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Seng Victoria Newsletter - April 2014

Agency application on ecological sustainability - comments close 23 May 2014

Agency application on ecological sustainability - comments close 23 May 2014

Agency application on ecological sustainability - comments close 23 May 2014

In February 2014 the Minister decided not to list the Long lowland rivers of south east Queensland and north east New South Wales as a threatened ecological community under the EPBC Act.

Government is urged to introduce powers to tackle species such as Japanese knotweed and North American signal crayfish

The government must introduce new legal powers to tackle plant and animal species that are invading Britain at a rate never seen before, a committee of MPs has warned.

Species such as Japanese knotweed, the North American signal crayfish, killer shrimp and zebra mussels not only have an impact on biodiversity by supplanting native species, but affect human health and the economy, according to a report from the environmental audit committee.

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On 15 April 2014, the Department released Australia’s National Greenhouse Accounts presenting national, state and territory and industry emissions estimates.

Agency application on ecological sustainability - comments close 23 May 2014

Agency application on ecological sustainability - comments close 23 May 2014

The world must seize this remaining opportunity and act upon the timely roadmap that climate scientists have provided for us

So, there we have it. The seven-year task undertaken by hundreds of the world's leading scientists, who sifted through thousands of the latest peer-reviewed studies examining the causes, impacts and mitigation options of climate change, is over.

The last of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change's (IPCC) three "working group" reports was published yesterday in Berlin and the take-home message was crystal clear: "The high-speed mitigation train needs to leave the station very soon and all of global society needs to get on board," said the chair, Rajendra Pachauri.

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The TSSC is seeking comments on the review of the Natural Temperate Grasslands of the Southern Tablelands of NSW and the ACT ecological community; and the Hunter Valley Weeping Myall (Acacia pendula) Woodland of the Sydney Basin bioregion.

40,000 megalitres of water has been allocated in the lower Murrumbidgee, New South Wales, to help protect the area’s wetlands.

The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder is now recruiting local engagement officers to work directly with Murray-Darling Basin communities.

The Australian Government is seeking applications from community organisations for potential Green Army Projects.

Applications close 5.00pm AEST Monday 28 April 2014

The Minister has approved the Surat Gas Expansion project subject to 34 rigorous conditions taking into account potential impacts to ground and surface water resources.

The Macquarie Island Pest Eradication Programme has been completed - and after two years of extensive monitoring the island can now officially be declared pest free.

The Department of the Environment today announced that it will streamline its structure in July 2014 and that it will open a new voluntary redundancy round for 250 staff.

The Department is seeking public comment on a draft assessment bilateral agreement with the Northern Territory.

We knew this powerful carnivorous mammal ate kangaroos, but I now think we can speculate on how it caught them too

I've been thinking – as one does – about marsupial lions. Of all the species that became extinct after people first arrived in Australia, between 40 and 50,000 years ago, this is the one that intrigues me most.

Even more, that is, than the spiny anteater the size of a pig; a relative of the wombat the size of a rhinoceros; a marsupial tapir as big as a horse; a ten-foot kangaroo; a horned tortoise eight feet long and a monitor lizard bigger than the Nile crocodile. The lost Australian megafauna looks like a science fiction film directed by an acid casualty.

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