Habitat Australia articles from April 1 2009

Habitat Australia archives from April 1 2009

Special message from ACF executive director, Don Henry.(Australian Conservation Foundation)(Column)
April 1, 2009... Dear Friends Like the rest of Australia, I was deeply shocked by the recent devastating extreme weather across our country and the Victorian bushfires. Everyone at ACF sends our most sincere condolences to those who have lost family...

Climate change campaign.(DISPATCHES FROM THE FIELD: ACF CAMPAIGN UPDATES)(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... ACF staff, council and members were disappointed and angry when Prime Minister Rudd announced last December that Australia's 2020 emissions target would fall within 5-15 per cent--that's below 1990 levels. Sadly, the Rudd Government's Carbon...

Healthy ecosystems campaign.(DISPATCHES FROM THE FIELD: ACF CAMPAIGN UPDATES)
April 1, 2009... The financial losses caused by the collapse of monetary markets late last year are dwarfed by the economic losses caused by the destruction of ecosystems and biodiversity. The economic impact on human well-being just from deforestation and...

Sustainable Australia campaign.(DISPATCHES FROM THE FIELD: ACF CAMPAIGN UPDATES)
April 1, 2009... With the Federal Government spending billions of dollars to avoid an economic slow down, ACF has been working hard to ensure that the money goes towards making our homes and school buildings more energy- and water-smart as well as boosting...

Care for country campaign.(DISPATCHES FROM THE FIELD: ACF CAMPAIGN UPDATES)(Conference notes)
April 1, 2009... In November 2008, Andrew Picone, from ACF's Northern Australia Program (NAP), and I attended the inaugural Australian Protected Areas Conference (APAC) on the Sunshine Coast, organised by the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and...

Climate change and bushfires: the science, the facts, the warnings.
April 1, 2009... WE WERE ALL AFFECTED by the disastrous February bushfires in Victoria. More than 200 people died, about 7,000 were made homeless and huge natural areas were damaged. Many of you were directly affected. Our thoughts are especially with you. ...

Australia day save our icons BBQ: Australia Day is an opportunity for the nation to reflect on itself, on those things that make Australia great, and those we could do better. On Australia Day this year, the Climate Project--Australia and ACF launched a new nationwide campaign: Save our Icons Australia Day BBQ. James Norman takes us behind the scenes.
April 1, 2009... The lead-up The campaign had its inception when Adam Majcher from the Climate Project --Australia suggested making Australia Day a day on which we could publicise the many of our wild, natural places currently under threat from climate...

Tasmanian forests at a crossroad: ACF executive director Don Henry looks at the future of the proposed Gunns pulp mill and explains why Tasmania's forests are still in peril.(Australian Conservation Foundation)
April 1, 2009... TASMANIA'S MAGNIFICENT FORESTS are still under threat. The state is at the crossroads of two possible futures. One is a future built on continued forest destruction with its resultant pollution, carbon depletion and bitter community...

Global snapshot.
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Habitat looks at how the global movement to combat climate change is igniting human effort and creativity around the world. Germany The German government has announced that strong growth in the country's...

The threat to Antarctica: 20 years on: Monday, 22 May, 1989 was a momentous day for ACF. It was the day on which Australia said it wouldn't support a convention exposing Antarctica to mining. Twenty years on we look back at how Antarctica was saved.(Australian Conservation Foundation)
April 1, 2009... THEN-PRIME MINISTER BOB HAWKE'S announcement was the high point of one of our most remarkable campaigns. It began in 1974 with the formation in ACF Council of an Antarctic Committee, and culminated in a declaration that eventually led to...

The road to Copenhagen: the Kyoto Protocol is due to expire soon, and its successor will be negotiated in Copenhagen at the end of this year. Together we can influence this important agreement.
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE NEED TO TAKE ACTION to tackle climate change has never been more urgent. Climate scientists are finding that climate change is happening faster than was forecast only a few years ago; ecosystems are proving more...

What we can learn from the world's first viral president: president Obama's road to the White House involved, for the first time in history, the use of online and viral technology, and has rewritten the rules on political campaigning. So what can environmental activists learn from its success?(Barack Obama)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LAST YEAR I TRACKED BARACK OBAMA'S long and epic campaign as I followed him around the world from Berlin to New York to Nashville, Tennessee. Over that time I remember the dozens of emails I received--arriving...

Australians connecting Australia on climate change.
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IN THE SYDNEY CBD, a young office worker is talking to her employers about ways in which the company can save energy. Not far away, a social worker is presenting a film to a group of boys at a juvenile detention...

Join ACF as an environmental leaders!(Australian Conservation Foundation)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IF YOU CARE about preserving Australia's natural icons and are committed to building a sustainable future for the next generation, here is a unique opportunity for you to align your work with your life's passion....

Measuring success: with 2008 highlighting the weakness of using economic growth as the holy grail of progress, is it time to rethink how we measure success?
April 1, 2009... MOST OF US STRIVE TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS in our lives, and most of us accept that every individual's idea of success is different. But what about our success as a nation? What measures are currently being used, and is it time to rethink our...

Save Western Australia's big blue backyard!
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] AUSTRALIA'S MARINE ENVIRONMENT is one of the most important on Earth, comprising almost 16 million square kilometres of the world's oceans. Six of the world's seven marine turtles are found here, along with 45 of the...

ACF's Annual Supporter Survey 2008: the results are in!
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THANKS TO ALL OF YOU who responded to the Annual Supporter Survey. Your feedback on campaigns and views on the environmental issues facing Australia today will enable us to work together with greater strength...

Roll up, roll up, free ceiling insulation and solar hot water rebate! Thanks to the Government's new economic stimulus package, greening your home has never been more affordable. Habitat finds out more about the rebates, what difference they make to the environment, and how you can get yours.
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MORE THAN TWO MILLION HOMES will receive free ceiling insulation as part of the Rudd Government's new economic stimulus package, unveiled in February. At the same time, the $500 ceiling insulation rebate for rental...

Australia's Climate Action Summit showcases people power!(Conference notes)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ON 31ST OF JANUARY, 500 concerned people gathered in an auditorium at Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra. Many of them were, at the beginning, relative strangers. They came from across the nation, of...

Yarra: A diverting history of Melbourne's murky river.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2009... Yarra: A diverting history of Melbourne's murky river By Kristin Otto [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] From the earliest times the Yarra--from source to sea--was a rich, spiritual and culinary resource for the people of the Kulin nation and...

Overloading Australia.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2009... Overloading Australia By Mark O'Connor and William Lines How often have you wanted concrete counter-arguments against the mindless mantra of endless growth? This new book argues clearly and passionately that we should aim to stabilise...

Scarred lands and wounded lives: the environmental footprint of war.(Brief article)(Video recording review)
April 1, 2009... This incredible documentary was written, filmed and produced by two of ACF's long-term supporters. Its extensive research and skilful presentation by sociologists Alice and Lincoln Day make the film a very moving experience. And there is...

Uranium--is it a country?(Video recording review)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster the nuclear industry was on the ropes. Discredited, dirty, expensive and with no solution to its growing stockpiles of high level radioactive waste, the industry shared the...