Science cuts in Australian budget
The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation gets $31m over four years towards the costs of operating the Open Pool Australian Lightwater (OPAL) nuclear research reactor…..
$111m was cut from the CSIRO over the forward estimates.
Funding cuts were also slated for the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation ($27.5m) and the Australian Institute for Marine Science ($7.8m). The Australian Research Council, which funds much basic research, particularly outside the biomedical sphere, receives a $75m cut over the forward estimates.
Unfortunately, the long-feared cuts to the Cooperative Research Centres did eventuate. Funding for CRCs will be frozen from current funding levels of $148m, and by 2017-18 will decline to $138m, a considerable cut in real terms. The government says that it will save about $124m over the forward estimates by crimping funding for the CRCs and axing the Clean Technology Innovation Program. Still, given the recommendations of the Commission of Audit, many in the sector may be pleased that the program escaped abolition altogether……..
Also being abolished, as foreshadowed, is the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. The government will save $1.3bn by killing off the clean tech innovation fund, which has acted to support renewable energy projects in their start-up and early stages.
Overall, the science budget represents a clear change in the government’s priorities. Biomedical research is a big winner. Anything that isn’t medical research has suffered.
Environmental programs in particular have been targeted. It’s almost as though the government went looking for programs that featured the words “clean”, “green” or “renewable”. http://www.theguardian.com/world/australia-news-blog/2014/may/13/mixed-bag-for-science-in-joe-hockeys-first-budget
Abbott government promised energy efficiency project – now dumped
Government dumps promise for energy efficiency agency http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/latest/government-dumps-promise-for-energy-efficiency-agency/story-e6frg90f-1226917229830 TRISTAN EDIS MAY 14, 2014 The budget papers have stated that the Government will drop an election promise to re-establish Low Carbon Australia – a body that sought to provide specialist financing for energy efficiency projects. Low Carbon Australia was originally established by the Rudd Labor Government but was subsequently merged into the Clean Energy Finance Corporation around a year ago.Complicating matters for the government was that they wished to abolish the CEFC while at the same time reviving Low Carbon Australia. Yet its staff and functions had been integrated into the CEFC.
To date the government has been unable to pass the necessary legislation to repeal the act which enables the CEFC to continue to operate and finance projects.
Uranex company faces reality: getting out of uranium industry, changing its name
Uranex dumps uranium for graphite Brisbane Times, May 13, 2014 – Greg Roberts The 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster killed the dreams of many an Australian uranium explorer.
One of those, Uranex, has survived by changing commodities.
It went back and kicked the dirt again on its tenements in Tanzania and discovered another resource there: graphite.
In 2012 a stubbornly weak uranium price and a 200 per cent rent hike by the Tanzanian government spurred it into action……..
Graphite is in demand because it is a necessary component in rechargeable lithium ion batteries.
An eventual predicted take-up of electric cars would spur even more demand – nearly 40kg of graphite is used in each of those batteries.
Graphite has been used in batteries for decades because it is an electrical conductor, but the technological explosion in smart phones and other portable devices has sent demand soaring.
Uranex would be in production by 2017 in a best case scenario producing 100,000 tonnes of graphite a year at its Nachu site……He also feels a bit more empowered about a name change away from `Uranex’, now that graphite rather than uranium is the main game. http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-business/uranex-dumps-uranium-for-graphite-20140513-386lo.html
Solar power – floating panels a benefit for water short South Australia
Floating solar power plant would reduce evaporation, proponent says ABC News By Matthew Doran 12 May 2014 A solar power plant which is planned for South Australia would float on a wastewater treatment basin.
Geits ANZ is proposing the venture and director Felicia Whiting thinks it would prove at least 50 per cent more efficient than a land-based solar power system.”It’s very much like a traditional solar array with the exception that it’s designed to float on the water,” she said. (Below, Solar floating panels in France)
“The mass of water has a cooling effect on the panels and we also include a cooling system utilising the water body itself to be able to keep the water panels … at a constant temperature. “When that happens, you get a longer life of the photovoltaic panels and you get a greater efficiency.” In actual design, Ms Whiting says the floating solar plant would not differ greatly from a traditional one.”The system is designed from a HDP (high-density polyethylene) pipe, which is the buoyancy, and it has a structural steel pontoon sitting abreast that and then the PV (photovoltaic) panels slot into the structural system,” she said. “It’s like a racking system with buoyancy.”
She says having the wastewater largely covered by a floating plant brings other benefits. “We’re at about 90 per cent water evaporation prevention for the surface area that we cover,” she said. “In a dry climate like South Australia that’s about 2.5 metres of water evaporation depth annually that you’re saving.
“It’s a world-first for putting a system of this nature on a treated wastewater plant basin.”
Other evaporation savers in the planning
Geits has floating plants operating in France, Italy and Korea………
Geits has applied to the Essential Services Commission for an electricity generation licence.
Ms Whiting hopes construction on the ponds of the Northern Areas Council waste treatment plant can start in the second half of this year.
“Because it’s a prefabricated system we’re looking at a commissioning date of around September, October,” she said. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-12/floating-solar-power-plant-would-reduce-evaporation/5445912
Lady Elliot Island to add wind and solar to its existing hybrid energy
More renewable energy in the wind for Lady Elliot Island http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-12/more-renewable-energy-in-the-wind-for-lady-elliot/5445804 By Frances Adcock Operators on Lady Elliot Island, north-east of Bundaberg, will consider installing wind generators to further improve the island’s energy efficiency.
One-hundred new solar panels will be installed at the island’s hybrid solar power station, which has provided more than half of the island’s power since 2008.
The island’s resort manager, Peter Gash, wants the island to become even more reliant on renewable energy.
“By Christmas we’d hope to do it by, we’d like to install a 10 kilowatt wind generator which will continue to feed power into the battery and into the grid, night and day, and if we can get the success we are hoping for with our 10 to 12 kilowatt wind generator and our 73 kilowatt of solar we will be hopeful we will be somewhere up around 90 per cent renewable,” he said.
He says after the installation of the new panels, more than 70 per cent of the island will be reliant on renewable energy. “We have a barge coming out on Wednesday and there is 125 panels on that and they are 260 watts per panel and they will go up on two separate roofs, and that’s a 16 and 17 kilowatt system,” he said.
“So another 33 kilowatts, so another 125 panels, so that puts us up at 73 kilowatts of power which is a substantial amount of power.”
Southern Australia will get dry winters, as Southern Ocean winds stronger
Southern Ocean winds strongest in 1,000 years: study Rappler. Agence France-Presse 13 May 14, According to the study’s lead researcher, Nerilie Abram, ‘The Southern Ocean winds are now stronger than at any time in the past 1,000 years’ SYDNEY, Australia – Winds in the wild Southern Ocean are blowing at their strongest in a millennia as climate change shifts weather patterns, leaving Antarctica colder and Australia facing more droughts, a study showed Monday.
Rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were strengthening the winds, already dubbed the “Roaring Forties” for their ferocity, and pushing them further south towards Antarctica, researchers from the Australian National University (ANU) said.
“The Southern Ocean winds are now stronger than at any other time in the past 1,000 years,” said the study’s lead researcher Nerilie Abram of an ocean notorious for having some of the fiercest winds and largest waves on the planet.
“The strengthening of these winds has been particularly prominent over the past 70 years, and by combining our observations with climate models we can clearly link this to rising greenhouse gas levels.”
The new research, which was published in the Nature Climate Change journal, explains why Antarctica is not warming as much as other continents. (READ:Warmer Earth, humans to blame – UN panel)………..
The research helped to explain why the westerlies were further cooling already cold parts of the continent even as they were also driving “exceptionally quicker” warming in the Antarctic Peninsula, which juts out into their path, Abram said.
The strengthening westerlies drive up the temperature at the peninsula – the only part of the Antarctica that is hit by the wind – through the warm, moist air they carry from the Southern Ocean.
This has made the peninsula the fastest-warming place in the southern hemisphere, with scientists concerned about the stability of the ice sheets and sea level rises in the region……….
“Even for a mid-range climate scenario, the trend is going to continue in the 21st century,” Phipps said, adding that southern Australia was likely to experience more dry winters. – Rappler.com http://www.rappler.com/science-nature/earth-space/57830-southern-ocean-winds-strengthRappler,
Evidence mounts on benefits of Renewable Energy target: South Australia’s wind energy success
South Australian Wind Power – Economical And Effective http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=4299 A new report shows wind power in South Australia has not increased wholesale electricity prices, nor created a need for additional back-up power generation capacity.
Around a quarter of South Australia’s electricity is now sourced from wind power; growing substantially from just 6% in 2005/6.
The eight year study of South Australia’s electricity sector by Windlab Systems shows during the period between 2005 and 2013, wholesale electricity prices have not risen, even if the full cost of the renewable energy certificates (REC) is included. Publicly available data from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) was utilised for the study.
Reliance on expensive and emission-intensive peaking power plants has reduced as have electricity imports from Victoria states the report. Windlab says electricity related carbon emissions have plummeted 34% even though power consumption has remained stable.
“The findings should provide clear guidance to the Federal Government’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) review panel that wind energy and by association the RET should not be a scapegoat for explaining increases in domestic and business energy costs,” says Roger Price, the CEO of Windlab. “The study further underpins the conclusions of the Clean Energy Council’s commissioned report into the positive cost implications of the RET.”
The Clean Energy Council report indicates abolishing Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) would see Australian households paying billions more for electricity.
A copy of Windlab’s study report can be viewed here (PDF).
The evidence is mounting that the benefits of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target far outweigh the costs. Even so, there are fears the RET review is heading towards a “predetermined and biased outcome” that will result in the loss of thousands of jobs, billions of dollars of investment and also create additional financial burden on Australian households and businesses.
More trouble for ERA as shaft collapses ar Ranger uranium mine
Shaft collapse brings new setbacks to Ranger 3 Deeps uranium operation Australian Mining 12 May, 2014 The Ranger 3 Deeps exploration decline project has suffered another setback after a collapse during works on a new ventilation shaft last week. Energy Resources Australian reported that soft ground had “gradually subsided” beneath the top of the vent opening, and that crumbling of material has created a cavity in the shaft wall, about 20 metres below the surface running to the top, which was observed after the completion of drilling by a raise bore.
ERA said this type of crumbling is common, and that ground movement was identified in the development of the raise bore design.The crumbling, which began midway through last week, created a cavity in the ventilation shaft wall which led to the gradual subsidence of material to the top of the shaft…….
The Australian Conservation Foundation, outraged at the “litany of management and material failures at Ranger”, has called upon ERA to suspend development of the Ranger 3 Deeps project altogether. “All mine development operations at Ranger should be immediately halted,” said ACF nuclear free campaigner Dave Sweeney. “The Ranger mine is a dog’s breakfast with eroding shafts, collapsing tanks and the company routinely losing contaminants and credibility,” he said.
“There have been enough warnings, now there needs to be a stop to works and a comprehensive and public assessment of the full impacts of this aging and failing facility.”
In 2021 ERA are legally obliged to end all mining and mineral processing and start the comprehensive clean-up of the existing Ranger site, however in their 2013 report ERA has stated they will not be able to fund the clean-up unless the Ranger 3 Deeps project goes ahead.
Rio Tinto again refused to commit to underwrite the cost of Ranger’s rehabilitation.
This has called into question the issue of regulatory approval for the Ranger 3 Deeps expansion. “The ultimate cost of rehabilitation is uncertain and whilst ERA has used its best estimate, costs may vary in response to factors such as legal requirements, technological change and market conditions,” the 2013 report reads. “In addition, if the Ranger 3 Deeps mine is not developed, in the absence of any other successful development, ERA may require an additional source of funding to fully fund the rehabilitation of the Ranger Project Area.
“Any inability to obtain additional capital or to monetise assets would have a financial impact on ERA’s business and financial performance.”Under the Ranger permit, rehab works must be completed by 2026, which a strategy review has found will cost $603 million……..http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/news/shaft-collapse-brings-new-setbacks-to-ranger-3-dee
Environmental and racial injustice. The saga of Northern Territory radioactive trash dump plan continues
Environmental Injustice in Australia – Nuclear Waste, The Stringer, by Kate O’Callaghan, May 8th, 2014 Muckaty Station is a small township in the remote Northern Territory, 110km north of Tennant Creek and roughly 800km south of Darwin. Also known as Marlwanpa, the land is held under Native Title having formally been returned in 2001 to thetraditional owners – the Milwayi, Ngapa, Ngarrka, Wirntiku, Kurrakurraja, Walanypirri and Yapayapa peoples. Muckaty is also the proposed site of Australia’s first national nuclear waste dump or, as it’s officially called, radioactive waste repository.
Despite the absence of consultation with the broader community, in 2007 the Howard government approved the Muckaty dump site with plans to open the facility in 2011. After thesecretive deal was negotiated with the NLC, so secretive that some members of the Ngapa clan were not even given a copy, a bitter conflict erupted. Other clans, environmental groups, unions and the NT Government expressed outrage at the lack of proper consultation with the traditional owners. Despite ongoing attempts to contact the government, opposing community groups had their meeting requests ignored, correspondence unanswered and were continually ignored.
In 2010, the subsequent Rudd government introduced legislation giving them the ability to override the Northern Territory’s threat to block the construction of the Muckaty dump. After years of opposition, the Gillard government passed the legislation in 2012. The National Radioactive Waste Management Bill removed community appeal rights, indigenous & environmental protections, and gave the government the ability to override state or territory concerns about environmental impacts. After her election in 2013, Northern Territory Senator Nova Perris expressed her objection to the Muckaty site, stating it would cause “profound grief, suffering and loss on Aboriginal people.”……..
while there are still disagreements on the best way to deal with nuclear waste, there is consensus that the process must involve a high level of community consultation. According to a UK report by an expert committee on nuclear waste, “There is a growing recognition that it is not ethically acceptable for a society to impose a radioactive waste facility on an unwilling community.” It is clear at Muckaty that the Australian government did not engage in meaningful consultation with the community as a whole. More deplorable than this is the willingness of successive governments to dump this problem on marginalised indigenous communities. This is in direct conflict with our international obligations under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which requires that no disposal takes place on 
indigenous lands without without “their free, prior and informed consent.”
So what’s next for the people of Muckaty? After being postponed, the legal battle against the Commonwealth Government and Northern Land Council is expected to commence in the Federal Court in June 2014. The legal team will include prominent human rights lawyers Julian Burnside and George Newhouse, who will challenge the nomination of the indigenous land for the nuclear dump site. The case will be an important litmus test for any similar legal challenges in the future. It is crucial that the government looks toward the responsible and transparent management of radioactive waste and away from the secretive tactics that have defined the past decadehttp://thestringer.com.au/environmental-injustice-in-australia-nuclear-waste/#.U3Er04FdWik.
Matthias Corman, Australia’s Finance Minister – Abbott’s mouthpiece for killing renewable energy
Axing of renewable energy agency would add to broken promises, clean energy industry says, http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/axing-of-renewable-energy-agency-would-add-to-broken-promises-clean-energy-industry-says-20140512-zr9v1.html#ixzz31XjkyEzz May 12, 2014 – The Abbott government is planning to abolish the primary agency supporting clean energy in Australia. The planned axing of the primary agency supporting clean energy in Australia by the Abbott government would break pre-election commitments and send investment in emerging technologies off-shore, an industry group says.
Fairfax Media is among outlets reporting on Monday that the federal government will axe the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) in Tuesday’s budget as part of efforts to curb spending.
ARENA, whose budget had been previously cut to $2.5 billion to 2022, would reportedly be left with about $1 billion to complete projects already backed. The agency, established through the combination of other bodies in July 2012, aims to increase the supply and competitiveness of renewable energy such as large-scale solar photovoltaic plants and other emerging technologies.
What’s disappointing here is that the Coalition really went out of its way prior to the election to restate their commitment to ARENA,” said Kane Thornton, deputy chief executive of the Clean Energy Council.
The Abbott government also backed the Renewable Energy Target (RET) before the September election, saying it would support the existing goal of supplying 41,000 gigawatt-hours of clean energy, such as from wind farms and hydropower, by 2020. It has since set up a review of the target led by businessman and climate change sceptic, Dick Warburton, which the renewable energy industry fears will dilute or delay the RET goal.
Axing the agency “would send concerning signals to the renewable energy sector broadly but also to investors around the world who are making investments under ARENA, and are watching closely the outcome of the RET review”, Mr Thornton said.
On ABC’s Radio National on Monday, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said “too many agencies” were responsible for similar functions and needed to be cut back.
“This is about making government as efficient and effective as possible,” Senator Cormann said.
Support for emerging renewable energy technologies, which include geo-thermal and marine power, should be seen in the context that all other major forms of energy had got their start with backing from governments, Mr Thornton said.
“The very first coal-fired power stations, the first gas and the first nuclear power stations were all supported by the government, and wouldn’t have happened without government help,” he said.
Among the projects getting ARENA support was AGL’s 155 megawatt-capacity solar photovoltaic power plants at Nyngan and near Broken Hill in NSW. ARENA and the NSW government supplied $166.7 million and $64.9 million, respectively, with AGL supplying the remainder of about $208 million, according to the agency.
“That wouldn’t have happened without the support of ARENA,” Mr Thornton said.
“A lot of large-scale solar companies will really question why they are still operating in Australia, and will really focus their efforts on other parts of the world,” he said.
Economically depressed North Tasmania stands to lose wind farm project if Renewable Energy Target is cut.
Renewable energy fears for wind farm http://www.examiner.com.au/story/2274842/renewable-energy-fears-for-wind-farm/?cs=95 By EMILY BAKER 12 May 14, CUTS to the renewable energy target could affect a wind farm planned for the state’s economically depressed North, the project’s developer says. Low Head Wind Farm founder and director Shane Bartel yesterday said any significant cuts to the target would affect the $60 million wind farm proposed for an area east of Low Head.
Mr Bartel said the project would hire between 30 and 50 contractors in the building phase and employ five to 10 people post- construction.The project was partly driven by the federal target of 20 per cent renewable electricity production by 2020, which is under review.Low Head Wind Farm’s development application has been submitted to the government.”It’s up to the Commonwealth to approve that – we’re still working with them on that,” Mr Bartel said.
“I certainly think (a decision will be made) this month … to date, there have been no serious issues with it.”
The Australian reported on Saturday that Hydro Tasmania – which has power-purchasing agreements for its major Tasmanian wind farms Musselroe and Woolnorth – would suffer financially if there were significant cuts to the renewable energy target.
The state-owned company would not comment on the report leaked to the national newspaper but said ongoing reviews of the target had created uncertainty around wind farm revenues. “Hydro Tasmania did not confirm to The Australian the losses claimed in the story,” a statement from Hydro Tasmania said.
“It is our expectation that a positive outcome from the RET review will in fact make these figures meaningless, and our wind farm investments will be delivering the expected returns.”
Clean Energy Council deputy chief executive Kane Thornton said more than $10 billion of investment in renewable energy would be damaged if the scheme was changed. “Leaving the policy alone would create approximately 18,400 jobs by the end of the decade, additional investment of $15 billion in large-scale renewable energy and lower power bills over the medium term,” he said.
National Health and Medical Research Council finds no evidence of wind turbines negatively affecting health
NHMRC says evidence scant in wind turbine health debate ABC News 10 may 14 An initial report from the National Health and Medical Research Council has found no reliable evidence that wind turbines have a direct physical effect on health…….The review of submissions to the draft report is under-way and the final report is due out within the next few months.http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-09/tch-nhmrc-wind-health-research/5442148
Massive wind farm project approved by Tasmania’s West Coast Council
$200m wind farm on west coast passes another hurdle http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-09/24200m-wind-farm-on-west-coast-passes-another-hurdle/5441192 9 May 2014 Up to 200 jobs could be created on Tasmania’s west coast after the approval of a massive wind farm project.
The $200 million Granville Harbour project has passed another hurdle after gaining approval from West Coast Council. The proponent Westcoast Wind wants to build 33 turbines which will link to Reece Dam via an 11 kilometre transmission line. The Environment Protection Authority approved the project last month and handed it back to the council to assess.
West Coast Mayor Robyn Gerrity says it was given the green light at a special council meeting last night. “It’s a great boost for us, more job creation to saddle onto the new mining developments that are happening over the next 12 to 18 months,” she said.
The venture is still looking for investors.Last month, the proponents said they were not confident of finding investors while the Federal Government reviews the Renewable Energy Target.
Abbott govt’s draft climate action Bill could result in 30 % emissions rise by 2030
Govt releases climate action draft bill http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/govt-releases-climate-action-draft-bill/story-fni0xqi4-1226911847929 10 May 14, PUTTING in energy-efficient light bulbs and cutting gas in coalmines could be eligible for taxpayer funding under the federal government’s climate policy. There could also be scope for international carbon emission permits to be counted, despite the government saying they wouldn’t be part of its emissions cuts.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt released draft legislation on Friday for the emissions reduction fund, which will replace Labor’s carbon tax and carbon farming initiative. Both major parties are committed to cutting carbon emissions by five per cent below 2000 levels by 2020.
Improving the energy efficiency of homes and factories, capturing landfill and mine gas, improving farm soil and upgrading vehicles will qualify for funding. Those seeking funding, for projects lasting up to 15 years, will need to pass a new “fit and proper person” test.
And any project for which funding is sought would have to be something not likely to have occurred “under normal business conditions”.
The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) would be responsible for registering projects and issuing Australian carbon credit units for verified emissions reductions. The CER would buy emissions reductions at the lowest available cost, generally through reverse auctions.
The draft bill does not set out the rules for a new safeguard mechanism, which would ensure emissions reductions paid for by the fund were not displaced by a rise in emissions elsewhere. The safeguard, due to start on July 1, 2015, will be the subject of a separate bill.
Climate Institute chief John Connor said the draft laws were well short of a credible alternative to the current carbon pricing scheme.
The policy could put Australian emissions on track to rise by 30 per cent by 2030, he said.
Mr Connor said the draft laws left the door open for the purchase of international permits. The CER’s new powers would enable it to use almost any process it wanted to buy emissions reduction, undermining the claim to be a market mechanism.
“This draft legislation is still well short of a package that can credibly reduce pollution, let alone reduce pollution enough to help avoid costly climate disruption,” Mr Connor said. “Parliament should instead stay with the current laws, which price and limit pollution and can reduce emissions by up to 25 per cent by 2020 with deeper reductions thereafter.”
Submissions on the emissions reduction fund draft bill close on May 23.AAP
MAY 09, 2014
New website makes Aboriginal ecological knowledge available
First Nation knowhow to help save our landscapes http://phys.org/news/2014-05-nation-knowhow-landscapes.html May 08, 2014 The deep knowledge of First Nation (Aboriginal) people is being called on as part of a nationwide effort to stem the tide of extinction and decline that is engulfing the Australian landscape and its wildlife.
At a major scientific meeting in Canberra today, a new website will be unveiled which brings together thousands of records documenting Aboriginal traditional knowledge about Australian native landscapes, plants and animals.
The knowledge is presented in the form of a world-first map, which records publically-available Australian Indigenous bio-cultural knowledge (IBK) that is place-based. The detailed content of the identified documents is only made available with the express permission of the Aboriginal communities which own it.
Aboriginal people and non-Indigenous scientists and managers are currently working together on hundreds of projects across Australia to understand and better manage country using a combination of indigenous bio-cultural knowledge and ecological science.
The map draws together, for the first time worldwide, the wealth of projects, documents, reports, research and management plans where Indigenous bio-cultural knowledge is being used and Aboriginal people are adding value to today’s understanding of Australian ecology and land management practices.
This website maps the places where projects have been or are being carried out, documents results and provides examples of current leading practice, useful information and case studies of “living knowledge” and its practical application.
These include cases of Aboriginal-led landscape restoration, fire management, knowledge about native plants and animals and knowledge about wetlands and other important ecosystems.
“This is the first time that Aboriginal knowledge about landscape and Australian ecological science have been brought together across the whole continent in a single resource,” says ACEAS director Associate Professor Alison Specht
“It also represents a major contribution to documenting and preserving traditional knowledge for future generations of Aboriginal people – and for all Australians.”
The project is part of a worldwide trend to bring the knowledge held by First Nation peoples together with science and conservation policy, and makes Australia one of the global leaders in this field, she says.
“We have shown that all of Australia’s conservation priorities could be greatly informed by Indigenous bio-cultural knowledge – although the existing opportunities far outweigh the advances made to date,” says the team behind the project, in a soon to be published discussion paper. The ACEAS IBK Working Group is led by Dr Emilie Ens and includes twenty Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers and land managers from around Australia.
“Threats to global environments are increasing, so it is timely to rethink our ecological knowledge base and develop more holistic and inclusive research, management and funding options for the future.
“Enhanced cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary engagement has great potential to strengthen global capacity to build socio-ecological resilience for … inclusive and sustainable environmental management strategies.”
1 This month.
20 September –National Day of Action in Melbourne on the International Day of Peace
Help Aunty Sue Protect Her Land and Sacred Sites From Destructive Rocket Testing.
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Australians deserve the truth
about
AUKUS – https://aukuspublicinquiry.com/
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 