In July news, Yes 2 Renewables webinar, Act on Climate music and strategy meeting, Kangaroo collective gatherings, Don’t nuke the climate zoom seminar and nuke-free art auction, DJARRA manage Wombat Forest, Snow Gum summit, plantations versus threatened species, koalas update, better buses, plus more!
Don’t Nuke the Climate: how to counter nuclear disinformation zoom seminar 13 July
Don't Nuke the Climate, in collaboration with Friends of the Earth, the Australian Conservation Foundation and Nuclear Free WA are hosting an event. Hear from leading experts in the nuclear-free movement how we can best counter the avalanche of nuclear misinformation that is being spread by the Coalition and their allies at the moment. We have the research, the resources and the facts to help you argument against this madness. Read more & register.
Read an ACF report Power games: why nuclear is not right for Australia here.
Good news! Mark the date and place for our famous Friends of the Earth Nuclear Free Art Auction Saturday 31 August @cafe_at_catalyst 146 Sydney Rd, Coburg Naarm. Please donate your make art not war nuke-free art works here.
Get into winter action ...
Join a Yes 2 Renewables volunteer webinar on 6pm-7pm 9 July register here.
Act on Climate is hosting a social meetup with live music in Fitzroy 11 July book here. Come along to our Act on Climate Strategy meeting #1/3: Visioning session 16 July join here, and please sign our Community Climate Adaptation fund for Vic petition here.
Download our latest report on Saving Rental Energy here,
DJARRA management of Wombat Forest update
These are exciting times in Victoria. Momentum is building for real reconciliation between First Nations people and coloniser society. The state Treaty process is well underway, with formal negotiations expected to begin later this year, and extensive hearings at the Yoorrook Justice Commission. Yoorrook is investigating injustice against First Peoples in Victoria since colonisation. And more and more First Nations are asserting their rights to manage their traditional Country.
In central Victoria, the Dja Dja Wurrung (also known as DJAARA - their representative body) are rolling out their interconnected land management programs of Djandak Wi (Country Fire) and Galk-galk Dhelkunya (Forest Gardening). Read more.
Snow Gum summit
Snow Gums (Eucalyptus pauciflora) are the classic tree of the Australian High Country. They are profoundly different to the trees found in mountain areas in other parts of the world, and give a uniquely Australian sense to our high country. However, they are facing a double threat to their survival: from fire and dieback.
We are hosting a 'snow gum summit' which will bring together land managers and academics and anyone interested in the future of this iconic species to explore what needs to be done to ensure the survival of snow gum woodlands, and put the issue firmly on the state governments agenda. We will be inviting First Nations people, local and state wide environmental organisations, local communities and businesses, groups active in outdoors recreation, and enthusiasts of high-elevation, forest ecosystems. There will be presentations, workshops and field trips. Read more & get involved.
Hancock Vic plantations pushing out threatened species
Hancock Victorian Plantations controversial plans to log many hardwood areas and replant with pines in the Strzelecki ranges puts Slender Tree-ferns, Gang-gangs, Powerful Owls, Pilotbirds and the rare and endangered Strzelecki Burrowing Crayfish at increased risk of extinction. Strzelecki koalas although not yet listed as a threatened species also continue to be undermined by destruction of habitat. The Gippsland Forest Guardians (GFG) and Friends of the Earth have also warned that Cool Temperate Rainforest and Strzelecki Warm Temperate Rainforest are also at great peril. Logging can cause spreading of the cool temperate rainforest 'disease', Myrtle Wilt. If impacted entire stands of rainforest can die off. Read more & action.
SKAT koala action update
Despite lack of funding, it has been a very busy couple of months for SKAT. Recent visits to the Strzelecki Ranges, reveal that up to 16,000 hectares of hardwood is currently being converted to pine plantations in the Strzelecki Ranges. On top of that the State Government and Hancock Victorian Plantations (HVP) are currently targeting 14,000 hectares of farmland in the Gippsland region for new pine plantations. What this means is that HVP will see their pine plantations in the region increase by 30% over the next decade from 65,000 hectares to 95,000 hectares. In the midst of this is one of the most important koala populations remaining in Australia. Native forest may have stopped elsewhere in Victoria, but the full force of the plantation industry is now bearing down on the Strzelecki koala. Read more & get into action.
Better Buses the solution to traffic woes
It is time to get on with giving Melbourne’s established suburbs a better bus network. On Tuesday 25 June the Victorian State Government began the process in setting housing targets for each Local Government Area. These draft targets indicate that the Government is coming to realise what has been obvious for many decades: endless car-oriented suburban sprawl is not environmentally or financially sustainable. However, growth in established suburbs must be supported by increased and reformed bus services.
In most established LGAs, the Government proposes nearly doubling the dwellings. For instance, in Brimbank, their draft target represents an extra 72,000 homes on top of the existing 73,000. To support the transport needs of these future residents, it will be impossible to rely on cars due to the already constrained road space. Instead, buses provide the best solution. Read more.
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