Media release
20 December 2012
The Gillard Government will invest more
than $24 million over the next four years
to help regional natural resource management
organisations across Australia incorporate
climate change mitigation and adaptation
approaches into their existing plans.
Environment Minister
Tony Burke today launched Stream 1 of the
Regional Natural Resource Management Planning
for Climate Change Fund, an important component
of the Government's Clean Energy Future
Plan.
"There is probably
no greater example of thinking globally
and acting locally than to have every regional
body in the country planning for climate
change," Mr Burke said.
"This funding will
help such organisations prepare for the
impacts of climate change and guide the
location of projects to enhance biodiversity
and increase carbon outcomes across Australia.
"The fund will
help regional natural resource management
organisations use the best available information
to develop practical and comprehensive climate
change updates to their regional natural
resource management plans to help guide
the future management of natural resources."
Regional natural resource
management organisations will be able to
undertake a range of activities such as
regional and cross-regional planning, regional
stakeholder engagement, and application
of climate change research and information.
"These plans are
important not only at the regional planning
level, but will help direct investment through
initiatives such as the Biodiversity Fund
and the Carbon Farming Initiative to increase
carbon storage and enhance biodiversity
across the country," Mr Burke said.
Applications for funding
under Stream 1 are now being sought from
regional natural resource management organisations
and will close at 5.00pm AEDST on 26 February
2013.
For more information
about Stream 1 of the Regional Natural Resource
Management Planning for Climate Change Fund,
or to access the program guidelines, visit
www.environment.gov.au/cleanenergyfuture
or call the information line on (02) 6274
2392.
Stream 2 will provide
$15 million over four financial years to
support research and analysis to develop
scenarios on regional climate change impacts
which can be used for natural resource management
planning. Further information on Stream
2 can be found at http://www.climatechange.gov.au/NRMfundstream2.
+ More
Environment Minister
Approves Shree Minerals Nelson Bay River
Mine
Media release
18 December 2012
Environment Minister, Tony Burke, today
approved Shree Mineral's Nelson Bay River
Magnetite and Hematite Mine in north-west
region of Tasmania with 29 strict conditions.
Mr Burke said the approval conditions will
ensure the mine will be built and operated
in strict accordance with national environment
law.
"By imposing
these 29 approval conditions I am satisfied
the project can now go ahead without any
unacceptable impacts on matters of national
environment significance such as nationally
listed threatened and migratory species
and their habitat," Mr Burke said.
"In making my approval I am requiring
Shree Minerals to comply with a number of
key environmental conditions and actions.
"My decision is based on a thorough
and rigorous assessment of the proposal,
with extensive opportunity for public consultation."
Key aspects of the approval conditions include:
the development of a site-wide management
plan for the protection of nationally threatened
species at the mine site and for travel
to and from the mine site.
the undertaking of targeted pre-clearance
surveys for the nationally listed masked-owl,
spot-tailed quoll, Tasmanian devil and Tasmanian
wedge-tailed eagle.
environmental awareness training for all
staff, contractors and visitors to the site.
"In addition I
am requiring Shree Minerals to take specific
actions to mitigate and avoid the threat
of road kill to nationally threatened species,
especially the Tasmanian devil," Mr
Burke said.
"I am requiring that mine vehicles
travel only during daylight hours and abide
by appropriate speed limits within and to
and from the mine site and that they provide
bus transport to limit the amount of traffic
on nearby roads.
"I am also requiring that Shree Minerals
report all deaths of nationally threatened
species from road kill caused by the operation
of the mine. This information will be recorded
on their website and updated at least every
three months.
"If reported road kill is in excess
of predicted levels, the conditions require
that Shree Minerals pay additional compensation
or provide new resources for further environment
programs to support threatened species in
and near the site.
"I am also requiring Shree Minerals
to fund and resource a Tasmanian Devil monitoring
strategy on the mine site. The strategy
will need to involve at least ten infrared
monitoring cameras and be consistent with
the work being done by Save the Tasmanian
Devil Program."
Each year Shree Minerals is required to
report on their compliance with the approval
conditions and publish this information
on their website.
+ More
New Antarctic ice core
project
Media release
15 December 2012
Environment Minister, Tony Burke today announced
a major new Australian-led project in Antarctica
to advance the search for the scientific
'holy grail' of the million-year ice core,
a frozen record of how our planet has evolved
and changed and a guide to what might be
in store.
The Aurora Basin North project will drill
a 400 metre deep ice core 600 kilometres
inland from Casey station next summer to
retrieve a 2000 year-long ice core from
deep in the heart of east Antarctica.
This project will allow us to gain access
to the most detailed record yet of past
climate in this vast region
Aurora Basin is the ideal site for the research
as it has sufficient snowfall, 11 centimetres
of ice per year, to provide the first record
of year-to-year changes over the past 2000
years in this region of the continent.
Aurora Basin also harbours some of the deepest
ice in Antarctica, over 3 km thick, and
this project will provide new information
that will guide the search for the oldest
ice in Antarctica, thought to be over a
million years old.
Mr Burke who this week visited Antarctica
said the knowledge gained from doing science
in Antarctica is critically important to
understanding how the climate has naturally
varied in the past and helping predict future
responses to global climate change.
"Ice cores provide the written history
of our atmosphere and our water," he
said
"Seeking ice cores from this new area
where there is much higher snow fall than
other inland sites provides a massive increase
in the level of detail which lives within
the ice.
When it comes to the level of information
we are able to obtain, shifting to this
location should move us from a billboard
to an encyclopaedia.
"We have had information that is 2000
years old before, but we have never had
access to this sort of detail which we believe
lies deep within this part of the ice.
“In my brief visit to the continent I had
the privilege of seeing the vast Antarctic
ice sheet first-hand. It is quite simply
an unsurpassed scientific treasure chest
of information ready to be unlocked,"
Mr Burke said.
“The Aurora Basin project will draw on the
data trapped in the ice sheet to fill a
large gap in Antarctic climate records.
“It will not only improve our understanding
of regional and hemispheric climate links,
but also help us when modelling changes
to the global system into the future.
"Australia is cooperating with other
nations and contributing to this search.
This involves groundwork like the Aurora
Basin drilling, airborne surveys and computer
modelling of the ice. It is expected that
this will lead to actual drilling for a
one million year old core by various international
consortia in the coming years.
“The Aurora Basin ice core data will go
some way to address that by capturing aspects
of climate variation with higher chronological
precision than at any other inland Antarctic
site."
The international collaboration will involve
about 20 scientists from Australia, Denmark,
USA, and France.
A French team will traverse
to the site in December next year, while
the remaining scientists fly to the camp
in January and February for the eight-week
drilling project.
Mr Burke flew to Wilkins ice runway on Thursday
and returned to Hobart this afternoon.
While in Antarctica Mr Burke inspected Australia's
Casey station, was briefed on the 2012-13
Antarctic science program and undertook
Antarctic survival training.
