Forest Ecology Alliance

08/09/2026

An interesting show about ecologist Humboldt’s philosophy. He was so right - we ARE nature.

Wonder what Humboldt would think of nature capitalism that emerged in 1994?

1994 was also the same year that the Sky Dancers Fairy Doll was invented. It, too, was on a chaotic trajectory to nowhere. Kids couldn’t control where it went - effectively it was an unguided missile. If it managed to avoid taking out your sibling’s eye, it was bound to crash into the new plasma TV screen or bring down an urn of ashes from the mantelpiece.

Thankfully… the Sky Dancers were recalled in 2000.

Unlike natural capitalism. That just continually morphed.

We just can’t seem to help ourselves trying to find new ways to attach nature to market forces via carbon credit schemes.

And now…cashed-up companies depend on satellite imaging, AI sensing and eDNA sampling to verify whether a forest is actually generating the biodiversity outcomes promised on corporate balance sheets.

So struggling, low “achieving” nature doesn’t stand a chance in the offsets market, does it?

Surely commodifying nature will run its course, you say.

Apparently not.

Here in Australia, it’s just had a super-injection of power now that we’ve outsourced the marketing - and the big-time spruiking - to conservationists.

We all need a reminder about humility from Herr Humboldt.

The idea that everything in nature is interconnected comes largely from the German philosopher, geographer, naturalist and explorer, Alexander von Humboldt. After a scientific expedition to the Americas at the turn of the 19th century, Humboldt came to realise that nature existed in interconnected e...

08/09/2026

🌳 Some of the oldest cultural features on farms are scarred trees where bark was removed to make canoes, shields, tools or coolamons. Carved trees are rarer and often mark ceremonial grounds or burial sites.

🌿 These trees provide important evidence of traditional use of the landscape and are among the oldest surviving cultural features on private land.

They are highly significant and irreplaceable.

If you think you've found a scarred or carved tree:
• Do not disturb the tree.
• Do not remove bark or timber.
• Avoid works in the surrounding area.

🤝 Seeking advice early can help ensure these features are protected.

📖 The NSW Government's Local Land Services Cultural Heritage Landholders Handbook provides practical guidance on what to look for and what to do next.

📞 Copies are available through the NSW Government's Local Land Services offices – contact your local team on 1300 795 299 to find your nearest office and talk through what this means for your property.

🔗 For more information about preserving Aboriginal culture on your property visit our website https://bit.ly/4vVn0TM

07/09/2026

Truth. Claiming that the INFM will end native forest logging is a glaring example of “repeat a lie often enough and it will be believed” strategy. It’s just NOT true.

07/09/2026

07/09/2026

I’m busy watching truckloads of prime koala habitat leave Pine Creek Compartments 32–33. So excuse me if I repost this Threatened Species Day post from 7 September 2024.

And just a heads-up - the Improved Native Forest Management (INFM) method does not, by itself, provide protection for all habitat forests. The federal method is specifically designed around multiple-use public native forests. It is not a mechanism for protecting habitat on private land or forests classified as plantations.
That matters a lot up here.

Pine Creek, Tuckers Nob and many other areas classified as “plantations” contain forests that provide important habitat and connectivity. Some areas here on the mid north coast, where 20% of the state’s koalas live, have significant remnant forest and substantial regrowth of native vegetation that provides habitat for koalas and other threatened wildlife.

The problem is that a label such as “plantation” does not necessarily tell us the ecological value of the forest that exists there today.

Pine Creek has a long history of forest conversion to its current “plantation” status now.

And our forests here are not simply interchangeable with plantation forests elsewhere.

The North Coast has high water (heck, there once were rainforests here aplenty), highly productive forests, fertile soil, rapid growth and a climate in which native vegetation can readily regenerate. Mature, diverse forests that are currently supporting wildlife - are in both native and “plantation” forests.

The building industry relies heavily on softwood plantation timber (which is not in this area) while the North Coast hardwood plantation and native forests are targetted for industrial-scale logging for the current market - woodchip for biomass (burnt for electricity and driven over two hours away to Broadwater), power poles, pallets and tomato stakes.

So, if you really want to help threatened species, please support the locals and friends afar who are trying to protect the remaining habitat and wildlife corridors of the Never Never, Pine Creek and Tuckers Nob.

Threatened species need functioning habitat at this point in history more than ever before.

06/09/2026

06/09/2026

So…maybe another year of breathing space for the forests of the proposed GKNP.
In Budget Estimates on 1 Sept, NSW Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty indicated that a 12-month moratorium placed one year ago and due to expire at midnight on 8 Sept 2026 will be extended for 12 months.

Moriarty also said, “…we’re hoping to get the park established as soon as possible and to deal with the things that we need to do to get the park established in this term of government. There are only six sitting weeks left and there are things stuck in Federal Parliament.”

Those “things” are being held up for many reasons…including pre-election posturing.

So please help the Senators out. There is still time to write to Senators before 15 September.

To be clear…if the INFM carbon method is attached to the GKNP, 100 years of “permanence” does NOT mean 100 years of watertight legal protection (from logging, clearing or other permitted activities) for every forest and every hectare within the GKNP.

The 100 years relates to the 100-year permanence requirement applying to the INFM project and its credited abatement. Permanence means the length of time that carbon removed from the atmosphere is expected to remain stored and prevented from being released back into the atmosphere. It does NOT mean 100 years of guaranteed ACCU income, nor does it necessarily mean 100 years of legal conservation protection.

Several factors could affect the GKNP’s eligibility under the INFM method and its implementation. These include:

•Which forests will actually qualify as carbon protection areas?

•How much forest remains outside the carbon protection areas and remains subject to harvesting under the project's management arrangements?

•The GKNP INFM only includes a 15-year ACCU crediting period.

•What happens to logging outside carbon protection areas after the 15-year crediting period, subject to the INFM project's 100-year permanence requirements?

•Baseline and FullCAM modelling assumptions such as baseline land-use history, rainfall, forest carbon growth and carbon-stock assumptions, and disturbance/fire regimes, which could reduce modelled abatement and affect GKNP eligibility under the INFM.

•Over 10,000 hectares of land within the proposed GKNP have been industrially logged in recent years and over 5,000 hectares of land within the proposed GKNP has been extensively depleted by mega-fire damage.

•Bell Miner Associated Dieback (BMAD) and other problems have been caused by past industrial logging and resultant broken canopies

•The amount of carbon actually credited

•Leakage (moving logging to another area) and negative-abatement adjustments

•ACCU prices and future carbon-market demand. Estimates of potential GKNP carbon revenue vary widely – please read the article in comments for further details

•Changes to legislation, regulations or carbon methodologies

•Compliance with project requirements and management plans

•Fire, drought, flood, disease and other possible disturbances

•The current INFM methodology itself has an expiry date of 30 September 2036. From that date, no new projects can be registered under this particular methodology. A replacement or alternative carbon methodology could potentially be proposed and developed before or after that date.

The INFM is a carbon-accounting mechanism - it is NOT the same thing as declaring the forests a national park.

“100-year carbon permanence” should not be confused with “100 years of guaranteed forest protection.”

For the GKNP forests to be protected for generations, the strongest security remains durable legal protection of the forests themselves.

🌳The most effective way to protect the forests of the GKNP and other habitat forests of NSW is to declare an end to native forest logging and to declare public native forests as national parks and other protected areas.🌳

Another year could make all the difference.

06/09/2026

THANK YOU shining light Bob Brown 🙏🏾

Defiance can take many forms.

Stand strong in your personal values - ignore the coercion/lemming-like agreement with all around you/money/bribes/emotional blackmail of any form

Peaceful protests and rallies

Civil disobedience

Just say no or yes (especially if feeling pulled along by peer pressure towards yes or no)

Turn off the screens - or at least the algorithms

Walkouts/strikes

Speak out where you see injustice/against oppression

Support courageous whistleblowers - in writing, in person in court, financially - however possible

Write to authorities or decision-makers/sign petitions

Raise awareness in your community/markets/street stalls/start a brave discussion at a social occasion/letterbox drops/organise an event such as a thinktank/forum/debate/fun event with an info theme

Make music/art/craft to express dissent

Wear a t-shirt or badge/car signs

Buy local produce/support local sustainability networks

Help your preferred candidate at elections

Most importantly - care for your inner strength/moral code so that you can hold up a light of peace and hope to the last. 🕯️

In the face of accelerating environmental destruction, defiance is our foundation’s credo.

Join us. Discover ways to get involved here https://bobbrown.org.au/get-involved/

05/09/2026

There are so many now on the “money train,” manufacturing their own truth and manipulating their “feed” to validate their reality so that they can look in the mirror each day.

The current ICAC inquiry, focussing on toxic electioneering, is just one example of how deeply entrenched lying is in society today. There are so many others who have have accepted a no-truth world and so Perrottet’s words yesterday are, well…par for the course.

“I've accepted where I lied and misled people. That does not make me to be a dishonest person.”

Jumping aboard a “money train” of any origin is the fastest track towards becoming desensitised to truth manipulation. And dragging others aboard to validate your distorted reality is fundamentally self-serving.

The one-time “muscle” of the right-wing of the Liberal Party said he had no reason to believe an extortion attempt was a fake.