NSW Government Plans To Decimate 100% Of Old Growth Forests - Logging Murray Valley National Park Being Facilitated Through New 'Study'
July 11th, 2019
Conservation groups are calling on Premier Gladys Berejiklian to rule out opening any national parks to extractive industries.
NSW Deputy Premier and National Party leader John Barilaro has vowed to introduce legislation to degazette Murray Valley National Park in the state’s Riverina region and to re-open the forests for logging. [1]
The park is part of the largest continuous red gum forest in the world and hosts a unique ecosystem with over 60 threatened native animal species and 40 threatened plant species. It is also an important place for Aboriginal people.
Nature Conservation Council CEO Kate Smolski said: “Stripping protections from this park and letting in the loggers would be gross environmental vandalism.
“These magnificent forests are protected because they are struggling after decades of logging and grazing, impacts that are being multiplied by climate change, water diversions and drought.
“This government has the worst record for creating national parks in the past 50 years but stripping protections from the river red gums national park would be an unprecedented low.
“The environment movement will vigorously resist this move and mobilise communities across the state to protect these iconic forests.”
NSW National Parks Association Senior Ecologist Oisin Sweeney said: “We strongly hope that this doesn’t represent a shift in government policy”.
“The whole point of gazetting national parks is so the public can have confidence that these areas are protected in perpetuity for their conservation and social values.
“The millions of people who enjoy walking, camping and relaxing in our national parks should be really worried by the precedent that this would set.
“If this goes ahead, what’s to stop more degazettals occurring at the whim of a politician, just to satisfy self-interest groups? Which national park is next in line?
The Nature Conservation Council of NSW are calling on Environment Minister Kean’s colleagues to support him in opposing this terrible proposal.
Nature Conservation Council states that this table says it all:
"Thousands of hectares of our old growth forests that have been protected for decades are on the chopping block. What you see here are the results of the NSW Government's initial old-growth remapping exercise for 9 state forest areas. It shows 819 out of 934 hectares of protected forest being opened up to logging - that's an 88% decrease in protected area."
For 6 out of 9 areas 100% of old growth has lost protection - for the other 3 areas the remnants are now fragmented and isolated.
This is despite the government's own data showing that all of these sites have high densities of hollow-bearing trees, high densities of standing dead trees and huge lengths of deadwood. These are essential habitat features for many threatened species.
Please help spread the word and join over 10,000 people who have signed the petition to stop this madness going ahead and threatening all our precious native forests 👉 bit.ly/saveoldgrowth
References
[1] NSW deputy premier vows to open up Murray Valley national park to logging, The Guardian, Thu 11 Jul 2019: - extracts from that report -
The Natural Resources Commission of NSW has been asked to remap and rezone old-growth forest in state forest informal reserves that were previously off limits to logging. Environment groups are concerned the move is an attempt to unpick forest protections that have been in place for decades.An NRC pilot study has already examined 13 sites in the north-east. In findings published last year, the NRC said it had identified “significant errors” in old-growth forests maps. It drew up new maps that reduced the extent of protected old-growth in those areas by 78%.It is now embarking on a larger remapping exercise that would aim to rezone 14,600 hectares of old-growth. A draft assessment will be published for public comment next month.The remapping is to address a potential shortfall in the timber available for logging to meet contracts signed with Forestry Corporation NSW. The NRC identified the shortfall in advice it provided to the government in 2016.Jack Gough, the policy and research coordinator at the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, said it was “a sneaky way to open up forests to chainsaws”.“It’s clear that this process is being driven by a desire to access more wood and has nothing to do with a desire to protect our forests or protected species,” he said.The independent upper house member, Justin Field, has written to the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, and the ministers Rob Stokes, John Barilaro and Matt Kean calling for the remapping process to be halted until there was an independent review of “the supposed wood supply shortfall”.Field said the government could not hope to create a meaningful environmental legacy if it allowed logging of protected old-growth forests. “This process looks to be sacrificing environmental values and gifting some of our most precious native forests to the loggers,” he said. “This is a significant breach of faith with the community and environmentalists who worked with the government and the forestry industry decades ago to agree to preserve these special areas.”Environment groups said the NRC’s remapping in the pilot study was based not on the ecological value of the forests but on evidence of comparatively minor environmental disturbance such as fence lines, historic logging or weeds.Oisin Sweeney, a senior ecologist at the National Parks Association of NSW, said the pilot study data showed the sites examined had high ecological value including “high densities of hollow-bearing trees, huge amounts of dead timber and lots of standing dead trees”.“Forests like this are paradise for native wildlife because lots of our most threatened species need big trees with hollows,” he said, adding: “It’s abundantly clear that these forests have huge ecological values, and as such they must remain protected.”
The NRC will submit a proposal to the government in November after public consultation.
National Tree Day Planting At Toongari
National Tree Day activity at Toongari Reserve, Avalon Beach from 10.00 am to 2.00 pm on Sunday 28th July 2019.
This is an appeal for community members to plant tubestock and help continue the work already completed by the Toongari Reserve Bushcare Volunteers.
The site of the planting is behind the kindergarten. Come along and get involved in greening your community and making a difference to your local environment.
How to find this hidden gem:
- The pathway from Central Road is between 55 and 59 Central Road and joins the pathway from Bowling Green Lane, behind Pittwater Palms retirement village leading to Toongari Reserve.
- The pathway from Avalon Parade is the right-of-way at 118 Avalon Parade, which is beside the KU Avalon Kindergarten.
Please wear suitable clothing for planting including enclosed shoes. Gloves, tools and equipment for planting, watering cans and buckets provided.
Barrenjoey Seal Colony Growing
Jools Farrell, local ORRCA lady extraordinaire, reminds us that at present the Australian Fur Seal Colony at Barrenjoey is growing. In mid May there were 3 but there will be a lot more as we had up to 20 last year.
This behaviour is called thermoregulating which is normal seal behaviour to regulate their body temperatures.
Please remember that legally you must stay a minimum of 40 metres away from seals, especially if they come ashore on the estuary beaches or ocean beaches to rest.
Also please keep an eye out for them if you are out in a boat as they do venture out of this spot to feed on the estuary or around Barrenjoey Headland. In recent years they have been seen everywhere from Barrenjoey to Clareville and Church Point.
Please do not attempt to feed them as they get plenty of food here in Pittwater. Please also do not attempt to swim with them, Jools asks.
If you do see a seal in distress, please contact ORRCA on their 24/7 hotline: 9415 3333.
Hay! Demonstration To Stop Bylong Coal Mine Held In Sydney CBD
July 16, 2019
Sydneysiders have witnessed what’s at "steak" should the destructive Bylong coal mine be approved, with produce from the fertile valley brought before the Independent Planning Commission's offices as part of a peaceful demonstration on Elizabeth St in the CBD.
Bylong farmer Phil Kennedy was among those at the event, and demanded the IPC reject multinational company KEPCO’s plans to destroy valuable agricultural land and state heritage.
“There are just so many reasons why this mine cannot go ahead,” he said.
“This valley is gorgeous and so productive. It would be a crime to ruin it with a dangerous coal mine, putting water resources and the Growie River under strain.
“Experts have recently said this mine will permanently damage the heritage values of the magnificent Tarwyn Park property, which is the birthplace of Natural Sequence Farming - a unique land management system that has been recognised world wide.
“We help produce food and fibre for the rest of NSW in this valley - yet KEPCO and the department think a great dirty coal mine is better use of this country.
“We’re also producing hay in this valley for export to other farmers in NSW, even during this drought.
“We’re visiting the IPC to let them know this mine must be rejected.”
The rally comes after the proposed mine, along with other coal mines in and around the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, were listed as a cause of concern due to risks of cumulative impacts at the recent World Heritage Committee meeting in Azerbaijan.
It also comes after hundreds of people opposed to the mine descended on the beautiful valley for a country music show, with country music stars Greg and Sara Storer also joining the call for the coal project to be scrapped.
Demonstration organiser and Lock the Gate spokesperson Nic Clyde said the Bylong Valley was no place for a coal mine.
“We are demonstrating to let the IPC know that the Bylong Valley is too precious to be torn up for a dirty great coal mine,” he said.
“The Bylong mine would ravage high quality farmland and drain underground water aquifers in a previously unmined rural valley.
“We must not compromise the integrity of a state significant heritage valley and it’s unique agricultural landscape, nor must we put at risk World Heritage values for the sake of a single, short-term coal mine.
“The combined open cut and underground mine would produce 6.5 million tonnes of thermal coal for the export market, and would create more than five times the carbon emissions than the now scrapped Rocky Hill mine, which was rejected in the Land and Environment Court in February in part due to the greenhouse gases it would produce.”
Australian Ants Prepared For 'Insect Armageddon'
July 16, 2019: La Trobe University
La Trobe University researchers have uncovered an exception to the global phenomenon known as 'Insect Armageddon' in the largest study of Australian insect populations conducted to date.
Researchers studied ants in the Simpson Desert for 22 years and found that local changes in climate, such as long-term increases in rainfall, combined with human efforts to restore ecosystems, may have led to increased numbers of species -- rather than the declines which might be expected in such unpredictable conditions.
Lead researcher, Associate Professor Heloise Gibb, said annual rainfall in the north Australian desert varied from 79 to 570 millimetres.
"While this unpredictability in rainfall is expected in hot climates, this is the first time we've been able to understand how insects respond to such large inconsistencies in their environment," Associate Professor Gibb said.
"For many species, this unpredictability -- exacerbated by climate change -- would equate to increasingly difficult conditions for their survival.
"What we've found, however, in contrast to warnings of a long-term decline in insects, is that species that already like it hot may do better where it also becomes wetter."
Associate Professor Gibb said researchers discovered a boom in the population of aggressive sugar-feeding ants with every rapid increase in rainfall.
"Water is the driving factor for this species' survival," Associate Professor Gibb said.
"These tyrant ants, as we would call them, are able to adjust their time of activity so they're active only when above-ground conditions are suitable.
"While the average temperature of their environment may be increasing, their flexibility in tough environments enables them to survive until the next big rainfall."
Researchers found the increase in ant populations reflected the change in resources available to them.
"Following rainfall, plants grow, flower and seed, providing honeydew, nectar and a food source for other invertebrates that the tyrant ants consume," Associate Professor Gibb said.
While ants other than the tyrants -- including furnace ants, mono ants, sugar ants and pony ants -- didn't respond as clearly in the study, their populations did increase over time.
Half way through the study, the property on which it was conducted was purchased by a conservation agency which stopped cattle grazing on the premises.
"While it's difficult to explicitly link this management change with ant responses, we believe this change was also critical in driving ecosystem change that eventually improved conditions for ants, allowing them to boom in response to extreme rainfall events," Associate Professor Gibb said.
"Active conservation efforts, funded by the public, can have very positive effects on biodiversity.
"It's important that future research identifies the best approach and locations for these efforts to take place if we want to ensure the continued persistence of the vast diversity of life that this planet currently supports."
Heloise Gibb, Blair F. Grossman, Chris R. Dickman, Orsolya Decker, Glenda M. Wardle. Long‐term responses of desert ant assemblages to climate. Journal of Animal Ecology, 2019; DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13052
Rhytidoponera ants (stock image). Credit: © peter / Adobe Stock
Joshua Trees Facing Extinction
July 16, 2019: University of California - Riverside
They outlived mammoths and saber-toothed tigers. But without dramatic action to reduce climate change, new research shows Joshua trees won't survive much past this century.
UC Riverside scientists wanted to verify earlier studies predicting global warming's deadly effect on the namesake trees that millions flock to see every year in Joshua Tree National Park. They also wanted to learn whether the trees are already in trouble.
Using multiple methods, the study arrived at several possible outcomes. In the best-case scenario, major efforts to reduce heat-trapping gasses in the atmosphere would save 19 percent of the tree habitat after the year 2070. In the worst case, with no reduction in carbon emissions, the park would retain a mere 0.02 percent of its Joshua tree habitat.
The team's findings were published recently in Ecosphere. Project lead Lynn Sweet, a UCR plant ecologist, said she hopes the study inspires people to take protective environmental action. "The fate of these unusual, amazing trees is in all of our hands," she said. "Their numbers will decline, but how much depends on us."
To answer their questions about whether climate change is already having an effect, a large group of volunteers helped the team gather data about more than 4,000 trees.
They found that Joshua trees have been migrating to higher elevation parts of the park with cooler weather and more moisture in the ground. In hotter, drier areas, the adult trees aren't producing as many younger plants, and the ones they do produce aren't surviving.
Joshua trees as a species have existed since the Pleistocene era, about 2.5 million years ago, and individual trees can live up to 300 years. One of the ways adult trees survive so long is by storing large reserves of water to weather droughts.
Younger trees and seedlings aren't capable of holding reserves in this way though, and the most recent, 376-week-long drought in California left the ground in some places without enough water to support new young plants. As the climate changes, long periods of drought are likely to occur with more frequency, leading to issues with the trees like those already observed.
An additional finding of this study is that in the cooler, wetter parts of the park the biggest threat other than climate change is fire. Fewer than 10 percent of Joshua trees survive wildfires, which have been exacerbated in recent years by smog from car and industrial exhaust. The smog deposits nitrogen on the ground, which in turn feeds non-native grasses that act as kindling for wildfires.
As a partner on this project, the U.S. Park Service is using this information to mitigate fire risk by removing the invasive plants.
"Fires are just as much a threat to the trees as climate change, and removing grasses is a way park rangers are helping to protect the area today," Sweet said. "By protecting the trees, they're protecting a host of other native insects and animals that depend on them as well."
UCR animal ecologist and paper co-author Cameron Barrows conducted a similar research project in 2012, which also found Joshua tree populations would decline, based on models assuming a temperature rise of three degrees. However, this newer study considered a climate change scenario using twice as many variables, including soil-water estimates, rainfall, soil types, and more. In addition, Barrows said on-the-ground observations were essential to verifying the climate models this newer team had constructed.
Quoting the statistician George Box, Barrows said, "All models are wrong, but some are useful." Barrows went on to say, "Here, the data we collected outdoors showed us where our models gave us the most informative glimpse into the future of the park."
For this study, the UC Riverside Center for Conservation Biology partnered with Earthwatch Institute to recruit the volunteer scientists. Barrows and Sweet both recommend joining such organizations as a way to help find solutions to the park's problems.
"I hope members of the public read this and think, 'Someone like me could volunteer to help scientists get the kind of data that might lend itself to concrete, protective actions,'" Barrows said.
Lynn C. Sweet, Tyler Green, James G. C. Heintz, Neil Frakes, Nicolas Graver, Jeff S. Rangitsch, Jane E. Rodgers, Scott Heacox, Cameron W. Barrows. Congruence between future distribution models and empirical data for an iconic species at Joshua Tree National Park. Ecosphere, 2019; 10 (6): e02763 DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.2763
Joshua Tree National Park, California (stock image). Credit: © Doug / Adobe Stock
200 Times Faster Than Ever Before: The Speediest Quantum Operation Yet
July 17, 2019: University of New South Wales
A group of scientists led by 2018 Australian of the Year Professor Michelle Simmons have achieved the first two-qubit gate between atom qubits in silicon -- a major milestone on the team's quest to build an atom-scale quantum computer. The pivotal piece of research was published today in the journal Nature.
A two-qubit gate is the central building block of any quantum computer -- and the UNSW team's version of it is the fastest that's ever been demonstrated in silicon, completing an operation in 0.8 nanoseconds, which is ~200 times faster than other existing spin-based two-qubit gates.
In the Simmons' group approach, a two-qubit gate is an operation between two electron spins -- comparable to the role that classical logic gates play in conventional electronics. For the first time, the team was able to build a two-qubit gate by placing two atom qubits closer together than ever before, and then -- in real-time -- controllably observing and measuring their spin states.
The team's unique approach to quantum computing requires not only the placement of individual atom qubits in silicon but all the associated circuitry to initialise, control and read-out the qubits at the nanoscale -- a concept that requires such exquisite precision it was long thought to be impossible. But with this major milestone, the team is now positioned to translate their technology into scalable processors.
Professor Simmons, Director of the Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology (CQC2T) and founder of Silicon Quantum Computing Pty Ltd., says the past decade of previous results perfectly set the team up to shift the boundaries of what's thought to be "humanly possible."
"Atom qubits hold the world record for the longest coherence times of a qubit in silicon with the highest fidelities," she says. "Using our unique fabrication technologies, we have already demonstrated the ability to read and initialise single electron spins on atom qubits in silicon with very high accuracy. We've also demonstrated that our atomic-scale circuitry has the lowest electrical noise of any system yet devised to connect to a semiconductor qubit.
"Optimising every aspect of the device design with atomic precision has now allowed us to build a really fast, highly accurate two-qubit gate, which is the fundamental building block of a scalable, silicon-based quantum computer.
"We've really shown that it is possible to control the world at the atomic scale -- and that the benefits of the approach are transformational, including the remarkable speed at which our system operates."
UNSW Science Dean, Professor Emma Johnston AO, says this key paper further shows just how ground-breaking Professor Simmons' research is.
"This was one of Michelle's team's final milestones to demonstrate that they can actually make a quantum computer using atom qubits. Their next major goal is building a 10-qubit quantum integrated circuit -- and we hope they reach that within 3-4 years."
Getting up and close with qubits -- engineering with a precision of just thousand-millionths of a metre
Using a scanning tunnelling microscope to precision-place and encapsulate phosphorus atoms in silicon, the team first had to work out the optimal distance between two qubits to enable the crucial operation.
"Our fabrication technique allows us to place the qubits exactly where we want them. This allows us to engineer our two-qubit gate to be as fast as possible," says study lead co-author Sam Gorman from CQC2T.
"Not only have we brought the qubits closer together since our last breakthrough, but we have learnt to control every aspect of the device design with sub-nanometer precision to maintain the high fidelities."
Observing and controlling qubit interactions in real-time
The team was then able to measure how the qubits states evolved in real-time. And, most excitingly, the researchers showed how to control the interaction strength between two electrons on the nano-second timescale.
"Importantly, we were able to bring the qubit's electrons closer or further apart, effectively turning on and off the interaction between them, a prerequisite for a quantum gate," says other lead co-author Yu He.
"The tight confinement of the qubit's electrons, unique to our approach, and the inherently low noise in our system enabled us to demonstrate the fastest two qubit gate in silicon to date."
"The quantum gate we demonstrated, the so-called SWAP gate, is also ideally suited to shuttle quantum information between qubits -- and, when combined with a single qubit gate, allows you to run any quantum algorithm."
A thing of physical impossibility? Not anymore
Professor Simmons says that this is the culmination of two decades' worth of work.
"This is a massive advance: to be able to control nature at its very smallest level so that we can create interactions between two atoms but also individually talk to each one without disturbing the other is incredible. A lot of people thought this would not be possible," she says.
"The promise has always been that if we could control the qubit world at this scale, they would be fast, and they sure are!"
What are qubits?
In Professor Michelle Simmons' approach, quantum bits (or qubits) are made from electrons hosted on phosphorus atoms in silicon. Creating qubits by precisely positioning and encapsulating individual phosphorus atoms within a silicon chip is a unique Australian approach that Professor Simmons' team has been leading globally. These types of qubits are a promising platform for large-scale quantum computers, thanks to their long-lasting stability.
The quantum potential: A working large-scale quantum computer has the potential to transform the information economy and create the industries of the future, solving in hours or minutes problems that would take conventional computers -- even supercomputers -- centuries, and tackling otherwise intractable problems that even supercomputers could not solve in a useful timeframe. Potential applications include machine learning, scheduling and logistical planning, financial analysis, stock market modelling, software and hardware verification, rapid drug design and testing, and early disease detection and prevention.
Y. He, S. K. Gorman, D. Keith, L. Kranz, J. G. Keizer, M. Y. Simmons. A two-qubit gate between phosphorus donor electrons in silicon. Nature, 2019; 571 (7765): 371 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1381-2
From left to right: Professor Michelle Simmons, Dr. Sam Gorman, Postdoc Research Associate, Dr. Yu He, Postdoc Research Associate, Ludwik Kranz, PhD student, Dr. Joris Keizer, Senior Research Fellow, Daniel Keith, PhD student
Why Music Festivals Need A Cultural Change To Combat Sexual Violence
July 16, 2019: article by Diane Nazaroff, UNSW Media
Music festivals have unique settings that make them more conducive to sexual violence, says world-first research involving UNSW.
The Safety, Sexual Harassment and Assault at Australian Music Festivals report is the first Australian – and one of the only international studies – to investigate sexual violence at music festivals. The University of Melbourne and Western Sydney University contributed to the report.
“Music festivals have a unique combination of spatial, social and cultural features that make them more conducive to sexual violence,” UNSW Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Dr Phillip Wadds said. “For one, many are made up of predominantly young people who we know are far more likely to experience sexual violence across greater society. They are also often in large sprawling spaces with large crowds, but limited surveillance, particularly at night, and these elements can combine to create opportunities for perpetrators. Layered into this are high levels of intoxication, a generally masculine culture of transgression and carnival that again can encourage (largely) men to engage in harassing or assaultive behaviour.”
The report comes as a NSW coronial inquest is looking at the drug-related deaths of six people at music festivals between December 2017 and January 2019.
The research involved a survey of 500 patrons of the 2017/18 Falls Festival, on-site observations, and interviews with victim-survivors of sexual violence at any Australian festival. The vast majority (61.5%) of survey participants said they usually felt safe at music festivals, but a strong majority also indicated that they believed physical violence (92.8%), sexual harassment (95.1%) and sexual assault (88.6%) occurred at music festivals.
“While survey participants indicated that they would be extremely likely to report sexual assault (75.2%) and sexual harassment (62%), this did not reflect the actions of participants who had directly experienced these forms of violence,” Dr Wadds said. “Most participants did not report to police, security or festival staff. Those who did report typically recalled negative responses from authority figures, such as victim blaming, not taking the report seriously, and/or a failure to take appropriate action.”
The research found that almost all participants (99%) consumed alcohol at music festivals, with most at ‘high-risk’ levels. Just under half of the participants (47.8%) consumed drugs. This high-level consumption of alcohol and other drugs was reported by victim-survivors of sexual violence to be a key feature of their experiences, with many perpetrators using their own intoxication to excuse their behaviour. Victims intoxication was also cited as a reason why they didn’t report.
“Unfortunately, many of the victim-survivors we spoke to said they were often taken less seriously by friends, security or police if they were intoxicated when reporting an experience of sexual violence,” Dr Wadds said. “In fact, many didn’t report at all because they felt partially responsible for their own victimisation, or didn’t want to ‘get in trouble’ from a police force which takes a hard line against drugs at festivals.”
Participants highlighted the mosh-pit and other crowded spaces as some of the key sites where they had been groped or received unwanted sexual attention. Perpetrators of sexual violence were overwhelmingly men, victims were mainly women, and bystanders rarely intervened when sexual violence was occurring.
“It’s often really difficult to differentiate between consensual or non-consensual sexual interaction in settings where there are lots of people hooking up,” Dr Wadds said. “Places like the mosh pit also feature lots of incidental physical contact, and so that can often be used as an excuse when someone experiences unwanted sexual contact. People were generally wary of intervening in situations because they weren’t sure how their intervention might play out. There can be high costs if they get it wrong, so a lot of people said they would only intervene in the most obvious of cases.”
The research provides a series of recommendations to combat sexual violence at festival events. “Addressing sexual violence at festivals requires all parties to be part of the solution and so we have recommended a series of practical steps that festivals, service providers and patrons can take to try and address some of the issues that emerged from our research,” Dr Wadds said. “Firstly, festival organisers and promoters need to set really clear and consistent standards of behaviour for their events, and they need to back these up. If people sexually harass or assault others, patrons need to know that there will be serious consequences, and victims need to know that their reports will be taken seriously and dealt with, with appropriate sensitivity.”
Staff and security training in appropriate ways to deal with reports of sexual harassment and assault was also recommended, alongside improvements to levels of surveillance, signage, lighting and greater access to safe spaces and counselling services.
Dr Wadds said patrons also needed to actively be part of the solution. “At the end of the day, everyone working at and attending a festival needs to be part of producing an environment that is safer. We need to build an ethic of care into festivals and start to break down the more problematic aspects of culture that facilitate, excuse or actively promote sexual violence. A lot of this responsibility falls to men in the space, as the primary perpetrators of this violence.”
The researchers have recommended further nationwide research across a broader spectrum of festival types. “We are planning the next phase of this project now which will hopefully build a more complete national picture of the diverse experiences people are having at festivals and help us improve the evidence base on which good policy can be developed.”
For more on the findings and recommendations, read the report.
The Falls Festival in Byron Bay. Photo: Supplied.