Welcome to Friends of the Earth Melbourne December news our state-wide monthly update. Check out FoE’s policy platform, make the switch to Co-operative Power, support a legal challenge to Kimba nuclear waste dump, and much more. Big thanks for your support during 2021.
Nuytsia floribunda is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia, known locally as moodjar and the Christmas tree.
Get the good news on off-shore wind legislation, shop online for GECO glider design t-shirts, and drop in to the Food Co-op & Cafe for their 2022 cooking calendar. Help Alberton West forest community resist logging, read about forests as a climate change solution and our response to the Vic Inquiry into Ecosystem Decline. Take action on VicForests regrowth failures, join a Snow Gums citizen science field trip, read about climate change and mega fires, and delve into mapping of PFAS contamination. Rally around the dunes at Inverloch. Cheer a community win for the knock-back of Kalbar rare earth mine, and listen back to 3CR Dirt radio episodes. Friends of the Earth Melbourne office closes 25 Dec 2021 and re-opens 10 Jan 2022.
Friends of the Earth's Climate & Environment Policy Platform
The state election on 26 November, 2022, is an opportunity for all parties to demonstrate how they will manage the transition in a way that will lead to economic opportunities, job creation, and create a pathway for Victoria to contribute towards global efforts to achieve a safe climate and avoid catastrophic climate impacts. Victoria is facing a decade of transition. The state has committed to halve its greenhouse gas emissions and deliver 50 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030 to tackle the global climate crisis. While some of the foundation stones for a just transition are in place, Friends of the Earth present the following policy ideas to secure a bright future for the state.
Make the Switch to Cooperative Power!
We have made the switch to Cooperative Power! Will you join us? Cooperative Power is a collectively-owned ethical energy retailer that can help us take the power back from polluting and profiteering energy companies.
Good news for climate & jobs: Australia passes legislation on offshore wind
After years of campaigning by unions and climate groups, the Australian Senate has passed legislation to establish offshore wind in Commonwealth Waters. Friends of the Earth says the legislation has been a long-time coming, and is the first critical step towards establishing an industry that can deliver deep emissions cuts and thousands of jobs.
Food Co-op Summer update & 2022 Cooking Calendar
After many months of disruption, we are welcoming the summer with a new cooking calendar for 2022, volunteer opportunities and covid-safe guidelines for shoppers, and diners at the Friends of the Earth Food Co-op and Cafe.
New report exposes VicForests' failure to regrow forests
A damning new report has revealed Victoria’s state-owned logging agency, VicForests, is failing to regrow native forests after logging. Watch the video, read the report and share with your local MP.
Snow gums & citizen science 2022 field trip
Snow Gums face a massive threat from the spread of dieback which is caused by a native beetle – and also super charged by climate change, and localised collapse of snow gum woodlands due to more frequent fires. Last winter Friends of the Earth published An Icon at Risk, which considers the many threats to the mountains of north east Victoria. The report is available here. We are hosting a field trip to map impacts of fire over four days in January 2022 in the Mt Hotham region.
Alberton West vs VicForests
In early July this year, Alberton West residents notified FoEM that their remnant bushland home to many threatened species was to be logged by Vicforests. Alberton West forest is home to the genetically significant and threatened Strzelecki Koala, as well as the Powerful Owl, Greater Gliders and the Lace Monitor, and that’s just to name a few.
Watch & read more and show your support
Parliamentary Inquiry report reveals tragic state of Victorian biodiversity
Joint statement: Victorian National Parks Association, Birdlife Australia, Environment Justice Australia, Environment Victoria, Friends of the Earth (Melbourne), The Wilderness Society
From Greater Gliders in native forests to Regent Honeyeaters in the suburbs – Victoria’s dramatic ecosystem decline revealed in parliamentary Inquiry requires "decisive action" from the Andrews Government. Leading environment groups call for decisive action on nature and threatened species funding as Ecosystem Decline Inquiry tabled in State Parliament.
Forest carbon stores
Detailed new mapping has pinpointed the carbon-rich forests and peatlands that humanity cannot afford to destroy if climate catastrophe is to be avoided. The vast forests and peatlands of Russia, Canada and the US are vital, researchers found, as are tropical forests in the Amazon, the Congo and south-east Asia. Peat bogs in the UK and mangrove swamps and eucalyptus forests in Australia are also on the list. This highlights the need to protect the carbon dense forests of south eastern Australia which are still being subjected to clear fell logging.
Community "Rally 'Round Our Dunes" at Inverloch
The Bass Coast community has been sounding the alarm about climate impacts on the coast for over a decade. The region has observed significant coastal erosion from rising sea levels and intensifying storm surges.
Kalbar mine knocked back
Kalbar Resources, a company that has no mining experience, proposed a mineral sands and rare earths mine at Glenaladale, near Bairnsdale in East Gippsland. After several years of investigation, the Minister for Planning has announced that the environmental effects of Kalbar’s Fingerboards mineral sands mine are unacceptable, and therefore the application has been refused.
Climate change and the rise of the mega fire
New research by CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, shows that climate change has driven a ‘significant increase’ in Australia’s forest fire activity over the last three decades. A lengthening of the fire season towards Autumn and Winter were also identified, along with an increase in fire activity in cooler and warmer regions including alpine forests in Tasmania and tropical rainforests in Queensland.
PFAS mapping
Over the past 6 months Friends of the Earth has been conducting Freedom of Information (FoI's) requests to a number of water authorities across Victoria. The goal of the FoI's is to better understand the levels of PFAS contamination in recycled water and biosolids. Our major concern is that PFAS is making its way onto land and crops where recycled water and biosolids are used.
Listen back to 3CR Dirt Radio episodes
Dirt Radio podcast: Smashing green capitalism through solidarity
On the show, Director of United Workers Union, Caterina Cinanni, joins Friends of the Earth Act on Climate Coordinator, Anna Langford, to talk through what green capitalism is, and how we can smash it through solidarity. We also hear the story of the victorious striking women who took action at Melbourne Fashion Week.