The Wilderness Society Australia

More disastrous deforestation for bauxite in the Northern Jarrah Forests has been approved by WA's Environmental Protection Authority this week. South32 and Alcoa have already ripped apart vast swathes of the Northern Jarrah Forests for mining, with devastating impacts on nature, climate and communities, and failed rehabilitation. The Northern Jarrah Forests are a global biodiversity hotspot and home to plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth—like the Ngolyenok / Carnaby's cockatoo and the quokka. These species are sadly being pushed closer to extinction by deforestation for bauxite mining. Together with our allies, the Wilderness Society is working to protect the Northern Jarrah Forests and the precious wildlife and water that depend on them. Read the full story👇 https://lnkd.in/gfUWzR5p #WApol #jarrah #jarrahforests #South32 #bauxite #deforestation #environment

Are you frustrated with the lack of government action for nature? We need YOU to sign on to our submission to the Senate inquiry, to help demonstrate the widespread community demand for stronger nature laws that actually work. The government recently proposed new laws to fix Australia's extinction and deforestation crises. But these new laws are simply not good enough, and require amendments to ensure they can effectively protect nature. Soon a Senate inquiry will be reviewing these new laws and this is a critical moment for us to influence key decision-makers. Sam Szoke-Burke, Campaign Manager with the Wilderness Society, explains more in this video. You only have until Sunday 14 July to sign on to the submission, so please add your name today 👉 https://lnkd.in/gtvY4Gwk #auspol #senateinquiry #EPBC #naturelaws #naturelawsthatwork #deforestation #environment

In order to deliver effective protection for nature, an independent federal environment protection agency (EPA) is sorely needed. But the bills the government has pushed through the lower house today, with no amendments, are simply not good enough. The establishing legislation has to set the EPA up for success. If this legislation delivers an EPA that can’t stop deforestation, halt species extinction, and give the public a fair say, then that’s the EPA we’ll be stuck with. Shortcomings of the bill have prompted a number of independent members of parliament to table critical amendments including Dr Sophie Scamps MP and Kylea Tink. Dr Sophie Scamps moved amendments aim to close deforestation loopholes and Kylea Tink proposed amendments to give the community a fair say in environmental decisions (which were supported by Dr Helen Haines). These crucial amendments were only put forward after months of the Wilderness Society engaging with key MPs. Thank you to these MPs for raising and supporting these amendments, calling for stronger law reform to deliver real action for nature. Unfortunately the government did not accept any of the amendments. We are now looking to the Senate, where the crossbench holds the balance of power, to rescue these reforms by supporting these critical amendments. Video footage: House of Representatives, 27 June - 3 July 2024. #auspol #NatureLaws #EPBC #NatureLawsThatWork #environment #australia #extinction

Here's a good news story for your Monday: The genome of Australia’s Easter bunny—the bilby—has been sequenced. This world-first mapping of the bilby’s genetic blueprint includes biological information on how they grow and evolve, and will play a vital role in conserving the threatened species. University of Sydney's lead researcher, Professor Carolyn Hogg FRSN, explains why this breakthrough is so important. "A reference genome is the equivalent of having a puzzle box lid—a way of knowing what all the DNA puzzle pieces mean." Find out more: https://lnkd.in/g96ZzDGG Video: crbellette / iStock

New documents have unveiled the shocking destruction caused by Alcoa's bauxite mining in WA's jarrah forests. According to the WA Water Corporation, Alcoa's deforestation to mine for bauxite is set to cause permanent and irreversible damage to the globally significant Northern Jarrah Forests and pose a serious threat to Perth's water supply. At the Wilderness Society, we are working alongside our allies to protect the Northern Jarrah Forests and the wildlife and water sources that depend on them. Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/gkGR8xct

Do you know that Australia's oceans are currently polluted with infrastructure from the oil and gas industry? Last week, Wilderness Society fossil fuel campaigner Fern Cadman was at a conference in Boorloo / Perth to hear from international companies with years of experience removing oil and gas pipelines, wells and platforms from the marine environment. 👀 Watch this video to hear what she learnt. Right now, oil and gas companies in Australia have a $60 billion clean up job ahead, but they're doing all they can to avoid getting it done. It's time for the Australian government to introduce clean-up bonds for the offshore industry, to ensure our oceans are protected. Together we can demand oil and gas companies clean up their trash—add your name to the open letter: 👉 https://lnkd.in/eXN4gSXa #OilandGas #FossilFuels #climateaction #marinelife #conservation #auspol #environment

UNESCO has warned that Australia must pursue urgent, sustained action on key threats to the Great Barrier Reef, including more ambitious action on climate change, if it wants to maintain its World Heritage listing. Although Great Barrier Reef has been left off UNESCO's 'In Danger' list despite recently going through its fifth mass bleaching event in eight years, this is not a cause for celebration. The United Nations body has also expressed concern with ongoing water quality problems, declaring that deforestation in reef catchments remained a major issue: “High levels of land clearing are incompatible with the objectives set out to reverse poor water quality." According to the Queensland government's SLATS, nearly half (47%) of all deforestation between 2020-21 occurred in Great Barrier Reef catchments, risking smothering the already at-risk global icon with chemical and sediment runoff. And analysis by the Wilderness Society has shown that the vast majority of deforestation in Great Barrier Reef catchments is to make way for pasture for beef cattle. To protect the Great Barrier Reef, governments and beef retailers must address Queensland's #deforestation problem in their laws and supply chains—before it's too late. Read more👇 https://lnkd.in/e7p5i66j #GreatBarrierReef #environment #queensland #auspol #climatechange #climateaction #WorldHeritage

This week federal Parliament is debating the bills that will establish a proposed new national environmental protection agency. Australia needs an environmental watchdog that will do the job it needs to—stop deforestation, halt species extinction, and secure a fair say for the public. But our nature laws fall short, and create loopholes for deforestation big enough to drive a bulldozer through. Yesterday, independent MP Dr Sophie Scamps called for these exemptions to be brought to an end in Parliament. Unless these loopholes are closed, the proposed environmental protection agency would only be enforcing the broken laws—the same laws have allowed an average of 545,000 hectares of forest and bushland to be destroyed each year over the past 10 years. That is the equivalent of an MCG sized area destroyed every two minutes. Watch an excerpt from Dr Sophie Scamps' speech in the video below. #EPBC #NatureLawsThatWork #auspol #auspolitics #environment #deforestation #logging #EPA #CommunityRights #extinction

It's a haunting reality: the homes of ghost bats are disappearing! The Northern Territory's tropical savanna is part of the largest intact savanna ecosystem in the world, home to an array of unique species. But widespread habitat destruction for cotton, fracking and development continues, with an increasing number of 'land clearing' proposals being put forth every year, resulting in bushlands and forest being bulldozed. Tap though the slides below to uncover more about this issue. You can take action by sending a message to NT decision makers, calling for stronger Territory nature laws: https://lnkd.in/eehHmVhy Environment Centre NT #northernterritory #NTpol #conservation #deforestation #logging #landclearing #environment #ghostbat #australia

"Our cultural practices are tied to our traditional Country and protecting this means that our traditions, stories, and connection to the land can remain strong for future generations."—Kuuku Ya'u Elder, Gregory Pascoe. Yesterday the Australian and Queensland governments, alongside a number of Traditional Owners from the region, announced some areas of Cape York Peninsula have been submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List. Cape York Peninsula is home to extremely rich, complex cultural landscapes which have been vital to and sustained by Traditional Owners for tens of thousands of years. Cape York is also a biodiversity hotspot being home to 18.5% of Australian plant species, despite only being 3% of the continental landmass. The Cape also provides habitat for over 300 threatened species including the green sawfish, Cape York rock wallaby, and southern cassowary. The submission for tentative listing is a first but welcome step towards recognising the globally significant cultural and natural heritage of the Cape, and its universal importance for future generations and the environment. Read more👇 https://lnkd.in/gEhtsDGn #Capeyork #UNESCO #WorldHeritage #biodiversity #queensland