Australia - Pigs to die, seahorse farming and Indonesian logging etc

[Guest guest]

http://abc.net.au/public/indexes/environment-meta-index.htm

 

15/5/2001 Plan to cull feral (wild) pigs

Scientists and farmers are taking aim at one of the biggest threats to

Australia's livestock industry - feral pigs. Up to 4 million of the animals

roam Queensland's Far North, potential carriers of foot and mouth disease.

And they'll be the subject of a culling exercise near Cairns in August.

 

US Navy kills emu during Tandem Thrust [The World Today, 15/5/2001]

A group of tough and aggressive US Marines are today being given compulsory

cultural and environmental sensitivity lessons in Queensland, following a

casualty from war games there. On the opening day of the major military

exercise, Tandem Thrust, the Marines shot dead an emu, and it's not the

first time that sensitive native fauna have come under such attack.

 

Biologists farm seahorses as demand increases in China [PM, 14/5/2001]

The seahorse is a creature that's in high demand in China as an aphrodisiac

and for use in traditional medicine. As with rhinos and tigers, the demand

is endangering the future of the seahorse in the wild, but marine biologists

are now farming them.

 

Scientists track a great white shark [The World Today, 9/5/2001]

A couple of months ago off Wilsons Promontary in Victoria, a fisherman

called Neale caught a Great White Shark which was tagged with some

sophisticated electronic bugs and set free. Now, off the east coast of

Tasmania, Neale the Great White is being watched by the CSIRO using

satellite technology.

 

Threat of future: a boring planet [AM, 9/5/2001]

A group of international scientists is predicting that in just a few decades

the Earth will be dull, boring and overrun with pests and weeds. Their

findings are published in an American science journal, and they show that we

’re now entering a period of life on Earth where extinctions will reduce

plant and animal species by almost half.

 

CSIRO forecasts global changes [PM, 8/5/2001]

The Australian continent has warmed by about 0.7 of one degree since 1910.

Now the CSIRO says this century could see a raise as high as six degrees. If

it happened, Australia's rainfall could decrease by as much as 60 per cent,

devastating our rural industries and creating havoc in our cities. But there

are less extreme possibilities and a small change in the world's climate may

have a beneficial effect.

 

Seeds Of Contention - Part 3 [Earthbeat, 5/5/2001]

The final of a three part feature series on Earthbeat.

This week - who has control of GM technology? Will GM crops be

deployed so that poorer farmers of the world benefit, or will they lose out?

What problems does the degree of control, ownership and influence that

multinational companies have over GM technology pose for farmers?

 

Foot and mouth threat to Australia [PM, 4/5/2001]

Is it good luck or good management that has stopped a foot and mouth

outbreak in Australia? Probably a bit of both, a symposium at Sydney

University heard today. Experts from around the country gathered to disuss

the threats facing Australia from foot and mouth and whether we could cope

with an outbreak like the one in the UK and Europe. The symposium was told

that if Australia doesn't learn from the recent UK outbreak, which

devastated rural industries, we too stand to lose billions of dollars. One

expert warns the British Government ignored the role of wild deer in

spreading foot and mouth around the UK.

 

Australia confirmed as one of worst asthma countries [The World Today,

3/5/2001]

On world asthma day its worth noting that the prevalence of the respiratory

illness has doubled worldwide over the last 15 years and nearly one

Australian adult in every ten, and one child in every 4 suffer asthma. The

reasons remain a mystery although scientists agree that a combination of

genetic and environmental factors are probably responsible.

 

Dingo cull law [PM, 3/5/2001]

Conservation, animal welfare and indigenous groups are threatening legal

action if the Queensland Government doesn't stop its cull of dingoes on

Fraser Island. Queensland Premier Peter Beattie ordered the shooting of

so-called 'camp dingoes' yesterday after two dingoes prowling an island

campsite killed a nine year old boy. But the groups who want to protect the

dingoes say the cull could breach federal laws.

 

Fraser Island dangers [AM, 2/5/2001]

On Monday the idyllic picture of Fraser Island was shattered when dingoes

killed a nine year old boy who simply went for a walk with his brother. But

tourist operators are not expecting much change in the numbers of people

catching barges and boats to the island on Queensland’s southern coast,

despite the tragedy.

 

 

Killing wild animals [PM, 1/5/2001]

Calls for the extermination of dingoes in the wake of a child's death are

understandable but they raise practical and ecological issues. As with shark

and crocodile attacks, there's a tendency to call for swingeing measures as

part of the public's shock reaction. But some argue that the Australian love

affair with the environment has to be balanced with a realistic

understanding of its meaning and its dangers.

 

Conservationist provides a radical alternative to dingo cull [Lateline,

30/4/2001]

One man who's long tried to warn of the dangerous consequences of increased

human interaction with Fraser Island's dingoes is conservationist John

Sinclair.

For 30 years, he has been fighting to preserve the island's unique natural

habitat which includes, arguably, the purest strain of dingoes in Australia.

 

 

Seeds Of Contention - Part 2 [Earthbeat, 28/4/2001]

The second of a three part feature series on Earthbeat.

This week the program examines the contentious questions. What do we and

don't we know about the environmental risks of GM crops? Could genetically

engineered crops be more environmentally friendly on balance than

conventional arable agriculture? Also, are they safe to eat and should GM

foods be labelled?

 

Call for Hill to be reined in [AM, 27/4/2001]

There are tensions today between the Liberal and National Party Coalition

partners over the handling of environment and land issues. The leader of the

Queensland National Party has backed moves by his federal counterpart John

Anderson to rein in the Environment Minister, Robert Hill.

 

Experts to meet and debate gene therapy [The World Today, 26/4/2001]

Scientists involved in the genetic revolution say they continue to be

frustrated by the lack of thorough debate on new gene technologies.

Its a point that will be discussed at the second meeting of the recently

established Australasian Gene Therapy Society, with experts from

around the world meeting in Sydney over the next few days.

 

Indonesia to stop illegal logging [AM, 26/4/2001]

Indonesia has been praised recently for taking the first steps to stop

rampant, illegal logging which is destroying some of the world’s largest

tropical forests. Initiatives to crack down on illegal timber operations

follow pressure from international environmental groups and the world’s

richest donor countries which continue to prop up Indonesia’s ailing

economy.

 

New environmental concerns over genetic modification [The World Today,

26/4/2001]

Genetic modification of a small grub, the Heliothis grub is sparking renewed

environmental concern. For cotton farmers around the world the grub or

Bullworm is the biggest threat to their livelihood now scientists in Arizona

have come up with a modified grub which can spread infertility in the

species.