The contention that Marine Parks and no-take marine sanctuaries have no scientific basis is ignorance, denial, and humbug.

In 2003, Dr Ben Halpern from University of California Santa Barbara presented an analysis of the results of studies into 89 separate no-take marine reserves around the world. He found that on average, creating a no-take marine sanctuary doubles the density of fish and invertebrates, triples the biomass and increases the mean size of fish by 20-30% relative to fished areas (Halpern, 2003). These results indicate the re-establishment of natural processes after serious disturbance.

The community recently had opportunity to comment on the Draft Regional Conservation Plan for the Lower Hunter. The Plan announced the creation of 17,000 ha of new public reserves, (not the 20,000 ha claimed in Government media releases) and foreshadows the addition of another 12,000 hectares of public reserves from private land once "trade-offs" have been finalised.

To see the HCEC submission to the RCP, click here.

Go the the DEC website www.environment.nsw.gov.au and click the link to the new Lower Hunter National Parks on the right to download your own copy of the RCP and see the accompanying map.

Historic court case seeks to force climate change assessments of new coal mines

19th September, 2006

Newcastle environmentalist Peter Gray has today lodged a court challenge against the controversial Anvil Hill open-cut coal mine on the grounds that there is no consideration of its climate change impacts. The action was taken after repeated refusals by the state government to consider the climate implications of new coal mine proposals, despite Premier Morris Iemma labelling climate change the greatest threat facing our environment and way of life.

Latest Update: February 2008

The Biobanking methodology, Regulatory Impact Statement, report from the secret trial, and scientific peer review of the methodology can be downloaded from the DECC website.

Activists halt Australian coal export to ThailandSeptember 07, 2006

21st July, 2006

Exposed: Secret meeting to trade-off biodiversity

The Planning Minister Frank Sartor is meeting secretly today with regional property developers, prompting alarm among conservationists that further areas of sensitive bushland are going to be traded away and destroyed.

From 9:30 - 11am this morning, a small but rowdy group of activists will protest outside the Department of Planning office on Honeysuckle Drive against the possibility that the Planning Minister is coming to Newcastle to discuss environmentally destructive “trade-offs.”

Government agencies are currently preparing or finalising both a Lower Hunter Regional Strategy and a Regional Conservation Plan, and conservationists are questioning why special arrangements are being made with powerful developers.

This was, until recently, Leard State Forest. Soon it will be a hole in the ground. We continue to lose huge tracts of native vegetation and wildlife habitat to the mining industry, as well as to the Pacific Highway upgrades and the development industry. This photo was taken by Ron and Joyce Webster. The clearing of 200 ha of this forest for the Boggabri coal project was approved before the enactment of the Threatened Species Conservation Act in 1995, and the Environmental Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act in 1999, and yet the State Government allowed this outdated approval to remain in force.

This news item arrives courtesy of the Marine and Coastal Community Network's excellent Wetstuff marine and coastal news digest.

The Federal Environment Minister, Ian Campbell is considering listing the Orange Roughy as Endangered.

The government's statement says, "Expert advice from the Australian Government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has recommended that the Orange Roughy is eligible to be listed as endangered under federal environment law. Further analysis by the Department of Environment and Heritage supports the conclusion that the species in Australia has undergone an unplanned and severe decline in numbers.