Mood:  sad

Picture: Peter Gray shown here at right, 3rd from the top. His funeral is this Saturday in Newcastle NSW.

We are advised Peter died after a long struggle with cancer over the
Easter weekend just past. The editor of SAM met Peter once at the pictured Marrickville Town Hall meeting over a coal mine at Anvil Hill on 24 June 2007.

We got his picture after chatting, aware that he had won a famous legal precedent as the plaintiff against the NSW Government, a case which was not appealed and can be found here:

Gray v The Minister for Planning and Ors [2006] NSWLEC 720 (27 November 2006)

with costs order in Peter Gray's favour here:

Gray v Minister for Planning & Ors (No 2) [2007] NSWLEC 91 (27 February 2007)

We received this email recently:

Posted by editor at 4:13 AM NZT

Updated: Saturday, 7 May 2011 7:18 PM NZT

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Mood:  lyrical

[under construction]

 

 

From: 

Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2011 7:53 PM

Subject: [chipstop] new plans from FNSW

Hey all

new harvest plans issued by FNSW have been received:

• Nullica 654/655
• Bombala 1325
• Yambulla 422

they are a couple of Mb each so please ask if you want them forwarded to you

tony

 

Posted by editor at 10:04 AM NZT

Updated: Thursday, 5 May 2011 4:43 AM NZT

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Mood:  blue

Source of map and bar graph below: Tony Whan and South East Forest Rescue.

Posted by editor at 1:43 PM EADT

Updated: Tuesday, 1 March 2011 2:32 PM EADT

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Mood:  sharp

• They need to deliver on the promises which they made last year.
• The full reserve areas recommended by the Natural Resources Commission need to be protected.
• Logging has to stop in the Millewa forest.

Posted by editor at 10:10 AM EADT

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Mood:  energetic

News over the intertubes of a protest action today about NSW Govt forest destruction with these pictures:

          2010 - the Year of Biodiversity Destruction

Conservationists have stopped logging today in Compartment 63 of South
Brooman State Forest, between Ulladulla and Batemans Bay and are calling
on the NSW Premier to halt logging.  The conservationists state Forests
NSW are logging rainforest in the compartment and destroying threatened
species habitat.  The conservationists have tied three machines to a tree
sit forty metres above the ground.

An assurance was given to the community with the signing of the Regional
Forest Agreements that Forests NSW would ensure damage to threatened
species habitat is mitigated, yet the evidence of habitat destruction in
Compartment 62 and 63, that were earmarked for protection by the
community, clearly shows the law is not being implemented.  Spotted-tailed
Quolls are escaping to nearby private properties as their habitat is being
destroyed, which is particularly alarming as Forests NSW pre-logging fauna
surveys failed to identify these animals as being present in the area.

"Forests NSW are breaching native forest management strategies and
wilfully ignoring their own legislated regulations," said Lisa Stone from
South East Forest Rescue.  "This action draws attention to the fact that
human induced climate change is the greatest threat to life on earth
today."

Today's deadline to the Copenhagen Accord saw nations come forward with
their final emissions reduction targets.  Australia has confirmed its
submission of a mere five per cent cut of 2000 emission levels by 2020.
The failure of the Rudd government to deliver any meaningful protection to
Australian native forests, by refusing to submit a specific target, let
alone a higher target, means they are committing a self-defeating
prophesy.

The International Panel on Climate Change has identified that around 50%
of the total mitigation potential of greenhouse gas emissions could be
reached by limiting emissions from deforestation.  Given the amount of
emissions calculated it would seem that one way Australia could easily
limit it's GHGs is by ending native forest logging.

"The protection of our native forests is of urgent national and
international importance in times of global climate chaos," said Tony
Whan, also from South East Forest Rescue. "Forests NSW have admitted they
are rorting the Regional Forest Agreements in the latest Standing
Committees 'Return of the Ark ' Report, by saying the 20-year wood supply
commitments to industry are framed so 'long-term (i.e. 100-200 years)
sustainable yield is not exceeded', which means they are logging a hundred
or two hundred years worth of trees in twenty years, and yet the public is
told time and again that this is sustainable."

The governmental practice of decrying developing countries' illegal
logging while sanctioning illegal logging in Australia has not gone
unnoticed by the rest of the world.  Australia is only now, slowly, coming
in from the cold.  After eleven years of ridicule from international
quarters the government has the chance to gain international respect if
the right decisions are made.

The US submitted their own goal to the Accord, pledging to cut emissions
"in the range of 17 per cent" of 2005 levels, with plans to reach a 30 per
cent cut by 2025.

"We are sending a clear message to the NSW and Federal Governments that
they must fulfil their international obligations on climate change by
protecting their remaining carbon sinks," said Ms Stone.  "Forests NSW
have fudged the books when it comes to reporting their greenhouse gas
emissions.  We call on the State and Federal Governments to prove that
political will is not extinct and put an end to native forest logging, for
us and our children's future."

<END>
1/2/10
For more info please ring Lisa or Tony on 0428 640 271.

Posted by editor at 11:16 AM EADT

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Mood:  not sure

Peter Spencer is famously gathering momentum behind his aerial hunger strike against land clearing laws in New South Wales.

We notice Michael Duffy has rushed into print in the Sydney Morning Herald today too. We will have to read him closely to find fact from fiction.

But here are some preliminary questions worth pursuing by the Big Media during this rather shallow silly season period:

1. Is his land crown leasehold? If it is then like all leases there are terms and conditions. There is no general unfettered right to develop and/or clear crown leasehold land. If it is free hold that doesn't mean that is the case in much of the rest of NSW which has always had a long history of crown leasehold subject to many government obligations. Check the land tenure before generalising about rights to clear vegetation and sterilising private property.

2. If Senator Joyce is so sure a property right has been resumed and should be 'financially paid for or returned', does he apply the same standard to Govt benefits like drought assistance and flood emergency assistance? Or remote area taxation benefits? Should these payments be returned in times of profit down the track?

Joyce can't have it both ways - privatise the property rights but socialise the government subsidies in times of disaster.

3. Have the protesters in general with placards calling for freedom and liberty from government interventions on the environment willing to give up all the other social benefits of government support, when complaining about the costs?

If Mr Spencer, or Senator Joyce want to secede from the Australian Constitution which provides for the welfare, order and good government of the place with all the benefits and costs involved maybe they are living in the wrong country?

Posted by editor at 12:58 PM EADT

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Mood:  lyrical

Sent: Friday, December 11, 2009 3:45 PM Subject: [chipstop] truck count results

Hi all
 Here are detailed figures from our truck count on Wednesday. The total  for the day was 121, compared to 98 in Feb 09 and 191 in Sept 08. The numbers have certainly picked up since the start of the year, but one interesting thing: thinnings have almost halved, from 39% of loads in February to 20% this week. This suggests to me that the thing that is keeping them (SEFE [Eden Chipmill) going is their cheapness. The other side of this is the fact that the contractors claim they are not making money from thinnings and there may be tensions over impending royalty rises.

Thinnings are E1s. They are desirable and while more expensive, (even though the royalty is lower to reflect the greater difficulty of extraction) we would normally expect them to be more saleable. Apparently not in the present circumstances.

If you want to see earlier truck counts, you can get them on the chipstop website at: http://www.chipstop.forests.org.au/cswhatsnew.html#CHIPMILL_VIGIL_AND_TRUCK_COUNT,_DECEMBER_2006 _

Posted by editor at 12:07 PM EADT

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Mood:  bright

 

So hopefully Megan Jones has made a serious contribution to changing that for a mere $70 price. Nor do we have a hard copy here. So we just repeat extracts of their PR blurb for your information:

 Sustainable Event Management: A Practical Guide
Published December 2009 through Earthscan

Home Grown Solutions – From Australia to the World

Newcastle’s Meegan Jones returns to Australia after working for the past three years in the UK as Sustainability Manager for the producer of Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds Festivals, Festival Republic, to launch her first book - a comprehensive guide on Sustainable Event Management.

Meegan has spent the past 20 years working in events, focusing in recent years on developing sustainability in event management.

She has developed sustainability solutions at Peats Ridge Festival in Australia and worked on sustainability issues for Live Earth India and the London Marathon. Meegan is currently the global greening consultant for the next round of Live Earth events, is the events consultant for UK-based music industry climate impact organization Julie’s Bicycle and is on the working group for Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) events industry sector supplement.

Meegan is also working with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) on their new Music and Environment Initiative, to be launched in 2010.

In Australia until end of January 2010, Meegan will then take up new events and sustainability challenges in India.

“Sustainable Event Management: A Practical Guide” is published by Earthscan and can be purchased from UNSW Books or through the book’s website www.sustainableeventguide.com

Price is $69.95 and will be available in Australia from 15th January 2010  

.........................

Meegan Jones is an events professional focusing her work on developing sustainable management solutions for live events. Apart from producing practical solutions to sustainability challenges, working with industry peers she has researched and developed benchmarking and systems for assessing the impact of events. She uses her experience in marketing and event management across the retail, music and media industries to create scenarios which engage and activate the audience, performers, crew and the supply chain.

Meegan has worked for the past three years in the UK as Sustainability Co-ordinator for Festival Republic (Reading, Leeds, Latitude & Glastonbury Festivals), developed sustainability solutions at Peats Ridge Festival in Australia, and has worked on sustainability issues for Live Earth India and the London Marathon. She is currently sitting on the working group for Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) events industry sector supplement, is global greening consultant for the next round of Live Earth events, and is the events and festivals consultant for UK-based music industry climate impact organization Julie’s Bicycle. ______________________________________________________________

Author: Meegan Jones (meegan@thegreeneventguide.com)

Released: December 2009

Publisher: Earthscan (www.earthscan.co.uk)

Posted by editor at 8:29 AM EADT

Updated: Saturday, 12 December 2009 9:06 AM EADT

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Mood:  surprised

One of the challenges of a micro news website is deciding what category to post news under. In this post is it really about "ecology" or arguably real politik of buying the silence of the Melbourne head office based Australian Conservation Foundation, formerly ALP aligned on the climate legislation famously before the Senate today? Certainly there is big politics at play as per this media release by a peak green group challenging ALP Premier Brumby on 12 Nov 2009:

Lack of leadership breaks election promise to protect Victoria’s old-growth forests

 And as per this media release welcoming the ACF back to the indy fold by Green Party senators:

In that case it would be an "aust govt" topic really. But this story is about "the trees" in the jargon, which itself is a misnomer because that's shorthand for the massive water storage in the root system, the fungi and lichens, vertebrate furries, invertebrate crawlies, ground and mid storey plants of various green hues under 800 year old huge tree trunks and cool canopy.

Places like Goolengook, Dingo Creek, Brown Mountain, some seriously vandalised and smashed, others partly so, and a rare few still intact, not yet woodchipped for Japanese cartoon books and landfill.

So how good is the recent Victorian decision? Here is response of Tony Hastings with a background in famous legal victory over illegal rainforest logging in the Victorian Supreme Court (here via Austlii legal data base Hastings v Brennan; Tantram v Courtney (No. 3) [2005] VSC 228 (28 June 2005)

(Declaration: This writer paid for air fare for legal support for Tony for that hearing.)

Here is Tony's reaction [with bold added, and photographs added from his website and our file for East Gippsland]

 

From: Tony Quoll

To: Sent: Friday, November 27, 2009 8:09 AM

Subject: 45000ha new National park in East Gippsland!

Hi all,

Pop the champagne and shout it from the rooftops; The Parks And Crown Land Legislation Amendment (East Gippsland) Bill was been passed by the Victorian Parliament’s Legislative Assembly yesterday, 26^th November.

 

This means that 45,000ha of forest including the entire Goolengook forest block, Rainforest Sites of National Significance including Dingo Creek and Sassafras Basin, and linkages between parks are now protected from logging.

 

This means that most of the areas which fulfilled the ‘JANIS’ criteria during the 1996 ‘Comprehensive Regional Assessment’ have at long last been included in the “Comprehensive Adequate and Representative Reserve System,” – which is what the public were lead to believe at the time.

 

And it only took a campaign involving dozens of lobbyists, hundreds of blockades, thousands of protesters, millions of items of correspondence and inestimable stress on all involved.

 

Don’t be fooled into believing that all old-growth forests and threatened species habitat is now safe. Those last fragments are scattered across the landscape, mostly in steep, wet gullies, and still rely on the writing and implementation of Action Statements required under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988, enforced via the Code of Practice for Timber Production (2007).. Particularly, the “Loss of Hollow-bearing trees from Victorian forests”, listed in 1992, with action required “as soon as possible.”

 

The passing of the The Parks And Crown Land Legislation Amendment (East Gippsland) Bill  is a wonderful and amazing thing. It gives hope that there is some decency in humanity, and hope that honourable deeds will occur.

 

Hooray!

 

Tony Hastings
Po Box 130 Merimbula NSW 2548

http://www.mannapark.com.au/
http://www.mannaparkscamp.com.au/
http://www.green.net.au/quoll

 

 

.................................

 

 

Like World Heritage, conservation requires eternal vigilance. Here is legendary Jill Redwood response:

Hi Tom and others -

here's my take on the announcement. .....The areas that were included (after some were gutted like the heart of Goolengook and Dingo Creek) are a good save, but look at what was left out and double saved - ie - protecting large areas that were already in protection zones while leaving areas like the controversial Brown Mountain old growth open for the loggers.

Jill

-----------------

ALP promise dishonoured
Old growth forests to go up in smoke.
 
The Brumby government snuck out a media release at 7pm on Tuesday 10th November 2009. What was in it that they didn't want the media to make a big deal about? 

It was about the area of old growth that it had promised to protect 3 years ago - but much reduced. There is now 5,000 ha less than the original offer. It also cut out the intact stands of old growth at Ferntree Creek and Big River. How did they do this and still claim to protect even more? They protected areas that were already protected but under a different name.

In 2006 they had 4,000 ha of protected forest offered for protection. In 2009, the government used this trick again to protect an even greater 12,000 ha of reserves. This is hardly a conservation win when ancient trees at Brown Mt. are still planned for logging.

The dry crappy burnt forest around Buchan has been left in as 'significant stands of old growth'.

However - one part of the offer is quite good. There's a decent area of the Yalmy forests protected (too steep to log) and at last Goolengook (what a shame they’d already spent over a $million logging the heart out of it earlier). 

But the rest?

Page ONE of the ALP 2006 election policy was a clearly worded promise to protect "the last significant stands of old growth currently available for logging" ---  not cow paddocks --- not burnt regrowth --- not previously logged areas --- not protect areas already protected -  but 'significant stands of old growth currently available for logging'.

This is another attempt by the government to put polish on a turd. 
 
Mr Brumby has caved into the logging brotherhood - again. Three years of negotiations after a solid promise to protect old growth and the Labor government still can't do what it says it will for forests.  
 
So that means thousands of hectares of publicly owned old growth forest are still on the government logging maps for conversion to industrial tree farms.
 
The government could have easily and smoothly honoured this promise - saved old growth forests - our 600 year old trees, endangered wildlife and saved the declining logging industry in East Gippsland. How? By helping to provide skilled workers to the plantations in the rest of the state. These plantation companies are screaming out for hundreds of workers. 

But Mr Brumby has instead decided to knock down ancient forests, add hundreds of years of stored carbon into the atmosphere, convert public forests into commercial tree crops, maintain the conflict, keep a handful of workers in an insecure industry, while allowing the plantation logging companies in the west to import their labour needs. 

Thanks Mr Brumby.

Jill

See also this video from 2006:

Protecting Victoria's Forests (part 1 of 2)

Protecting Victoria's Forests (part 2 of 2)

Posted by editor at 7:46 AM EADT

Updated: Tuesday, 1 December 2009 7:53 AM EADT

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