environment – Page 4 – ANGFA Queensland

Identifying species at risk from climate change

Australian native freshwater species, environment, research, waterways/wetlands

Mar 102014

Original story compiled by Kev Warburton, Freshwater Research News

Which aquatic species are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change? In theory, traits such as physiological tolerance, life history attributes, dispersal abilities and dietary and habitat requirements could be useful indicators of the vulnerability of a species to climate warming, but this possibility needs to be tested for different types of organisms. One such analysis focussed on the freshwater fish of the Murray-Darling river system in Australia, and drew on monitoring data for 39 species, plus data on 14 biological traits for the same species compiled from the literature. Of those traits, 11 showed a significant relationship with changes in species abundance observed in 2004-2010 during a period of extended drought. Trait-based rankings of drought vulnerability also agreed well with species vulnerability assessments from previous studies. The most vulnerable fish species had relatively low heat tolerance and low minimum spawning temperatures. They tended to be small-bodied species (e.g. galaxiids, pygmy perches) that feed on invertebrates, which suggested that omnivores that consume more detritus and plant material have more success in finding food during drought. Vulnerable species also tended to mature early and have a short life-span, an extended spawning season and low fecundity. These are normally considered to be “opportunistic” features typical of species adapted to unpredictable environments, but it seems that that this type of opportunism doesn’t extend to coping with long, multi-year droughts. In prolonged droughts, larger species with delayed maturation are better equipped to survive and breed later. Vulnerability rankings based on a range of traits can help to identify species at risk and prioritise conservation actions.

Reference: Chessman, B. 2013. Identifying species at risk from climate change: traits predict the drought vulnerability of freshwater fishes. Biological Conservation 160, 40–49.

http://www.parcc-web.org/parcc-project/documents/2013/02/identifying-species-at-risk-from-climate-change-traits-predict-the-drought-vulnerability-of-freshwater-fishes.pdf

Over demanding market affects fisheries more than climate change

environment, fisheries, research, waterways/wetlands

Mar 082014

News release from Investigación y Desarrollo

Fisheries that rely on short life species, such as shrimp or sardine, have been more affected by climate change, because this phenomenon affects chlorophyll production, which is vital for phytoplankton, the main food for both species.

Fisheries that rely on short life species, such as shrimp or sardine, have been more affected by climate change.

Disclosed by the research “Socioeconomic Impact of the global change over the fishing resources of the Mexican Pacific” headed by Ernesto A. Chávez Ortiz, from the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN).

Work performed at the Interdisciplinary Center of Marine Sciences (CICIMAR) from the IPN, indicates that in the last five years there have been no “spectacular” changes attributable to climate change, what has affected the fishing resources more is the over demanding market.

“Globally, a great part of the fishing resources is being exploited to its maximum capacity, several have overpass its regeneration capacities and are overexploited” Chávez Ortiz points out.

The specialist at CICIMAR details that the research consisted in exploratory weather and fisheries analysis, and confirmed what has been intuitively said for a while: a lot of the variability in the fishing is due to climate change, the problem is that evidence hadn’t been found to prove it.

“In the research we found a clear and objective way to show it: we took historical data from FAO regarding fisheries, available since 1950, compared it to the data of weather variability and found high correlations.

Change patterns were identified, for example, while in the 70’s the sardine production increases, in the 80’s it decreases below average levels, meanwhile shrimp fishing increased above average but decreased in the 90’s.

This way, climate changes were identified in the mid 70’s and late 80’s that affected the fishing of sardine and shrimp in the Mexican Pacific Ocean, possibly attributable to El Niño. In the particular case of the shrimp, it effects are related to an input of water from the continent; for example, when there’s a good raining season, there will be an increase in the crustacean production, which is reduced when it doesn’t rain.

The researcher at CICIMAR clarifies that the analysis of the fisheries, examined in the guidelines of this project, used of a simulation model that allows to evaluate optimal exploitation strategies, possible change in the biomass of the analyzed resources, as well as the long term effects of climate change, like cyclones, and set them apart of those caused by the intensity of the fishing. (Agencia ID)

Abbott’s half right: our national parks are good but not perfect

community, environment, government, threatened species, wildlife

Mar 072014

By Rod Keenan, University of Melbourne at The Conversation

Prime Minister Tony Abbott this week told a timber industry dinner that he doesn’t think national parks should be a growth industry:

“We have quite enough national parks. We have quite enough locked up forests already. In fact, in an important respect, we have too much locked up forest.”

Is he right? How much forest should be in conservation reserves, and does Australia really have too many?

Photo: Lake Judd, in Tasmania’s Southwest National Park. JJ Harrison/Wikimedia Commons

Parks and protection

Australia has a world-class system of reserves, with just over 13% of its land area currently protected. Governments of all political persuasions have created national parks and protected areas for a range of reasons, including biodiversity conservation, wilderness protection, scientific study or to protect specific natural features.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he will not support the creation of any new national parks. Photo: AAP Image/Daniel Munoz

The most recent national figures indicate that 16% of the native forest area, some 23 million hectares, is inside reserves. This includes 70% of known old-growth forests and 55% of rainforest types. The iconic tall, open eucalypt forests (greater than 30 m in height) are also relatively well protected, with 26% inside reserves.

This stacks up fairly well against internationally agreed conservation goals. In 2010, parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity agreed to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, which aim to conserve at least 17% of terrestrial ecosystems. In Australia, 54 bioregions already meet or exceed the 17% Aichi target, but 35 have less than 10% of terrestrial ecosystems protected.

These reserves have generally been created on public land, but 70% of Australia’s forest estate is privately managed, including private freehold and leasehold land and land managed by indigenous people.

Some significant conservation efforts are happening on these lands. For example, 83,000 hectares of forest on private land in Tasmania have been protected through programs such as the Private Forest Reserves Program and the Forest Conservation Fund developed under Tasmania’s Regional Forest Agreement.

Biodiversity conservation goals won’t be achieved simply by creating more reserves on public lands. More of these types of incentive programs will be required to encourage private landowners to participate in conservation.

While significant areas of forest on public land are not in reserves, these forests are not simply open slather for clearing or timber harvesting. Most states have legal restrictions on clearing and timber operators adhere to a code of practice. In many cases the land is inaccessible or not suitable for other uses.

As a result, only about 6% (or 9 million hectares) of Australia’s native forest area is available for wood production.

The Tasmanian question

The forest conservation debate is hottest in Tasmania, where the federal government is seeking to remove 74,000 ha of forest from the World Heritage list just a year after it was added.

The 2012 Tasmanian State of the Forests report indicates that 49% of the state’s native forest area (1.5 million of 3.06 million hectares) is in conservation reserves. Of the 50 native forest communities, 37 have at least 15% of their estimated pre-1750 extent protected in reserves. This includes the very tall Eucalyptus regnans (16% in reserves) and E. delegatensis forests (26% in reserves) in places like the Styx and Florentine Valleys.

Seven communities, mainly shorter-statured dry eucalypt types, have less than 7.5% of their pre-1750 extent protected in reserves. For most of these communities, the remaining extent is largely on private land.

As a result of this agreement, the previous federal government added 172,000 hectares to the 1,412,000 ha in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. But the Abbott government claims that 74,000 ha should be delisted because it is “degraded or logged”.

But it is misguided to describe harvested areas added to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area as “degraded”. Whatever your views on whether it should have happened at all, timber harvesting in Tasmania has generally been well-managed, with limited impacts on soil and water values. Harvested forests have been regenerated with the local species, and many other trees, shrubs and other life forms return to site within a short period of harvesting.

It is precisely this careful land management that has provided the opportunity to include these areas as World Heritage.

So was Abbott’s claim right?

In one sense, Abbott is correct about our national parks. We do have an excellent conservation reserve system with significant representative areas of many forest types. The vegetation types subject to timber harvesting are relatively well protected, both within national parks and outside them, by the restrictions and regulations on timber harvesting.

However, for the Prime Minister to suggest that we have “too much” forest in reserves overlooks the fact that there are many types of forest where the reserved areas do not meet national or global protection targets.

These are generally not the iconic tall wet forests adjacent to Tasmania’s wilderness areas. They are the shorter, less aesthetically appealing (to some) forest types in drier areas along Australia’s east coast. Remaining areas are often on private land, and the main threats are urban and infrastructure expansion, weeds, pests and feral animals.

Focusing the debate simply on areas in reserves also misses the need for a “whole-landscape” approach to conservation. Protected areas are just one part of the picture – areas outside reserves also need to be carefully managed so that conservation can co-exist with other land uses, such as agriculture.

This holistic approach will give us the best chance of protecting and conserving our unique native species and ecosystems.

Rod Keenan receives funding from the Victorian Government and has received funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research

This article was originally published on The Conversation.
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Australia has warmed by 0.9C since 1910, with more in store

environment, research

Mar 042014

By Michael Hopkin, The Conversation

Australia is almost a degree warmer, on average, than it was a century ago, according to the State of the Climate 2014 report compiled by the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology.

Summary of findings from the State of the Climate 2014 report. State of the Climate 2014.

Australia has warmed by 0.9C since 1910 – roughly in line with global rates of atmospheric warming – and is set to continue warming at a rate that depends on how fast greenhouse emissions can be reduced.

The finding reiterates the previous State of the Climate report, released in 2012.

According to the 2014 report:

Seven of Australia’s 10 warmest years have happened since 1998;
Over the past 15 years, very warm months have occurred at five times the long-term average, while very cool months have declined by a third;
By 2070, temperatures will be anywhere between 1C and 5C warmer than the 1980-1999 average, depending on future emissions cuts
Winter rainfall has declined by 17% since 1970 in Australia’s southwest, and by 15% since the mid-1990s in the southeast;
Tropical cyclones are forecast to decrease in frequency but increase in severity;
Sea-level rises will increase the frequency of extreme sea-level events.

More heatwaves

Bureau of Meteorology assistant director Peter May said the report shows that Australia is “loading the dice” for more future heatwaves.

“The warming both in Australia and globally is certain, and is human-induced. The impacts of that are making themselves felt through an increased frequency of heatwaves, and fewer periods of extreme cold temperatures,” he said.

“We are locked into a certain degree of future changes even if we stopped carbon emissions tomorrow.”

He said it was beyond the report’s scope to advocate for political action, or to advise on whether the government’s commitment to cut emissions by 5% by 2020 goes far enough.

“(The report is) really about providing information for policymakers – it’s neither the Bureau nor CSIRO’s role to dictate what those responses should be. We’re providing the scientific advice on the way things are,” May said.

Sarah Perkins, a climate research fellow at the University of New South Wales, said: “No matter how you slice and dice it, the evidence is clear that human-induced climate change is continuing to increase the risk of extreme weather and temperatures.”

“This is coming from Australia’s national research institutions. We’re all saying it, because the science is clear and the evidence is there for us all to see,” she said.

Heatwaves are a pressing issue for Australia, both because of their direct link to warming temperatures, and because of their rapid impacts on health, Perkins said.

“When you have a heatwave it kills people and damages infrastructure within a matter of days – when you have a drought the crops die slowly, the economic impacts are much slower. Impacts via short, intense extreme temperatures are generally more measurable.”

“Even if we did completely switch to green technology tomorrow, the next 50 years we would see this projected change. However in the next 100 years we could start to see a reduction in extreme events and changes to rainfall because we’ve started to make those changes.”

“More and more reports are coming out globally. Despite the polar vortex bringing some very cold conditions to parts of America, they were not on the same scale as the record-breaking hot temperatures that are consistently occurring across the globe. No state in America had its coldest winter on record, and many other parts of the Northern Hemisphere had very mild winters, including Alaska.”

Consistent findings

Roger Jones, a professorial research fellow at Victoria University, said the findings were consistent with a recent report from the Climate Council that dangerous fire weather is already on the rise.

“Fire weather is currently around the worst case predicted for 2030-2050,” he said.

The picture in terms of rainfall is less clear-cut. Australia had very wet years in 2010 and 2011, and overall rainfall has increased. But many heavily populated areas are enduring declining rainfall, Jones said.

“If you do a spatial average over Australia you find, as the report says, that rainfall has increased slightly. But if you do a population-weighted average it has decreased. The increase in rainfall in northern Australia coincides with warming in the region,” he said.

Sophie Lewis, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Melbourne, said the report reflects an increase in scientific knowledge since the 2012 report.

“We now have studies for extreme events in Australia that provide scientifically robust attribution that can be used to understand observed events. We knew that by increasing average temperatures we would see an increase in the frequency and severity of extremes, but we hadn’t analysed specific events. That’s why we’re seeing these official reports issue quite definitive statements about the causes of extremes,” she said.

This article was originally published on The Conversation.
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Global warming felt to deepest reaches of ocean

environment, research, waterways/wetlands

Mar 032014

Media release from McGill at AlphaGalileo

Climate change has put a freshwater lid on the Antarctic ocean, trapping warm water in ocean depths.

In the mid-1970s, the first available satellite images of Antarctica during the polar winter revealed a huge ice-free region within the ice pack of the Weddell Sea. This ice-free region, or polynya, stayed open for three full winters before it closed.

Subsequent research showed that the opening was maintained as relatively warm waters churned upward from kilometres below the ocean’s surface and released heat from the ocean’s deepest reaches. But the polynya — which was the size of New Zealand — has not reappeared in the nearly 40 years since it closed, and scientists have since come to view it as a naturally rare event.

Now, however, a study led by researchers from McGill University suggests a new explanation: The 1970s polynya may have been the last gasp of what was previously a more common feature of the Southern Ocean, and which is now suppressed due to the effects of climate change on ocean salinity.

The McGill researchers, working with colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania, analyzed tens of thousands of measurements made by ships and robotic floats in the ocean around Antarctica over a 60-year period. Their study, published in Nature Climate Change, shows that the ocean’s surface has been steadily getting less salty since the 1950s. This lid of fresh water on top of the ocean prevents mixing with the warm waters underneath. As a result, the deep ocean heat has been unable to get out and melt back the wintertime Antarctic ice pack.

“Deep ocean waters only mix directly to the surface in a few small regions of the global ocean, so this has effectively shut one of the main conduits for deep ocean heat to escape,” says Casimir de Lavergne, a recent graduate of McGill’s Master’s program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and lead author of the paper.

The scientists also surveyed the latest generation of climate models, which predict an increase of precipitation in the Southern Ocean as atmospheric carbon dioxide rises. “This agrees with the observations, and fits with a well-accepted principle that a warming planet will see dryer regions become dryer and wetter regions become wetter,” says Jaime Palter, a professor in McGill’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and co-author of the study. “True to form, the polar Southern Ocean – as a wet place – has indeed become wetter. And in response to the surface ocean freshening, the polynyas simulated by the models also disappeared.” In the real world, the melting of glaciers on Antarctica – not included in the models – has also been adding freshwater to the ocean, possibly strengthening the freshwater lid.

The new work can also help explain a scientific mystery. It has recently been discovered that Antarctic Bottom Water, which fills the deepest layer of the world ocean, has been shrinking over the last few decades. “The new work can provide an explanation for why this is happening,” says study co-author Eric Galbraith, a professor in McGill’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and a fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. “The waters exposed in the Weddell polynya became very cold, making them very dense, so that they sunk down to become Antarctic Bottom Water that spread throughout the global ocean. This source of dense water was equal to at least twice the flow of all the rivers of the world combined, but with the surface capped by freshwater, it has been cut off.”

“Although our analysis suggests it’s unlikely, it’s always possible that the giant polynya will manage to reappear in the next century,” Galbraith adds. “If it does, it will release decades-worth of heat and carbon from the deep ocean to the atmosphere in a pulse of warming.”

The research was supported by the Stephen and Anastasia Mysak Graduate Fellowship in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery programme, by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) and by computing infrastructure provided by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and Compute Canada.

Reference: ‘Cessation of deep convection in the open Southern Ocean under anthropogenic climate change’; Casimir de Lavergne, Jaime B. Palter, Eric D. Galbraith, Raffaele Bernardello and Irina Marinov; advance online publication on Nature Climate Change’s website March 2, 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2132

Carbon emissions reduction target ‘not credible’

community, environment, government

Mar 012014

Original story by Abby Dinham, SBS (Transcript from World News Radio)

The soon to be abolished Climate Change Authority says Australia’s target of a 5 per cent reduction of carbon emissions by 2020 is not credible.

And the goal must be raised to 15 per cent for the country to be considered serious about tackling global warming.

In what may be its final progress report, the Authority warns the government’s target will not contribute to the international goal of limiting global warming to less than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels.

And it says in the long run, global warming will cost Australia more than any climate change policy.

Abby Dinham has the details.

The Climate Change Authority was established in 2012 to provide expert opinion to the Australian government.

Last year the newly-elected Coalition government delivered on its promise to introduce a Bill to abolish the Authority.

With that Bill still before the Senate, the Authority has delivered a damning assessment of the government’s climate change goals.

Authority chair Bernie Fraser – a former Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia – says Australia’s current five per cent target of emissions reduction will not contribute to keeping global warming below 2 degrees before the year 2050.

“To stick with the 2020 target of a minimum of 5% would within the framework of the present global budget and Australia’s share of the global budget would impose a virtually impossible task of making up lost ground and getting to the end result of the time available.”

Australia has a formal international agreement with the United Nations to reduce emissions by at least 5 per cent by 2020, compared with 2000 levels.

But the federal government also indicated that it might do more under certain circumstances.

Climate Change Authority member Professor John Quiggan says the world’s two largest emitters – China and the United States – are greatly stepping up their efforts on climate change.

He says the longer Australia leaves it to take action on climate change the more expensive it will be.

“If we decide to meet our commitment, we’ll be paying more substantially more in the decade ahead than we would now. If we decide not to and the rest of the world decides to do that same there will be catastrophic consequences for Australia for future generations that are set out in the report and there is also the gamble that we can be the international slacker that we can get away for doing nothing while other countries take up the burden.”

The Climate Change Authority report says that Australia will greatly suffer under a warmer climate, with predictions of increased weather extremes, such as heatwaves, droughts, floods and bushfires.

The report provides several funding methods to reach a 15 percent target of emissions reduction, including the establishment of a fund to purchase international carbon offsets to help meet the recommended 2020 goals.

Carbon offsets – sanctioned by the Kyoto Protocol – are earned by governments and private companies reducing emissions, which can then be traded on a marketplace to countries that can’t or don’t want to reduce fossil-fuel consumption.

The University of Melbourne’s David Karoly says this may be cheaper than inaction.

“We’ve already seen over the last 10 years and the last 12 months an increase in wildfires an increase in coastal erosion, and while scientists are yet to link Queensland and NSW drought to climate change because it’s too recent to do that. There’s obviously been major investment in addressing that. There are many many economic costs associated in addressing unmitigated climate change, in fact all economic assessments I have seen at least a three fold or more greater cost of unmitigated climate change than addressing climate change.”

But the Climate Authority report states that some progress has been made in Australia on climate change.

It says Australia’s emissions were almost the same in 2012 as in 1990 – this despite the economy doubling in size.

Effectively, this means that the rate of emissions over this 22 year period halved.

It attributes the reduction to broader economic forces and some government policy.

But the Climate Authority’s Professor Clive Hamilton says further efforts are needed to achieve absolute reductions in emissions.

Professor Hamilton says a 19 per cent reduction can be achieved with little more cost to the Australian economy.

He says that figure could come from the addition of the proposed 15 per cent reduction with a carryover of the four per cent emission credits that Australia accrued under the Kyoto Protocol.

“For the five per cent target gross national income per person is expected to be $66,450 whereas under the 19 per cent gross national income per person would be $66,350. So a shortfall of a $100.”

The report states that in 2012, Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions were 2-point-5 per cent above 2000 levels.

It says without effective policies over the next six years, emissions are predicted to grow to 17 per cent.

The report recommends the introduction of targeted and sustained emissions reduction policies, that include market-based reforms, to alter the course of the Australian economy in a greener direction.

It says the government should set a trajectory range for emissions reductions of between 40 and 60 per cent below 2000 levels by 2030.

But Bernie Fraser admits that with the Authority facing the axe, he’s not convinced that the government will act on any of the recommendations.

“We’re hopeful, we’re always hopeful. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here I think. We just have to see how it all pans out.”

Australia is obliged to review its five percent emission reduction pledge and deliver a response on a possible target increase to the UN by the end of April.

Conservation group seeks to overturn reef dump plan

community, environment, government, waterways/wetlands

Feb 272014

Original story by Jessica Nairn, ABC News

An environmental lobby group says it has a strong legal case against the agency that oversees the Great Barrier Reef over the planned dumping of dredge spoil.

Abbot Point coal terminal in Queensland. The expansion of Abbot Point will generate millions of cubic metres of dredge spoil. Photo: ABC

The North Queensland Conservation Council (NQCC) is trying to overturn the approval to dump three million cubic metres of spoil in the marine park as part of the Abbot Point coal terminal expansion.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority gave the go ahead last month.

Jeremy Tager from NQCC says they have taken the matter to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in Brisbane, citing several concerns.

“The assessment undertaken by the marine park authority has failed to adequately look at alternatives at sea, dumping inside the marine park and that the impacts of dumping are far greater than the assessment,” he said.

Yesterday, construction firm Lend Lease withdrew its bid from the tender process for the Abbot Point expansion and allowed its partnership with rail company Aurizon to lapse.

Aurizon says it will continue with the tender process.

Walkabout Creek won’t become theme park

aquarium, Australian native freshwater species, community, environment, government, waterways/wetlands, wildlife

Feb 272014

Original story by Tony Moore, Brisbane Times

The Queensland government says it has ‘‘no intention’’ of reducing ranger-led activities in a $2.5 million revamp of the Walkabout Creek centre at The Gap.

Platypus in the wild at Walkabout Creek. Photo: Karleen Minney

Fairfax Media understands the state government has set aside $2.5 million for the stage one of a new centre on the site, which is in Premier Campbell Newman’s Ashgrove electorate.

This follows a Fairfax Media story yesterday questioning the marketing of the nature centre, which includes a rare chance to see a platypus in a natural setting.

However residents are concerned the master plan for the site – the regional headquarters for the National Parks and Wildlife Service – plans to wind back the animal enclosure at the centre.

In a statement issued late Tuesday afternoon, the government said there were ‘‘no plans to discontinue ranger-led wildlife encounters at the facility’’.

Enoggera Weir, behind the centre. Photo: Tony Moore

‘‘Certainly there are no plans to turn the location into a ‘theme park’,’’ the statement said.

The government has received 265 public submissions to its master plan for the site, which includes plans to use a ‘‘flying fox’’ or ‘‘zip line’’ to re-invigorate the area, beside Enoggera Weir.

The plan also recommends kayak and canoe trips on nearby Enoggera Weir.

Stage one of the upgrade includes the placement of the ‘‘flying fox’’, new playground equipment, picnic areas and barbeques.

Flying fox lines would go in the outdoor section of the wildlife enclosure, which now runs down to Enoggera Weir.

Some residents have questioned the impact of the extra noise from Enoggera Weir on local bird species, like the Red Browed Finch.

This area now houses the outside wallaby and wombat enclosure.

The majority of respondents have been supportive of the draft master plan for the centre, the government said in a statement.

‘‘The master plan seeks to expand nature-based opportunities for visitors and encourage them to explore national parks in the area,’’ it read.

‘‘To get out ‘into the bush’ and reap the health and wellbeing benefits that an active outdoor lifestyle offers.”

One of the submissions came from the Riverlife Centre at Kangaroo Point, which runs canoes and kayaks on the Brisbane River.

Manager Josh Wicks confirmed Riverlife was interested in being part of any revamped centre at The Gap.

‘‘But it comes down to what activities that they are willing to keep open,’’ he said.

‘‘My understanding is that they still have not got a firm understanding of what they are going to offer.

‘‘But I understand that is likely to come about June.’’

He said Riverlife would not run wildlife operations, but was interested in running canoe and boutique-type events from the site.

‘‘We obviously don’t have any say in what happens to that wildlife zoo, but we wouldn’t be saying that you would have to get rid of that,’’ he said.

Mr Wicks said a lot of locals were saying they wanted access to the weir.

‘‘So we might be interested in running jazz-kind of events under the stars like we do down at Kangaroo Point, which the locals like,’’ he said.

‘‘And I’m not sure that there is the opportunity to do that type of thing – we have to wait until the government releases the master plan – but we are willing to look at that.’’

Tenders are expected to be offered in June.

Australia’s environment minister could soon be above the law

environment, government

Feb 272014

By Gregory McIntyre, University of Notre Dame at The Conversation

Earlier this month, a Senate inquiry paved the way for the Parliament to give Environment Minister Greg Hunt legal immunity against future legal challenges to his decisions on mining projects.

Greg Hunt, and all environment ministers past and future, could be protected from legal challenge over mining approvals.Photo: AAP Image/Alan Porritt

If it passes the Senate, the move will protect the government from being taken to court over the Abbot Point dredging scheme, the Curtis Island gas project, or any other environmentally contentious development in Australia.

More extraordinary is the fact that the government (with Labor’s help) has pushed the legislation through to safeguard an earlier blunder made by former Labor environment minister Tony Burke. Why? Because it will protect Greg Hunt from being challenged over deliberate or negligent decisions that do not comply with the law.

Trouble in Tasmania

In 2012, Burke approved a proposal by Shree Minerals to develop an iron ore mine in the Tarkine area of Tasmania. The Tarkine National Coalition, a local conservation group, took him to the Federal Court.

Three years earlier, the previous environment minister Peter Garrett had approved official conservation advice under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, which set out threats to the endangered Tasmanian devil.

But Burke did not take this advice into account when approving the mine, which is in an area that is home to one of the few remaining Tasmanian devil populations not affected by the presently incurable devil facial tumour disease.

In 2013, the Federal Court ruled that Burke had failed to comply with the EPBC Act, which requires the minister to consider conservation advice provided under the Act.

The Coalition government has now licensed Greg Hunt (and retrospectively Tony Burke) to avoid compliance with the EPBC Act by passing the Environment Legislation Amendment Act 2013 in direct response to the Court’s ruling against Burke.

The amendment retrospectively validates ministerial decisions – even if they did not comply with the EPBC Act when they were made.

Breach of legal principle

The problem with this approach is that it breaches internationally accepted legal principles, for no real reason other than to assuage misplaced nervousness in the mining industry following the Court’s decision.

Hunt says the amendment will provide certainty for mining companies that face repeated legal challenges to previously approved projects.

But there was no reason to pass retrospective laws following the Tarkine decision, because Burke granted a new, valid approval straight afterwards, this time making sure he took into account the conservation advice.

Burke’s decision did not need to be validated retrospectively. The court didn’t order him to reject the mine; it just told him to follow the environmental rules.

Legislative overkill

That’s why the new amendment is overkill. Not only does it validate an unspecified number of past decisions, but it will also apply to any future decisions that do not comply with the EPBC Act.

The new law might have been inspired by Burke’s tribulations in the Tarkine, but its impact will reach much further. It will apply to any proposed development in any environmentally sensitive area, anywhere in Australia.

That could include the Great Barrier Reef, which is under threat from dredging at Abbot Point as the port is readied for the export of $28.4 billion in coal reserves from the Galilee Basin.

Activist group GetUp!, among others, is attempting to mount a legal challenge against Hunt’s decision to allow the dumping of three million cubic metres of dredge spoil in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

But the new amendment could protect the government from any such challenge. As such, it casts doubt on the integrity of the implementation of the EPBC Act itself.

Threatened species would be left effectively unprotected in the event that the environment minister either negligently or deliberately ignores approved conservation advice. Clearly this is not a good legislative outcome.

Future impacts

The Senate is set to debate the amendment again next month, having been advised by the Department of Environment that the new law will have only “minor” impacts in the future.

They will be far from minor unless the Senate heeds the Law Council of Australia’s advice to amend the legislation to ensure it does not cover future decisions (a recommendation backed by the Senate Environment Committee).

If they choose to accept this recommendation, then the only impact will be political. It will have achieved the aim of reassuring the minerals and energy lobby that the government is on its side – which appears to be the point of the entire bizarre exercise.

Gregory McIntyre does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.

This article was originally published on The Conversation.
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Qld’s coastal management under-resourced with volunteer shortage

community, environment, government, waterways/wetlands

Feb 252014

Original story by William Rollo, ABC News

Queensland researchers say environmental groups tasked with managing the state’s coastal ecosystems are critically under-resourced.

Reef Check Australia volunteer Deanna Hing with a sample of the rubbish collected in a land and sea clean-up. Photo: John McCutcheon/Sunshine Coast Daily

Australia’s coastal ecosystems are maintained by community-based natural resource management groups.

However, Alby Wooler from the Capricorn Coast Landcare Group says it is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit and retain unpaid workers.

“The volunteer base is not as good as it was eight, 10 years ago,” he said.

CQUniversity researcher Julian Reid is investigating the structures and functions of Government-funded coastal management groups.

He says most struggle with volunteer shortages and their resources are being over-stretched because of population growth, coastal development and climate change.

“The concern is how these environmental groups, if they’ll have the capacity to respond to these increased needs,” he said.

He says environmental conservation is among the least popular of volunteer activities.

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