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

Conservationists have used the 25th anniversary of the Tasmanian dams decision to step up pressure on Tasmania's new premier over Gunns' proposed pulp mill. Many speakers at a dinner in Hobart on Tuesday 1 July used the occasion to urge David Bartlett to stop the mill going ahead. More than 1,000 people attended last night's dinner including Tasmania's Premier. The Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown started the evening by urging David Bartlett not to pulp hopes. Geoff Law from the Wilderness Society tried to appeal to the Premier. "How fantastic it would be to be back here in another 25 years time having another celebration with David Bartlett with guest of honour because the mill got stopped," he said. Tasmanian author, Richard Flanagan, spoke of the hundreds that went to jail over the Franklin River. "We will go to jail in our tens, in our hundreds, in our thousands and that pulp mill will never be built," he said. Franklin 25th

While Gunns Ltd struggles to secure finance for its controversial Tamar Valley pulp mill which labours under a cloud of doubt over its environmental impacts and diminishing public support, a further challenge to its future is being played out in a Victorian court. This challenge has ramifications not just for the pulp mill, but for environmental regulation across Australia. The Melbourne-based group, Lawyers for Forests, is challenging the approval of Gunns' pulp mill by former federal environment minister Malcolm Turnbull. The arguments are complex, but at their centre is the question of whether Commonwealth environment law allows the Minister to approve the mill and then require further testing to see what the impact of the effluent from the mill would be. Full Article

Ross Garnaut, the Rudd government's climate advisor, will this week deliver his interim report on climate emission reduction mechanisms, but the bigger policy questions will remain unanswered. The report will outline proposals for a carbon emissions trading scheme, perhaps better described as a cap-and-auction scheme, in which the government sets a declining cap on carbon emissions, with permits to pollute allocated by way of auction. Greenpeace has announced their ship the Esperanza will be visiting the East Coast of Australia over the next six weeks highlighting the need for a transition away from coal to clean renewable energy. The voyage will highlight the Greenpeace report - Blueprint for an energy [r]evolution, released on June 16, 2008. The report details how coal-fired electricity can be completely phased out in Australia by 2030 by harnessing the country’s renewable energy resources - just a matter of political will by Federal and State Governments.

Australia's premier eco-tourism accreditation body has dumped Forestry Tasmania from its eco-certified tourism listing. Ecotourism Australia removed Forestry Tasmania's listing from their website last week. Forestry Tasmania previously had tourism products, including the Tahune Air Walk, accredited by Ecotourism Australia. Huon Valley Environment Centre members contacted Ecotourism Australia yesterday to confirm the action. "We telephoned Ecotourism Australia and they confirmed that Forestry Tasmania has been de-listed. We understand that this decertification has come about because Forestry Tasmania does not meet the operating standards required for ecotourism certification," said Huon Valley Environment Centre spokesperson Jenny Weber.HVEC

Come to Climate camp in the Hunter Valley NSW this July. From 10 - 15 of July, we invite you, your friends and family to participate in the Camp for Climate Action! Registration Now Open. The Camp will be an inspiring five days of workshops and grassroots direct action aimed at stopping the expansion of the world's biggest coal port in Newcastle. The Australian camp is one of seven being held around the world in July and early August 2008. Camp Climate Action

Traditional owners from Borroloola, near the Gulf of Carpentaria, are calling for compensation for land taken by the expansion of Xstrata's McArthur River zinc mine in the Northern Territory. On Friday 13 June the Federal Court rejected an appeal by traditional owners to halt the expansion of the mine, which involves redirecting five kilometres of the river. Justice John Mansfield decided former environment minister Ian Campbell was not in error when he gave the expansion Commonwealth approval. Indigenous owners Harry Lancen says sacred sites have been destroyed during the work to make the mine an open-cut, rather than underground operation. McArthur River

In 2008 Franklin and Rob from Friends of the Earth Brisbane travelled to far north Queensland to speak to indigenous elders about their views on uranium mining and corporate desecration of their sovereign lands. engage media