Fixing outdated environmental laws (the EPBC Act)
Destruction as usual ?

“Australians are tired of the bush being bulldozed and burnt and elected a government that will act on nature and on climate." They expect "sweeping changes to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) in the next 18 months."

"The past failures, combined with the approval of major fossil fuel projects and the rushed passage of laws to protect Tasmania’s salmon industry, have environmentalists worried about Labor’s second term."

"Environmental organisations also want an end to the “climate blindness” of Australia’s environmental laws, an end to loopholes such as the effective exemption granted to logging under regional forest agreements, and a clearer focus on what’s needed for the recovery of threatened species."

"Corporate Australia needed to “leave its bludgeons at the door” as the process started afresh."

"Ending habitat loss was the “bottom line outcome”, ...meaning that native forest logging and agricultural land clearing must be addressed in some form."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/14/environmentalists-worry-as-labor-seeks-consensus-on-federal-nature-laws-epbc-act-epa
#EPBCAct #BiodiversityCrisis #biodiversity #ClimateBreakdown #GHG #FastTrackApprovals #extractivism #destruction #SamuelReview #LoggingIndustry #landclearing #FossilFuels #CorporateAustralia

Australia is a global deforestation hotspot,
ranked second in the world for biodiversity loss due to forest and bushland destruction
>>
https://www.greenpeace.org.au/our-work/forests/australian-deforestation/

"Deforestation in Colombia fell 33%
year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025 to 27,052 hectares due to agreements with communities and a greater presence of the state and the Armed Forces, the environment ministry said"
>>
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/deforestation-colombia-falls-33-first-quarter-2025-06-05/
#deforestation #destruction #LoggingIndustry #biodiversity #NSW #Australia #extractivism #governance

Wood for the trees, Jonathan Green, November 2023
https://www.themonthly.com.au/november-2023/essays/wood-trees
#biodiversity #ecosystems #NativeForests #IndigenousPeoples #wildlife #EPBCAct #SamuelReview #extractivism #degradation #LoggingIndustry #mining #harm

"The native forest logging division of the New South Wales government’s forestry agency has posted a half-yearly loss of almost $15m, prompting renewed questions about the industry’s economic viability."

“It makes no sense that taxpayers are subsidising a loss-making business that destroys precious habitat when we should be supporting local communities and viable industries that do have a future.”"
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/may/16/nsw-native-forest-logging-division-half-year-report-2024-2025-losses
#LoggingImpacts #LoggingIndustry #FCNSW #NSWLogging #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #biodiversity #wildlife #destruction

NSW forestry agency should be shut down for repeatedly breaking law, critics argue

"Professor David Heilpern, a former court magistrate, claims the NSW Forestry Corporation is no longer fit for purpose and should be disbanded. A former magistrate and one of Australia’s most experienced scientists have launched an extraordinary attack on the New South Wales government’s logging agency, describing it as effectively a “criminal organisation” that should be shut down after a string of court convictions."

"The corporation has been convicted of more than a dozen environmental offences, including a judgment in the land and environment court last year that found the agency was likely to reoffend and had poor prospects of rehabilitation.They get caught, investigated, prosecuted, a criminal conviction, a fine – which the public pays – and they carry on and do it all again."

“There is just no integrity, accountability or justice in this model of operation.”

“For the Forestry Corporation, breaking the law and harming the environment and wildlife has become like a game of charades played under the protection of the state."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/may/11/nsw-forestry-agency-called-criminal-organisation-by-critics
#LoggingImpacts #LoggingIndustry #NSWLogging #BellingenLogging #SaveTuckersNob #crime #harm #biodiversity #wildlife #conservation #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #governance #accountability #extractivism

Koalas face death, attacks and mass starvation from monoculture plantations
Cost-effective management techniques for Australian wildlife

"...Displaced animals were sometimes still up in trees that were felled and ended up with broken bones, or were orphaned babies left behind. Others were attacked by cows or dogs."

"A 2023 study of reported wild koala deaths in south-east Queensland found vehicles were responsible for about half (1,431) of all fatalities."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/11/koalas-face-death-attacks-and-starvation-as-blue-gums-chopped-down-in-victoria
#biodiversity #wildlife #koalas #LoggingImpacts #LoggingIndustry #harm #pets #Livestock #roads #vehicles #RoadTrauma #KillingZones #plantations #monoculture #extractivism #governance #Australia #extinction

Welfare of koalas living in plantations: Aerial and ground-based shooting of koalas

"..The ongoing chronic animal welfare crisis facing koalas in southwest Victoria that has been unfolding for decades. The root cause being rampant habitat loss and the relentless expansion of the blue gum plantation industry. With their natural habitat diminished, koalas are left with nowhere safe to go...Only one animal was rescued and taken into care, while 1,061 were euthanised."
>>
https://au.news.yahoo.com/photos-expose-fresh-blow-after-1061-koalas-shot-in-national-park-sad-truth-063055245.html
#biodiversity #koalas #marsupials #LoggingImpacts #LoggingIndustry #harm #plantations #monoculture #SettlerSociety #euthanasia #Australia

Native forest regeneration failure

Logging devastated Victoria’s native forests – and new research shows 20% has failed to grow back

"Following the end of native logging in Victoria on January 1 2024, the state’s majestic forests might be expected to regenerate and recover naturally. But our new research shows that’s not always the case. "

"These degraded areas no longer hold the value they once did and they cannot provide the same level of ecosystem services such as carbon storage, water purification, or habitat for wildlife."

"With no current government restoration plan, these landscapes will remain degraded indefinitely. Our research suggests leaving nature to its own devices would mean losing a fifth of the forests logged over the past 40 years. Bringing the trees back has multiple benefits and would be well worth the investment."
>>
https://theconversation.com/logging-devastated-victorias-native-forests-and-new-research-shows-20-has-failed-to-grow-back-254465

>> original
A significant increase in forest regeneration failure following logging is driven by climatic and management factors
https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0301479725011454
#biodiversity #wildlife #NativeForests #LoggingImpacts #LoggingIndustry #extractivism #clearfelling #degradation #regeneration #failure #ClimateBreakdown

"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

#ExecutiveOrder #TheGuardian #ChadHanson #JohnMuirProject #logging #LoggingIndustry

3/5

Human-mediated extirpation of wildlife through logging

"Before industrial logging in south-west British Columbia, there were nearly 1,000 spotted owls in the old-growth forests. But they have vanished in recent decades, victims of habitat destruction. Activists have tried in vain to hold the government to account, alleging protected species laws have failed to prevent the extirpation of the owls."

"Efforts to revive the population have failed, with a pair of owls released from the breeding program dying within months. The lone female in the wild is also believed to have died."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/12/canada-owl-rats-valentines-day

What happened to the Northern Spotted Owl? >>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_spotted_owl
#LoggingImpacts #harm #birds #biodiversity #NativeForests #LoggingIndustry #Wildlife #habitat #destruction #degradation #extirpation #NSWLogging #SaveTuckersNob #koalas #BellingenLogging #SettlerSociety #governance #ecocide

Taxpayers are ‘literally paying’ to cut down forests sustaining koalas and greater gliders and providing clean drinking water

"The state forestry corporation has had losses totalling $72m in its native hardwood forest division since 2020-21.Two reports revealing the extent of financial losses from native forest logging in New South Wales raise questions about the economic viability of the industry."

"...Public native forestry struggled financially, offering “poor returns to taxpayers at best. The government should look at the economic costs and benefits of the native forestry business in NSW and consider whether community welfare is served by continuing this practice.”
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/18/bad-deal-for-taxpayers-huge-losses-from-nsw-forest-logging-reports-reveal
#biodiversity #ClimateEmergency #LoggingImpacts #LoggingIndustry #NSWLogging #FCNSW #EndangeredSpecies #koalas #gliders #deforestation #governance #harm #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #tax

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

Australia leads the world in arresting climate and environment protesters
Criminalisation and Repression of Climate and Environmental Protests

"More than 20 per cent of all climate and environment protests in Australia involve arrests, which is more than three times the global average (6.3 per cent)...Australia's arrest rate was the highest of 14 countries in the global study.It's higher than policing efforts in the United Kingdom (17.2 per cent), Norway (14.5 per cent), and the United States (10 per cent)." >>

"Australia's political leaders have joined the "rapid escalation" of efforts to criminalise and repress climate and environmental protest."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-15/australia-leads-world-in-arresting-climate-environment-activists/104721294

Study: Criminalisation and Repression of Climate and Environmental Protests, University of Bristol >>
https://bpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.bristol.ac.uk/dist/f/1182/files/2024/12/Criminalisation-and-Repression-of-Climate-and-Environmental-Protests.pdf

The Global Warning Report: The Threat to Climate Defenders in Australia
"That EDO report warned of "a worrying proliferation of anti-protest legislation in Australia," The "systemic repression faced by climate activists across the country," and the "unregulated political influence of the fossil fuel industry driving that repression." >>
https://www.edo.org.au/publication/global-warning-report-the-threat-to-climate-defenders-in-australia/#:~:text=The%20Global%20Warning%20Report%3A%20The,fuel%20industry%20driving%20that%20repression.

"A 2024 position paper from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders that warned of the growing urgency of the "triple environmental crisis of pollution, biodiversity loss and climate change and the global increase in civil disobedience in environmental activism in response to those crises."
https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/UNSR_EnvDefenders_Aarhus_Position_Paper_Civil_Disobedience_EN.pdf
#HumanRights #ProtectProtest #CivilDisobedience #rights #law #HumanRights #democracy #criminalisation #Australia #FossilFuels #Indusrty #LoggingIndustry #externalities #harm #NSWLogging #biodiversity #ClimateBreakdown #EDO

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