Environmental activity

The smh reports on the police confrontation to Tasmanian activists.

 

Environmental activists have fought against a police operation to clear access for loggers in a bitter fight for old growth forest fringing Tasmania’s World Heritage wilderness.

A woman was arrested after she was removed from a tunnel reached through a hole in the floor of a car wreck that was cemented into a logging road in the Upper Florentine valley,

Another three activists were still 40 metres above the ground in trees last night as search and rescue specialists worked to remove them.

The group Still Wild, Still Threatened has blockaded access to the pristine tall eucalypt forest about 80 kilometres west of Hobart for three years.

The story is written in the traditional pyramid news style of writting, providing the main and more so important points first and then giving an overview of the entire news coverage of the event as a whole as it is a continuing story.

In April, arsonists caused $1.2 million damage to logging machines working on regrowth forest in the lower Florentine.

Loggers were secretly filmed trashing a protest car that contained two people last November, and the environmentalists’ camp was firebombed several days later.

In an incident last week, protester Suzi Gavio said police started a fire with an angle grinder when it hit a fuel line as they tried to extricate her from a car.

The story also incorporates a variety of quotes to keep the story intersting and ‘more official’.

Inspector Glen Woolley said Forestry Tasmania intended to carry out  road works and logging operations, and protesters were preventing them from resuming their lawful business.  He said police would proceed slowly to ensure the safety of all involved.

Forestry Tasmania has earmarked more than 1000 hectares of the valley, surrounded on three sides by the World Heritage Area, for logging.

District Forest Manager Steve Whiteley said 80 to 90 per cent of the trees logged from the first coupe would be woodchipped, but a rebound in demand for sawn timber meant sawlogs were needed.

Mr Whiteley said logging would be sensitive to the area’s conservation values, using a system that provides for the retention of clumps of trees in the coupe.

The story provided the key information while simultaneously creating the picture of the background information that has lead up to this point.

In other news, Timber jobs may go in an attempt to save a rare parrot.

The heraldson reports-

ALMOST 1000 NSW workers will lose their jobs within days, thanks to the Federal Government and a rare parrot.

An unprecedented intervention by the Rudd Government to exploit a Commonwealth law for the first time, and close a state timber industry, spells doom for jobs – but at least the superb parrot will be protected.

Many different papers took differing stances on this particular story. For instance, this story steers slightly towards the angle that its a massive scandal that the government would put jobs at risk for a parrot. The daily telegraph, even takes this notion further, putting the emphasis not on the parrot but on the possible loss of jobs.

A PARROT is about to cost 1000 workers their jobs because the Federal Government has ordered a NSW timber industry to shut to protect the bird.

The unprecedented government intervention will see the NSW families out of a job within days.

Conversly, The Australian takes a single angle, making reference to The Daily Telegraph numerous times. Furthermore World News Australia portrays a similar angle as the others.

The conservation of a rare parrot could cost up to a thousand jobs in New South Wales after a logging ban was imposed in the state’s south.

Yet news.com.au, takes a slightly different angle that the logging won’t hurt the endangered bird.

LOGGING an area of forest in southern NSW does not impact on the Superb Parrot, the New South Wales timber industry says.

 

The Federal Government has banned logging in an area of forest near Deniliquin, because of concerns about the parrot, which is listed as vulnerable.

But NSW Forest Products Association director Russell Ainley says the Superb Parrot nests in trees along the edge of the forest.

He says it feeds in the grasslands and logging does not disrupt its habitat.

“It’s by no means spread throughout the forest,” he said on Fairfax Radio.

Mr Ainley said the industry employed practices that ensured the largely bright green Superb Parrot and other endangered species were protected.

“Nobody does any clear felling of the red gum forests,” he said.

An approved and internationally accredited system was also in place to re-grow the forests after trees were cut down, he said.

Mr Ainley said that if the ban was to proceed, 320 jobs would be cut immediately, affecting about another 537 jobs in the Riverina.

Steve Irwins oasis

What has been described as an “Oasis or rare birds and plants” is present in a newly discovered eco system on the Steve Irwin Wildlife resever in Cape York.

The Cairns Post reports

Biologist Professor Craig Franklin from the University of Queensland announced the discovery during a memorial lecture for the famous wildlife warrior in Brisbane this week.

The claim is expected to increase debate on the future of the reserve, with opposition mounting to plans by Cape Alumina to mine parts of the reserve for bauxite

What I found interesting about the story is that it is described as “an eco-system that doesn’t fit under any classification system” and that there are about 75 bird species in and around the Wenlock River and that includes threatened species like the palm cockatoo also that there are about 16 amphibian varieties and 25 species of reptile, I find this rather impressive.

Prof Franklin said he was “most excited” about its research potential.

He declined to comment on the issue of proposed bauxite mining on the property, focusing instead on the site’s environmental potential.

The issue of bauxite mining on the reserve became more heated this week, with actor Russell Crowe publicly opposing such moves.

Subsequently, a follow on story the very next day goes on to sat pretty much the same thing with not much development on the story. To me this is rather lazy, why couldn’t you atleast re word the story?

AN OASIS of rare birds and plants is how researchers have described a just-discovered ecosystem on the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve on Cape York.

University of Queensland biologist Craig Franklin announced the discovery during a memorial lecture for the famous wildlife warrior in Brisbane this week.

The claim is expected to increase debate on the future of the reserve, with opposition mounting to plans by Cape Alumina to mine parts of the land for bauxite.

Prof Franklin said what they had found was a spring-fed oasis, bordering stringy-bark forest on a bauxite plateau.

“It is an ecosystem that doesn’t fit under any classification system,” he said.

“The water comes from a natural ground spring which feeds into the Wenlock River from a bauxite plateau.”

He said the site would be a mecca for biologists with its diversity of plants and animals.

“There are about 75 bird species in and around the springs and that includes threatened species like the palm cockatoo,

“There are about 16 amphibian varieties and 25 species of reptile so it is very impressive.

“Then there are invertebrates like insects, worms and snails.”

Prof Franklin said he was “most excited” about its research potential.

The issue of bauxite mining on the reserve became more heated last week, with actor Russell Crowe publicly opposing such moves.

Meanwhile, Cape Alumina boss Paul Messenger said the company rejected claims from Prof Franklin that bauxite contributed to Cape ecosystems.

“Hydrological investigations conducted by Cape Alumina to date have found no causal effect or connection between the existence of bauxite in the area and the acidity levels found in the springs,” he said.

None the less, what strikes me about this story is that it is both news worthy in the sense that it involves a new discovery while also being quirky and involving a celebrity figure.

 

Similary, The SMH reports

Steve Irwin’s widow hopes the discovery of unique ecosystems in the Cape York wildlife reserve named in his honour will help protect it from mining development.

University of Queensland professor Craig Franklin says highly acidic water springs, believed to be caused from a reaction with bauxite in the area, have created unique ecosystems.

Both stories contain pretty much the same information, although the SMH article is considerably longer, incorporating a larger array of quotes- and an angle that slides towards saving the oasis including an online petition at the end.

Fleeting fish

Today I noticed a larger then normal amount of conservation stories revolving around the ocean and overfishing. In particular two stories stood out to me as rather interesting. I therefore decided to focus on these two stories and compare how they have been presented in different contexts.

First is the story about the Fisherman catching and eating the rare giant shark. To me, what makes this story particularly news worthy is the fact it was one of the rarest fish in the world with only 40 others recorded to have been encountered.

For some it’s a trophy, for others just a meal was published in Fayette Daily news, a local newspaper from Georgia USA and Fisherman catch and eat rare giant shark was published in the SMH. Both published in opposite ends of the world, yet covering the same story- that’s the result of the modern global culture.

The first article from Georgia, is written in the form of an opinion piece, its not direct or too the point, it don’t necerally offer simply the facts but rather long wordy sentences full of opinions, jokes and judgements.

See, shark meat is the main ingredient of a local delicacy in those areas, So, naturally, the fishermen took the carcass to the nearest landing area, butchered it and had a feast to end all feasts.

Where as, the article in the Herald takes a completely different angle. The sentences are short and simply deliever the facts and there appear to be no judgemental undertones. Words utilised such as ‘accidently’ insinuate a desire to not offend anybody or make any false claims.

Fishermen in the Philippines have accidentally caught and later ate a megamouth shark, one of the rarest fishes in the world with only 40 others recorded to have been encountered, the World Wildlife Fund said Tuesday.

The 1100-pound, 13-foot megamouth died while struggling in the fishermen’s net off Burias island in the central Philippines on March 30.

The second story is the overfishing of the bluefin tuna.

Mediterranean bluefin tuna on the verge of ‘collapse’ was published on EuropenVoice.com 

The Mediterranean bluefin tuna is in danger of being wiped out, conservationists warned as the fishing season opened yesterday

The highly-prized fish, a staple of sushi bars, has been in sharp decline. WWF, a conservation group, warned yesterday that the breeding population could be wiped out by 2012.

I found this particular story rather shocking- that an entire species that is not even classified as endangered could be wiped out in a matter of years. This story portrays the importance of keeping everything in a balance. If we continue to overfish our seas- we won’t have anything left to fish.

The conservation group has also found that the average size of mature bluefin tunas has more than halved since the 1990s.

I also found this particular passage interesting- I wonder what has caused the size to halve in such a short amount of time?

Fake Trees

While I was browsing though the latest environmental stories, one heading stood out amongst the others- The notion of a fake tree.

MSNBC reports Engineers design fake ‘trees’ to pull in CO2

Apparntly a new kind of man made tree could be used to battle climate change, by removing a major greenhouse gas from the planets atmosphere.

What researchers are calling artificial trees, actually towers filled with various materials that adsorb carbon dioxide from the air, could play a major role in reducing climate change — if they prove profitable.

The article continues to go into greater depth about the inner workings of the articifical trees and finishes on the note that “It’s a matter of doing it at cost, and right now it’s still unclear how that can be done.”

Subsequently, a similar article featured in Times Online takes a more dramatic lead.

THE threat of devastating climate change is now so great that some scientists say it is time to investigate a Plan B – geo-engineering on a planetary scale.

 

Australias Alternative-The Easter Bilby

The iconic bilby- Australia’s alternative to the easter bunny is classified as vulnerable (VU)  in Australia and endangered (EN) in the state of Queensland.

The Bilby is no classified as Vulnerable.

The smh reports on Environment minister Peter Garrett and his visit to South Coogee Public School on Friday. In reflection of th Easter holiday, Garrett made the statement that-

“If we had to focus on, celebrate and recognise an animal at this time of the year as opposed to an Easter bunny, let it be an Easter bilby … it’s a terrific opportunity for us to think in different ways about how we best look after our endangered Australian animals.”

The article refelcts the notion of news as ‘event’ orientated as discussed by Traquina (Traquina, N 2004, Theory Consolidation in the Study of Journalism: A Comparative Analysis of the News Coverage of the HIV/AIDS Issue in Four Countries, Journalism, 5:1;97). The emmergence of the easter holiday has sparked a story on the conservation of bilbies rather then the issue itself.

BIG ears are a burden for some but a blessing for the bilby, Australia’s alternative to the Easter bunny.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett, who met two bilbies at South Coogee Public School on Friday, said: “If we had to focus on, celebrate and recognise an animal at this time of the year as opposed to an Easter bunny, let it be an Easter bilby … it’s a terrific opportunity for us to think in different ways about how we best look after our endangered Australian animals.”

A captive kindergarten-to-year 4 audience heard that a $150,000 Central Land Council grant from the Federal Government would be used to implement a recovery plan for threatened species in the Northern Territory, while $220,000 had been allocated to help reintroduce the bilby to a large former pastoral lease in Western Australia.

“People here in the big cities have got as much of a stake in the survival of our … endangered species as people living in the remote regions,” Mr Garrett said.

The school’s environment minister, Peter Panagopoulos from Year 6, said he had his own pressing initiatives, including establishing a gardening group.

 Other related articles include:

Bilby eats into chocolate bunny sales

Even in chocolate, rabbit beats bilby

Bilby on show at Australian Reptile Park

Furthermore, the ABC reports that people in QLD are being encouraged this easter to embrace the bilby as an easter symbol in an effort to help raise funds for the “Save the bilby Fund”  that turns ten years old this easter.

Zoologist Peter McRae says there are now about 100 bilbies living in a predator-proof enclosure in a south-west Queensland national park.

“They are doing amazingly well – in the last six or eight months I’ve seen a huge increase in the number of animals at night, but also a big proportion of those are young juveniles,” he said.

“That’s really rewarding to see that there are lots of young animals around.

“That means of course that they are breeding but the big concern is still the wild population.

“We’ve raised probably around $1 million … I guess when we started this thing I didn’t I suppose for a moment think we’d maintain our enthusiasm for 10 years but we’re still doing it and we’ve still got a lot to do. I guess the important thing is not so much the money but it’s about having people change their attitudes to endangered species.”

 

Both articles in the SMH and ABC on the “easter bilby” are rather short and generally only included through the emergence of Easter, yet they incorporate a myriad of quotes to help bring the article to life in an effort to raise peoples awareness of the threatened status of the bilby.

Melting Ice and Lost Containers

In browsing through some of the latest Environmental News stories, I noticed an array of articles following on from the oil spills in QLD. The stories were in regard to the lost shipping containers and it seems there is little hope of recovering them due to costs and difficulty.

The ABC reports:

HMAS Yarra and Norman have already located 25 of the 31 containers of ammonium nitrate lost overboard from the Pacific Adventurer in heavy seas in March.

Two naval ships will make a last effort today to confirm the location of the six missing shipping containers east of Moreton Island.

The ship’s owner, Swire Shipping, says it is normal industry practice to abandon containers lost overboard in deep water if they pose no threat.

Although the lost containers still contain amild threat to the environment the chairmen of the Australian Reef Pilots states: 

“The good news is these containers are sitting on the bottom, not floating around.

“It’s when they float around that they are a real hazard and you have to do something about it.”

In other news, a top story that has been dominating the media is the diminishing ice in the artic, subsequently sparking talk that an ice free Artic could be a possible future in a rather short 30 years.

ENN reports

The amount of the Arctic Ocean covered by ice at the end of summer by then could be only about 1 million square kilometers, or about 620,000 square miles. That’s compared to today’s ice extent of 4.6 million square kilometers, or 2.8 million square miles. So much more open water could be a boon for shipping and for extracting minerals and oil from the seabed, but it raises the question of ecosystem upheaval.

This story, in particular is aimed at an audience with a big interest in the environment, the lead is rather long and full of jargon. It dosn’t get to the point but rather goes into detail with statistic and measurements. In a main stream newspaper, this would fail to keep readers attention.

In comparison, smh‘s headline on the same story “We’re skateing on thin Ice” is much more catchy and designed to entertain readers when compared to a long and wordy ”Ice-free Arctic Ocean Possible In 30 Years, Not 90 As Previously Estimated”

The lead in the herald is a short, to the point sentence.

ICE could disappear from the Arctic summer within 30 years because of global warming, a US study has found.

This lead is short, simple and gives readers everything they need to know. The story then continues to utilise the inverted pyramid style of writting, begining with the most important information and subsequently answering each question from the following paragraph. This alows readers to stop reading at any point, and to still know the main details of the story.

As world governments prepare for a summit on the North and South poles that opens tomorrow, research by the University of Washington and the US Government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has delivered dire forecasts for the Arctic.

Previous studies had warned that ice might vanish by the turn of the century.

But James Overland, co-author of the study, which was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, said “the Arctic is changing faster than anticipated”.

The melting has been caused by a combination of natural cycles and human-caused global warming, he said.

The study combined computer projections and observations of ice loss over the past two Arctic summers.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will host government officials and scientists from 47 countries for the summit in Washington to discuss the state of the poles.

In Antarctica tour operators have grave concerns about the size of some of the ships being used and the growing number of tourists in the region. One vessel can carry up to 4000.

Authorities say if a ship that big ran aground it would take four or five days to organise the rescue.

Conservation Value Notes

A recent post on conservation value notes  outlined an array of interesting news articles surrounding sustainability. 

The owner of the blog, Jonathan L. Gelbard, Ph.D focuses on researching end educating the public in ways to simultaneously solve environmental problems and create awareness. His most recent post’s Sustainability News Headlines have provided links to articles surrounding these areas to help educate his readers with recent events and news in relation to sustainability and the environment. The blogs also provides easy green tips at the end and other similar links to educate and encourage readers to solve environmental issues. The blog is brought to you by Conservation Value Institute; a blog completely focused on the concept of sustainability. It too provides an array of News articles surrounding the environment and sustainability. The blog also provides a link Resources for Journalists  that I found rather interesting providing some key websites for journalists in relation to this topic area.