When: 6PM - 7:30PM Feb 02, 2012

Make your way to Brunswick Street, Fitzroy for our next volunteer night, where you can hear campaign updates, meet like-minded people, and join our special letter-writing workshop - arming you with the skills to get your voice heard in the public media conversation around forests.

Please confirm your attendance. RSVP here.

The Wild Things Forest Fundraiser (WTFF) - Supporting the Wilderness Society Victoria’s central highlands forests campaign.

When: Friday, 4 November, from 9:30pm

Where: The Royal Melbourne Hotel, 629 Bourke St., Melbourne

Tickets

$25 at the door
$22 online
Book your tickets!

WTFF?

The Wild Things Forest Fundraiser will be a celebration not a protest. A canvas for Melbourne artists and lovers of forests to come together. An opportunity to celebrate all the good work we do as a community for our forests. Hosted in a heritage listed old style jail complete with cells, atrium and a brand new top of the line sound system!

Featuring a host of rocking music acts:

• The Woohoo Review
• Polo Club
• Saritah
• Immigrant Union
• The High Society
• Able
• Wasabi
• Kodiak Kid
• Psypher
• Warpa!nt
• Kane Muir & the Ragtime Kids
• Gabriele Urban
• Mortisville
• The Strawberry Siren
• The Foxfire Dancers
• VJ Light Soul Ja

Also for your entertainment

The Wild Things Bazaar: A lounge space with a host of random happenings - body painting, tattoo, tarot, photo booth, hair dressing, face painting and more.

The Restorative Gallery: A massage and healing space inside a gallery of forest inspired art.

Not to mention roving performers, AV and FX lighting, burlesque, magic, interactive spaces, auctions, raffles and campaign info tables.

Theme

Dress up theme - ‘Wild Things’ - Think tails and scales, feathers and wings, hooves and horns, whiskers and ears!

Discounts and volunteering

If you are keen to get involved as a volunteer or you want to donate products and services to the bazaar, gallery and auctions email event organizer Dan, or call him on 0405 393 908.

For more information, visit newfolk.com.au or contact Dan at pfapdan@gmail.com or on 0405 393 908.

100% of all fundraising efforts go to the forests!
25% of box office takings go to the forests!
The rest is used to cover costs of everyone involved!

On Sunday 25th September the Forever Wild Bequest Program will be holding its annual campaign update afternoon tea.

This year the event will be at the fascinating Footscray Community Arts Centre.

Luke Chamberlain, our Victorian Forest Campaigner, will be giving you an update on all things forests, including the Tasmanian process, and where the fight is at to save the forests of Victoria, here in our own backyard. This will include the very exciting prospect that burning native forests for power will be prohibited if the Federal Government's carbon tax legislation successfully passes through Parliament.

Also present on the day will be Victorian Campaigner, Richard Hughes, who will be available to answer your questions on the Royal Commission into the Black Saturday Bush Fires as well has his WildCountry work in Western Victoria.

This free event starts at 2pm and is a great opportunity to meet like minded people and get an exclusive update on all things Wilderness Society.  To register your interest, please contact Juanita Frost, National Bequest Manager, on 03 9038 0829/ 0437 963 006 or juanita.frost@wilderness.org.au.  RSVP by Wednesday 21st September.

All members of the Wilderness Society Inc were invited to attend.

It was also possible to attend the AGM by joining a meeting in one of our local campaign centre locations, connected via tele-communications to the Melbourne meeting.

Minutes of the meeting

Click here to view the draft minutes of the meeting.

The rest of this page has been left as it was prior to the meeting, for reference.

AGM Details

Date: Saturday 19 November 2011

Time: 2:00pm Eastern Daylight Time (see below for your local time)

Agenda: Confirmation of minutes of previous AGM; campaign report; financial report; other reports; election of committee; appointment of auditor.

Format: The meeting will be held simultaneously at the locations below, connected via telecommunications. It will be convened and facilitated from the Melbourne location:

Nominations for the Committee of the Wilderness Society Inc

All members are eligible to nominate for election to the Committee of Management of the Wilderness Society Inc. Nominations have now closed.  Download a nomination form. Read the TWS Inc Committee of Management Code of Conduct.  Nominations were to be submitted in writing by 20 October to allow other members to view the information in plenty of time before the meeting.

Details of nominations for the Committee of Management received by the deadline are here.

Meeting papers

AGM agenda

Minutes of previous meetings:

• TWS Inc Special General Meeting 11 December 2010 - Draft Minutes
• TWS Inc Annual General Meeting 11 December 2010 - Draft Minutes
• Facilitator's confirmation of the minutes of both meetings

Annual Review (incorporating Director's Report, Convenor's Report and Treasurer's Report)

Auditor's Report and Financial Statements

Nominations received for the committee (nominations have now closed)

Election rules (set by the Committee of Management)

TWS Inc Constitution as amended 11 December 2010

Modified Consensus Decision Making Policy (how we make decisions at TWS meetings)

View a copy of the letter sent to all members on approximately 15 September 2011 by mail or email notifying them of the meeting.

For further information please call 1800 030 641.

State and Local TWS Organisation Annual General Meetings

In early 2011 we launched a markets based environmental education campaign to highlight the fact that Australia’s flagship paper brand – Reflex – is made by destroying Victoria’s native forests. This campaign focuses on making change through the supply chain from untouched forests, to Australian Paper’s processing centre, to retail stores like Officeworks, and finally to the paper costumer.

We believe that together the purchasing power of the informed consumer and the responsible corporation can affect the supply chain bottom up to protect our precious native forests from becoming copy paper.

To give Officeworks the extra motivation it needs to continue its role as a leader in paper retailing, the Wilderness Society, in partnership with environment groups across the country are holding a National Day of Action to name and shame Reflex and Officeworks for their hand in forest destruction in Australia.

On the morning of 13 September stores across the nation will be visited by troops of “janitors” telling Officeworks to clean up its act! Armed with vacuums, dustpans, sponges, and rubber gloves, volunteers will descend on Officeworks scrubbing Reflex from their shelves. On the day, our aim is to show Australian Paper and Officeworks that Australians will not stand for our precious forests being turned into office paper.

Officeworks has already shown us they are willing to take action in this important issue when it comes to paper from overseas. Now is the time for Officeworks to keep this high standard they have set for themselves and suspend the sale of Reflex paper while it is made from the critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possum Habitat.

If you believe that in this International Year of the Forests that it is simply unacceptable to woodchip and sell our native forests as Reflex paper, please join us for “Officeworks: Clean Up Your Act” National Day of Community Action 10 am Tuesday 13 September, Officeworks Elizabeth Street Store, 107 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne CBD. Please meet at TWS' offices (288 Brunswick St Fitzroy) for a briefing and to get into costume.

To RSVP and for more action details please contact TWS Community Campaigner Triér Murphy on 0433010390 or by email Trier.Murphy@wilderness.org.au

He was heavily involved in the battle to stop Tasmania's Franklin River being dammed, penning campaign anthem Let the Franklin Flow.

Now he is returning to public campaigning for what will be an even bigger fight, to save the pristine Kimberley from Australia's single biggest industrial development.

He will be performing at a rally outside the State Library in Melbourne this Sunday at noon, performing alongside rising Australian singer-songwriter and Triple J favourite Dan Sultan as well as Liz Stringer and Tanya Ransom.

Also addressing the rally will be Kimberley Traditional Owner Neil McKenzie, Wilderness Society Kimberley campaigner Glen Klatovsky, Kevin Blatchford from Save The Kimberley, and Indigenous Barrister Munya Andrews.

When: Sunday, 14 August 2011 - 12-3pm
Where: State Library of Victoria
328 Swanston St, Melbourne

The logging of Sylvia Creek has sparked fierce opposition from local Toolangi residents,The Wilderness Society and local environment group My Environment.  Please come along and lend your support to local residents and friends of the forests to find out what is exactly happening behind the locked gates in Toolangi and hear how you can get involved.

Where:  CJ Dennis Memorial Hall, Main Rd, Toolangi

When:  Thursday August 11th, 7pm

Bring:  Friends and family, warm clothes, good ideas for future forest actions

Proudly supported by The Wilderness Society, My Environment, Friends of Mt St Leonard and Healesville Environment Watch

These forests are under immediate threat of logging by the Baillieu Government and its logging department, VicForests.  Community concern in the past has seen the proposed logging of Cement Creek removed from the logging schedule.  Against the wishes of the local community, these forests have been put back on the chopping block for logging.

Where:  Meet at Cafe Meccanica, Warburton for carpooling to the beautiful Cement Creek

When:  Sunday 14th August, 11am

Bring:  Boots, a jacket, camera and BBQ lunch

For more information please contact Keith from Warburton Environment.

The two areas of spectacular forest, surrounding Sylvia Creek in the Central Highlands are due to be logged as early as next week.

Victoria’s Central Highlands, an hour north of Melbourne have suffered years of bushfires, destructive salvage logging and reckless logging for woodchips to be made into Reflex paper products.

As a result, creatures such as the Leadbeater’s possum, the Spotted-Tail Quoll, the Sooty Owl, and Baw Baw frog are being pushed to the brink of extinction.

Special Protection Zones are designed to preserve the habitat of these endangered species – but these are sometimes ignored. Last week state logging outfit VicForests announced that it will begin logging areas near Sylvia Creek containing sections of Leadbeater’s possum Special Protection Zones on Monday.

This is an unburned area where surviving native wildlife have a precious refuge.  It also contains forest that is of high conservation value.

Please join the Wilderness Society in supporting local community members and MyEnvironment this Sunday 17 July. Come along with us to the Central Highlands, bring your own picnic lunch, listen to talks on the forest and wildlife, and afterwards, walk into the area to experience it firsthand.

When: 12 midday this Sunday 17 July 2011.

Meeting point: Wirrawilla Rainforest Walk car park, Sylvia Creek Rd. 4km from Toolangi, about one hour’s drive from Melbourne CBD. Find it on Google maps Sylvia Creek Road, Toolangi.

Call Pia on 0412 739 201 for more details and carpooling options from Melbourne.

The 2011 Climate Action Summit will be held in Melbourne from the 9th to 11th of April.

Featuring dozens of inspiring talks and skill-building workshops, this year’s event focuses on the theme ‘From the Ground Up’ and is a great opportunity to share information and collaborate to build the community movement for real action on climate change. 

On Monday the 11th participants will come together as a diverse movement to take part in an inspiring ‘No New Carbon’ action in Melbourne’s CBD.  Monday afternoon will provide an opportunity to present the outcomes of the summit and to relax and mingle with experienced climate campaigners over a few drinks.

For waged participants, the conference is $50 for Saturday and Sunday, or $25 for one day only.  If you’re not working, then it’s $10 per day.  There’s also a delicious low cost lunch available for $8 per day, which can be paid for online.

To register your place and pay securely for the Summit, click here.  You can also sign up for updates about the Summit on the easy online form.

Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke recently ordered cattle out of Victoria's Alpine National Park by April 8.

To reflect community support for Minister Burke's positive action, Victorian National Parks Association, The Wilderness Society and other environment groups are hosting a public meeting in Box Hill on Wednesday 6th April.

Cattle have been grazing in the Park since earlier this year, when the Baillieu Government reintroduced grazing to the area under the guise of researching fire management.

Cattle were banned from the park in 2005, and their reintroduction has been damaging threatened species, trampling wetlands and spreading weeds.  National parks are for nature, not cattle.

To reflect community support for Minister Burke's positive action, Victorian National Parks Association, The Wilderness Society and other environment groups are hosting a public meeting in Box Hill on Wednesday 6th April.  A large turnout will send a strong message to Minister Burke that the public widely supports his announcement, and will encourage him to take further decisive and positive action for our environment.

Guest speakers at the meeting will present on the scientific, cultural and political issues surrounding cattle grazing in the park, and will include:

-  Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke

-  Victorian National Parks Association's Phil Ingamels

-  University of Melbourne's Dr Greg Moore and Dr Libby Rumpff

-  The Wilderness Society's National Campaigns Director Lyndon Schneiders

-  Traditional owners and the Victorian State government have been invited

What:  Public Meeting - Cattle Out of the High Country

When:  Wednesday 6th April, arriving 6:30pm for a 7pm start

Where:  Box Hill Town Hall, 1022 Whitehorse Rd (Melway Ref: Map 47, E9). The town hall is a six minute walk from Box Hill Station (Lilydale and Belgrave lines), or a three minute walk from the last tram stop on Route 109.

Bring:  Feel free to bring your waterproof jacket and bushwalking gear to show your support for national parks.

Cost:  Free. Donations welcome.

Click here to download a copy of the invite flyer (700KB) >>

We look forward to seeing you there!

Inspired by the Australian icon, the lyrebird, the Flyrebird will flap his feathers and launch himself into Melbourne’s Yarra River along with 19 other contestants.

Flyrebird, the “spiritual spokesbird” of the forest, is helping the Wilderness Society raise awareness of the Ethical Paper campaign. Sign the pledge today at www.ethicalpaper.com and get Australian Paper, makers of Reflex office papers, to stop sourcing its woodpulp from our native forests.

Inspired by the Australian icon, the lyrebird, the Flyrebird will flap his feathers and launch himself into Melbourne’s Yarra River along with 19 other contestants. The iconic event, which is part of the Moomba Festival, showcases weird and wacky costumes and crafts, from the bizarre to the outright brilliant.

If you’re in Melbourne on Sunday March 13th, join the legions of spectators on the banks of the Yarra to watch Flyrebird take flight at Birrarung Marr from 11:00am.

Watch the trailer for 'The Message of the Lyrebird' and visit Balangara’s online community at www.balangarafilms.com

Created by St Kilda artisans; Visual Artist: Victor Holder Rodriguez, Costume Designer and Maker: Elly Elsass, Costume Designer and Screen Print Designer: Katy Robinson

The Forests Forever Easter Ecology Camp will be held again this Easter.

If any of the following makes your ears perk and your green thumbs light up, then consider a weekend away on the Ecology Camp this Easter... Camp by the Brodribb River with like-minded people at night and be guided by expert biologists during the day. Be awed by 600 year old forests and the diversity of a pristine rainforest. Discover how forests are vital for climate calming, and spotlight for nocturnal wildlife. Learn wildlife survey techniques or take an organic farm tour. Visit Brown Mountain’s old-growth forests which were successfully protected with a Supreme Court case last year... and be inspired to help save our forests.

What:    Forests Forever Easter Ecology Camp
When:    22nd – 25th April 2011
Where:   Brodribb River, East Gippsland
Cost:    Full weekend - $60 adults/$35 conc; Per day - $20/$15.

Please book early as numbers are limited.  All proceeds go towards helping to protect these forests.

For more information visit www.eastgippsland.net.au

or contact Carmen at carmen@eastgippsland.net.au or on (03) 5154 0145.

For all you sunburn-music-crowd-loving greenies out there – you will be happy to know that amongst the merry-making of the Big Day Out you will find our humble stall in the oasis of the Psychedelic Shack.

Come for a visit, swap a gold coin for an Ethical Paper badge, have an empassioned conversation about current issues in the environment movement, sign petitions, and learn about what’s going on in the Victorian and other Campaign Centres and how you can get involved… PLUS recharge your phone by plugging it in to our bicycle generator and hopping on.

Big Day Out, Melbourne, 30 January 2011.  Event open to BDO ticket holders only.