A yet to be published Friends of the Earth investigation into pesticide residues on imported food into Australia, has shown that food imports from China, contain by far the largest amount of breaches from any country. The highest residues were detected in Chinese grown Lychees.  

The recent fire disasters in New South Wales and Queensland has played havoc with koala populations in those regions. Thousands of animals have been reported to have been killed and recent media reports have controversially suggested that the species is effectively functionally extinct.

Instead of reducing environmental assessment of major projects, Scott Morrison needs to implement a new set of federal environmental laws, which will actually do their job: protect the natural environment from major threats.

It’s been an emotional few days following the Victorian government announcement that logging native forests will end in 2030. The government has also committed to state-wide protections for 90,000ha of old growth forests, and 96,000ha of new protected areas, 48,500 of which are in East Gippsland.  An action statement for the threatened Greater Glider was also finally released, after two years of inaction following it’s up-listing to threatened in 2017.

Friends of the Earth have today welcomed the Victorian government announcement of protection of 96,000 hectares of forests in eastern Victoria and complete and immediate protection of 90,000 hectares of all remaining old growth forest, but say more details and maps are needed to ensure the announcement results in lasting and effective protection. 

Nations behave wisely, Israeli foreign minister Abba Eban observed five decades ago, "once they have exhausted all other alternatives".

October 18, 2019   Over 250 organizations from around the world, including Friends of the Earth Australia, express their solidarity with Ecuadorians in a joint letter published today, opposing IMF-imposed austerity measures and the Ecuadorian government’s firm pro-extractivism agenda. Eleven days of mass protests led by Indigenous and labour organizations brought thousands to the streets and ended on Sunday October 14 when the government revoked its IMF-sponsored Decree 883. Photo: Reuters

Protests over the past week in Ecuador have seen indigenous people take over the nation's National Assembly in Quito, with the President, Lenin Moreno having to flee to the city of Guayaquil. The current uprising in Ecuador is led by Indigenous organisation CONAIE. Reports as of 11/10/19 suggest:  7 deaths (including an infant) have occurred,  95 people have been wounded and are in intensive care, with an additional 500 people reporting minor injuries. Nearly 1000 people have been arrested. 57 journalists have been injured with 13 being detained by police. 9 media sources have been closed and 26 politicians arrested. Image: https://twitter.com/CONAIE_Ecuador Protesters take over the National Assembly

In November 2017, Friends of the Earth initiated a campaign to better understand drinking water quality issues in Australia. The Australian Drinking Water Quality Map was constructed by Dvize, with data entered by FoE. The Map hoped to shed light on drinking water problems across Australia. For some years, Friends of the Earth had concerns about contaminants, such as pesticides in drinking water. However, it became apparent that whilst pesticides are frequently detected in water supplies, albeit at low levels, there are a number of substances found more frequently and at levels far higher than most of pesticide detections.  Also of interest, was that similar to pesticides, there is no national or state authority in Australia that collates information from around the country concerning water quality issues. Image: Roma (Queensland). Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma,_Queensland

The Glyphosate controversy continues making news around the world and in Australia. The latest news being that the German Government has recently announced that it will phase out all uses for Glyphosate by 2023. Interestingly, the prime motivation for the decision in Germany was not so much human health concerns, but the damage the herbicide does to ecosystems, in particular insects critical for pollination of food crops.