nature/supertrees-that-suck-up-more-carbon-could-be-forest-climate-fix
British Columbia’s oldgrowth continues to be clearcut:
Two years ago Canadian conservationists were elated when British Columbia’s government announced they were going to protect oldgrowth forests, and while they did protect the controversial Fairy Creek stand (after over 1,000 arrests) and some others, the moratorium over other high conservation value areas has yet to materialise as they continue to be clearcut. The Government fudges the figures by protecting poor unloggable areas, as well as leaving it up to first nation’s people to decide what to protect when they don’t have the resources to do the assessments, and in many cases depend on the revenue from logging.
TURNING IT AROUND
European biomass:
Conservationists urged EU parliamentarians to vote “yes” on September 13 to exclude most wood biomass from the European Commission’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED) to rebuild and preserve Europe’s forests as carbon sinks and as guardians of biodiversity.
The proposed amendment will take most forest biomass out of the RED as a form of renewable energy. People will still be able to burn wood, but it won’t be counted toward renewable energy targets. That shift would “liberate billions in subsidies each year for clean, zero-emissions renewable energy and energy efficiency measures that could help decrease energy poverty,” the two authors say.
“Unsurprisingly,” Wiezik and Kun say, the North American wood pellet industry and the Sweden-based World Bioenergy Association (WBA), “which represents over 50 national and international trade bodies for an industry worth US$8.7 billion, have been lobbying intensively” against the RED reforms.
On Wednesday, parliamentarians voted to phase down subsidies for “primary woody biomass”, namely healthy, standing trees logged for fuel, or fallen trees, and put a cap on the amount that can count as renewable energy. Trees cut down for fire protection or road safety reasons may continue to benefit from renewable energy subsidies, under the parliament’s proposals.
Voting on an amendment to the EU’s renewable energy directive, MEPs called to “phase down” the share of trees counted as renewable energy in EU targets. But they swerved setting any dates to reduce the burning of “primary wood”. They rejected calls for a complete phaseout of a form of energy generation that scientists have warned releases more carbon into the atmosphere than burning gas or coal.
Alex Mason, head of EU climate and energy policy at WWF, described the MEPs’ vote as a turning point: “For the first time, an EU institution has recognised that burning trees might not be the best way of getting off fossil fuels and stopping runaway climate change.”
Fenna Swart, director of the Clean Air Committee in the Netherlands, said the amendments were “at best a first step toward what is needed to limit the damage caused to forests in Europe and abroad” by the renewable energy directive’s “perverse” incentives. “We cannot afford to wait years before the phasedown goes into effect,” she said.
The European Parliament voted on Wednesday (14 September) to limit the amount of primary biomass that can be burned in power plants, raising concern among the bioenergy industry, which labelled the move “counterproductive” in the current energy crisis.
On Wednesday, lawmakers passed amendments that will effectively cap the amount of woody biomass that can be counted as part of the EU’s renewable energy targets – a move hailed by forest campaigners as “a first step towards phasing out primary woody biomass”.
In addition, the Parliament introduced a cap on the share of ‘primary woody biomass’ set as the average reached in 2017-2022. By 2030, the share of fuels derived from primary woody biomass would need to be phased down, although the percentage was not specified and will be defined later on, based on a cost-benefit analysis by the European Commission.
Told you so:
Inside Climate News recognises the 2012 IPCC report as being clairvoyant as its all coming true, while also welcoming a new website launched by the Biden administration that allows Americans to see climate disasters unfolding in real time.
In particular, the 2012 report warned governments to watch out for five specific disaster scenarios that have mostly come true in recent years regarding climate change making them more frequent and severe. They warned of increasingly destructive flash floods in less affluent regions, such as the deadly summer floods this year in Kentucky, Pakistan and China. They warned of longer and hotter heat waves in urban hubs, particularly in Europe, like the ones that broke all-time records in the United Kingdom in July. They warned of increased property damage from hurricanes in the U.S., like storms that have frequently pummeled the Gulf Coast and even killed dozens of people across the Northeast last year. And they warned of droughts causing famine in African countries, which experts say is now a serious threat in the Horn of Africa.
They also warned of small island nations losing land and possibly disappearing due to sea-level rise by the end of the century. And while that scenario is harder to illustrate through a definitive example just yet, scientists generally agree that the warning signs are there. This month, the massive glacier known as the Greenland Ice Sheet lost tens of billions of tons of ice, marking its most extensive melting rate on record for the month of September and prompting fresh warnings from scientists who said the glacier would contribute to at least 10 inches of sea level rise even if humans immediately stopped emitting greenhouse gases.
Last week, the Biden administration launched a new website that maps just how global warming is affecting different parts of the country, painting a nearly real-time picture of America’s climate threats and providing policymakers with data that can help them better prepare for extreme heat, drought, wildfire, as well as inland and coastal flooding. The new tool, for example, allows users to compare historical trends with climate projections roughly 10, 30 and 60 years from now.
As of today, the website shows more than 114 million Americans experiencing drought, nearly 40 million Americans under flood alerts and 300 wildfires actively burning across the country.
https://us2.campaign-archive.com/?e=6624c72df8&u=7c733794100bcc7e083a163f0&id=50aad8c57b
Forest Media 9 September 2022
New South Wales
The ABC has a long article about forestry, focussing on Ellis State Forest, the loss of giant trees, and regulation (cites NEFA). In Estimates the Forestry Corporation attributed its fines of more than $500,000 in the Land and Environment Court for illegal logging to human error, claiming they had learnt their lesson, with Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders saying human and technological error would no longer be acceptable excuses for the Forestry Corporation.
The Echo has an article about the upcoming (15 September) NSW lower house consideration of the 20,000 plus petition calling for an end to logging public native forests, stopping burning native forests for biomass and implementing the NRC recommendation to increase protection for hollow-bearing trees and recruits, citing NEFA’s complaints about logging of Koala habitat in Wild Cattle Creek SF, research in southern NSW that found logging increases fire threat, and the loss of birds in burnt rainforest.
September 7 was National Threatened Species Day, the anniversary of the death of the last captive Tasmanian tiger that died in Hobart Zoo of neglect, with NSW’s lists of threatened species now past 1,000 and the national list almost at 2,000 and rising rapidly it is apparent that many more are following the same trajectory – destruction of habitat, competition with introduced species, persecution, and for some rounding up survivors into zoos and then watching them die.
For National Threatened Species Day WWF released a report card on 1803 federally-listed threatened species, finding just 10 per cent had a current recovery plan, and only 8 per cent had dedicated federal funding, with1539 species (85 per cent) without a current recovery plan nor dedicated funding.
Bega Valley Shire Council highlighted it is home to 227 NSW-listed threatened plants and animal species, focussing on its efforts with shorebirds, Long-nosed Potoroo, and the current platy-project. Tweed Council will host a free session to detail the plight of the Tweed’s threatened species and the work being undertaken to conserve them on Friday 16 September from 5.30 pm at the Tweed Regional Museum in Murwillumbah. To coincide with National Biodiversity Month and National Threatened Species Day, Gloucester’s environment, biodiversity and threatened species will be the focus this month as part of the Gloucester Wild Festival. MidCoast Council has overseen a two-year study involving extensive field surveys to better understand the presence and distribution of Nabiac casuarina, dwarf heath casuarina, cryptic forest twiner and the giant dragonfly, and how they were impacted by the fires. For its contribution, Byron Shire Council, having done so well building a bypass through the one of the largest populations of the Critically Endangered Mitchell’s Rainforest Snail, is proposing clearing threatened species habitat on Council land for affordable housing.
To mark National Threatened Species Day, NEFA organised actions in Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour and Tweed Heads to highlight the effect of logging on them, and the need to stop logging public native forests, garnering some good coverage.
The Glen Innes Examiner highlights peaceful protest “has been critically important in achieving significant community gains” in the past while decrying the increasingly draconian laws being enacted to stop it. The loggers have started their own petition to the NSW Legislative Assembly calling for tougher penalties for forest protectors equivalent to Victoria’s anti-forest protest laws, and “Permit a statutory civil action to enforce trespass or damage to equipment or hinderance or obstruction to the operation of equipment in any approved forestry operation against an individual or organisation associated with or purported to be associated with the actions of the individual”.
Pentarch Forestry, manager of logging and operations of the Eden chipmill, has lost its FSC Controlled Wood certification, principally because the Due Diligence process, particularly at the loading facility in Eden, could not ensure the separation of native forest regrowth from genuine plantation hardwood chips.
The Australian reports that Verdant Earth Technologies attempt to raise $50m by listing on the Nasdaq failed because “The ASX said unless we got approval to burn biomass they wouldn’t accept our listing,”, though this hasn’t hindered them raising almost $80m toward restarting their coal-fired power station with “renewable” wood from native forests and “progress green hydrogen assets”, while they await approval – we helped thwart their attempts to use their existing Development Approval to burn biomass, though they are touting their new DA. The Northern Rivers Times reports that the Broadwater Sugar Mill (and possibly their co-generation plant) is back in operation.
Goulburn Mulwaree Council has recorded a significant increase in reports of illegal clearing activities over the past 12 months, reflecting increased concern and awareness from the community about illegal clearing and the destruction of natural habitats, with many substantiated, and fines issued.
The NSW EPA has released a draft Climate Change Policy and draft Climate Change Action Plan: 2022-2025 for consultation and is seeking your views. Their Climate Change Action Plan does mention forestry, though it is basically business as usual with the intent being to focus on broad monitoring rather than reviewing species-specific protection in light of the increasing information on how species will be affected and changing prescriptions now.
The Speaker of the NSW parliament, Jonathan O’Dea, is now one of eight Coalition MPs who have said they will not recontest the next election, with others expected to follow, including Infrastructure Minister Rob Stokes.
Australia
Aljazeera has video on The Forest Frontlines focussing on a blockade in the continuing struggle to save the Takayna/Tarkine, Australia’s largest temperate rainforest; 101 East.
The Greens and Pocock have been requesting a ban on native forest wood burning being counted as renewable energy in negotiations over the Climate Bill, backed by the Senate review, Chris Bowen has agreed to consider and is preparing a discussion paper. NCC criticised the Federal Government for not taking decisive action to protect forests and wildlife by ruling out the use of native forests for electricity generation. To reach the target of 43 per cent reductions on 2005 levels by 2030, Labor will allow big industrial polluters to buy carbon credits from the $4.5 billion Emissions Reduction Fund instead of reducing their emissions, leading Pocock to warn he will leverage his vote to drive reforms to stop “junk” carbon credits before a controversial emissions reduction scheme is entrenched in new legislation.
Despite promises to stop logging of 400,000 ha of Western Australian forests by 2024, conservationists are worried by what might be lost in the interim and wary of what might be proposed as they wait for the next ten-year forests' management plan to be released.
Sue Arnold takes exception to the failure of the jobs summit to either account for environmental values or the impacts of their increased immigration, labelling it a profound disappointment as once again “growth at any cost” remains the number one policy of our major political parties. Ian Lowe also equates more people to an increased environmental footprint and therefore impacts on our deteriorating environment. A video on Mongbay identifies that with the human population expected to reach 8 billion literally any day now, and nearly 10 billion people some time this century, some researchers suggest that the single biggest thing anyone can do to reduce our impact on the environment, and the climate, is to choose to have one less child, particularly wealthy people with large environmental footprints.
A proposal for “cultural thinning” by a Victorian Aboriginal group in Wombat State Forest, which is intended to be made into a national park, sounds like commercial logging, saying they want to undertake “forest gardening involve[ing] thinning, revegetation and regenerative practice to ensure the health of forests”, and that “cultural thinning would leave significant timber leftover, something Mr Carter said should not be wasted”.
Species
Scientists are trying to work out why Koala populations on the predator-free St Bee's Island, about 38km offshore from Mackay, fluctuate from around 100 animals to around 300 animals, which they think is linked to a number of cyclones and dry years. Port Macquarie Koala Hospital’s 8 million dollar Guulabaa Tourism Precinct is taking shape with the turning of the first sod for their enclosure for “wild koalas” they will be capturing from the wild, with the intent of releasing any young into areas with depleted Koalas – which their Forestry Corporation partners are busy creating.
The NSW Government is progressing with their seven feral-free “rewilding” sites intended to fence-off 65,000 hectares of national parks in NSW, while again touting the success of three established sites so far in the Pilliga State Conservation Area, Mallee Cliffs National Park and Sturt National Park, with 10 locally extinct species now thriving – meanwhile they continue to increase the decline of numerous other species as they clear and log their habitats
There are fears that platypus populations might have been wiped out by recent floods in greater Brisbane, sparking new calls for the species to be recognised as threatened in NSW and Queensland, though first they need more citizen science.
To offset the impacts of their lagoon openings, Central Coast Council is collecting and relocating tadpoles of the endangered Green and Golden Bell Frog from the Bareena wetland to ponds at North Avoca, which were constructed by Council to provide additional habitat for the threatened species.
Tanya Plibersek, is being urged to intervene to save a population of endangered Gouldian finches threatened by a defence housing development in savannah woodlands at Lee Point, in Darwin’s north.
The Deteriorating Problem
In Brazil the world’s largest producer of eucalyptus-based pulp and paper products has genetically engineered eucalypts to make them more resistant to glyphosate, so that they can use more of it to grow trees to burn for electricity, while calling it a nature-based solution to climate heating.
ABC has a good story about the folly of relying on Carbon Capture and Storage, covering the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis mentioned last week, the key point being that CSG is unreliable because each site has different geologies, as the new Australian government approved 10 new offshore areas for oil and gas exploration and two greenhouse gas storage facilities.
The American Meteorological Society have published: “State of the Climate in 2021”, telling us that 2021 was the sixth (or fifth) warmest year on record, as measured by global mean surface temperature, while La Niña conditions contributed to Australia’s coldest year since 2012, New Zealand and China each reported their warmest year on record. The Sydney Morning Herald has an article summarising some of the unprecedented extreme climate events destroying our planet, killing thousands and threatening billions, while linking them to climate change – the question is whether those with power are listening to the increasingly extreme weather warnings. Of the 32.1 million acres of forestland in California, approximately 2.1 million acres (6.6%) burned in wildfires in the 2002-2011 time period. In the following decade (2012-2021), that figure more than tripled to 7.9 million acres (24.7%). Copernicus atmosphere monitoring service has reported that more than 750,000 hectares of the EU and Great Britain have burned since the beginning of the year, causing record CO2 emissions, between the beginning of June and the end of August emitting 6.4 million tons of carbon.
As climate heating progresses so too does the number of lightning strikes, with the tallest trees sticking up from the canopy most likely to be directly hit, with up to 100 nearby plants exposed to the electrical current, causing some to die instantly, others to die slowly, and still others to carry on with business as usual. This will have an increasing effect on forest structure.
Turning it Around
With half of the worlds global CO2 emissions occurring since the first IPCC report 30 years ago, a growing number of scientists are speaking out and taking direct action on climate change due to frustration with the lack of political progress.
On the 21st of October 2022 the Environmental Paper Network's, “Forests, climate and biomass working group” is inviting all of its members and supporters to join them for another International Day of Action on Big Biomass! Members are invited to participate in whatever way they are able, wherever they are in the world, under the banner of an “International Day of Action on Big Biomass” and by sharing photos of our activities to the hashtag #BigBadBiomass. In the lead-up to the European parliament’s vote on a revised EU renewable energy directive, Greta Thunberg and others have written a comprehensive argument in The Guardian as to why they should remove forest biomass from the renewable energy directive, or lock in decades of increased carbon emissions, biodiversity loss and human rights violations.
An American study found that the cooler microclimate conditions provided by old- growth forest structures compared with surrounding open or younger forests helped buffer the effects of climate heating on some birds, concluding “microclimatic refugia provided by old-growth and complex forests may provide time to enable species to adapt to a warming climate”.
A paper in the Lancet uses COVID-19 as a case study to demonstrate how restoring ecosystems can help to combat the health and social problems associated with pandemics, Identifying that exposure to microscopic life (ie bacteria, algae) “primes” our immune systems, phytoncides given off by plants can boost our immune system and help us fight off viral infections, and recreating in natural environments improves our mental health, reduces blood pressure and stress, while protecting areas can avoid spillover events when a pathogen in a stressed native species jumps to humans. In England researchers are asking people to help them determine how different forest structure affects people’s wellbeing, by asking them to report whether the mental and physical benefits are enhanced more by wildlife-rich ancient woodlands than monocultural plantation forestry.
Dailan Pugh
NEW SOUTH WALES
Giant killers:
The ABC has a long article about forestry, focussing on Ellis State Forest, the loss of giant trees, and regulation.
Ecologist Mark Graham, who documented operations in Ellis State Forest, said he was "gobsmacked" by the EPA's conclusions. "140cm in diameter is still a truly massive tree and hundreds of years old," he said. "Any tree over 100cm in diameter is of immense age and habitat value."
Mr Pugh is concerned such efforts will not repair the loss of habitat where trees in old-growth forests are logged or damaged. "These trees should be treated with reverence. They're not replaceable," he said.
In response to a question from Greens MP Sue Higginson about FCNSW's "pattern of non-compliance in relation to giant trees", Mr Saunders recognised there "had been some unfortunate mistakes along the way".
[Catherine Cusack] "Destruction of koala habitat is being funded by taxpayers who are also funding a koala plan that's trying to save koalas. It's completely illogical," she said. "It's not just another battle — this is Armageddon."
The News of the Area stories on Friends of Conglomerate and Friends of Bagawa are now online – with indications logging has been suspended in Bagawa:
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/friends-of-bagawa-stand-to-safeguard-state-forest-99355
To err is human:
In Estimates the Forestry Corporation attributed its fines of more than $500,000 in the Land and Environment Court for illegal logging to human error, claiming they had learnt their lesson, with Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders saying human and technological error would no longer be acceptable excuses for the Forestry Corporation.
"Sometimes, unfortunately, due to human error, unintentional mistakes occur," Mr Chaudhary said.
"When you look at them, majority of them occur in an office environment where a map hasn't been updated, or something along those lines, and that has resulted in a contractor going into an exclusion zone."
"There's no excuse for not getting it right," Mr Saunders said.
The corporation has to follow guidelines while logging, including how many "hollow bearing trees" - which provide vital habitat for marsupials - it sets aside while felling.
There are about five million hollow bearing trees within the harvestable area on the NSW coast, and three to four times that in inland areas, according to Forestry Corporation modelling, Mr Chaudhary said.
https://www.southernhighlandnews.com.au/story/7889487/illegal-nsw-logging-result-of-human-error/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/aap/article-11180043/Illegal-NSW-logging-result-human-error.html
D day for logging:
The Echo has an article about the upcoming (15 September) NSW lower house consideration of the 20,000 plus petition calling for an end to logging public native forests, stopping burning native forests for biomass and implementing the NRC recommendation to increase protection for hollow-bearing trees and recruits, citing NEFA’s complaints about logging of Koala habitat in Wild Cattle Creek SF, research in southern NSW that found logging increases fire threat, and the loss of birds in burnt rainforest.
https://www.echo.net.au/downloads/byron-echo/volume-37/ByronEcho3713.pdf
A day to commemorate the dead:
September 7 was National Threatened Species Day, the anniversary of the death of the last captive Tasmanian tiger that died in Hobart Zoo of neglect, with NSW’s lists of threatened species now past 1,000 and the national list almost at 2,000 and rising rapidly it is apparent that many more are following the same trajectory – destruction of habitat, competition with introduced species, persecution, and for some rounding up survivors into zoos and then watching them die.
For National Threatened Species Day WWF released a report card on 1803 federally-listed threatened species, finding just 10 per cent had a current recovery plan, and only 8 per cent had dedicated federal funding, with1539 species (85 per cent) without a current recovery plan nor dedicated funding.
The WWF report cards can be viewed at wwf.org.au/mybackyard.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/aap/article-11186215/Fail-grade-Australia-saving-species.html
https://au.news.yahoo.com/why-australia-marks-national-threatened-230758966.html
Bega Valley Shire Council highlighted it is home to 227 NSW-listed threatened plants and animal species, focussing on its efforts with shorebirds, Long-nosed Potoroo, and the current platy-project.
Tweed Council will host a free session to detail the plight of the Tweed’s threatened species and the work being undertaken to conserve them on Friday 16 September from 5.30 pm at the Tweed Regional Museum in Murwillumbah.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/09/threatened-species-day-celebrated-in-the-tweed/
Northern Rivers Times 8 September 2022
Celebrating regional biodiversity:
To coincide with National Biodiversity Month and National Threatened Species Day, Gloucester’s environment, biodiversity and threatened species will be the focus this month as part of the Gloucester Wild Festival.
The festival celebrates the passionate conservationists, researchers, volunteers and experts in the Gloucester community and their work to protect the biodiversity of the area.
Events include twilight tours, koala workshops, habitat planting for koalas and grey-crowned babblers, a Frog ID workshop, bushwalking and more.
Visit, www.midcoast.nsw.gov.au/Environment/Environmental-Projects/Gloucester-Wild-Threatened-Species-Festival to find out more and book your place.
MidCoast Council has overseen a two-year study involving extensive field surveys to better understand the presence and distribution of Nabiac casuarina, dwarf heath casuarina, cryptic forest twiner and the giant dragonfly, and how they were impacted by the fires.
https://www.gloucesteradvocate.com.au/story/7890265/help-for-bushfire-affected-species/
For its contribution Byron Shire Council, having done so well building a bypass through the one of the largest populations of the Critically Endangered Mitchell’s Rainforest Snail, is proposing clearing threatened species habitat on Council land for affordable housing.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/09/another-affordable-housing-site-proposed-in-byron/
… lest we forget the forests:
To mark National Threatened Species Day, NEFA organised actions in Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour and Tweed Heads to highlight the effect of logging on them, and the need to stop logging public native forests, garnering some good coverage.
Locals from across three North Coast towns have gathered in protest, to mark National Threatened Species Day.
They’re calling on the Government to do more to protect our most vulnerable native animals
[City of Coffs Harbour Councillor Sally Townley] “The government’s own experts have recommended that we protect the last remnants of unburnt forest.
“But it is also ironic that the taxpayer is footing the bill for this uneconomic industry and we are watching vulnerable species being flushed down the drain.”
Bellingen Shire Councillor Dominic King … said we must protect the biodiversity in our forests, which belong to the public, not politicians.
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/threatened-species-day-highlighted-as-australia-ranks-poorly-99570
‘We want the government to do better,’ said rally MC Scott Sledge from Northern Rivers Guardians.
‘We want the government to lift their game and provide better protection of koala habitat as it is a keystone species. If you protect koala habitat then it will protect other species and their habits that are critically endangered including the greater glider and the sooty owl.’
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/09/tweed-locals-call-for-action-on-endangered-species-day/
Outside the office of National’s MP Geoff Provest in Tweed Head, protesters heard from the North East Forest Alliance’s Sean O'Shannessy and Dailan Pugh.
“We will not stand by while koalas and greater gliders, and a huge range of other species, becomes extinct. We rely on those forests for our water, our climate, our fire protection and the economic value for tourism in this hotspot of biodiversity.”
https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/protesters-demand-species-protection
The diminishing right to protest:
The Glen Innes Examiner highlights peaceful protest “has been critically important in achieving significant community gains” in the past while decrying the increasingly draconian laws being enacted to stop it.
My wife Julie and I are about to put our money where our mouth is, again, and head over to the coast to get involved in the protests against logging around Coffs Harbour.
The logging in question is focussed on state forests that would form part of the Great Koala National Park. They are critical koala habitat.
The right to protest is widely acknowledged, but is rarely protected.
Think about the Franklin Dam protests in Tasmania in the 1980s, the Bentley Blockade against Coal Seam Gas in the Northern Rivers in 2014, the North-East Forest Alliance protests in the Washpool and other forests in the 1980s and 90s, the Mary River Dam protests in Queensland and the countless other community-based protests in which ordinary people risked their physical safety and their liberty by standing up against industrial might and the state apparatus.
… do we want Victoria’s anti-protest laws?
The loggers have started their own petition to the NSW Legislative Assembly calling for tougher penalties for forest protectors equivalent to Victoria’s anti-forest protest laws, and “Permit a statutory civil action to enforce trespass or damage to equipment or hinderance or obstruction to the operation of equipment in any approved forestry operation against an individual or organisation associated with or purported to be associated with the actions of the individual”.
https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/la/Pages/ePetition-details.aspx?q=570u3sESb6CBBUyJ7lGihg
De-certifying Eden woodchips:
Pentarch Forestry, manager of logging and operations of the Eden chipmill, has lost its FSC Controlled Wood certification, principally because the Due Diligence process, particularly at the loading facility in Eden, could not ensure the separation of native forest regrowth from genuine plantation hardwood chips.
In 2017 Pentarch obtained FSC Controlled Wood Certification for its Eden, Victorian and Burnie plantation operations. This must be regularly renewed in a recertification audit. A recent FSC audit found that its due diligence system was out of date, potentially enabling regrowth native forest and plantation woodchips to be mixed together, and threatened species assessments were not being done.
But while the suspended certification was for Pentarch’s plantation operations, by far the biggest part of the company’s production is in native forestry. A major benefit of having FSC certification is the right to display the respected international logo and other details on the recipient’s website and other materials. In this case, the certification for its plantation sector may have helped Pentarch to greenwash its native forest activities.
https://michaelwest.com.au/greenwashing-nsw-logging-behemoth-loses-certification/
https://www.beagleweekly.com.au/post/mogo-forest-floor-to-receive-a-makeover
Community concern about illegal clearing increasing:
Goulburn Mulwaree Council has recorded a significant increase in reports of illegal clearing activities over the past 12 months, reflecting increased concern and awareness from the community about illegal clearing and the destruction of natural habitats, with many substantiated and fines issued.
The destruction of natural habitats can have a devastating impact on threatened species such as Gang Gang Cockatoos, Glossy Black Cockatoos, Greater Gliders, Yellow-Bellied Gliders and Squirrel Gliders.
"There are also areas of koala habitat that have been destroyed due to unlawful clearing," Mr Martin said.
Investigations by council and other state government agencies have substantiated many of the complaints and several infringements have been issued to property owners and companies undertaking illegal activities on both public and private land.
Taking on the multi-millionaires:
The Australian reports that Verdant Earth Technologies attempt to raise $50m by listing on the Nasdaq failed because “The ASX said unless we got approval to burn biomass they wouldn’t accept our listing,”, though this hasn’t hindered them raising almost $80m toward restarting their coal-fired power station with “renewable” wood from native forests and “progress green hydrogen assets”, while they await approval – we helped thwart their attempts to use their existing Development Approval to burn biomass, though they are touting their new DA.
His work on the Redbank station has not been the only thing keeping Poole busy. The former banker has run a vociferous campaign to have findings of corrupt conduct, made against him in 2013 by the Independent Commission Against Corruption, expunged from the record. …
In its presentation, Verdant told investors it would cost an estimated $US42m ($62m) to restart the plant over a 10-month period and offered income both from the power it made and the potential tipping fees from taking in waste.
Verdant expects total revenue of more than $75m in its first year of operating the plant – having sold 1 million MWh. Total costs will come in at around $52m, it says. From the second year, it forecasts an additional $33m in revenues from taking tippings.
Broadwater is back:
The Northern Rivers Times reports that the Broadwater Sugar Mill (and possibly their co-generation plant) is back in operation.
Northern Rivers Times 8 September 2022
EPA Climate Change Policy open for comments:
The NSW EPA has released a draft Climate Change Policy and draft Climate Change Action Plan: 2022-2025 for consultation and is seeking your views. Their Climate Change Action Plan does mention forestry, though it is basically business as usual with the intent being to focus on broad monitoring rather than reviewing species-specific protection in light of the increasing information on how species will be affected and changing prescriptions now.
The draft EPA Climate Change Policy and Action Plan is available at https://yoursay.epa.nsw.gov.au/climate-change-policy-and-action-plan and comments are open until 3 November 2022.
Continuing action 11: Ensure climate risks are considered in native forestry via the Forest Monitoring and Improvement Program The EPA is responsible for the compliance and enforcement of native forestry operations; however, the NSW Government is responsible for the environmental regulations that apply. While native forests can act as long-term carbon storage and sequestration, the health of native forests and the biodiversity they support are both increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, particularly fire, pests and pathogens, drought, floods and higher-intensity rainfall.
The EPA is an active participant in the NSW Forest Monitoring and Improvement Program (FMIP), which is a requirement of the environmental rules that apply to native forestry – the Integrated Forestry Operations Approvals and the Private Native Forestry Codes of Practice. The FMIP undertakes broadscale forest monitoring and targeted research to provide evidence to the NSW Government that the NSW forest management framework is delivering ecologically sustainable forest management (ESFM) outcomes, including ensuring the ongoing effectiveness of native forest in contributing to carbon sequestration and its resilience to climate change consequences.
The EPA will continue to work with the NSW Natural Resources Commission, Regional NSW and the Forestry Corporation of NSW as part of the FMIP to ensure climate risks are identified and consequences are appropriately managed in the Integrated Forestry Operations Approvals and Private Native Forestry Codes of Practice
The NSW Draft CCPAP is a result of citizen action taken by Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action (BSCA) that resulted in the landmark win in the NSW Land and Environment Court (L&EC) that found that the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has a duty to take serious action on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.
https://www.echo.net.au/2022/09/nsw-draft-climate-change-policy-and-action-plan-open-for-comment/
“The big issue here is that an Australian government is moving to comprehensively cover [carbon dioxide] and equivalent emissions as a pollutant,” the new EPA chief executive, Tony Chappel, said.
“[The plan would] give regulatory teeth to its net zero commitment to ensure that the whole economy moves on that path efficiently and effectively.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/aap/article-11191937/NSW-consider-carbon-pollutant.html
More deserters:
The Speaker of the NSW parliament, Jonathan O’Dea, is now one of eight Coalition MPs who have said they will not recontest the next election, with others expected to follow, including Infrastructure Minister Rob Stokes.
To govern in majority, Labor needs to pick up eight seats, which is a big task. It has its own internal demons to sort out, not least some tricky preselections involving sitting MPs.
AUSTRALIA
Saving the Tarkine:
Aljazeera has video on The Forest Frontlines focussing on a blockade in the continuing struggle to save the Takayna/Tarkine, Australia’s largest temperate rainforest; 101 East.
https://www.aljazeera.com/program/101-east/2022/9/8/the-battle-to-save-australias-ancient-forests
Feds cautious, but will consider:
The Greens and Pocock have been requesting a ban on native forest wood burning being counted as renewable energy in negotiations over the Climate Bill, backed by the Senate review, Chris Bowen has agreed to consider and is preparing a discussion paper.
More promisingly, Bowen also told reporters he was considering a recommendation by a Labor-led Senate Committee to rule out the use of native forest biomass for renewable energy generation. The Greens later confirmed this was a part of their negotiations with Labor to secure support for the Climate Bill.
In Australia, like in other parts of the world, generating power by burning woody biomass is favoured by incumbent fossil fuel companies keen to keep their assets generating power beyond the demise of coal.
But there is strong debate over whether using woody biomass is any better, in terms of emissions, than using coal – not to mention the potential environmental ramifications of chopping down and pulverising trees for an energy source.
[Bandt] “I welcome the Minister starting this consultation process, but with our environment under threat and the climate crisis increasing, the only logical conclusion is to stop burning native forests. The Greens and Labor opposed this practice under Tony Abbott and it needs to end now.”
https://reneweconomy.com.au/bowen-considers-forest-biomass-ban-as-labor-cuts-deals-on-climate-bill/
https://www.miragenews.com/greens-get-government-first-steps-on-native-849717/
NCC criticised the Federal Government for not taking decisive action to protect forests and wildlife by ruling out the use of native forests for electricity generation.
Northern Rivers Times 8 September 2022
I’m not sure where this comes from, but in response to Tom Connell, Political Host and Reporter at Sky News based in Canberra, Chris Bowen said he will be releasing a short consultation paper about the proposal to exclude burning forest biomass for electricity from being classed as renewable energy.
TOM CONNELL, HOST: And anything else we should know about? There was the native forest wood waste and whether or not it should be defined as renewable energy. So burning this, it's renewable technically, it's not traditional renewable that we think of perhaps.
CHRIS BOWEN: Yeah, this has been an issue which has come up, it was raised in the House of Representatives by the Greens as well. And it's been raised by Senator Pocock. I think there are legitimate issues to be concerned about here. But what I don't want to do is, you know, have an ad hoc decision, the way we do business in the Albanese Government is to do things carefully and with consultation, so I'll be releasing a short consultation paper about this. To be fair, the forest industry by and large looks for higher value return elsewhere than burning it for energy. But I do think there are legitimate issues about the carbon impacts. So I want to have a discussion paper, a brief process, let people have their say, and then I will make a decision after that.
… junking the junk:
To reach the target of 43 per cent reductions on 2005 levels by 2030, Labor will allow big industrial polluters to buy carbon credits from the $4.5 billion Emissions Reduction Fund instead of reducing their emissions, leading Pocock to warn he will leverage his vote to drive reforms to stop “junk” carbon credits before a controversial emissions reduction scheme is entrenched in new legislation.
“You can’t say the 43 per cent target has integrity if we’re creating questionable, or flat out junk credits,” he said.
The fund pays private projects to generate carbon credits, either by sequestering carbon from the atmosphere in vegetation, for example by growing trees, or by reducing their greenhouse footprint by switching to lower emissions technology, such as changing gas boilers to electric heat pumps.
Other companies can then buy those carbon credits instead of directly reducing their emissions.
Waiting for the end:
Despite promises to stop logging of 400,000 ha of Western Australian forests by 2024, conservationists are worried by what might be lost in the interim and wary of what might be proposed as they wait for the next ten-year forests' management plan to be released.
Accounting for the environment:
Sue Arnold takes exception to the failure of the jobs summit to either account for environmental values or the impacts of their increased immigration, labelling it a profound disappointment as once again “growth at any cost” remains the number one policy of our major political parties.
Failing to develop an economic value for biodiversity, ecosystems, clean air, rivers and healthy marine environments ensures any national balance sheet does not reflect the true costs of destruction for growth versus protection of the environment and sustainable development in tune with the ecological carrying capacity of this ancient continent.
The report found that ecosystems were rapidly deteriorating globally and species extinction rates are strongly correlated to both climate change and human footprint.
Taking steps to end the logging of native forests under the Regional Forest Agreements is obviously not on any Labor policy list. Industrial logging continues with ongoing unacceptable mortality of forest species as the industry is not required to abide by the environmental protection provisions of the EPBC Act.
Ian Lowe also equates more people to an increased environmental footprint and therefore impacts on our deteriorating environment.
The downsides of increasing migration, which will almost certainly worsen our environmental problems, weren’t mentioned. We can expect public debate about lifting migration to pre-pandemic levels. It’s essential for this debate to consider the whole picture: the economic, social and environmental issues.
Migration has environmental impacts because it increases our population, with proportional increases in resource use and waste products. Our population has grown by 50% since 1990, from 17 million to almost 26 million today. Our energy use has risen from 4,000 petajoules a year to 6,200