Australia's roads are "killing corridors" for biodiversity
Mobility design for extinction records
"Appin Road is known as Australia's 'killing corridor' because of the large number of endangered koalas killed on the stretch. Increased traffic on south-west Sydney's Appin Road has resulted in 32 of the endangered marsupials being killed on the notorious stretch since July 2022 – roughly half of all deaths in the district over the same period. Wildlife advocates have long referred to it as Australia's "killing corridor".
>> https://au.news.yahoo.com/developer-responds-as-aussie-road-upgrade-near-killing-corridor-labelled-pretty-horrific-030233495.html
"Welcome to the #Sunak and #Starmer show and welcome to the next four, five, six or seven months of your life."
BBC
I can reveal that neither of them will be presenting the policy choices that are needed on the face of multiple symptoms of systems #collapse.
Instead do take a look at and promote the #GettingReal policy portfolio. https://gettingreal.org.uk
Public Participation
The Aarhus Convention and its Protocol on PRTRs empower people with the rights to access information, participate in decision-making in environmental matters and to seek justice. They are the only legally binding global instruments on environmental democracy.
>> https://unece.org/environmental-policy-1/public-participation
I am incredibly proud of the whole @ProtectEarthUK team and all of our supporters for planting over 100,000 trees in three short years, especially because the first year was only about 4,000!
We do so much more than plant trees (wildflowers, hedgerows, invasive removal, net regen/colonizarion, etc), but as that was our first metric it’s lovey to see the number go up so quickly.
oh hey it's april, tis the month when greenwashing kicks into full gear. i'm always in the mood to point out greenwashing so i'm just gonna thread it all here.
@rose_alibi i came across this recently and thought you may be interested.
cow leather actually seems to be far worse environmentally than “vegan” (plastic) leather. some excerpts from the link below:
> Every day, an estimated 40 million litres of untreated waste-water [from tanneries] flows through major tanning country India and into the Ganges River, which people drink from and bathe in.
> More tanneries than any other business type appear on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund list.
> 95% of US tanneries now operate overseas to avoid environmental oversight penalties. The land under ex-tannery sites cannot be used for farming, be built on, or often even be sold.
> To make 1 typical cow skin leather tote, almost 17,128L of water is used.
> The farming of cattle for beef and leather products is responsible for 80% of the Amazon’s deforestation.
it doesn’t biodegrade:
> Leather does not effectively biodegrade. Not even according to the tanning industry itself, not even vegetable tanned leather.
furthermore, it produces more CO2 than the polyurethane alternatives:
> Even polyurethane synthetic leather boots and the impact of their supposed incineration at their ‘end of life’ (if they aren’t able to be recycled) emit almost seven times less emissions [than the cow leather alternative].
all this is not to say that plastic is a solution. it’s not. but i see a lot of greenwashing around animal products, especially as a way to invalidate vegan alternatives that aim to reduce harm. i’m sure that wasn’t your intention :)
Australia is a world leader in species extinction and declines
Yet the koala’s feed trees keep falling...
"Since time immemorial, the Gumbaynggirr Nation has cared for country and we know that the Dunggirr is sacred to the First Nations peoples of Bellingen Shire."
"Koalas cannot read signs or distinguish boundaries between native forests, state forest plantations or your backyard."
"Over decades locals and tourists have come to know about the Gleniffer koalas, through registered sightings and expert evidence. Yet the koala’s feed trees keep falling, even though Forestry Corporation of NSW (FC NSW) has no social licence."
"After operating within our Shire for over three decades, FC NSW have deliberately withdrawn any connection with the community and take no responsibility for the cumulative damage that the corporation has inflicted on our community’s waterways, roads and bridges".
"...We need to rethink the age-old argument between plantations versus habitat.This requires courage because we all need to have these conversations regarding the remnants in plantations and the wildlife therein."
"Tarkeeth State Forest 'plantation' excluded from protection, and high quality habitat, but outside the 'provisional assessment area' for the park - to be clear-felled with no consultation"
"In Coffs Harbour Local Court the forestry contractors Michael Luigi Vitali and Rodney James Hearfield were found guilty of assaulting Graham and his companion Andre Johnston that afternoon on the road on the Dorrigo Plateaux three and a half years ago. No conviction was recorded."
Logging operations to continue between NSW and Queensland after judge rejects environmentalists' court bid
"Environmentalists have lost a legal challenge to a forestry agreement between the NSW and Commonwealth governments, meaning logging operations can continue within a vast coastal area between Sydney and the Queensland border."
"On behalf of the alliance (The North East Forest Alliance), the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) argued the Commonwealth was required to assess environmental values and principles of ecologically sustainable management when it was renewed, but failed to do so".
What really makes me angry and desperate in this time of multiple crises is the fact that even the "moderate" parties here in #Germany prefer to badmouth each other or blow up niche issues to the maximum instead of working together on solutions to the real problems.
Surge in extreme forest fires fuels global emissions
"Climate change and human activities have led to more frequent and intense forest blazes over the past two decades."
"The increased numbers of forest fires was partially driven by the frequent heatwaves and droughts caused by climate change...In turn, the CO2 emitted by forest fires contributes to global warming, creating a feedback loop between the two.”
"Humans also played a part. “Many forest fires were actually caused by humans when they were, for example, building fires to get warm at night, lighting fireworks or discarding cigarette butts."
Trends in 923 terrestrial #insect assemblages monitored in 106 studies show declines in abundance and species richness, mostly driven by widespread declines of formerly abundant species.
The underlying causes might be associated with recent anthropogenic changes.
"their general declines are likely to have broad repercussions for food webs and ecosystem functioning"
The forests pledge
ITS TIME TO END LOGGING IN NATIVE FORESTS ACROSS AUSTRALIA
Half of Australia’s forests have been lost. https://theforestpledge.com.au/
Labor and Greens strike deal to establish nature repair scheme in a major update of Australia's environmental laws.. Government also committed to supporting fast-tracked legislation to strengthen the water trigger so that it applies to all forms of unconventional gas, such as fracking for tight gas like in the Beetaloo Basin.
👉Phase out from fossil fuels⛽️
👉Treat fossil fuel companies as they are: Criminals.
👉 Don't let leaders escape what they have been elected for: protecting us from disaster.
Dying and dead wildlife on a remote Australian timber plantation. Eagles were soaring.
"Disturbing video shot ...at a remote Australian timber plantation has sparked an investigation. Footage and images to Yahoo News Australia showing dead and dying wildlife strewn across a track in a recently logged Tasmanian forest."
Logging practices:
"It's basically dead" AI reveals the legacy of decades of logging in Victoria
"An AI-based analysis of 20 years of VicForests’ logging, researchers say, shows the scale of failed regeneration in Victoria’s state forests.The data, which has been shared exclusively with the ABC, suggests that 20 per cent of Victoria’s state forests have not regenerated after logging.... That’s almost 13,000 hectares of state forest the analysis found to be standing in a state of ruin."
"Now the state is shutting its native logging industry in a matter of weeks, and the forests that were once given to Victoria’s state-run logging agency, VicForests, are being returned to the public."
"By law, the logging agency is required to regenerate the areas it has logged and hand them back to the public in a healthy state. But until now, how much that has actually happened has largely been a mystery."
Native forest logging ban in Tasmania could save state $72m, pro-market thinktank says
"Analysis recommends the government stop subsidising its forestry arm and generate carbon credits, a move likely to be opposed by industry and conservationists. The taxpayer should not be subsidising environmental degradation to indulge the anti-competitive, protectionist fantasies of a small number of individuals with outdated and romanticised views of an industry."
Imposed Prime Minister @RishiSunak has been wrong on this, & much, much, more; it's now almost too late for him to make amends.
But there is still a little time to make the necessary changes to reduce the damage being caused by the #ClimateEmergency & #BiodiversityCrisis; time for Sunak to show he cares, if not for us, then for his family. Because if those changes aren't made, we - & they - have no future.
Then again, Sunak's a Tory; & cares only for money.
You know what's really frustrating about writing a dissertation on legal protections for biodiversity? Reading sensible proposals on how to get there written by clever and concerned people years before my birth and realizing that none of them have been implemented.
I'm really glad for the years I spent in the foreign service, learning how to politely phrase my frustration. Otherwise, my defensio would be one long, ear-splitting scream of helpless rage.
"We are living through a “polycrisis”, a tangled mess of multiple crises, all happening at once." Aarathi Krishnan
"Is Australia as prepared? What if with rising heat, and more complex fire patterns, land gets razed to the point it is unliveable for most of the population? What if the geopolitical decisions being made today might make Australians less welcome in other countries, and less able to cross borders?"
"Being future-oriented is integral to addressing injustices that have long prevailed. Crises, from climate emergencies to pandemics to wars, thrive in the cracks in society, exploiting and exacerbating myriad inequalities. The norms that prioritise the immediate at the expense of the future perpetuate the inequity and exclusion we must address."