The Lorax

By Dr. Seuss

"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for

the trees have no tongues."

"Look Lorax," I said "there's no cause for alarm. I chopped just one

tree, I am doing no harm....."

Go to page http://www.doctors.for.forests.org.au/ and click on link The Lorax to read full version.

OR

Go to GECO on Facebook to watch the video

http://www.facebook.com/pages/GECO/294487068419?ref=ts

DOIN TIME

This is a comment posted earlier on that rightfully deserves it's place in the primetime.

Emma Jayne said...

An East Gippy activist is currently in remand in Orbost police cells pending an appearance before the magistrates court in Bairnsdale tomorrow morning. The forest defender has refused to sign his bail conditions in view of the fact that they prohibit him from entering a vast legion of locations throughout East Gippsland.
Imposing these broad bail conditions on activists has been common practice throughout the East Gippsland forest management area and these unreasonable conditions are invariably deemed superfluous and are generally amended prior to a hearing.
After spending 40 hours tree-sitting in the survey road coup [shown above] this activist is taking todays demonstration to its limits by prolonging his efforts in a bid to draw attention to yet another legal oversight on behalf of the Victorian logging industry.
Good on him!

GECO on Facebook

Started on Monday the 25th of Jan GECO's fan page on Facebook. Today reaches 100 and counting...

With lots of great comments and plenty of people watching footage uploaded from youtube and directly from actions, it seems to be a successful way to communicate with people based all over the world, drumming up support and bringing together networks of likeminded individuals.

While I have been in Sydney visiting family and friends I have been able to log on and view what is happening on the ground receiving updates virtually as fast as they happen.

A couple of people have been assigned to be able to make updates and fans can comment or post at liberty, this ensures freshly updated information and the ability to update from multiple computers in many different locations.

Hopefully this tool can also be used to enlist the professional support of specialists based in Melbourne or Canberra to offer their skills to stop the logging of these magnificent trees.

Invasion Day 26th Jan.

Before there was white man there was old growth forests.

Today 26th Jan marks an annual event often recognised as Australia Day. For Indigenous peoples this day marks the destruction of country and dispossession of land.

Share the Spirit Festival

Start: 26 Jan 2010- 11:00am

End: 26 Jan 2010- 8:00pm

Treasury Gardens, Spring St Melbourne.

"A range of individual Aboriginal artists and bands commemorating and presenting elements of the complex Aboriginal agenda from a socio-political perspective through performing arts. Songlines Aboriginal music is pleased to announce that Dan Sultan will be Headlining the 2010 Share the Spirit Festival."

Untapped Tourism.

Inquiry into Rural and Regional Tourism East Gippsland.

"East Gippsland is a largely untapped tourism destination with huge potential to add to Victoria's tourism income through creative developments. The region offers such a wide range of natural attractions for the tourist from its extensive coast, its unique network of lakes, river and streams, parks and reserves covering bushland, hills and high country and mountains, it has the potential to rival successful destinations such as Tasmania and New Zealand. Government policy and support programs must recognise this potential and help support the sensitive and sustainable development of this rich resource." ( ERGBTA, 2007 p.4)

East Gippsland Regional Business Tourism Authority 2007, 'Inquiry into Rural and Regional Tourism East Gippsland', viewed Jan 25 2010.

http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/rrc/inquiries/tourism/PDF%20for%20web/055_East%20Gippsland%20Regional%20Business%20&%20Tourism%20Association.pdf

http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/rrc/inquiries/tourism/PDF%20for%20web/055_East%20Gippsland%20Regional%20Business%20&%20Tourism%20Association.pdf

DIY Brown Mountain walk

Jill Redwood from Environment East Gippsland has created a fantastic self-guided walk resource that can be printed and taken up Brown Mountain. Follow link below to download booklet:

http://www.eastgippsland.net.au/downloads/Brown_Mt_walk_lflt.pdf

Peak marketing board tourism Gippsland are currently being contacted to endorse the walk and bring more tourism to the area to save Brown Mountain. Visit the Environment East Gippsland website for further information.

http://www.eastgippsland.net.au/

Total fire bans in place

Media Release

Department of Sustainability and the Environment (DSE) data shows that 1 in 20 fires on public land have been started by logging industry practices in state forests. When conservationists arrived on the 11th. Loggers were prepared to start work on the morning of a catastrophic total fire ban day across the state.

Environment and Natural Resources Committee, Parliament of Victoria Inquiry into the impact of public land management practices on bushfires in Victoria shows the causes for fires on public land over the past 20 year is heavily attributed to the logging of state forests.

"...DSE data claims the 5% of all wildfires are started by prescribed burn escapes. Given that 63% of prescribed burns are for logging coupes then at least 3% of wildfire starts are attributed to logging coupe burn escapes. Combined with machinery fire starts (2%) this indicates that 5% or at least one in 20 fires started in State forests are by logging industry practices" (Parliament of Victoria Environment and Natural Resources Committee 2008, p.5)

Link to Cann River logging coupe fire which was started last year, the largest of the fires in the area. 17th Dec 2009- http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1153657/Total-fire-bans-in-place

Reference:

Parliament of Victoria Environment and Natural Resources Committee 2008, 'Inquiry into the Impact of Public Land Management Practices on Bushfires in Victoria.

http://www.oren.org.au/issues/fire/Wildfires_public_land.pdf