For the latest forest news and grass roots events in Tasmania visit Tasmania's independent media site at Tasmedia

On Tuesday 30 June, peaceful conservationists around the country have shut down woodchipping operations in Tasmania, New South Wales and Victoria. This national day of action highlights the exclusion of forests covered by Regional Forest Agreements from the key federal environment legislation, the EPBC Act. This gives the industry largely unrestricted access to high conservation value forests, for logging and woodchipping, without accountability. Today’s actions coincide with the release of the Interim Review of the EPBC Act, which has demonstrated widespread community concern over the RFA exclusion. Triabunna, Tasmania: Two women have locked themselves to the woodchip conveyor belt Gunns Ltd.’s mill at Triabunna. Midway, Victoria: Two women have locked themselves to the conveyor belt at the Midways woodchip export facility near Geelong. Eden, New South Wales: Two women have locked themselves to the conveyor belt at the Eden Woodchip Mill. Tea Gardens Mill, New South Wales: Two people have locked themselves to woodchipping machinery "RFA old growth forests, with their exceptional environmental, economic and social values are critical habitat forests housing many endangered species. These globally renowned ecosystems are among the most important carbon dense reserves on the planet and deserve immediate protection" said Tasmanian spokesperson Bridie McEntee. Forest Watch

Swedish firm Sodra, one of the world's biggest producers of pulp for paper, has commissioned a consultant to report on the Gunns Tasmanian pulp mill project ahead of an imminent decision on a joint venture. That report, by Australian-based project consultants, will be presented to Sodra this week in time to allow a potential announcement with Gunns by the end of the month. It is understood Sodra has hired Sydney-based consultants Evans & Peck to report on the position of stakeholders, including opponents of the mill, before making a final commitment. You can send a message to the CEO of Sodra and sign the petition calling for a halt to the financing of the project > Help stop the mill.

Students of Sustainability national conference 2009 will be held in Melbourne from the 6 to 10 July, with camping close by the conference site. Students, community and Indigenous activists, academics, public intellectuals, environmental educators, social change agents of all stripes and from all over Australia are invited to participate in a range of educational, practical and participatory forums and workshops. The theme for SoS 09 is about doing things for ourselves, as individuals and communities, and we're looking for anyone with skills, knowledge and experience to share. SoS

An eco-friendly boat that visited the New South Wales far south coast earlier this year is to play a big part in protecting whales in southern waters. The New Zealand "Earthrace" docked at Bermagui and Batemans Bay in January to showcase its carbon neutral engine which is powered by animal fat. The futuristic craft will join a convoy of ships trying to stop the slaughter of whales by the Japanese in the Antarctic. The skipper Pete Buthune says the boat will adopt a support role. "We have pieced together a deal with 'Sea Shepherd' and 'Earthrace' is going to be painted up black," he said. "She is going to become a stealth boat and we are heading down in September to Antarctica to help out on the ship operations."

Up to 100 Amazon natives have been killed after Friday's military crackdown on protesters in Peru and the situation is expected to worsen, says a Canadian Indigenous rights activist. Twenty-two-year-old Ben Powless is working alongside Peru's national organisation of Amazon Indigenous people, AIDESEP, and fears more lives will be lost, with the government now labelling protesters as "terrorists". Many Peruvians - not just Indigenous - are upset by plans to open land in Peru's Amazon region to oil, gas and mineral exploration, even though much of the land is officially protected. The Government has recently signed a number of free trade agreements with the United States and Canada, seeking to change domestic laws and encourage foreign investment in the Amazon. The Government has declared a state of emergency in some Amazon regions, suspending constitutional rights in the areas. To register your protest visit Ecological Internet

The International Whaling Commission's annual conference has ended in disarray, keeping in place a ban on commercial whaling amid deep rifts between hunters and conservationists. The commission's new chairman said the IWC should now question its role as the conference on the Portuguese island of Madeira wrapped up a day early with delegates agreeing only to extend negotiations on whaling for another year. "We have to re-establish a consensus on what the IWC is and should do, and there are at least two contradictory perceptions to answer that question," said Cristian Maquieira, who was elected chairman during the talks this week. Joji Morishita, a senior official with the Japanese delegation, said the commission should approve limited commercial whaling by next year, adding: "Without that... the future of the IWC is seriously in doubt." Conservation groups were also angry, with Greenpeace saying: "After 12 months of talking... all the IWC has achieved is another 12 months of talking." The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) said it "deeply laments the fact that not a single of the important whaling topics was resolved".