The Agriculture & Environment Committee has extended the deadline for submissions on the Vegetation Management (Reinstatement) Bill 2016  to Friday 29 April 2016! The learned folk at the EDO have prepared this helpful outline.You can also simply write a letter saying how you feel about restoring vegetation protections with these suggested key points to help get you started.Do let the Environmental Defenders Office Queensland  know you have sent one in by emailing [email protected] and visit the EDO website for more details. Good luck with your submissions! We hope these...

Land clearing in Queensland has increased exponentially as a consequence of the Newman government's rollback of the Vegetation Management Act.  The rate, scale and type of broadscale clearing threatens our wildlife, our climate and the reef. A recent analysis by WWF-Australia showed an alarming 211,820 hectares of the bushland cleared in the period between 2012-2014 was habitat where 200 threatened species (139 plants and 61 animals) are known to occur or are likely to occur. This staggering loss included 40,312...

The Sunshine Coast Environment Council - in association with the Environmental Defenders Office Queensland, WWF-Australia and The Wilderness Society-  recently held LawJam’s on vegetation management reformsThese informative presentations are now available EDO Qld’s presentation by Jo-Anne Bragg WWF-Australia’s presentation by Dr Martin Taylor The Wilderness Society’s presentation by Dr Tim Seelig Help protect our wildlife and ecosystems from broadscale clearing by doing a submission by 25 April!

  JOINT MEDIA RELEASE7th April 2016Sunshine Coast Community Event- LAND CLEARING IN QUEENSLAND   With WWF-Australia, The Wilderness Society, the Sunshine Coast Environment Council and Environmental Defenders Office QldThe Sunshine Coast needs to stand up for reinstatement of stronger land clearing laws warn conservation groups and expert environmental lawyers.The Sunshine Coast Environment Council, in partnership with Environmental Defenders Office Qld, is hosting a special community consultation on land clearing on 13 April at the Lake...

Isn't time just flying! This month at SCEC we've been thick in the planning of World Environment Day festival and figuring out new ways to link the old with the new. This year's WED Festival is being held on Sunday 5 June at Cotton Tree Park. We felt it was time to take it back to where it all began, and give more of a focus to the efforts already underway in our region. We aim to recruit people who are currently a part of the problem, to become a part of the solution. As a lot of us...

Three key State planning instruments open for your comment until 10 February These instruments protect key environment and community issues across Qld and dictate many features of Qld's planning framework. Please see more at EDO Qld

SURVEY PUTS CANDIDATES ON THE RECORDA survey of candidates running in the Sunshine Coast Council elections has revealed commitment on a range of key issues, including upholding the principles and intent of the planning scheme.Conducted by the Sunshine Coast Environment Council, survey responses were received from just over half of those contesting the 19 March local government elections. Of the incumbent Councillors vying for re-election, only Councillors Cox and Rogerson (divisions 3 and 10) failed to respond. Asked their...

The Sunshine Coast community banded together last Sunday, 6 March to take part in the annual Clean Up Australia Day’s nation-wide event. With 14 tonnes of rubbish removed from various registered site across the Sunshine Coast, it was clear that the 1,100 local volunteers involved had taken up the challenge to restore the Coast’s beaches and wilderness to their natural beauty. Over 100 local Clean Up sites were registered including clean up efforts by Coolum District Coast Care Group, Petrie Creek Catchment Care Group Inc., Florabunda Bushcare, Surfrider Foundation Sunshine Coast, Bribie Island Environmental Protection Association Inc (BIEPA), Noosa...

Now in its 26th year, Clean Up Australia Day is still going strong with more than 27.2 million hours devoted towards the environment and over 288,650 tonnes of rubbish collected over the years. What started in 1989 as a community event bringing 40,000 Sydney-siders together to clean the harbour has become a worldwide movement with an estimated 40 million people from 130 countries taking part annually in Clean Up the World.Australia is leading the way with community-led environmental action, and while we can proudly claim Earth Hour and Clean Up the World movements as our own, we...

The Agriculture and Environment Committee reported on the Nature Conservation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 on 05 February.  The report is available hereThe restoration of fundamental provisions in the Act such as the cardinal principle which recognises National Parks as cornerstones for conservation was crucial to protecting the Kondalilla National Park from an inappropriate zip-line.The Nature Conservation Act is also an integral part of the legislative framework  to protect our small, diverse conservation estate from potential commercial activities and intensive uses which would compromise the natural and amenity values of...

10 February 2016  It's been a colourful start to the year for SCEC, with lots of action on the community engagement front. On January 24, SCEC joined the Boomerang Alliance, Surfrider Foundation and Noosa Community Biosphere Association on Noosa Main beach to send a clear message to local politicians- we want a Container Deposit Scheme on the Sunshine Coast! A recent reader poll in the Sunshine Coast Daily revealed that 96% of respondents supported the idea, with 23% of those 96% saying it should be extended to more than just drink containers. Now it is up to us to...

With the Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk andSunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamiesonturning the first sod on SunCentralMaroochydore on 11 February, what will become the 'new' Maroochydore CBD is moving ahead. What will be its' 'look and feel?'The opportunity to incorporate fundamental and necessary sustainability, livability and design features cannot be missed if this development is to contribute in a practical, visual and meaningful way to the Sunshine Coast's sustainability vision.Such elements are critical for a development of this scale and the population it is projected to support.To have a healthy society and environment in the future, we need to...