Process magazine: June issue

Source: CSIRO
"The June 2009 issue of Process looks at a diverse range of projects that aim to improve the environmental, economic and social sustainability of Australia's minerals and coal industries."

Urban congestion: why "free" roads are costly

Source: Australian Treasury
"Many see traffic jams as a fact of city life, but its root cause is overuse of a common resource – the urban road network. Putting a price on access to roads at busy times could encourage individuals to change their travel plans, according to this report. Most roads are nominally ‘free’ to drive on, resulting in demand for many roads that exceeds capacity at relatively predictable times. This means that motorists do in fact pay – in wasted time – to drive on ‘free’ roads at peak periods, which disrupts the flow of people and goods in the economy, harming productivity and growth – as well as frustrating all road users."

National assessment guidelines for dredging

source: Dept. of the Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts
"A healthy marine environment is essential for Australia’s current and future well being. Australia has entered international agreements and implements legislation to help preserve marine ecosystems and prevent marine pollution. The international agreement relating to the dumping of wastes and other matter in Australian waters, including dredged material, is called the London Protocol. Australia implements its obligations under the London Protocol through the Commonwealth Environment Protection (Sea Dumping) Act 1981 (the Sea Dumping Act).Through the Sea Dumping Act, the Australian Government assesses proposals to load and dump wastes and other matter at sea, permits acceptable activities, and places conditions of approval, to mitigate and manage environmental impacts.The National Assessment Guidelines for Dredging set out the framework for the environmental impact assessment and permitting of the ocean disposal of dredged material."

Towards a systems-based approach to planning infrastructure

source: ECOS, no.149 (2009)
"ECOS issue 149 reports on a collaboration between Sustainable Ecosystems (CSE) and Queensland Water Infrastructure (QWI) to implement a systems-based approach to major infrastructure projects – starting with the Traveston Crossing Dam – aimed at reducing negative environmental and community impacts."

Understanding the environmental impact of communication systems

source: Ofcom
"The purpose of this study was to improve our understanding of the type and degree of environmental impact that communication systems can have. The work aimed to provide a reference point in terms of relevant environmental background material, data examples, analyses, and key source references. A second aim was to help understanding of the scale and type of impacts communication systems can have. The study was not intended to be a definitive impact assessment of UK communication systems, but was intended to inform on a range of relevant issues and provide insight into environmental impacts for communication systems relevant to the UK."

Environmental views and behaviour 2007-08

Source: Aust. Bureau of Statistics
"This survey presents information on people's views and practices on environmental issues, for people aged 18 years and over. The data collected provides information on environmental concerns, personal energy and water use, waste collection and disposal and environmental involvement. Data from this survey are used to obtain a better understanding of the factors that influence people to participate in environmental activities and energy and water conservation practices."

The environment

Time magazine special edition on the environment.

Rapid recovery of damaged ecosystems

source: PLoS One, May 2009
"Recent reports on the state of the global environment provide evidence that humankind is inflicting great damage to the very ecosystems that support human livelihoods. The reports further predict that ecosystems will take centuries to recover from damages if they recover at all. Accordingly, there is despair that we are passing on a legacy of irreparable damage to future generations which is entirely inconsistent with principles of sustainability. We tested the prediction of irreparable harm using a synthesis of recovery times compiled from 240 independent studies reported in the scientific literature. We provide startling evidence that most ecosystems globally can, given human will, recover from very major perturbations on timescales of decades to half-centuries."

Comparison of condition class, point sampling and track problem assessment methods in assessing the condition of walking tracks in NSW protected areas

Source: CRC Sustainable Tourism
"Protected area managers need to monitor the ecological effects of visitor use and assess their performance in managing visitor use. To assist this process STCRC has established a series of projects to develop indicators and protocols for monitoring visitor use and its impacts that can be used as part of an integrated monitoring system for protected areas. This report is one in a series examining terrestrial ecological impacts of visitor use."

Woodchipping our water

source: ACF
"This report, Woodchipping Our Water, assesses how the logging of mature forests in the Goulburn River catchment threatens the enormous water production and carbon
sequestration potential of the region. The Goulburn River is one of Australia’s most important and degraded river systems. It supplies water to many regional towns and cities, including Shepparton, Bendigo and Ballarat. The Goulburn also supports Victoria’s major irrigation industries and its flows are vital to the health of the Murray River system. The report finds that if logging in the study area stopped tomorrow, an additional water yield of 3,807 gigalitres would be delivered into the Goulburn River over the next 100 years. This is more than six times Melbourne’s annual average water use and around 165 times the amount of water the City of Bendigo uses in a single year. The economic value of this water would be $1.68 billion."

Australia's strategy for the national reserve system 2009-2030

Source: Dept. of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
"The next 20 years will be a critical period for biodiversity conservation in Australia. The release of the National Reserve System Strategy 2009-2030 is an important step towards long-term protection of Australia's biodiversity. The strategy will fully guide the work on the National Reserve System in the years ahead. Each state and territory will now prepare a five-year plan to implement the strategy. These plans will support the strategy and reflect the regional differences in conserving biodiversity across the landscape and the conservation challenges they pose. Australia's National Reserve System is the cornerstone to protecting our country's biodiversity - it is our nation's most secure way of protecting native habitat."

Corporate responsibility index 2008

Source:St James Ethics Centre
"Companies say they're committed to improving their performance on environment, climate change and waste management but few can show practical improvements. That's the latest outcome the St James Ethics Centre's Corporate Responsibility Index (CRI) 2008 appears to show. A total of 35 companies representing more than $46bn in revenue and more than 700,000 jobs participated in the CRI. Only 14% scored 95% and above on environmental management".

Land management and farming in Australia 2007-08

Source: Aust. Bureau of Statistics
"This publication presents information on agricultural land management practices. Data were collected in the 2007-08 Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) conducted by the ABS. The publication and related datacubes provide important information on a variety of management practices of Australian agricultural businesses, including cropping and pasture management, soil management, fertiliser use, surface water and effluent management, natural environment conservation protection and farm management. The estimates in this publication provide benchmark data on resource management practices for the Australian Government's Caring for our Country program. This program is a Commonwealth government initiative that seeks to achieve an environment that is healthy, better protected, well managed and resilient, and provides essential ecosystem services in a changing climate."

Index of leading environmental indicators 2009

Source: Pacific Research Institute
"The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) have released the 2009 Index of Leading Environmental Indicators, an annual report highlighting the significant environmental developments and milestones in the United States and worldwide."

Extending the sustainable management of kangaroos

Source: RIRDC
"Kangaroo harvesting is entrenched as an essential agricultural and environmental management tool in the arid grazing rangelands of Australia. A significant amount of research exists which confirms that harvesting kangaroos at the maximum sustainable yield of the population delivers a considerable benefit to agricultural enterprise margins. More-over doing so also aids in biodiversity maintenance. Overgrazing remains one of the biggest sustainability threats to the rangelands environment. Various state and territory governments regulations prevent commercial kangaroo harvesting in large sections of grazing lands in Australia. This project was commissioned to identify these restricted areas, the impediments involved and attempts to gain commercial access key identified regions."

Government drought support: inquiry report

Source: Productivity Commission
"Governments need to commit to a long term reform path that recognises that the primary responsibility for managing risks, including from climate variability and change, rests with farmers."

Quantifying a relationship between place-based learning and environment quality: final report

Source: National Park Service Conservation Study Institute (U.S.)
"A first of its kind study funded by EPA shows that environmental education programs are an effective tool in helping to improve air quality in North America.Nearly half of the surveyed institutions hosting education programs reported an improvement in air quality at their facilities due to actions taken by students, including doing service-learning projects and fostering community partnerships. Examples include decreased levels of carbon monoxide and mold, and enactment of a policy that decreased car or bus idling. An additional 43 percent of the surveyed programs reported some kind of action was taken to improve the environment. "

An assessment of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in sediments and bivalves of the US coastal zone

Source: NOAA Mussel Watch Program
"NOAA scientists, in a first-of-its-kind report issued today, state that Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs), chemicals commonly used in commercial goods as flame retardants since the 1970s, are found in all United States coastal waters and the Great Lakes, with elevated levels near urban and industrial centers. The new findings are in contrast to analysis of samples as far back as 1996 that identified PBDEs in only a limited number of sites around the nation. "

Bringing molecular tools into environmental resource management

Source: PLoS Biology, vol.7 (3) March 2009
"We believe that scientists and resource managers charged with implementing environmental policy can develop meaningful dialogues to navigate and in some cases streamline this complex “science to policy” pathway. As a model for this pathway, we focus on molecular biology because it presents new techniques that might improve management of environmental resources. However, adopting them would require a wide range of changes in management protocols and policy, as well as data interpretation and database management."

An assessment of environment regulation of the steel industry in China

Source: Alliance for American Manufacturing
"A new report provides the most in-depth and detailed examination to date of the serious flaws in China’s pollution-control regime and the damage it is doing to human health and global efforts to address climate change. Released on the eve of a Congressional hearing on climate issues, the report focuses on China’s rapidly growing steel industry, and documents China’s ineffective enforcement of weak pollution-control standards, its failure to use adequate pollution-prevention measures, and the resulting high levels of pollution."