30 eminent Australian energy, engineering, economic and environmental experts have called on the Prime Minister and NSW Premier to delay final approval of the Snowy 2.0 pumped storage project until there has been a comprehensive independent review.
After a summer of fire, floods and storms we are now dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. The NPA is working to help protect and support our members through this time. Below you will find current guidance and new rules managing the NPA bushwalking program. These are dynamic and will be updated as the pandemic progresses and as government advice changes.
Sharon Fulcher, Owner of Two Rivers Catchment Reserve
This a story of devastating fires. Fires that have impacted personal life, communities and our natural environment, the silent casualties – plants and animals.
Sue Baker, Mid North Coast Branch
This time last year we were celebrating 40 years of bush regeneration work by the Mid North Coast Branch at Crowdy Bay. In December 2019 the area was hit by devastating fires, which also destroyed the new hut facilities at Kylie’s Beach. There is, however, good to come from the ashes. This year’s bush regen camp will be able to make a strong impact on previously difficult to access weed infestations.
The following article first appeared in the Mod North Coast Branch newsletter. This version has additions from Sue Baker.
Gary Dunnett, Executive Officer, National Parks Association of NSW
Fire has played a central role in human history, an essential part of the tool kit that enabled a naked ape to spread across the globe. We are all linked by our individual experiences of fire, from an infant’s wonder to the shared pleasure of sitting around a campfire. Fire has influenced human history far beyond our individual experiences. In Australia, more so than anywhere else in the world, fire has shaped the landscape, vegetation communities and species. The arrival of humanity on this continent coincided with a sharp increase in fire frequency and a broad trend towards more fire tolerant vegetation types.
Ian Brown, Environmental consultant and former national park manager (6 December 2019)
Note: an earlier version of this article first appeared in the Colong Bulletin no. 277, December 2019
As I write (on 6 December), fires in the north and south of the Blue Mountains are merging into mega-fires, driven by severe dryness, strong winds and parched air. Forty per cent of the million-hectare Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area has burnt so far. Millions of people are smothering in smoke. North-eastern NSW has already seen devastation. The NSW toll stands at six lives, more than 500 houses and over two million hectares. Already. Numerous wilderness areas and conservation reserves have been impacted, with many national parks burnt completely. Key koala populations have been decimated and ancient rainforests burnt (at least their edges and at ground level). There is no doubt this is the biggest fire season in the recorded (white) history of the state. And it will get worse before it rains.
