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Tasmanian forest agreement delivers $1.3bn losses in ‘giant fraud’ on taxpayers | John Lawrence
Forestry Tasmania’s total cash losses were $454m over 20 years, with a write-down of $751m in value of forest estate
The first Tasmanian regional forest agreement, signed between the state and the commonwealth in 1997, was supposed to start an era in which forestry was both ecologically and economically sustainable.
In fact the last 20 years have been a financial disaster for forest management in Tasmania.
Continue reading...Our wildlife can be saved – but only with political will | Letters
Michael McCarthy is quite wrong when he says most people are unaware of the destruction of Britain’s wildlife (We’ve lost half our wildlife. But the damage can be reversed, 26 March). Even if you never visit the countryside, if you have any kind of garden you will be painfully aware of it. Twenty years ago my bird feeder nearly always had numerous birds on it (eight at a time was the record, I seem to remember). Now the peanuts wither and go black in the feeder. Then, we had many species; now, one pair of blackbirds, one pair of robins and a couple of greedy pigeons. Twenty years ago I saw a mother hedgehog parading through the garden trailing several babies. Now, I haven’t seen a hedgehog for at least a decade.
Up until a couple of years ago the frogs in my garden pond had their riotous mating ceremony around St Valentine’s Day, followed quickly by masses of spawn and then by innumerable tadpoles. Now the date has become variable but results in very little spawn, which after a couple of weeks collapses into featureless slime. The number of pond species has steeply declined and if you put (say) daphnia into a jar of pondwater, they all die instantly. The problem is, what do I do about it apart from writing letters to the Guardian? The government is quite obviously either totally uninterested or completely in the grip of the big chemical firms and the farming lobby. I am delighted to be told that the problem is reversible, and I’m sure it is, but not without a political revolution, of which I see absolutely no sign.
Jeremy Cushing
Exeter
Cumbrian coal must stay in the ground where it belongs | Letters
What fantastic news that the government has rejected plans for an opencast coal mine in Northumberland (Javid rejects plan for opencast coalmine, 24 March).
This should put the nail firmly in the coffin of the plan for the first deep coalmine in the UK in 30 years. This would be at the proposed Woodhouse Colliery, which is north of Kendal (not south as wrongly located in your article) and under the Irish Sea off the beautiful coastline of St Bees.
Continue reading...The Beast of Clashindarroch – Scottish wildcat or Mr Whiskers?
It may be one of the largest wildcats ever recorded, but it still looks much like a very large tabby
Name: The Beast of Clashindarroch.
Age: Unknown.
Continue reading...Share your views on drink deposit schemes
If you live in the UK we’d like to hear what you think about bottle and can deposit schemes near you
The government has unveiled a deposit return scheme (DRS) covering glass, metal and plastic drinks containers in England. By returning bottles and cans consumers will receive a small cash sum, however retailers are responsible for recycling the items.
Tech trials to find Antarctica's 'missing' iron meteorites
On dangerous ground: land degradation is turning soils into deserts
Meet the people volunteering to defend nature in their local communities
As spring arrives and campaigners in Sheffield win a temporary pause in tree felling, here’s a gallery of Friends of the Earth volunteers defending nature in local communities
Continue reading...Labor and Greens keep up the fight against Coalition's marine park plans
Parties plan to introduce separate motions for individual affected regions
Labor and the Greens have launched a fresh attempt to disallow controversial new marine park management plans proposed by the Turnbull government last week, bowling up individual motions to boost the chances of scuttling at least part of the proposal.
A first attempt to disallow the management plans failed on Tuesday night when the government brought on a vote after a procedural skirmish – deploying an unusual chamber tactic, effectively inviting the Senate to vote down the Coalition’s regulations.
Continue reading...Vanishing Glaciers by Project Pressure - in pictures
Project Pressure is a charity that has been working with renowned artists in a pioneering project to document the world’s vanishing glaciers. This week it brought its touring photographic exhibition to the Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change, Hong Kong, where visitors can experience the different types of glaciers found on each continent and take a video journey to see how glaciers are retreating
Continue reading...EU leaders should be telling us to eat less meat, say campaigners
A green coalition demands a review of health and environmental impacts of intensive animal farming ahead of budget talks next month
The EU is facing calls to overhaul its industrial farming sector by promoting more plant-based diets in the next common agricultural policy (CAP), as budget negotiations approach a crunch point.
Policy moves could face strong opposition from top officials who reportedly see “no evidence whatsoever” of large-scale linkages between livestock farming and greenhouse gas emissions.
Continue reading...A bumper year for finches and tits, Big Garden Birdwatch results show
The mild winter was followed by a good breeding season, boosting garden sightings of finches and tits
Finches and tits have enjoyed a golden year, according to the results of this year’s RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch.
These small bird species suffer particularly badly in cold weather but in the past year benefited from a mild start to the winter that followed a good breeding season. Blackbird sightings in gardens were down – the result of plentiful food elsewhere – but a dearth of robins followed a poor nesting season.
Continue reading...Charity calls for £15m fund to tackle UK hunger by preventing food waste
Figures show that just 17,000 tonnes of the 270,000 tonnes of edible surplus food in the supply chain is redistributed annually to charities
The government is being urged to introduce a £15m fund to tackle hunger by preventing food which could be eaten from going straight into landfill, animal feed or anaerobic digestion.
New figures from the UK’s largest food redistribution charity, FareShare, reveal that just 17,000 tonnes of the 270,000 tonnes of edible surplus food in the supply chain is redistributed annually to charities.
Continue reading...Matt Canavan loves coal “unashamedly” – says it’s good for First Australians
'Extreme' fossil fuel investments have surged under Donald Trump, report reveals
Sharp rise globally in the dirtiest fossil fuel investments reverses progress made after the Paris agreement, with tar sands holdings more than doubling in Trump’s first year in office
Bank holdings in “extreme” fossil fuels skyrocketed globally to $115bn during Donald Trump’s first year as US president, with holdings in tar sands oil more than doubling, a new report has found.
A sharp flight from fossil fuels investments after the Paris agreement was reversed last year with a return to energy sources dubbed “extreme” because of their contribution to global emissions. This included an 11% hike in funding for carbon-heavy tar sands, as well as Arctic and ultra-deepwater oil and coal.
Continue reading...Western Australian West Coast Rock Lobster Fishery - Agency application 2018
Western Australian West Coast Rock Lobster Fishery - Agency application 2018
Western Australian Pilbara Trawl Fishery - Agency application 2018
Western Australian Pilbara Trawl Fishery - Agency application 2018
Elon Musk tweet suggests further delay for Tesla Model 3 in Australia
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