Wilderness Society in the Media

8 January 2025 - Satellite images have revealed that 3,513 hectares of forest were cleared between March 2023 and June 2024 in the proposed Great Koala National Park in New South Wales. Wilderness Society's NSW Campaigns Manager, Victoria Jack, described the findings as "extremely disappointing," emphasising that "some of the deforestation is taking place in prime koala habitat." Conservation groups are urging the government to expedite the park’s establishment to protect endangered koalas and critical ecosystems.

20 December 2024 - Forestry Corporation NSW has admitted to illegally clearing 1.44 hectares within Bindarri National Park near Coffs Harbour due to a mapping error. The state-owned company agreed to pay $500,000 in compensation and restore the affected area. Wilderness Society's NSW campaigns manager, Victoria Jack, criticised the government's handling, stating, "Announcing this deal in the days leading up to Christmas is an obvious attempt to avoid public scrutiny." Ecologist Mark Graham described the logging as "outrageous" and called for the corporation to be shut down.

12 December 2024 - Hannah Schuch of the Wilderness Society highlights the environmental impact of Australia's supermarket giants, Coles and Woolworths, particularly concerning deforestation linked to beef production. She notes that Australia is a global deforestation hotspot, with beef production being a significant driver. Schuch criticises the supermarkets for not adequately monitoring or removing deforestation-linked beef from their supply chains. She points out that, despite Woolworths' commitment to eliminate deforestation from its supply chain by 2025, there is a lack of awareness about endangered species affected by their operations. Schuch calls for both companies to take responsibility and act against deforestation.

12 December 2024 - The Wilderness Society Tasmania released maps showing that nearly 40,000 hectares of protected Tasmanian native forests could be logged under state government plans. The proposed areas include habitats for 37 threatened species. Campaigns Manager for the Wilderness Society Tasmania, Alice Hardinge said, "These forests, which communities fought so hard to protect and which contain such rich ecological and First Nations cultural significance, must be permanently protected, not handed over to loggers for political point scoring."

29 November 2024 - A recent survey indicates that 80% of Victorians support the creation of new national parks, with strong backing across rural, regional, and urban areas. Despite this, the Victorian government has stated that establishing new parks is not currently planned. The Wilderness Society's National Campaigns Director, Amelia Young, emphasised that Victorians expect the government to honour its environmental commitments, including the long-promised central west parks and the proposed Great Forest National Park.

27 November 2024 - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has overruled Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, halting the establishment of a national environment watchdog. The decision followed negotiations with the Greens, who had shifted their focus from a climate trigger to addressing forest logging. Wilderness Society campaign manager Sam Szoke-Burke criticised the move, stating, "The cave-in disregards the reality and urgency of Australia’s biodiversity crisis, and ignores the vast majority of Australians who want stronger nature laws."

29 October 2024 - International law expert Professor Donald Rothwell warns that leaving decommissioned oil and gas infrastructure in Bass Strait would violate Australia's obligations under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Wilderness Society urges ExxonMobil to fully remove its offshore structures, emphasising the environmental risks of abandonment.

14 October 2024 - A report by The Tree Projects and the Wilderness Society reveals that timber harvesting in Tasmania results in the death or displacement of over 300,000 animals annually. The study estimates that each hectare of logged native forest impacts approximately 39 animals, including endangered species like the swift parrot.

13 October 2024 - The Wilderness Society's Karajia Award for Children's Literature honoured First Nations storytellers for their contributions. Wilman, Ballardong Noongar author Isobel Bevis won the Picture Fiction category for "Nedingar: Ancestors," illustrated by Wudjari and Goreng Noongar woman Leanne Zilm, celebrating the beauty of Country and family. The non-fiction category recognised "In My Blood It Runs" by Dujuan Hoosan, Margaret Anderson, and Carol Turner, illustrated by Blak Douglas, and "The Trees" by Tagalaka man Victor Steffensen, illustrated by his sister, Sandra Steffensen. These works highlight connections to Country, language, and community.

3 October 2024 - The European Union has delayed the implementation of its deforestation regulation by 12 months, originally set for December 2024. The regulation requires importers to ensure products like beef are not sourced from land deforested after 2020. Wilderness Society’s Hannah Schuch highlighted the delay as an opportunity to implement stronger environmental protections, stating, "It’s a grace period for industry and government to get their systems in place, not to carry out more habitat destruction."

16 September 2024 - Woolworths' commitment to sourcing deforestation-free beef by 2025 has sparked debate over the definition of 'deforestation.' Environmentalists advocate for stringent interpretations to protect ecosystems, while industry groups seek definitions aligned with existing agricultural practices. Wilderness Society spokesperson Tim Beshara criticised lenient definitions, stating, "These definitions are an attempt to label the use of bulldozers to rip down hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest and bushland each year as a sustainable practice."

14 August 2024 - Cattle Australia is pushing for exemptions to the European Union's deforestation regulations, which are set to restrict imports of beef from lands cleared in the past four years. The group argues that Australian agricultural lands, cleared under strict vegetation management laws, should be exempt. However, environmental organisations, including the Wilderness Society, have criticised the move. Tim Beshara from the Wilderness Society said, "These definitions are an attempt to label the use of bulldozers to rip down hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest and bushland each year as a sustainable practice." The EU market represents $140 million in annual beef exports.

14 August 2024 - The Australian Greens are calling for significant changes to proposed environmental laws, arguing that the current draft fails to address critical issues like biodiversity loss and climate change. Wilderness Society biodiversity policy and campaign manager Sam Szoke-Burke urged the government to engage with the crossbench, stating, "We stand ready to welcome amendments to the bills that increase transparency and accountability of assessments and decisions." Szoke-Burke added that crossbench proposals could ensure a truly independent EPA and help tackle deforestation.

September 5, 2024 - "Nedingar: Ancestors," a dual-language children's book authored by Wilman, Ballardong Noongar woman Isobel Bevis and illustrated by Wudjari and Goreng Noongar woman Leanne Zilm, has received its third accolade this awards season. The book has been shortlisted for the Karajia Award and recognised as a CBCA Notable Book. The story emphasises the connection between children, their ancestors, and Country, aiming to instils a sense of responsibility towards environmental stewardship.

20 August 2024 - Six leading nature and ocean conservation organisations from across Australia have released a scathing Statement calling out the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) over its failure to ensure offshore oil and gas companies clean up disused oil and gas infrastructure from the ocean.

Wilderness Society Fossil Fuel Industry Campaigner Fern Cadman, said, “The failure of NOPSEMA to ensure offshore oil and gas companies clean up disused and decaying structures is threatening Australia’s spectacular marine environment. Rusty and decaying wells, pipelines and platforms can rupture, leak and decay, causing chemicals including oil, gas condensate, heavy metals and radioactive material to spread into the ocean. The longer the clean up is delayed, the worse the risks will become."

17 August 2024 - There are between 40 and 120 remaining adult Maugean skate—a fish endemic only to western Tasmania—on the planet. Scientists on the federal government’s threatened species committee have states that the best way to save the ancient species is to eliminate salmon farming in its habitat.

Manger of Policy and Strategy for the Wilderness Society, Tim Beshara, said, “The science shows a direct connection between the industry, the commodity and the companies and the imminent extinction of a species."

12 August 2024 - For almost a decade, tourism operator Wild Drake has sought to privately develop precious World Heritage wilderness at Lake Malbena. Their proposal threatens the rich Aboriginal cultural heritage of the area, vital habitat for threatened species like the critically endangered Tasmanian wedge tailed eagle, and world-class wilderness values.

In breaking news, the Wilderness Society and the Tasmanian National Parks Association have taken a crucial next step in this long-running campaign: together, the organisations have filed in the Federal Court to wind up Wild Drake Pty Ltd.

7 August 2024 - Over 8,127 hectares of potentially unlawful deforestation, which equates has been uncovered in the heart of the NT’s globally significant savanna. The deforestation was identified with Wilderness Society’s Watch on Nature citizen science satellite data monitoring program.

Jenita Enevoldsen, Senior Campaigner for the Wilderness Society, said, “The appalling scale of the recent deforestation discovered across Sturt Plateau is why Australia needs an independent and accountable EPA: to close deforestation loopholes in current nature laws."

2 August 2024 - The Miles government has introduced new regulations designed to protect Queensland's Channel Country rivers and floodplains, one of the last remaining free-flowing desert river systems on Earth, from new oil and gas developments.

Wilderness Society Queensland campaign manager Hannah Schuch called on the LNP to also express its support for the protections for the Lake Eyre Basin floodplains.

11 July 2024 - The Wilderness Society's shortlists for the Karajia and Environment Awards for Children's Literature have been announced. Among the shortlisted authors is Isobel Bevis, a Wilman, Ballardong Noongar woman, whose book Nedingar: Ancestors celebrates the beauty of Country and family.

18 June 2024 - Two proposed hydrogen and e-fuel projects in northern Tasmania will have significant impacts on renewable energy demand and the environment, requiring hundreds of new wind turbines, using billions of litres of water, and threatening native forest, according to a new report jointly produced by the Tasmanian Climate Collective, The Tree Projects and the Wilderness Society.

Jimmy Cordwell, campaigner for the Wilderness Society, said, “These proposed projects are just robbing Peter to pay Paul. There is no doubt that a transition to renewable energy is necessary, but how we undertake such projects is crucial. Increasing the destruction of Lutruwita / Tasmania’s world-class forests for low-value woodchip to power hydrogen and e-fuel projects is unacceptable.

13 June 2024 - This year's shortlist for the annual Karajia and Environment Awards for Children's Literature has been announced. Now in it's 30th year, the Environment Award for Children's Literature acknowledges books that inspire a love of and care for nature. The Karajia Award is a prize specifically for First Nations writers writing about Country, Culture and connection.

Matt Brennan, CEO of Wilderness Society, said “Storytelling is one of the ways that the Wilderness Society helps to protect nature. Using photographs, illustrations, and stories is how we connect people to nature. And it has been from the very beginning of our organisation’s history, when a simple photo of a river bend in the Franklin River galvanised a nation.

8 June 2024 - Questions around future management of Kunanyi / Mt Wellington and the surrounding park are being raised in Tasmania.

Jimmy Cordwell, campaigner for the Wilderness Society, says protection of Kunanyi / Mt Wellington "must focus on the preservation of its iconic natural values and deep cultural significance. Honouring the rights and aspirations of Aboriginal Tasmanians, their stewardship of Country, and the recommendations of the Pathway to Truth-Telling and Treaty must be front and centre."

6 June 2024 - Chevron proposes to create "artificial reefs" out of long disused oil platforms off WA's Pilbara coast. Yet research shows oil and gas platform can cause heavy metals and other chemicals to leach into the environment.

Fern Cadman, Fossil Fuels Campaigner for the Wilderness Society, said, "The question we should be asking is whether oil and gas infrastructure, which was never intended to be a substitute for marine ecosystems, should be being used in that way."

"We are concerned that this project slipping through without proper environmental scrutiny could then set a precedent for other similar proposals."

4 June 2024 - In Australia, “irreplaceable” tall-tree forests remain at risk, says Amelia Young, the Wilderness Society’s National Campaigns Director. “Because of our evolutionary history, these forests are unlike those found anywhere else on Earth. There are so few left, [yet] they are incredibly significant for biological and cultural reasons.”

29 May 2024 - In May, the Albanese government released their draft Environmental Protection Agency Bill.

Wilderness Society campaigner Victoria Jack said a minimum standard for the new EPA must be effective consultation on approval proposals.

“The public must be able to have a fair say about environmental decisions that will affect them.”

15 May 2024 - After a disappointing budget announcement, Biodiversity Policy and Campaign Manager, Sam Szoke-Burke said, "The Albanese government has again responded to this crisis with shrugged shoulders and more of the same. It’s clear that nature is not a priority for the Albanese government—a government that was elected on the promise of environment and climate action."

10 May 2024 - The Wilderness Society Tasmania lodged an appeal to the Supreme Court of Tasmania, to challenge the Magistrate's decision that it did not have jurisdictional authority to bring a criminal prosecution against Sustainable Timber Tasmania.

"The community expects Tasmania's precious forests to be protected by strong laws, but the regulator is nowhere to be seen," said campaigns manager Alice Hardinge.

"If the Forestry Practices Authority can't or won't do it, the community should have the right to do so."

9 May 2024 - It was revealed that the Australian government asked the EU to delay its regulation that would prevent the import of commodities linked to deforestation.

"The Australian government is telling the world Australia is a global leader on environment issues, all while asking for delays and exemptions to the EU's flagship deforestation regulation," said Adele Chasson, Corporate Campaigner for the Wilderness Society.

21 April 2024 - In April, the Albanese government announced their plan to establish an Environmental Protection Agency.

Amelia Young, Campaigns Director for the Wilderness Society, said “nature needs a proper EPA”, with powers like those of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which as the watchdog for financial markets cannot be overridden by the finance minister.

13 April 2024 - Sam Szoke-Burke, Biodiversity Policy and Campaign Manager, says the community will judge the current environmental law reforms on whether they “actually stop deforestation and extinctions."

“The current drafts don’t yet change the status quo for nature.”

19 March 2024 - Alice Hardinge, state campaign manager for the Wilderness Society Tasmania, says it is increasingly clear that some politicians are prepared to ignore people who cared about nature, but Tasmanians ultimately expected the state’s “precious places” to be protected.

“What is at stake is worth far more than cheap politics.”

18 March 2024 - The NSW government passed a bill that will ban offshore oil and gas in its coastal waters, making it the first Australian state to do so.

Victoria Jack, Campaigns Manager for the Wilderness Society NSW, said, "It’s not so long ago that a legislated ban on offshore oil and gas mining would have seemed unimaginable.

“The fact that we are here now shows that a better future is possible when governments are accountable to the community instead of the fossil fuel lobby."

16 March 2024 - Fern Cadman, Fossil Fuel Industry campaigner for Wilderness Society, says the government must regulate petroleum producers and not just rubber stamp their activities.

“The current rules for community consultation are exactly what the offshore fossil fuel industry called for and were given by the former Coalition government,” Cadman says.

“But now that First Nations people and communities are exercising their right to a fair say about oil and gas projects that will impact them, those very same companies want the current government to rewrite the rules.”

13 March 2024 - Court proceedings revealed that state-owned logging agency VicForests would wind up on 30 June 2024.

Matt Landolfo, Campaigns Manager for Wilderness Society Victoria, said, "The end of VicForests is a welcome and necessary step towards the protection and restoration of Victoria’s globally-significant native forests. But, the restoration task left in VicForests’ wake is huge."

10 March 2024 - During the summer of 2022/23 Billy Rowe eagerly watched and photographed a flock of critically endangered swift parrots congregating in a remote Tasmanian forest slated for logging. Now, one year on, the forest has been destroyed by the state owned logging agency Forestry Tasmania, despite the threatened status of the birds.

"It is no secret that habitat destruction is the biggest threat to the swift parrot right now. If we do not protect forests like this now, this iconic parrot will swiftly become extinct,” said Alice Hardinge, Campaigns Manager for Wilderness Society Tasmania.

6 March 2024 - New analysis shows more than 2m hectares of bushland in Queensland that included large swathes of possible koala habitat has been cleared over a five-year period.

Wilderness Society Queensland campaign manager, Hannah Schuch, said deforestation in Queensland was driving biodiversity loss.

“It’s having an impact on iconic native species like the koala, the greater glider, the red goshawk, it’s tearing down their homes and pushing them towards extinction."

29 February 2024 - Wilderness Society campaigner Alice Hardinge says Tasmania's Liberal government's promising to expand native forest logging is not good enough, especially in the middle of an election campaign.

She says all 356,000ha have been independently assessed and found to have extremely high conservation values. Voters deserve to know which of the more than 250 parcels that make up the area will be targeted.

22 February 2024 - Proposed reforms to Australia’s national environment law still include loopholes that must be closed if the reforms are to actually protect nature from mass deforestation.

"The draft laws, as currently written, are simply not strong enough to protect nature from needless destruction. Science demands, and the community expects, nature laws that work— including by stopping deforestation. And delivering these laws is well within Labor’s grasp," said Sam Szoke-Burke, Biodiversity and Campaign Policy Manager for the Wilderness Society,

22 February 2024 - The Wilderness Society, Environmental Justice Australia, and Environment Centre Northern Territory say that the draft national environment laws do not go far enough to stop large-scale deforestation for agriculture and mining developments, or explicitly reference the need to halt the decline in threatened species, which has accelerated.

11 February 2024 - The NSW government has announced that it will move to legislate a ban on offshore oil and gas exploration and infrastructure.

"This legislation is a real opportunity to secure the gas-free coastline that NSW wants and deserves. After years of overwhelming opposition to PEP-11, we are hopeful that parliament will support the bill and we can finally say goodbye to the threat of fossil fuels off the NSW coast," Wilderness Society NSW Campaigns Manager Victoria Jack said.

10 January 2024 - Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has blocked a proposal to build a wind turbine assembly plant at the Port of Hastings in Victoria due to unacceptable environmental impacts on the Western Port Ramsar wetland. The Wilderness Society welcomes this decision from Minister Plibersek, who said in her rejection that the plant would cause “irreversible damage to the habitat of waterbirds and migratory birds and marine invertebrates and fish”.

22 December 2023 - Ending the year with a significant victory, the Queensland government announced that the Lake Eyre Basin will be protected from future oil and gas exploration following eight years of commitments from the Labor government. Hannah Schuch, Wilderness Society Queensland Campaigns Manager said the Premier "should be proud of the milestone, given he was Environment Minister in 2015 when the initial commitment was made."

14 December 2023 - More and more banks across the globe are committing to rein in financing deforestation - and now Westpac has joined them, becoming the first bank in Australia to announce a zero-deforestation target. Under the pressure of legislation and voluntary initiatives, it’s only a matter of time before other Australian banks and investors will need to confront their deforestation impacts, writes Adele Chasson, Corporate Campaigner for the Wilderness Society.

13 December 2023 - Over the coming decades in Australia, more than $60 billion in oil and gas cleanup will need to happen.

"If gas and oil companies aren't made to pay right now, it's you and I (and our children) who will," said Wilderness Society Fossil Fuel Industry Campaigner, Fern Cadman.

12 December 2023 - The WA government has announced changes to state environment laws that would fast track approvals.

"Removing appeal rights offered to the public under the Environment Protection Act is a serious concern for access to justice for communities, and for nature," campaign manager Tim Clifford said.

6 December 2023 - The federal government has passed the Nature Repair Market Bill. Although it now excludes offsetting provisions, it cannot be relied upon alone to stop biodiversity decline and extinctions.

National Campaigns Director for the Wilderness Society, Amelia Young, said "Properly enforcing the current EPBC Act is the action we expect the Government to be taking right now, while also reforming Australia’s nature laws."

29 November 2023 - Protesters gathered outside QLD Parliament House in November to urge the government to protect the globally unique Channel Country from new oil and gas.

Wilderness Society QLD Campaign Manager, Hannah Schuch, said communities did not want to see natural and ecologically significant systems unnecessarily tarnished by exploration and fracking. “We want to see these protections enacted now, we can’t wait any longer."

24 November 2023 - In a 6 September letter to the environment minister, Australia’s major conservation organisations, including the Wilderness Society, expressed concern about some of the reforms under consideration and a lack of urgency around the reform.

22 November 2023 - A NSW parliamentary committee has released its report on their inquiry into the Offshore Drilling and Associated Infrastructure Prohibition Bill 2023 which, if passed, would make NSW the first state to legislate a ban on offshore oil and gas mining. However, the committee recommended that the Bill should not be passed.

"We are disappointed by the findings of the committee. Coastal communities have been campaigning together for years to protect the NSW coastline from the PEP11 project, which would have significant impacts on our climate and marine life if it proceeds, and these communities deserve a gas-free coastline," Wilderness Society NSW Campaigns Manager Victoria Jack said.

18 November 2023 - In the NT, pastoral land clearing takes place with little environmental or cultural-heritage regulation.

Permits are reviewed by the Pastoral Land Board, but as Jenita Enevoldsen, Senior Campaigner for the Wilderness Society says, “There is a distinct lack of First Nations representation and environmental-science expertise on the Pastoral Land Board, which is concerning as they hold the power to decide on the approval of clearing permits across thousands of hectares of intact cultural landscapes.”

15 November 2023 - In November, Domino's began advertising it's range pizzas with meats slow-roasted over “Aussie Mountain ash woodchips”. Mountain ash ecosystems in Victoria’s central highlands are now listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as critically endangered on its Red List.

"Companies like Domino's have a responsibility to ensure they are not contributing to deforestation, and to be transparent about their supply chains," said Victorian Campaign Manager for the Wilderness Society, Matt Landolfo.

19 October 2023 - A statement, signed by the Wilderness Society, was delivered to federal environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, calling for better conservation funding to protect and restore nature, as well as improved transparency around the current environmental law reform process.

17 October 2023 - The federal government announced that draft environment reform would be rolled out for comment, but without public consultation.

Sam Szoke-Burke, Biodiversity Policy and Campaign Manager for the Wilderness Society said “No public consultations means that vested interests will be able to do their bidding behind closed doors with no oversight.”

5 October 2023 - Sixty Victorian NGOs wrote to the Victorian Premier and Treasurer, urging them to wind up the state-owned logging company, VicForests, due to its systematic failures and breach of public trust.

Wilderness Society Victoria Campaign Manager Matt Landolfo said it's time to "rebuild public trust, generate employment in the regions and work in partnership with traditional owners who have cared for country for millennia."

8 September 2023 - A recovery plan for swift parrot's was released on Threatened Species Day which does not require an end to the destruction of swift parrot habitat, despite identifying logging as a significant threat. Wilderness Society Tasmania Campaign Manager Tom Allen said the “weakness and meekness of the [recovery] plan’s protection measures show how damaging Regional Forest Agreements are for nature”.

24 August 2023 - A new report, commissioned by the Wilderness Society and prepared by EY, launched at this year's Investor Group on Climate Change Summit has shed light on the growing implications of deforestation and forest degradation risk for both Australian and European investors.

7 September 2023 - This Threatened Species Day, the federal government announced 48 more plant and animal species had been listed federally as threatened.

“This many species being added to the list in one go is a sign of widespread ecological collapse,” said Tim Beshara, Manager of Policy and Strategy for the Wilderness Society.

16 August 2023 - Footage of a centuries old tree, cut down and loaded onto the back of a truck, sparked outrage across the world.

Alice Hardinge, Campaigner for the Wilderness Society Tasmania, said “Forestry Tasmania says that it doesn't log giant trees. Yet every other week, Tasmanians see giant single-log loads on the back of trucks, and concerned citizens find giant stumps in public state forests.”

14 August 2023 - Earlier this year it was revealed that Alcoa's mining activities could render water from Perth's dams undrinkable. Documents obtained by the Wilderness Society via FOI were able to confirm that Water Corporation WA was of the view that Alcoa’s mining was a “very significant intergenerational risk to water quality and security of supply in drinking water catchments.”

1 August 2023 - In August, the Queensland government released it's report into land clearing, showing a 49 per cent reduction in 2020-21 from the previous year. However, more than 340,000 hectares of land were still cleared. 82 % of the cleared land was category X — land that has previously been cleared, and the only unregulated category.

Hannah Schuch, Queensland Campaign Manager for the Wilderness Society said category X should also be covered by the legislation and that it is it is key habitat for koalas.

12 July 2023 - We are in a biodiversity crisis on par with the climate crisis. Yet, the federal government continues to trip itself up on environmental law reform.

Instead of trade-offs and market solutions, the Albanese government must focus on doing the work to protect nature and enabling the community and First Nations peoples to have a fair say in decisions that affect them, says the Wilderness Society's Biodiversity Policy & Campaign Manager Sam Szoke-Burke.

6 July 2023 - The Karajia Award celebrates and recognises the important message of First Nations authors and illustrators, who share stories exploring land, community, culture and language. Mamamia explores nine of their favourite shortlisted Karajia Award books!

20 June 2023 - In June, mining company Alcoa yesterday announced a large exclusion zone around Dwellingup, WA that would see the region’s ancient jarrah forests and wildlife protected from future mining interests—however the region was not earmarked for mining to begin with and unfortunately the announcement is simply another case of corporate greenwashing.

Campaign manager for Wilderness Society WA, Tim Clifford, said "Repackaging inaction as environmental conservation is simply not enough."

13 June 2023 - On the same day that the state of Victoria announced native forest logging would end within a year, the Northern Territory government officially rolled out the red carpet to large-scale cotton irrigators and beef producers, to expand land clearing and deforestation across 100,000 hectares.

Wilderness Society senior campaigner Jenita Enevoldsen explores why new national environment laws are so critical for NT's tropical savanna.

10 June 2023 - Documents obtained via FOI have revealed the Federal Government significantly downplayed the impact of Australia’s deforestation activities at a crucial global agriculture minister’s conference in Berlin earlier this year.

Wilderness Society federal policy director Tim Beshara said “The only way to fix it is to fix it. That is to turn around the decline in nature. Not to try it on with definitional games and spin.”

10 June 2023 - The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area is the world’s highest-rated World Heritage wilderness, but it is threatened by unwelcome tourism developments.

27 May 2023 - Although Victoria has declared an end to native forest logging, the same cannot yet be said for Tasmania. Tom Allen, campaign manager for Wilderness Society Tasmania, says "The rest of the country is transitioning forwards.

The industry in Tasmania is basically asking the taxpayer to fund it transitioning backwards and we can't afford to go backwards."

23 May 2023 - In May, the Victorian government announced an end to native forest logging in 2024.

National Campaigns Director for the Wilderness Society, Amelia Young, says “living, breathing, intact forests” are our best safeguard against the climate crisis.