Forests, land and agriculture news
The Wilderness Society
One of the reasons the proposed Gunns’ pulp mill has been so unpopular is because it planned to source 80% of its timber from Tasmania’s native forests, despite claiming they have enough plantations to supply the pulp mill. This is all about to change, however, as Gunns’ share price has fallen 20% in the last three days and they have just released $170 million worth of plantations to relieve their debts. Meaning, if the pulp mill does go ahead there will be added pressure on Tasmania’s native forests to supply the mill.
posted by kirsty on August 20, 2008 at 4:41 pm · filed under 
Sydney Morning Herald
A new report confirms that the cotton industry is the thirstiest crop in the Murray-Darling basin, consuming 20% of all water used in agriculture in the region, and in some areas accounting for up to 87% of the agricultural water used. Farmers choose to grow cotton as this is the most profitable crop, but with water allocations being reduced, 2007 saw the smallest cotton crop in 30 years. The Murray-Darling Basin holds 40% of Australian agriculture and in order to survive farmers will need to change to less water-intensive crops.
posted by steve on August 18, 2008 at 9:53 am · filed under 
ANU E Press
Forest degradation and deforestation are internationally recognised as significant contributors to climate change. ANU have released the ‘Green Carbon‘ report which found that South-Eastern Australia’s native forests store up to twenty times more carbon than previously thought. They also found that native forests store significantly more carbon, and more reliably, than commercially logged forests.
This has great implications for future management of forests in Australia and around the world. Not only does cutting down native forests release carbon, but, allowing previously logged forests to grow to their full potential will remove carbon from the atmosphere. The study found that if previously logged forests in South-East Australia were left to grow, they would offset a quarter of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions for the next 100 years!
posted by kirsty on August 14, 2008 at 3:39 pm · filed under
ABC News
A survey conducted by the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries and Water has detected pesticide contamination in nine out of the fifty-five waterways investigated last month through its program for the monitoring of industrial and agricultural pesticides. The State government is currently seeking public submissions on a new guidelines for ground and aerial pesticide spraying, which could include exlcusion zones around waterways.
posted by ruby on August 13, 2008 at 5:37 pm · filed under 
The Sydney Morning Herald
A recently released paper by Dr George Wilson and Melanie Edwards has found that by increasing our kangaroo industry for human consumption Australia could significantly decrease its greenhouse gas emissions.
This report comes as scientists are becoming aware of the volume and impact of methane emissions from traditional farm stock. In light of sheep and cattle giving off 11 per cent of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions, Wilson and Edwards have proposed that their production be cut back by 30% and replaced by Kangaroos, who emit much less methane. This, they claim, could reduce Australia’s total emissions by 3%.
posted by megan on August 12, 2008 at 3:35 pm · filed under 
ABC News
Marion council in Adelaide want to buy a three hectare site in order to develop it into a wetlands and catchment area which could be used to store up to 200 mega-litres of water. Although the land is currently used as a park and a driver training school, it has been zoned as residential, and as such the South Australian Government has put a price-tag of $2 million on the land. Marion council will now not be able to proceed with the plan in the current financial year.
posted by steve on August 11, 2008 at 11:07 am · filed under
Australian Government
Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Minister Tony Burke and Environment Minister Peter Garret have introduced the Queensland government’s $23m Reef Rescue program, a collaboration with farmers which aims to improve the quality of water flowing into the Great Barrier Reef. The program aids farmers in reducing the quantity of nutrients, fertilizers and farm chemicals from entering waterways by implementing land management methods such as enhancing fertilizer efficiency and repairing riverbanks and wetlands. Peter Garrett believes that the introduction of the program will assist in the preservation of the reef and help protect it from global climate change issues such as coral bleaching.
posted by cecie on August 11, 2008 at 12:43 am · filed under 
ACF
Conservation groups have commended Queensland Premier Anna Bligh on the return of nearly 182,000 hectares of land in Cape York Peninsula to its traditional owners with the creation of the Aboriginal-owned Kulla National Park. The McIlwraith Range area where the park has been established is the largest area of tropical-rainforest wilderness left in Australia.
posted by seamas on August 6, 2008 at 2:36 pm · filed under
The Wilderness Society
World-first research from the Australian National University has found that the dense unlogged native forests of NSW, Tasmania and Victroria store three times more carbon than previously thought- meaning they could play a real role in helping reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions if protected and restored.
posted by megan on August 5, 2008 at 4:46 pm · filed under
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