EarthChat

Biochar: economically viable, long-term, carbon storage? S24, Ep17

Tony Richardson and his partner Rita have been growing trees on their two farms for 25 years. They invested their super (against advice at the time) and grew different eucalypt species hoping to log them for timber after about 25 years.However, Tony, a transport engineer by profession, had been captivated by the potential of biochar, and peeler logs for plywood. Growing trees for logs locks up carbon for maybe 50 years, and all of the upper tree and branches and leaves (75% of the biomass of a tree) become carbon emitting waste. In contrast, biochar can lock up carbon for 100 years, and all of the tree not peeled for plywood can be pyrolysed…no waste.  Logging takes the base of the tree trunk, but the rest of the tree is left to rot, or burnt; a big carbon emitter, and a wasted resource. Tony recommends a 10 year plantation turnaround as the best carbon storage, with biochar and peeler logs sold on the retail market. A short turnaround means the farmer’s plantation is less likely to be lost to bushfires.What does this all mean? EarthChat this week shares an interview with Tony Richardson, with Peter Lockyer as host and guest commentator and local gardener Brian Bowring offering his perspectives… Brian has been a biochar advocate for years. It's a great yarn.

How the war in Gaza impacts on life and the environment

Over the last six months, the killing of over 30,000 people and the forced relocation of approximately 2 million people has brought global attention to the plight of people in Gaza and the wider conflict between Israel and Palestine. Our EarthChat guest this week is Dr Rachel Coghlan who completed her PhD on palliative care in Gaza and who maintains close contact with health workers and others there who are enduring the ongoing destruction talking place. Houses and hospitals have been damaged and destroyed, fields and trees uprooted, people left without access to food, clean water or sanitation. Tim and Ruth talk to Rachel about the damage to society and to the environment that has taken place and ask what role can we play in advocating for peace, reconciliation and restoration of destroyed ecosystems?Rachel Coghlan is a public health leader with over 20 years’ experience in clinical physiotherapy and in international humanitarian health research, policy, and advocacy. She is also a Fulbright Scholar and holds a PhD from the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, at Deakin University. She has contributed to palliative care research and education in Gaza and maintains connections with Palestinian friends and colleagues. Rachel is a curious thinker and listener, always searching to learn from those most affected by illness and humanitarian crises with a view to trying to help make some sense of the grief and suffering that mark life in our world.Her Crikey articles can be found here
 

Soldiering on with flies for the environment

Marie and Tim talk to  Phoebe Gardner from Bardee about their developments in using black soldier flies to transform very large amounts of food waste into protein, animal feed and fertilizer. Part of a truly circular economy.Bardee claim that their vertical farming system feeds and nurtures soldier flies through their natural growth phases and in their Grow Labs, larvae grow 3000x in size in just 7 days eating only food waste with no added water required. Larvae are processed into a high quality insect protein for pet food and animal feed & the castings become a nutrient-rich organic fertiliser.As well as producing very useful products this diverts large amounts of waste that would otherwise be going to landfill. This is a very positive project for the environment.

All Things Waste. S24, Ep14

This week, Ruth welcomes back Grace Davis-Williams who is our Regional Waste and Resource Recovery Education Officer in Mitchell Shire. This role is part of a collaborative project between Mitchell, Murrindindi and Strathbogie Shire Councils who came together in 2018 to provide a regional approach to waste education, a critical tool for supporting waste management strategies and sustainability.Grace has been straddling her efforts to minimize waster over three shires for the last six years. A big undertaking. She somehow fitted in giving birth to Benny but now returns to work determined as ever to raise awareness of how we can improve our waste practices.Her priority list includes the reminder to us to keep recycling loose in our bins - a big problem in Mitchell Shire where up to a whole truckload of recyclables is sent to landfill each week because people keep bagging their recyclables before putting them in their yellow bins. Put them in loose!And then there’s the battery challenge. Batteries are a problem for the environment. Supermarkets have special receptacles where people can dispose of their batteries. Grace is holding a webinar on 17th April about why they are such a problem for the environment and what we can do to help.The good news is that Victoria is definitely pro recycling - around 98% of Victorians are trying to recycle. Join us to learn how we can do it even better especially in Mitchell Shire where we have one of the highest contamination rates in the State and the highest in the region. See here for a huge range of local workshops and events.

Restoration - The Future of Forests. S24, Ep13

The end of logging in native forests by VicForests raises the wonderful opportunity for us to think of future prospects for these tree communities in Victoria.This week on EarthChat, Tim and Marie talk with Paul Macgregor, forests campaigner for BEAM, and committee member of the Victorian Forest Alliance, about the importance of restoring these forests to biodiverse splendour and cultural richness. 1.8 million hectares of state forest, once reserved for logging, now face a brighter future.Trees and forests will now have a chance to grow old and mature, providing greater habitat for rare animals, and reducing forest flammability. Biodiversity can expand. Carbon can be sequestered. Air and water will be cleaner. The cultural uses of forests and their plants by First Nations can be respected, explored and shared.But after 200 years of logging, clearing, tree monoculture and inappropriate fire regimes, there’s a lot of work to be done to help these forests restore to their full potential as living communities. Paul, Tim and Marie discuss the ways in which we can do this.

On the Ground - a Regenerative Farmer for 30 years and growing, S24, Ep12

On this week's show, Peter is joined by an old friend, Annemaree Docking. She's a hands-on, small-farm landholder who's been practising sustainable farming for 30 years. She is also a former Vice President of the BEAM Committee.Annemaree was raised on a suburban block in Doncaster, on what was then the outskirts of Melbourne, very much a fringe suburb in the 1980’s, apple and pear orchards were giving way to quarter acre Aussie dreams while Annemaree grew up riding horses where the Eastern Freeway and townhouses now preside. The changing landscape left its impression on her.She is currently a PhD candidate with Deakin University researching Regenerative Agriculture Systems.   Her Regenerative Agriculture for Climate Resilience project considers the concept of regenerative agriculture and its potential to support transformative change of peri-urban agriculture and landscape for greater climate resilience of cities and regional centres. Annemaree is the Principal Consultant of her new business project Thriving Rural.

Climate Safe Rooms – retrofitting to create refuges for heatwaves and extreme cold. S24, Ep3

"Climate Safe Rooms" is a Climate retrofitting project to create refuges in low-income households during heatwaves and extreme cold. As our weather bobs around all over the place, and the expected extra hot and dry summer has become a mix of deluge and high humidity, local action on climate has many faces.This week, Peter is joined by the Mitchell Community Energy's President, John Thompson, who is fired up about Seymour being the springboard for community action that contributes to the recently adopted Mitchell Shire Climate Emergency Action Plan: from linking with the Seymour Buslines EV bus pilot; to direct action making inefficient homes more liveable when the mercury hovers above 40°C for a week.We are also joined by Geelong Sustainability chairperson David Spear with some insights into the Climate Safe Rooms project. The Climate Safe Rooms project was funded by the Victorian Government to retrofit one room in a vulnerable household to be comfortable in extremes of heat, and cold. This has clear health benefits to the householder, and energy savings. An energy audit, door and window seals, a solar system and a reverse cycle split system are amongst the changes introduced by this pilot project.  Geelong Sustainability are award winners in innovative local action on climate. Is this the path for Seymour?
 
 
Join Peter Lockyer and John Thompson on EarthChat this week for good news to meet challenges to climate in our local community. In just one hour, you may gain an insight to change your life forever. Or close to it.

Getting people involved in environmental action. S24, Ep2

We are a powerful force for nature! How do we get people involved in environmental action?
This week on EarthChat, Tim and Ruth talk to Don Vogt, a long-term environmental activist and convenor of the ACF Inner Melbourne Community Group. Don is a tireless and committed community leader and he dedicates most of his week to organising events, recruiting new members and further strengthening this powerful local group. They plant trees, get AFL footballers involved, run workshops, lobby politicians and do lots of local clean-ups. Don shares some of what he has learned in getting people involved and some of the challenges he has faced along the way.

Volunteering for the environment along Hughes Creek. S24, Ep1

Continuing the theme of the importance of volunteering for the environment, Vanessa and Tim will be talking about Vanessa's recent experience working along Hughes Creek near Avenel, and how this relates to an endangered fish species, the Macquarie Perch, that can still be found in this creek.
You can also read more about it online on The Country News at this link (subscribe or access articles for free for one month).

A virtual tour of Mount Rothwell and the Western Treatment Plant, S24, Ep11

Vanessa and Ruth discuss Vanessa's recent adventure discovering two very different habitats for native animals.They discuss the largest feral predator-free ecosystem in Victoria, Mount Rothwell, and the sewage treatment lagoons of the Western Treatment Plant, otherwise known as the Werribee sewage farm. Want more information about either location? Read about Mt Rothwell here and the Western Treatment Plant here