Link: Stand Up For Cherry Tree Forest

“Join in protecting Cherry Tree State Forest from the threat of irreparable damage from logging. Our koalas, rivers and climate need this vital part of the Richmond Range ecological corridor stretching from the Border Ranges NP to the Bundjalung NP.” facebook.com/Stand.Up.For.Cherry.Tree

Link: Fridays For Forests

“Every Friday at 10am where ever you are it is time to join the action protecting our native forests from logging”   facebook.com/groups/fridays4forests/

New David Bradbury Biomass Film – Please Watch and Share

Whole trees woodchipped and fed into giant furnaces to generate electricity and getting taxpayer subsidies to destroy forests as several people say in this clip, has to be one of the most ‘insane’ ideas currently happening on the Planet. We have to end this scam pronto – David. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=905957046686591

Ari of the CEC presented with TSC Sustainability Award

Ari Ehrlich of the Caldera Environment Centre has been presented with one of this year’s Tweed Shire Council Sustainability Awards.  Ari received the award for his successful organising of the annual Caldera World Environment Day Festival event in Knox Park 6th June 2021.  TSC: Tweed Sustainability: Recognising outstanding contributions to improved sustainability across multiple impact…

[nefanews]: Natural Resources Commission Report Leaked!~ (at last)

[nefanews]: The NSW Government must explain why it ignored the advice of the independent Natural Resources Commission and kept logging forests in regions hit hardest by the 2019-20 Black Summer Bushfires.  The 2019/20 wildfires were unprecedented in their scale, extent of high and extreme fire severity, and duration. They burnt 4.8 million hectares of land…

The Logging Loophole at the Heart of Glasgow COP21 Deforestation Declaration

The Glasgow declaration on forests and land use pledges to stop deforestation by 2030, but a logging loophole in the declaration actually allows clearcutting and other ecologically destructive forestry practices to continue unchecked. Why is industrial logging excluded from the Glasgow Declaration on Deforestation? Why don’t clear-felled forests count? Why isn’t converting forests into monoculture…

[nefanews] Banner drops send Koala message around the world

NSW Forest Defenders have targeted proposed and operating biomass facilities in NSW dropping banners that read “Dead Koala Energy #BigBadBiomass “and “No Trees for Electricity! Stop the Biomassacre”. Along with other actions around the country, the actions are part of the International Day of Action against #BigBadBiomass, the practice of cutting trees to burn in power…

Biomass Action Group Gathering at Condong Biomass Burning Power Plant

Biomass Action Group: Biggest turnout yet at Condong biomass plant! Thanks to our supporters and speakers Mandy Nolan, Iaun Gaillard, Nola Firth, and #fridaysforforests’ Sean O’Shannessy. Sending the message loud and clear that we need our forests now more than ever to draw down carbon, so do not accept biomass is the false solution it’s…

Condong to burn 120,000 tonnes of ‘industrial waste’ timber from Brisbane

The Condong electricity power generator plant is to be reclassified as an “energy from waste” (EfW) facility. …  The repurposed Condong Sugar Mill power plant is to burn: 1. Waste from Brisbane – 120,000 tonnes of ‘industrial waste timber with up to 10% plastic and 10% fabrics [also plastic?]’ ‘recovered timber fuel’ sourced from ‘construction,…

Link to Beyond Zero Emissions webinar

Research by Beyond Zero Emissions shows Australia can pursue an ambitious ‘Go for Gold’ scenario and secure a significant share of the global market for growth commodities, such as: Green steel Renewable hydrogen Renewable ammonia Green aluminium. These products are set to dominate global economic growth this century and Australia is well positioned to be…

Tweed Shire Council Sustainability Awards

Nominations have been received from across the community to share inspiring stories about people and projects working to protect and enhance our special and beautiful natural environment. The Caldera Environment Centre has nominated Ari Ehrlich for his successful organising of the annual Caldera World Environment Day Festival event in Knox Park 6th June 2021 [and over…

Time to end logging of public native forests

NEFA MEDIA RELEASE: Time to end logging of public native forests. NEFA is calling upon the NSW Government to follow the leads of Western Australia and Victoria by immediately adopting a plan to phase out logging of public native forests because of their vital roles in taking up and storing carbon and providing homes for…

EDO: Western Australia to end Native Forest Logging

Environmental Defenders Office: “In a huge win for native animal habitat and the climate, the West Australian Government has announced an end to native forest logging. The move is expected to preserve at least an additional 400,000 hectares of karri, jarrah and wandoo forests when a new Forest Management Plan comes into force in 2024. The…

Australian Forest Network calls on the Federal and State Governments to immediately stop logging in our public native forests.

We call on the Federal and State Governments to immediately stop logging and all other forms of degradation in our public native forests. Australia now faces the existential crises of catastrophic climate change and biodiversity loss. Species are hurtling towards extinction as they face a rapidly changing climate and habitat destruction. Forest-dependent species are especially…

Dear Minister for Energy & Environment: Save our forests from the furnaces !!!

Dear Minister, We are excited to note the bipartisan support for the recommendation that native forest biomass not be allowed in energy generation facilities in the parliamentary inquiry into “Sustainability of energy supply and resources in NSW” that reported to the NSW Government in August 2021. How will you act to implement the inquiry’s recommendations? The committee:…

NEFA and the EDO are to challenge the legality of the much hated NE NSW Regional Forest Agreement!

The much hated North East Regional Forestry Agreement (NE RFA) exempts logging in native forests from the federal biodiversity assessment and logging approval requirements of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.   NEFA is asking the Federal Court to declare that the North East RFA does not validly exempt native forest logging from these federal biodiversity laws.  In order for an RFA to exempt native forest logging from the usual federal…

Burning wood for electricity doesn’t pass the pub* test [*Parliament]

North East Forest Alliance Media Release “The writing is on the wall for wood-fired power stations”, said NEFA spokesperson Susie Russell. “We are relieved that both Liberal and Labor politicians who participated in the parliamentary inquiry into “Sustainability of energy supply and resources in NSW” have recommended that native forest biomass not be allowed in…

Invitation for public comment on the draft National Recovery Plan for the Koala.

The Department of the Environment and Energy have drafted a “National Recovery Plan for the Koala.” “The National Recovery Plan for the Koala identifies national-level strategic actions to support recovery of the EPBC Act listed Koala.” The plan “sets out the research and management actions necessary to stop the decline, and support the recovery, of the…

World Environment Day Festival – Knox Park Murwillumbah

UN: “THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A MORE URGENT NEED TO RESTORE DAMAGED ECOSYSTEMS THAN NOW.” UN Secretary General: “Humanity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal. Biodiversity is collapsing. Ecosystems are disappearing before our eyes.” Ecosystems are the systems of inter-related, inter-dependent lifeforms on this planet. This year’s event launched “The UN Decade on…

Public Statement to Au & NSW.gov from AFCA et al [incl. CEC]: “Reject plans by Verdant Technologies to recommission Redbank Power Station.”

We call on the governments of NSW and Australia to reject plans by Verdant Technologies to recommission Redbank Power Station near Singleton and use native forest biomass as fuel.  Redbank operated as a coal-fired power station from 2001 to 2014 when it was mothballed after the company went into receivership.  The new owner, Verdant Technology,…

Your Native Forests Are To Be Used As Furnace Fuel For Electricity

Your Native Forests are to be industrially fed into electricity power station furnaces overseas – to replace the now banned coal – to boil water to turn turbines to make electricity to be used momentarily then it is gone. ‘Somehow’, The European Union have legaly declared that burning Native Forests as coal-replacement fuel for electricity generation…

Hope, Resilience and Healing for Humanity and the Earth – Workshop

A Work that Reconnects workshop at the Chillingham Community Centre on the 23rd of May Time: 8.30am-4.30pm. “We are living through difficult times, witnessing immense growing social injustices and the sixth mass extinction of life on Earth. Many of us feel called to act, and while political engagement is crucial, many are also asking, how do we…

The SEPP 2021 Explained

State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) (Koala habitat Protection) 2021, in the Ministers words:  1. SEPP21 Gets land zoned for primary production or forestry out of the SEPP “Land zoned for primary production or forestry in regional NSW will not be subject to the new SEPP.” 2. SEPP21 Gets the Koala-Habitat-Protection-Laws out of the SEPP  “Koala…

D Day for Koalas

Dailan Pugh, North East Forest Alliance. It is D Day in the Koala Wars, this is the day we need to turn around Koala’s extinction trajectory and begin their recovery. First we need to urgently identify where their core habitat is and then we need to protect it, to save Koalas we need to stop…

Submission – ‘Nightcap on Minjungbul’ (DA21/0010) Caldera Environment Centre

Submission opposing DA21/0010 ‘Nightcap on Minjungbul’. A concept development application (DA) was lodged with Tweed Shire Council on 14 January 2021 over land at 2924, 2956, 2984 and 3222 Kyogle Road, Kunghur & Mount Burrell, hereafter referred to as “the site”. The application seeks approval for: Integrated Development – staged concept development application under s4.22 of…

Local Koala Protest – National Day of Action

MEDIA RELEASENorthern Rivers Guardians Inc. Koala advocates demand Koala habitat protection The clouds parted and the sun was shining on koala advocates who gathered at Knox Park in Murwillumbah on Saturday, for the Northern Rivers Guardians (NRG) hosted #SaveOurKoalas Day of Action. The Murwillumbah event was one of many similar public gatherings scheduled to be held across…

NEFA: Forest Media

NEFA: Forest Media Koalas continue to be the key issue. Kean came under attack from the ALP and the right-wing shock-jocks when it was revealed that he had been strongly advised not to set a target for Koalas before he announced he was going to double their populations. He thought it was good politics. His…

Friends of the Koala, Cudgen Nature Reserve, Caldera Environment Centre Representation to the Member for Tweed, the Hon. Geoff Provest, MP

Conserving and recovering Tweed’s koala populations The issues on which we seek representation:  1. Local Land Services Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2020 – Adverse impact of Private Native Forestry (PNF) Amendments and ‘Allowable Activity Land’ The amendments to the discredited Local Land Services Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2020 not only sought to double the duration for PNF…

North East Forest Alliance Meeting with Geoff Provest

NEFA considers it reprehensible that the NSW Government have refused to approve Tweed Shire Council’s Koala Plan of Management for the past 6 years because they wanted it weakened, even though two Government agencies helped draft it. The National’s Local Land Services Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill sought to limit accreditation of Koala Plans of Management under…

Bob Brown Foundation: UPDATE 2: “The judgment was against us as the Federal Court decided that the purpose of the RFA Act was not to protect the environment.”

The Bob Brown Foundation campaign and court action to end native forest logging (!), a monumental legal case challenging the regulation of native forest logging.  The Great Forest Case is the best chance in a generation of ending native forest logging.   UPDATE 1:   The Great Forest Case hearings were on 2nd and 3rd of December! The Bob…

NEFA: Forest Media Review

Forest Media Review from the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA)     Burning forests for electricity not on:  The Nambucca Guardian had an in-depth story on biomass (with a focus on Way Way, Newry, Tarkeeth, and Redbank) (citing Michael Jones, Susie Russell, Dailan Pugh).  https://www.nambuccaguardian.com.au/story/7118714/will-nambuccas-forests-be-burnt-for-electricity/   … A group of over 500 international scientists have written to…

EPBC Act Review Condems EPBC Act

“… the EPBC Act does not position the Commonwealth to protect the environment, … it is not fit to manage current or future environmental challenges.” “Australia’s natural environment and iconic places are in an overall state of decline and are under increasing threat. The current environmental trajectory is unsustainable. “The EPBC Act is ineffective. It…

TSC Towards Zero Waste Strategy – Have Your Say

Tweed Shire Council Towards Zero Waste Strategy is on exhibition until Wednesday 28 April. The Towards Zero Waste Strategy that aims to guide Council on future actions and targets towards zero waste practices. To view the details, and to have your say about it please visit www.yoursaytweed.com.au/zerowaste at the TSC website.

The Wollumbin Caldera

Caldera pic

The Wollumbin Caldera is one of the three top biodiversity hotspots in Australia. It covers an area of approximately 1500 sq km and supports around 1250 types of plants. The Caldera includes a high diversity of ecosystem types because it is in an area where temperate and sub-tropical bio-geographic areas, both terrestrial and marine, converge.…

End the subsidies that destroy our forests

NCC: “… we are subsidising the destruction of our remaining native forests. Over the past seven years, we have propped up the uneconomic native forests logging industry to the tune of $79 million.” Taxpayer handouts to destroy the ecology. “End subsidised and unprofitable logging of our public state forests.” Read the full report here.  The NCC…

Australian Native Forests Are To Replace Coal As Furnace Fuel For Electricity

Australian Native Forests are to be industrially fed into electricity power station furnaces overseas – to replace coal – to boil water to turn turbines to make electricity to be used momentarily then it is gone. ‘Somehow’, The European Union have legally declared that burning Native Forests as coal-replacement furnace fuel for electricity generation plants is…

CEC Movie Club: Rob Kooyman – Gondwana, Northern NSW

Rob Kooyman, forest ecologist of note, traces the history of the ancient forests of Gondwana, until now, bringing the focus to the forests here, the forests of Northern NSW. The new 29 min film by Frontier Films (David Bradbury). Proudly presented here in association with the The Caldera Environment Centre. About Rob Kooyman … protected…

UN Secretary General: “Humanity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal.”

“Biodiversity is collapsing. Ecosystems are disappearing before our eyes. Human activities are at the root of our descent toward chaos.” The UN Secretary General listed the human-inflicted wounds on the natural world: the spread of deserts; wetlands lost; forests cut down; oceans overfished and choked with plastic; dying coral reefs; air pollution, … “Next year…

**Newsflash** – HELP PREVENT THE RETURN of the ‘Kill Koala Bill’

Have your say in this quick online submissionbefore the deadline this Friday February 5th! The Nature Conservation Council of NSW is calling for help to prevent the return of the governments “Kill Koala Bill” which is currently being reviewed by a parliamentary committee. We need to keep the government under pressure over koalas so they ditch…

NEFA Weekly Forest News: Forest Media 6

From NEFA [North East Forest Alliance]: We did well with our Kill the Bill demonstrations, with good stories on Prime and NBN, though the National Party’s standard response is that we are ignorant and misguided. Bangalow Koalas also organised a successful event with 50 kids from the Byron Community Primary School. The hypocrisy of Gladys…

Thunberg and Attenborough were at the Regent!

“The story of teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg is told through compelling, never-before-seen footage in this intimate documentary from Swedish director Nathan Grossman. Starting with her one-person school strike for climate action outside the Swedish Parliament, Grossman follows Greta — a shy student with Asperger’s — in her rise to prominence and her galvanizing global…

Cutting Down Native Forests on Private Land Draft Codes of Practice

The Draft Private Native Forestry Code of Practice have been open for public submissions. We have read the Draft Codes of Practice, and highlighted the bits of the document for you to read quickly, to focus and save time. It is ‘A permission-booklet for ecologically significant native forests destruction on privately held land.’ For further…

The UN 2020 Fossil Fuel Production Gap Report

The world is ‘doubling down’ on fossil fuels despite the climate crisis. “Between 2020 and 2030, global coal, oil, and gas production would have to decline annually by 11%, 4%, and 3%, respectively, to be consistent with a 1.5°C pathway. But governments’ plans and projections indicate an average 2% annual increase for each fuel. “Continued…

Big Scrub Landcare online event focused on the bushfires in and around Nightcap National Park and their impact on our Gondwana and lowland subtropical rainforests in north east NSW:

  ‘Saving our Rainforests from Fire’ – Expert panel discussion:  Big Scrub Landcare invited the community to listen to experts who were involved in fighting the fires and assessing their impacts on the Nightcap discuss these critically important issues in two online panel discussions, facilitated by Kerry O’Brien and Mick O’Regan. This free online event…