"The logging industry is finding ways to get around the so-called ban."

"A loophole in the law banning Victoria's native timber harvesting means logging projects can still go ahead as the state government passes project approval responsibility to local councils."

"How could it be that a local council would have the expertise, the biological and ecological expertise, to approve logging in an area? When you log and regenerate an area of native forest … that same area of forest becomes much more flammable for a prolonged period of time," Professor Lindenmayer said. "I don't think that we should be adding that extra fire burden for rural and regional people to have to deal with."
>>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-03/timber-harvesting-ban-loophole-victoria/105123078
#LoggingIndustry #LoggingImpacts #bushfire #risks #conservation #biodiversity #wildlife #forests #NSWLogging #BellingenLogging #council

Dreams of environmental redemption: Reanimate the thylacine

"Perhaps we want an iconic marsupial we can walk on a lead to our local brunch spot."

"Certainly we are not up to the job: we have no experience in making thylacines happy. We have restructured the habitat where the tiger lived, decimated its prey, destroyed its culture. We have built a lot of roads: if everything goes very well and thylacines become as common as pademelons, we can look forward to seeing one on our morning commute, smeared across the highway by a logging truck."

"More likely we are hoping for something to erase our guilt, not just for the extinction of this animal (we could blame someone else for that) but for all the extinctions to come. More likely we want to feel that the damage we do isn’t permanent, that we can travel back in time." Jane Rawson
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/31/can-we-recreate-a-lost-world-in-tasmania-anything-could-happen
#Biodiversity #restoration #thylacines #extinction #marsupials #roads #LoggingIndustry #destruction #wildlife #science #creation #ecology #restoration #MAGA #Australia #writing

‘Burning Up the Biosphere'
Use of wood chips for energy generation - in large volumes
>>
https://environmentalpaper.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/threat-map-2024-1.pdf
#LoggingIndustry #LoggingImpacts #WoodChips #biodiversity #ecosystems #conservation #forests #energy #ClimateBreakdown

The Tasmanian government intends to open up just under 10,000 hectares of previously protected native forest for logging, new documents released under right-to-information laws show. >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-19/tasmanian-government-moves-ahead-with-native-forestry-logging/105065596
#LoggingIndustry #LoggingIndustry #AboriginalHeritage #Heritage #NativeForests

NSW's native forest logging industry ruled not 'economically viable'.

"The recommendation was made by the NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) in its triennial analysis of the government-owned logging company Forestry Corporation of NSW."

"It found Forestry Corporation's native timber operation had been steadily losing money over the past decade, in part due to delivering timber to sawmills for less than the cost of providing it."

"It also noted concerns about logging making bushfires worse and damaging threatened species' habitat."

"The revelation comes the same week that Forestry Corporation released its annual report, which shows it suffered a $29 million loss in its native logging division in the 2022-2023 financial year. Studies have suggested shutting the industry could bring net economic benefits to the economy"
>>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-17/nsw-native-forest-logging-not-economically-viable-report-finds/104721248
#NativeForests #LoggingIndustry #LoggingImpacts #FCNSW #NSWLogging #BellingenLogging #degradation #biodiversity #harm #ClimateBreakdown #wildlife #koalas #plantations #StopLoggingKoalaHabitat #bushfires #risks #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #destruction

The Nature Positive deal: “The barbarians flexed their muscles and that was that.”

"Environment minister agreed detail with Greens but the PM intervened after lobbying from WA premier and miners. But sadly, until now, we have not been able to land an agreement, because it seems the miners and the loggers in this place have more influence than the environment minister, and that’s a real shame...The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, which Plibersek’s bill would have amended, would have helped repair “a completely broken system”.
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/nov/29/tanya-plibersek-deal-on-nature-laws-was-overruled-by-anthony-albanese
#Biodiversity #governance #NaturePositive #NatureNegative #NSWLogging #loggingIndustry #mining #deforestation #landclearing #extractivism #environment #laws #Australia #law

Deal to protect Australia's native forests blocked amid 'bullying' claims

"Australia has the highest rate of mammalian extinction in the world, it is the only developed nation declared a deforestation hotspot and there are more than 2,200 species listed by the Commonwealth as threatened with extinction. A new deal would have protected what remains of the nation's forests." >>
https://au.news.yahoo.com/deal-to-protect-australias-native-forests-blocked-amid-bullying-claims-031816212.html

Anthony Albanese kills last-ditch environmental protection laws with crossbench
"The prime minister has been bullied by the mining and logging lobby again. The Greens want to get laws that would actually provide some protection for nature, but Labor couldn't even entertain protecting forests and critical habitat in an extinction crisis.">>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-27/albanese-kills-environmental-protection-reforms/104651976
#NSWLogging #loggingIndustry #governance #deforestation #BiodiversityCrisis #ClimateBreakdown #biodiversity #Australia #koalas #ResourceFrontiers #ExtinctionCrisis

Australia-wide ban on native-forest logging?

"The Greens have dropped their demand for a climate trigger to be incorporated in the government’s stalled Nature Positive legislation, indicating they are now prepared to pass the bills in return for a Australia-wide ban on native-forest logging alone."

“Closing the legal loopholes that allow large-scale native forest logging and land clearing to go unassessed will have tangible impacts for the protection of critical habitat in Tasmania, NSW, and northern Australia, where deforestation is out of control."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/nov/18/greens-drop-climate-trigger-demand-in-attempt-to-restart-nature-positive-talks-with-labor
#loggingIndustry #NSW #ClimateEmergency #BiodiversityCrisis #NaturePositive #NatureNegative #plantations #deforestation #ResourceFrontiers #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #extractivism

End the destruction of native forests by logging now

"Pressure is mounting on the NSW government to end its logging of the proposed Great Koala National Park immediately. Logging by the government-owned Forestry Corporation inside its proposed boundaries has intensified...Native state forests are public assets belonging to everyone in our state..."
>
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/this-activity-is-a-real-threat-mps-piling-on-pressure-over-state-s-koala-park-promise-20241113-p5kqad.html ($ wall)
#LoggingImpacts #loggingIndustry #NSW #NSWLogging #BiodiversityCrisis #FCNSW #MidNorthCoast #BellingenLogging #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #koalas #governance #ResourceFrontiers #SacrificeZone

Smoke pollution from wildfires may be killing an extra 12,000 people a year, new research suggests

"Hundreds died from the effects of smoke inhalation caused by Australia’s 2019-2020 black summer bushfires and many more are likely to have long-term health issues."

"Global heating is causing more of the planet to be burned from wildfires and probably killing an extra 12,000 people a year from breathing in smoke, according to new research."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/22/smoke-pollution-from-wildfires-may-be-killing-an-extra-12000-people-a-year-new-research-suggests
#smoke #pollution #bushfires #fires #pileburning #loggingIndustry #deforestation #humidity #FossilFuels #GHG #PublicHealth #mortality #health #air #breathing #BlackSummer

Deforestation ‘roaring back’ despite 140-country vow to end destruction

“The bottom line is that, globally, deforestation has gotten worse, not better, since the beginning of the decade. We’re only six years away from a critical global deadline to end deforestation, and forests continue to be chopped down, degraded, and set ablaze at alarming rates."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/08/deforestation-destruction-demolition-beef-soy-palm-oil-nickel
#biodiversity #destruction #deforestation #bushfires #extinction #beef #meat #loggingIndustry #NSWLogging

Nature groups in ‘dismay’ over Albanese’s leadership on ‘critical’ environmental reforms
"Environment campaigners had earlier accused the government of hypocrisy for hosting a nature positive summit while logging forests in New South Wales that were habitat for threatened greater gliders. Samuel’s 2020 review recommended an overhaul of Australia’s nature laws after finding successive governments had failed for two decades to protect Australia’s beloved ecosystems and wildlife."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/oct/09/nature-groups-in-dismay-over-albanese-leadership-on-environmental-reforms
#biodiversity #extractivism #mining #lobby #ClimateDisruption #NaturePositive #regulation #loggingIndustry #NSWLogging #ecocide #governance

Haida people Taking a Stand (roadblock) against old growth forest logging
Protecting Mother Earth: Haida Gwaii - Lyell Island Standoff >
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXBI2A8S-xM

"The Stand" delves into the 1985 conflict in which the Haida people defended their old growth forests by forming a human chain to block commercial logging companies on Lyell Island.">
https://www.thenorthernview.com/local-news/haida-film-on-historic-clearcut-logging-roadblock-to-premiere-at-viff-7565261
#loggingIndustry #LoggingImpacts #IndigenousPeoples #SettlerSociety #forests #BiodiversityCrisis #ClimateBreakdown #ProtectProtest #CivilDisobedience #NSWLogging #destruction #harm #film #OldGrowthForests

"In a globally-disgraceful move, Julie Collins, PM Albanese’s new Minister for Forests, has actively helped pull the rug from under a European Union law to stop global deforestation by delaying its implementation another year...Australia has joined an embarrassing global line up of forest, wildlife and climate destroyers in lobbying for this delay and shamelessly welcoming it."

https://bobbrown.org.au/minister-for-forests-julie-collins-will-break-young-australias-hearts-brown/
#deforestation #loggingIndustry #LoggingImpacts #SupplyChains #EUDR #EU #ExtinctionCrisis #ClimateBreakdown #forests #Australia #destruction

How sound can boost beneficial soil microbes to heal nature

By this, we mean barriers to protect ecosystems from potentially undesirable noises. For instance, we’re asking questions such as:

do traffic and industrial noises harm the ecosystem?
>>
https://theconversation.com/the-biodiversity-jukebox-how-sound-can-boost-beneficial-soil-microbes-to-heal-nature-235866
#noise #vibration #pollution #roads #cars #trucks #loggingIndustry #ecosystems #soil #Biodiversity #FossilFuel #machinery #automobility

Wiping out koalas

NSW is working hard to eliminate the marsupial before 2050.
Queensland with even larger population growth rates is also accelerating the demise of the iconic Australian animal. Mainstream media o.s. is concerned:

"They’re spotted close to busy roads, on fences, up power poles, in backyards, near swimming pools, in schools – places they aren’t safe. Some are on the ground, having been hit by cars or attacked by dogs...Koala populations have stabilized in forests outside cities, but not in urban and semi-rural areas due to “human activity and domestic dogs. In the last six years, the RSPCA’s two wildlife hospitals in South East Queensland have treated more than 5,000 diseased and injured koalas...There is nowhere left to 'release' the injured marsupials. They’re frightened. They’re lost. They’re looking for somewhere to live.”

Koala 'habitat':
Expanding suburbs, habitat grab
Bulldozing koala habitat, deforestation
Land clearing for cattle grazing, meat
They turn up in backyards with high metal fence
Mauled by dogs/ pets
Drown in swimming pools
Forced onto busy roads with traffic, fragmented habitat (roadkill)
Encounter power lines
>>
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/28/australia/australia-endangered-koalas-queensland-intl-hnk-dst/index.html
#koalas #ExtinctionCrisis #sprawl #loggingIndustry #dogs #pets #cars #Queensland #SettlerSociety #BiodiversityCrisis #EndangeredSpecies #biodiversity #conservation #extinction makers #ecocide

Where there’s logging, there’s fire
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/as-logging-intensifies-forest-fires-wetsuweten-fight-to-protect-old-growth/
#bushfires #loggingIndustry #LoggingImpacts #BellingenLogging #NSWLogging #risks #harm #SaveTuckersNob

A timeline of Australia's biodiversity laws
How did we get into this mess?

"When development, agriculture and infrastructure projects do get assessed under these laws, about 99% are approved."

"Experts have found the laws permit ongoing destruction of critical habitat for threatened species."

"All this is bad news for our threatened species and sick ecosystems. We know what needs to be done. But our government is showing worrying signs of letting industry and developers control their environmental agenda."
>>
https://theconversation.com/australia-desperately-needs-a-strong-federal-environmental-protection-agency-our-chances-arent-looking-good-239099
#extinction #Biodiversity #EPBCAct #laws #extractivism #SettlerSociety #mining #lobby #loggingIndustry #NaturePositive #governance #destruction

Ongoing environmental degradation and the “nature positive law reforms” - a pretty grim picture for nature

"The environment was meant to be ‘back on the priority list’ under Labor. Instead we’ve seen a familiar story. The overall trend of environmental health was poor and deteriorating, with abrupt changes in ecological systems over the previous five years. Australia has lost more than 100 species to extinction and more mammal species to extinction than any other continent.. Australia is one of the world’s deforestation hotspots."

"The report (state of the environment report) noted the World Economic Forum’s conclusion that environmental degradation was a threat to humanity that could “bring about societal collapses with long-lasting and severe consequences”.

"More than 2,200 threatened species are listed as being at risk of extinction, and that number has been rising rapidly. Nineteen ecosystems across the continent have been assessed as showing signs of collapse or near collapse. The risk of mass extinctions this century is documented and real. Pretending the problem doesn’t exist won’t make it go away or stop it badly affecting people and wildlife in the decades ahead."

"The failure to take the environment seriously and to mostly consider it an issue for Greens’ voters is embedded deep in Australian public life."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/commentisfree/2024/sep/17/the-environment-was-meant-to-be-back-on-the-priority-list-under-labor-instead-weve-seen-a-familiar-story
#BiodiversityCrisis #ClimateBreakdown #ExtinctionCrisis #Australia #loggingIndustry #mining #extractivism #NaturePositive #laws #conservation #degradation #BAU #SettlerSociety #values