Habitat Australia articles from April 2006

Habitat Australia archives from April 2006

Dear Habitat.(NEWS & VIEWS)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2006... I think the January 2006 Habitat is the one I appreciate most of all the ones I've had. It seems more appropriate to me--"perhaps there is one other little thing I can do"--rather than some of the bigger projects where the only real way to help...

Would $3000 help your cause?(environmental conservation awards)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Nominate now for the 2006 ACF Peter Rawlinson Conservation Award! This Award is presented in recognition of outstanding voluntary contribution aiding Australia's conservation efforts. The prize consists of $3000 to spend on further...

ACF wins war of words on water.(Australian Conservation Foundation stops water extraction from Great Artesian Basin)
April 1, 2006... Thousands of ACF's supporters have helped to avoid a potentially catastrophic increase in water extraction from the Great Artesian Basin. BHP Billiton had announced its intention to take over 150 million litres a day for their Roxby Downs mine,...

Kayakers get to know the Fitzroy.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... With a little help from ACF, eighteen kayakers have completed an historic journey up the Kimberley's Fitzroy River. Braving 150m cliffs and crocodiles, the group completed their 350km journey in order to raise awareness of issues surrounding...

Letter from the executive director.(services from Australian Conservation Foundation)
April 1, 2006... It's pleasing to report some good progress with some of ACF's key conservation campaigns. Recently our members and supporters sent thousands of postcards to the Chairman of BHP Billiton and the Premier of South Australia urging, among other...

Sydney shelves desalination plant.(Australian Conservation Foundation)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... ACF welcomed NSW Premier Morris lemma's announcement that water saving and recycling, rather than desalination, would form the basis of a comprehensive long term plan to meet Sydney's water needs. "The decision to shelve plans for a...

WAHLI acknowledges ACF's tsunami contribution.(Australian Conservation Foundation)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... WAHLI, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, has written to ACF to acknowledge our contribution to the tsunami relief efforts. In a letter they expressed "... deepest appreciation to ACF's staff and supporters for the beautiful solidarity...

From the ACF/Rehame newsroom.(Australian Conservation Foundation)
April 1, 2006... A big win for a delicate desert habitat: how the news unfolded Don Henry greeted news that the SA government and BHP Billiton had agreed that no additional artesian water would be used to service the Olympic Dam mine as "a win for the Great...

National Green Build show.(Australian Conservation Foundation)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Join ACF at the National Green Build and Eco show at Rosehill Gardens Exhibition Centre in Sydney from Friday 9th to Sunday 11th June. Come along and visit the ACF stall, featuring the GreenHome challenge, information about sustainable living,...

Somerville.(Cartoon)
April 1, 2006... Hi! How's THINGS? OK, I GUESS... I'VE SEEN BETTER EPOCHS. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MY ATMOSPHERE ACHES, I'VE GOT FLUID BUILDUP AND MY POLES LOOK LIKE CRAP [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NOW MY OIL'S DRYING UP. PROBABLY MENOPAUSE....

Music benefits ACF.(One Little Indian Enterprises, Australian Conservation Foundation)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... One Little Indian Enterprises; a music management company has begun a series of benefit events for ACF. The events have aligned professional musicians sympathetic to the issues facing the environment, with young people. Recent events...

Community outreach.(Australian Conservation Foundation)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... ACF would like to acknowledge these valued supporters for donations received through community events: * The Simon Phillips Trio--ACF benefit gig. * Office of Consumer and Business Affairs (Adelaide)--'Casual Dress Day' * one...

Coming events.
April 1, 2006... Melbourne Members and Supporters Night IMAX Melbourne, together with the Melbourne Museum have generously donated a screening of: Deep Sea 3D and tour of the Marine Life exhibition. You are invited to join Valerie Taylor (renowned...

Brisbane EnviroArt 2006.(NEWS & VIEWS)
April 1, 2006... Brisbane supporters are invited to the opening night of EnviroArt 2006. ACF President, Ian Lowe will open the exhibition (April 24) which showcases eight local Brisbane artists and their works inspired by the natural environment. Please...

ACF Branch Contacts.(Australian Conservation Foundation)(Directory)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... ACF Sydney Branch John Boothroyd PO Box A1211 Sydney South NSW 1235 Phone: 0411 052 553 Email: sydney.branch@acfonline.org.au ACF Central Coast Branch John Wiggin 11 Wullun C1 North Gosford NSW 2250 ...

Can advertising save planet Earth.(Cover story)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... THE CHALLENGE WAS SIMPLE: gather together leaders in the Australian advertising industry, and ask them to do something they have never done before. Sell sustainability. It's not every day that advertising companies are approached for...

Ski season heads downhill.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Shorter ski seasons and the end of the tourism in Australian snowfields unless climate change is addressed--that's the prediction of a report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The report foreshadows job loss and...

The case of the disappearing frogs.(Bufonids)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... High in the tropical rainforests of Costa Rica, the disappearance of harlequin frogs has scientists baffled. For over a decade they have attempted to identify the causes of the decline in frog numbers, and now new research has pointed the...

New urgent threats to the reef! There are fresh reports that coral on the Great Barrier Reef is again bleaching. It comes on top of a new scientific report that shows a one degree increase in global temperature would cause extensive coral bleaching.
April 1, 2006... ACF HAS BEEN CAMPAIGNING for protection of the Great Barrier Reef for decades. It began with successful opposition to mining and petroleum exploration and extraction in the 1960s and continued with the creation of the 345,000 km Great...

ACF's big win at Roxby downs: but more to be done: in what looks like being a long contest over uranium expansion plans ACF have had an early win in countering BHP Billiton's grab for Great Artesian Basin waters.
April 1, 2006... ACF ENLISTED OUR MEMBERS HELP to make uranium a lead issue in the run up to the SA election and to challenge BHP Billiton's plans for the Roxby mine expansion. In response to strong media coverage and thousands of cards from ACF supporters, the...

In search of the elusive Golden-rayed blue butterfly: Julian Bentley goes on the trail of one of Australia's most rare and exotic butterflies and is horrified to discover that climate change may mean they are never seen again.
April 1, 2006... IT WAS EARLY JANUARY, the temperature was 37[degrees]C and I was covered with a black swarm of buzzing bush-flies. This was my second visit to Lake Wyn Wyn that month. Lake Wyn Wyn is located in the Wimmera region, Western Victoria, and is...

Out of the blue: a plan for Australia's oceans.(Special Habitat magazine lift-out feature)
April 1, 2006... Inside the blue At the bottom of the Derwent estuary in Hobart there lives a fish that 'walks' on its 'hands'. In the Spencer Gulf the world's largest cuttlefish can change its colour in an instant. On offshore islands breeds the...

Skip dipping: turning waste into wealth: would you eat food that you found in a skip behind a supermarket? What if you found a pair of jeans that were a perfect fit? Or a brand new appliance in flawless working order?(making wealth out of waste)
April 1, 2006... FOR AN INCREASING NUMBER of Australians, rubbish is providing a way to get consumer goods like this without paying. Commercial and industrial discards are providing a way to get items for free while at the same time making a point against our...

My GreenHome diary: April 2006: last issue we followed Claire and her family as they signed up for the GreenHome Challenge and took their first steps towards sustainability. This month Claire faces more hurdles and comes up with some innovative green solutions ...(saving energy)
April 1, 2006... SINCE SIGNING UP for the GreenHome Challenge late last year, I have realised that the biggest challenge for me, in trying to teach my children how to minimise their impact on the environment, is that I live in a townhouse. As I said last time,...

Ask the expert.(rebates for residential solar power systems being cut)(using green bags and cuttin down usage of plastic bags)
April 1, 2006... DEAR HABITAT, I have heard that rebates for residential solar power systems are being cut. Is this true? Bev Smith, Canberra ACT The solar rebate programme (or Photovoltaic Rebate Program) commenced on 1 January 2000, providing...

Anatomy of a campaign: building green.(greenhouse gas emissions)
April 1, 2006... The Story So Far... It may not seem like the most exciting part of ACF's work, but campaigning for building standards to deliver greenhouse reductions and water savings is one of those 'boring but important' tasks. Government figures show...

Supporter spotlight: Merinda Gallagher.(Environmental activists)
April 1, 2006... A HOST OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS drives ACF EarthVoice donor and volunteer, Merinda Gallagher--"land clearing, uranium mining, dredging the bay, forests, clean air"--but perhaps her greatest inspiration was her oldest brother, who travelled to...

Murray's 'first step' takes us nowhere: It's more than two years since the Living Murray First Step decision to return 500 gigalitres of water to the Murray. So is the project delivering what it promised?(Murray river)
April 1, 2006... ON THE COLD, HARD FACTS, you'd have to say "no". So far, not a single drop of water has been returned to the Murray under the First Step. In any case, the 500 gigalitre First Step is still only a third of what the scientists say is needed...

Easy Organic Gardening and Moon Planting.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Easy Organic Gardening and Moon Planting Lyn Bagnall ASK ANY WOMAN and she will tell you that fertility cycles and human growth are all influenced by the moon's cycle. Why, then, has the concept of moon planting been traditionally viewed as...

The real life Good Life.(environmental impact on health)
April 1, 2006... IN THE 70s BBC SIT-COM, The Good Life, Tom and Barbara Good decide to turn their backs on consumerism and the daily grind, and live self-sufficiently on their suburban block. Over two decades later and half a world away, Linda Cockburn, her...

What rot! Compost is an all-round soft builder and plant tonic that can be made in your backyard at little cost and effort. Gardening expert, media personality and Habitat columnist Mary Moody explains everything you need to know to start composting today.(Column)
April 1, 2006... THE PROCESS OF COMPOSTING has been occurring in nature ever since the first plants with leaves evolved. As leaves, bark, stems and other organic material from plants falls to the floor of the forest, they slowly break down and enrich the soil...