Forests, land and agriculture
Greenpeace
Fifteen leading scientists have called for a review of labelling and assessment guidelines for genetically engineered (GE) food. The scientists found strains of corn and canola that are not approved overseas because of dangerous side effects are due to enter Australian food supply this year. They support the report released yesterday by Greenpeace which claimed that Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) was not adequately protecting consumers from GE food. Although the Federal Government last year committed to not approving GE crops unless it was beyond reasonable doubt that they were safe, FSANZ has approved every application it has received.
posted by jennifer on October 22, 2008 at 6:57 pm · filed under 
The Wilderness Society
West Tamar Council has unanimously voted to not allow Gunns to build a pulp mill pipeline on council land. The Wilderness Society has called on Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett and Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett to take heed of the local opposition to Gunns’ pulp mill, and grant no further approvals for the mill’s plans.
posted by jennifer on October 22, 2008 at 6:37 pm · filed under
Sydney Morning Herald
The operator of one of Australia’s biggest native-forest clearing projects has been fined $2 Million - one of strongest federal actions taken against a logging company. The 26,000 hectare site on the Tiwi Islands, in the Northern Territory, is being cleared for plantation by Great Southern Plantations. The Federal Government found breaches of buffer zones set up to protect rainforest and wetlands.
posted by Vinnie on October 16, 2008 at 9:58 pm · filed under
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts Media Release
Forestry operators on the Tiwi Islands, Northern Territory, are being ordered to pay up to $2 million dollars in reparations after the Ministry for Heritage and the Environment found them in breach of approval. Mr Garrett said clearing carried out at the plantations between 2004 and 2006 had encroached on required buffer zones which protected important rainforests and wetlands. The project’s approval stipulated that clearing was not to occur within set buffer zones designed to protect important rainforest and wetland habitats used by threatened species protected under the Federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
posted by ruby on October 16, 2008 at 10:26 am · filed under
Australian Greens
Leader of the Australian Greens Party, Bob Brown, today said that funding for Tasmania’s World Heritage Area has been cut by two thirds, continuing a trend of the last seven years. Funding was 5.1 million dollars in 1994-5, compared to 3.4 million dollars in 2008-9.
posted by jennifer on October 15, 2008 at 5:55 pm · filed under
The Age
This week the world’s tallest flowering hardwood tree was found, reaching a height of 101m, in the Arve Valley in Tasmania. Estimated to be over 350 years old and having survived at least two fires, this Eucalyptus regnans is simply described as “wow”. A recent study by ANU, has found that Eucalyptus regnans forests store up to 10 times more carbon than previously thought - making them not only valuable carbon banks but huge carbon emitters when logged.
posted by kirsty on October 12, 2008 at 2:14 pm · filed under 
ABC News
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD, has released the Economic Survey of Australia 2008 and criticises several aspects of the Government’s proposed emission trading scheme. Primarily, the proposal for a cent-for-cent fuel tax cut is described as “counter-productive”, along with subsidies for heavy vehicles, fishing and farm fuel energy costs as they will remove incentives for energy efficiency. The report also warns that any assistance to affected industries, especially coal-fired power stations, should carefully avoid compensating when the cost can be passed on to consumers. An overview of the report can be found here, with comments on Australia’s education, labour supply, immigration laws and water management.
posted by kirsty on October 12, 2008 at 1:55 pm · filed under
| October 20, 2008 | to | October 23, 2008 |
Researchers, policy makers, scientists, practitioners and landholders will come together for the Vegetation Futures 08 in Toowoomba, Queensland, to discuss and challenge a range of vegetation management issues.
This Greening Australia and Land and Water Australia sponsored conference will cover global, national and local pressures and drivers on vegetation; water’s interface with vegetation; carbon markets; and climate change and adaptation.
posted by seamas on October 10, 2008 at 7:05 pm · filed under 
ABC news
In reaction to Tasmanian timber company, Gunns, employing Don Burke, fellow gardening personailty Peter Cundall has said if a giant pulp mill was proposed in Don’s backyard, he would oppose it. Cundall dismisses Burke’s appointment as an act of desperation by the company for some friendly publicity.
posted by shaun on October 10, 2008 at 12:35 pm · filed under 
Reuters
Experts are discussing the idea that developing nations in tropical regions be paid to protect their forests as a measure to address global warming. The Reuters Global Environmental Summit in New York has heard that preserving forests being felled legally and illegally in these regions could be the most effective way to offset emissions from industry. Forest clearing is believed to account for around 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions globally.
posted by seamas on October 10, 2008 at 12:22 pm · filed under
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