Centre for Law and the Environment:
Satellites and the Law

ESRC Project News and Recent Events

Advance notice of IPAC(ISPRS)/IAA/IISL Symposium – 26th August 2011
This is not a UCL event, but I wanted to post about an interesting upcoming event, jointly organised by the International Society for Photogrametry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS), the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), and the International Institute of Space Law (IISL). This event is entitled “Actual policy issues of spaceborne Earth observation” and will be held in Melbourne between 25 Aug. - Sept. 1, 2012. It will cover:
1. General legal issues concerning space law and EO satellite data;
2. Treaty monitoring and law enforcement by means of spaceborne remote sensing;
3. The value of evidence of EO satellite data in court cases: theory and practice.

Detailed information about the ISPRS Congress and the Call for Papers may be found here.

Earth Observation and the law – book update – 25th August 2011
The Brill book that I am currently editing is coming along quite well. Since the last post, my UCL colleague, Denise Leung is now co-editing the book with me. We have an interesting mix and great set of contributors including: Tanja Masson-Zwaan, Shaida Johnston, Sa’id Mostershar, Julie Anderson, Dennis Tsai, Gerardine Goh Escolar, Ray Mushal, Kris Dighe, Todd Mikolop, Raymond W. Mushal, David O'Connell, Eya Macauley, Maureen Williams, Frans von der Dunk, George Cho, Catherine Doldirina, Merideth Wright, Carole Billiet, Bruce Goulevich, Willibard Croi, Frederic Foeteler, Harold Linke and Alan Shipman. The book is scheduled to come out around May 2012. Further information will be posted on this site.

European Space Agency Tender – 24th August 2011
UCL (Ray Harris and I) are part of a consortium that are bidding for an ESA contract on commercial market opportunities for AIS technology. The bid is being led by Astrium GEO.

Website Visits – 31,000 – 24th August 2011
As of 25 August 2011, over 31,300 visitors from all across the world have now looked at the project website. To give an example of its outreach, this last couple of days alone, it received visitors from Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Japan, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, UK, and the US.

Paper accepted for publication in Space Policy – 16th August 2011
A scholarly paper I wrote, “Attitudes of UK and Australian farmers towards monitoring laws with the use of satellite technologies: lessons to be learnt,” was today accepted for publication in the journal, Space Policy, which is published by Elsevier. It is scheduled to appear in the November 2011 (Volume 27(4)) printed issue of the journal. I will place a link on this website when it goes live on the online site of Space Policy.

Funding application made for new research project – 1st August 2011
A research proposal titled "The Use of Google Earth in Legal Systems" was submitted for consideration to an international funding body on the 1st August 2011. This application, which was supported by Google Earth, is for a one year project, which is hoped will create a new resource which could point potential users towards Google Earth as a tool to achieve desired outcomes in a legal context, encourage them to consider how it could be used to achieve such outcomes and enable them to use Google Earth to the greatest possible effect.

2012 IISL Colloquium, Session on Legal Evidence – 12th July 2011
I have been selected as co-chair of Session 4, for the 2012 IISL Colloquium in Naples. The other co-chair for this session is Marco Ferrazzani, ESA Legal Counsel, Head of Legal Department, European Space Agency. This will take place 1-5 October 2012 in Naples, Italy. The draft session information is contained below:

4. Legal Evidence of Outer Space

Modern societies increasingly rely on technological tools to help the enforcement and application of domestic and international law. Satellite imagery and GPS data could be an extremely valuable and exciting new source of legal evidence. Developing applications include monitoring laws in environmental, agriculture, planning/building, fisheries and maritime sectors. Some enforcement bodies have used satellite derived data as evidence in courts and this session will consider experiences thus far. It will particularly examine whether these forms of data can actually provide a rigorous, legally-reliable, effective evidential tool in contemporary legal systems. Papers will be invited to focus on experience in courts, as well as solutions available for lawyers, governments and legislators to benefit from the legal applications of space technologies.

ESRC Report catalogued in the British Library – 1st July 2011
The final report for the ESRC project was today catalogued in the British Library. Its record number is: BNB Number GBB176693

INECE conference in Whistler Canada – 30th June 2011
The International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE) invited me to participate at their 9th International Conference on Environmental Enforcement, from 20-24 June 2011, in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. The theme of this conference was "Enforcement Cooperation: Strengthening Environmental Governance." The conference featured distinguished participants and environmental law experts from a wide number of international countries.

At the conference I co-chaired a session entitled: Developments in Monitoring Technology, including Remote Sensing – with Ken Garing of the US EPA. During this session I also presented a paper, “Satellite Monitoring and Environmental Regulation”.The conference was really excellent and well managed; it enabled me to present my research findings, from my ESRC project, to the target audience I want my work to reach. This includes environmental compliance and enforcement practitioners, academics, high-level decision-makers, enforcement authorities, inspectors, prosecutors, judges, police, customs officials, compliance training professionals, criminal enforcement authorities, parliamentarians, citizen enforcers, and representatives from international organizations and the private sector (from an estimated 170 countries).

The conference resulted in recommendations to advance the role of environmental compliance and enforcement in achieving sustainable development, as part of the preparatory work for the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development – Rio + 20. As a result of the panels and workshops of the 9th International Conference, 15 actions were identified as priorities for future activities to be reflected in INECE’s next strategic implementation plan and fundraising strategy. One of these actions was:
“ To share information on new techniques for the effective and strategic use of intelligence, including from satellite technology and remote sensing, to detect and deter environmental non-compliance”.

European Centre for Space Law Newsletter – 17th June 2011
A newsletter of the European Centre for Space Law summarised the results of an Australia workshop that I gave a paper at – Legal Issues for Earth Observation – including a summary of my paper. Find the newsletter here.

ESRC research data available from the UK Data Archive – 4 May 2011
I deposited all of the survey data for the ESRC project (Smart Enforcement in Environmental Legal Systems: A Socio-Legal Analysis of Regulatory Satellite Monitoring in Australia) with the UK Data Archive, a service provider for the Economic and Social Data Service. This is to enable other researchers to use the data. The catalogue record created for the data collection can be viewed here.

ESRC Report cited in Scientific Paper given at Major Conference – 18th April 2011
A paper entitled, “State-wide inter-annual changes to foliage projective cover: better products from high resolution satellite imagery and improved processing methodologies” has cited the ESRC final project report. This paper was given at the 34th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, Sydney, Australia 10-15 April 2011. The authors were Arndt Meier, Tim Danaher, Tony Gill, Stuart Smith, Geoff Horn, Neil Flood. This can be viewed here.

ESRC Report available at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Library – 11th March 2011
The report for the ESRC project (Smart Enforcement in Environmental Legal Systems: A Socio-Legal Analysis of Regulatory Satellite Monitoring in Australia) is now available in hard-copy at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Libraries in London.

Meeting with Geoscience Australia – 24 February 2011
I met with Medhavy Thankappan, Director, Science and Strategy, National Earth Observation Group, Geoscience Australia. We discussed compliance and enforcement strategies for potential future mapping projects within the Federal Government in Australia.

ESRC project report on the SSRN database – 23rd January 2011
The report, “Satellite Monitoring of Environmental Laws: Lessons to Be Learnt from Australia” was entered into the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) database. The SSRN database is devoted to the rapid worldwide dissemination of social science research. The report has already been viewed 53 times and been downloaded 20 times.

ESRC Project discussed in the United Nations General Assembly – 25th January 2011
At a meeting of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, in the United Nations General Assembly, Committee members were considering the value of satellite data in court and the effectiveness of Earth observation satellites for monitoring compliance with international agreements. The Committee in this discussion on the 25 January 2011 specifically referred to the ESRC project (including a link in the minutes to the ESRC project website) and myself, and considered that practical solutions were needed to encourage the use of satellite data in court in fields where precision was essential. More information can be found in the UN document: A/AC.105/C.2/L.281/Add.1.

Feedback to Australian Farmers who participated in ESRC Survey – 12th January 2011
All of the Australian farmers who left contact details on the satellite monitoring surveys were contacted to give them an update of the ESRC project. They received an email containing electronic links to the final report and its executive summary.

ESRC discussed on Barnold Law blog in Australia – 28th December 2010
A summary of the ESRC report and a discussion about its findings appeared on the blogging website of Bruce Arnold, a legal academic at the University of Canberra, who consults in governance, privacy, cultural property and new media.

ESRC Report discussed in media - ‘Spies in our Paddocks’ – 24th November 2011
The issues raised in my ESRC report were discussed in an on-line publication, Business Spectator. The article, entitled ‘Spies in our Paddocks,’ was written with a farming audience in mind. The link to the article can be found here.

Link to UCL ESRC Report on the AELERT website – 18th November 2010
The website of the Australian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulators neTwork (AELERT) posted an article about the report and a link to the UCL webpage where the report could be viewed/downloaded.

ESRC Final Report emailed out to contacts – 9th November 2011
Information about the final report and a link where to view/download it were sent to 486 people today. This included 86 people who attended the workshop in October 2010, 103 people who I met in Australia, and numerous other UK, European and international people working in this field – or who I thought would be interested in this report. An email was also sent to the secretary of the British Association of Remote Sensing Companies to distribute.

Release of Final Report – 9th November 2010

Satellite Monitoring of Environmental Laws. Lessons to be learnt from Australia

Author: Ray Purdy
ISBN: 978-0-9560806-1-5
London: Centre for Law and the Environmental, University College London
November 2010.

Abstract
The study, ‘Smart Enforcement in Environmental Legal Systems: A Socio-Legal Analysis of Regulatory Satellite Monitoring in Australia,’ was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (UK), during 2009 and 2010. This report is a direct output of this study and examines whether modern satellite technologies could provide a rigorous, legally reliable, and cost effective tool in inspection and compliance regimes in environmental regulatory systems. It considers these issues in the context of relevant experience and expertise in Australia, which is the only sustained comparative example where satellites have been used to monitor an environmental law. Satellite monitoring is used to monitor compliance with vegetation clearing legislation in Australia. This report seeks to demonstrate lessons learnt from this cutting-edge practice in Australia and to identify how best to build on this experience if satellite monitoring is to be used in new regulatory strategies.

Website Visits: 23,000 – 30 October 2010
As of 30th October 2010, over 23,000 visitors from all across the world have now looked at the project website. To give an example of its outreach, this last couple of days alone, it received visitors from the UK, US, India, Germany, Canada, Poland, Australia, Taiwain, Philippines, Ukraine, Singapore, Luxembourg, Italy, Japan, Austria, Greece, Turkey, Libya, Iran, Kiribati, and the UAE.

Joint UCL/ISPL Workshop - Evidence from space – October 5th 2010
The UCL team jointly organised/funded, with ISPL, a high-level international workshop in London at UCL on October 5th 2010. This workshop brought together key people working in this field in the UK, Europe and the US to assess the legal opportunities that satellites might offer in the future. The event was made possible with the sponsorship of the ESRC in the UK and ESA in the EU.
Sessions at the workshop examined:
o Satellite images as Evidence
o Systems Capabilities – Satellite and Data Processing Features
o Cases using EO Information - Space and Aerial Information
o Jurisdictional Treatment – Case Reports and Regulatory Experience
o The UCL ESRC Project
o The ISPL Project
o Questions Raised – Issues Identified, Areas for Further Study, Actions and Conclusions
See the full programme for the workshop.

Ray gave an hour long presentation on the results of the ESRC project - Smart Enforcement in Environmental Legal Systems: A Socio-Legal Analysis of Regulatory Satellite Monitoring in Australia. The workshop sessions also allowed the 88 delegates from different backgrounds and disciplines to exchange knowledge, share experiences, look at new opportunities that developments in satellite technologies could offer, and to identify and examine strategic issues where this technology could be used for environmental monitoring and enforcement both now and in the future.
Moderators and Presenters included:

Gordon Campbell (Directorate of EO Programmes, Project Manager, ESA ESRIN), Mark Doherty (Head of Exploitation Division, ESA ESRIN), Alessandro Ferretti (Chief Executive Officer, TRE), Luc Govaert Project Manager (ESA ESRIN), Professor Robert Gurney Director (Environmental Systems Science Centre, Reading University), Egbert Jongsma (Audit Manager, Netherlands Court of Audit), Marc Journel (Satellite Based Monitoring Services, EMSA), Dr Simon Kay (Head of Unit, Joint Research Centre, MARS), Professor Richard Macrory (Director, Centre for Law and the Environment, UCL), Professor Kevin Madders (Systemics Network International; KCL), Tanja Masson-Zwaan President IISL (Deputy Director, IIASL Leiden), David Morten (Managing Director, Fugro NPA), Professor Sa’id Mosteshar (Director, ISPL), Ray Purdy (Deputy Director, Centre for Law and the Environment, UCL), Professor Lucien Rapp (Toulouse University), Professor Kai-Uwe Schrogl Director (ESPI), Professor Maureen Williams (University of Buenos Aires/Conicet; Chair, Space Law Committee, ILA).

Rapporteurs included:

Susan Barham Partner (Barlow Lyde & Gilbert), Klaus Becher (Space Policy Consultant; ISPL Faculty), Dr Hervé Borrion Science Manager (Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science, UCL), Dr Andrew Brearley (Debris Policy Specialist), Richard Graham (Senior Associate, Bird & Bird), David Halbert (Technical Project Manager, Infoterra), Dr Stephen Hobbs (Director, Cranfield Space Research Centre, Cranfield University), Mikael Kamp Sørensen (Director, GRAS), Yeliz Korkmaz (Researcher, Leiden University), Professor Jan-Peter Muller (Image Understanding & Remote Sensing, Space & Climate Physics, UCL), Matxalen Sánchez Aranzamendi (Resident Fellow, ESPI), Neil F Stevens (General Counsel, Atrium), Professor Geoffrey Wadge Chairman (Monserrat Science Committee; NERC-ESSC), Ilaria Zilioli (Contracts Officer, ESA).

Participants included:

Maria Adams (Head of Future Missions, UK Space Agency), Jonathan Amos (Science Correspondent, BBC News), Philip Annetts (Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs, DEFRA), Tony Ballard Partner (Harbottle & Lewis), Cristina Barreau (Environmental Lawyer, Surfrider Foundation Europe), Darcy Beamer-Downie (General Counsel, Airclaims Ltd), Dr Ulrike Bohlmann (Legal Administrator, ESA), Rasmus Borgstrøm (Geographic Resource Analysis & Science Ltd., GRAS), Ann Brosnan (Head of Serious Casework, Environment Agency UK), Alan Brunstrom (Integrated Applications Promotion IAP, ESA), Giovanni Cannizzaro (Businness Development, Telespazio), Marco Cattadori (Booz & Co),
Dario Cau (Captain, Italian Coastguard ITCG), Antidia Citores (Law and Lobbying Coordinator, Surfrider Foundation Europe), Robin Cleverly (Law of the Sea Consultant, UK Hydrographic Office), Vivian Contin-Williams (International Lawyer), Willibald Croi (Project Manager, Applications, LuxSpace), Dr J Phillip Dann (ISPL Faculty), Julien Delanoe (ESA Climate Office), Martin Ditter (Project Manager, ESA Harwell Centre), Samantha Duckett (Helical Bar), Ruth Eldon (ISPL), Yanal Abul Failat (Student, Kingston University), Chris Forsyth Partner (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer), His Honour Simon Goldstein, Caroline Grace (Grace & Co), Geoffrey Hall (Principal & Director, Moreton Hall Associates), Lars Boye Hansen (Geographic Resource Analysis & Science Ltd., GRAS), Professor Ray Harris (Emeritus Professor of Geography, UCL), Elizabeth Hiester (Solicitor, former Partner, Clifford Chance), Dr Richard Hilton (Business Development Manager, Space Services, Infoterra Ltd), DS Steve Hubbard (Deputy Project Manager, Op Javelin, Metropolitan Police), Sam Hutchinson (Helical Bar),
Professor Bhupendra Jasani (Visiting Professor, Department of War Studies, King's College London),
Dr Shaida Johnston (Science & Technology Policy, Law Department, George Washington University),
Professor Rónán Kennedy (Faculty of Law, National University of Ireland, Galway), Daniel Lawrence (Counsel, Environment, Regulatory & Planning, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer), Dr George Leloudas (Gates and Partners), Christian Lindqvist (Telenor), Harold Linke (Manager Software and ICT, HITEC Luxembourg), Stephen Mason (Barrister, Visiting Fellow, BIICL), Florent Mazurelle (European Security Policy Administrator, ESA), Mr Justice Sir Richard McCombe, DCI Mick Neville (Project Manager, Op Javelin, Metropolitan Police), Sekai Ngarize (Senior Science and Policy Advisor, DECC), Pat Norris (Logica), Rolf S Olofsson Partner (White & Case), Chetan Pradhan (Vice-Chairman / Account Manager, Earth Observation, Logica), Mads Olanders Rasmussen (Geographic Resource Analysis & Science Ltd., GRAS), David Slater (Cambrensis Environmental Consultancy), Chiara Spena (PhD Candidate, University of Rome 'La Sapienza'), Dr Jerry Stanley (Director, Rondle Ltd), Dr Jill Stuart (Department of Government, Politics of Outer Space, London School of Economics), Christian Tøttrup (Geographic Resource Analysis & Science Ltd., GRAS), Wouter Veening (Chairman & President, Institute for Environmental Security), Robert Volterra (Partner, Latham & Watkins), Luc Willems (Deputy Secretary-General – Benelux, Telindus), Michael Williams (External Relations Manager - Group on Earth Observations, GEO Secretariat).

ESPI Report - Current Legal Issues for Satellite Earth Observation – 20th August 2010
The ESPI report entitled “Current Legal Issues for Satellite Earth Observation“, was released today. This outlines the key results of a very good conference held in Vienna on the 8th & 9th April 2010. I presented a paper at this conference on my ESRC research, and there is a paper in this report written by me. A copy of the report may be viewed by clicking on this link.

Workshop Flyer / Program – 4th August 2010
The flyer, containing the programme, for the joint ISPL/UCL conference entitled “EVIDENCE FROM SPACE” is released today. This event is to be held on Tuesday 5 October 2010 at UCL. For more information please contact me on: uctlrap@ucl.ac.uk

The flyer can be accessed on this link.

Meeting with Professor Maureen Williams – 3rd August 2010
Ray met with Maureen Williams at Chatham House today to discuss a whole range of issues concerning space law research. These included the: (1) forthcoming workshop – organised by UCL and ISPL (2) the book with Brill (3) the International Institute of Space Law Annual Conference (4) The report from the ESRC project.

Book on Earth Observation and the Law – 26th July 2010
Signed the contract today to produce a book entitled provisionally entitled, "Earth Observation and GPS" Evidence and the Law" with Brill publishers. Further information about when this will be released in 2011 will be on this website.

Meeting with Andy Shaw – 20th July 2010
Had a meeting on July 20th with Andy Shaw at the National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO), which is based at the University of Reading. Andy is Director of Knowledge Exchange at the NCEO, and we discussed possible ways of colloboration and dissemination of the research results from the ESRC project.

Website Visits – 20,000 – 11th July 2010
As of 11th July 2010, over 20,000 visitors from all across the world have now looked at the project website. To give an example of its outreach, this weekend alone, it received visitors from the UK, US, Indonesia, India, Hungary, Germany, Canada, Vietnam, Tanzania, Poland, Australia, Taiwain, Mexico, South Korea, Ireland, Philippines, Switzerland, France, Argentina, Brazil and the Netherlands.

Meeting with Alan Shipman– 30th June 2010
I had a meeting with Alan Shipman on the 30th June. Alan is Director of Group 5 Training Limited, based in Middlesex, and does consultancy work for the British Standards Institution and International Organization for Standardization. His work focusses on standards for electronic information and producing codes of practice which can assist in proving their trustworthyness and reliability. We discussed the applicability of these codes to satellite imagery as evidence in courts.

ADVANCE NOTICE OF LONDON WORKSHOP HELD BY UCL AND THE LONDON INSTITUTE OF SPACE POLICY AND LAW (5th October 2010) - June 2010
There will be a one-day workshop held at UCL in London on Tuesday 5th October examining the use of EO information as evidence. This workshop is being jointly organised by the London Institute of Space Policy and Law and the Faculty of Laws, UCL.
The London Institute will present the results a recent study conducting for the European Space Agency (ESA), exploring the evidential value of information derived from Earth Observation (EO) satellites in both administrative and judicial proceedings. International, regional and municipal jurisdictions will be compared in their approach and potential acceptance of EO information as evidence. Circumstances in which EO information has been offered in evidence will be analysed, identifying the reasons for its acceptance or rejection.
University College London, will present the results of an 18 month Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project: Smart Enforcement in Environmental Legal Systems: A Socio-Legal Analysis of Regulatory Satellite Monitoring in Australia. This project assesses the opportunities and challenges of using satellites to monitor and enforce environmental laws, drawing on experiences in Australia. Amongst the issues to be discussed will be experience in Australian courts (where EO evidence has been most widely used internationally), and the operational effectiveness of monitoring this way – including lessons learnt in terms of successes and constraints.
A full programme for the Workshop will be released closer to the date. If you would like more information or would like to attend please contact me on my email address at raymond.purdy@ucl.ac.uk for more information.

Mention in IUCN’s Science Bulletin – 9th June 2010
A paragraph on my article ‘Using earth observation technologies for better regulatory compliance and enforcement of environmental laws’ appeared in the June 2010 edition of Science Bulletin, published by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network - a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries. The IUCN supports international conventions, UN organizations, companies and communities to develop laws, policy and best-practice in the environmental field.

The June 2010 edition appears on the following link: http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/june_2010_science_bulletin.pdf

Project website receives 18,000 hits! – 8th June 2010
As of 8th June 2010, over 18,000 visitors have now looked at the satellites and the law project website. It is currently averaging about 60 visitors a day and continues to grow!

Meeting with Google Earth – 7th June 2010
I had a meeting with Ed Parson of Google Earth today. Ed is Google Earth’s Geospatial Technologist. We discussed our earth observation interests, and the results of current research, as well as future plans - and whether there was any scope for colloboration.

International Law Association Contribution – 4th June 2010
On the 4 June I wrote a short paper to be included in the annual report of the International Law Associations’ (ILA) Space Law Committee. This report is written and overseen by Professor Maureen Williams, who is head of the ILA Space Law Committee Chair. The report will be submitted in August to the 74th Conference of the ILA at The Hague, Netherlands.

Proposed Book on Earth Observation and the Law – 27th May 2010
On the 27 May, I agreed to undertake editing of a book on earth observation and the law. This is planned to be published by Brill publishers, and will be part of their Space Law Series, which is overseen by Professor Frans von der Dunk. The book is tentatively titled “Satellite Earth Observation and GPS: Evidence and the Law”, and I have just started contacting prospective contributors. It is expected to be available in print in 2011.

Information on past titles in the Studies in Space Law Series can be found on the following link:
http://www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=210&pid=25876

Conference: Is Big Brother Watching You From Space? – 12th May 2010
On May 12th I attended a conference organising by the British Association of Remote Sensing Companies (BARSC) and the UK Space Agency. The full title of this event was: “Is Big Brother watching you.. from space? Responsible geospatial and location based services”. The conference looked at what remote sensing currently delivers and where the future opportunities and challenges lie, in both the acquisition and dissemination of information. Issues around personal privacy and public right of access to data were also explored, particularly in the context of trends in the technology.
I talked about the survey work done under the ESRC project, which is the first of its kind to explore regulated communities attitudes to remote sensing and personal privacy.
The programme can be found here.

Other Media Interest in the Sydney Morning Herald Article - 10th May 2010
The article was picked up in quite a few other places including a politician’s website, news website and even Twitter:
http://www.billheffernan.com.au/news/default.asp?action=article&ID=192
http://www.optuszoo.com.au/news/135664/big-brother-checks-up-on-farmers.html
http://m.watoday.com.au/environment/conservation/big-brother-checks-up-on-farmers-20100503-u3rk.html
http://www.topix.com/au/cooma/2010/05/big-brother-checks-up-on-farmers
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?action=printpage;topic=169430.0
http://www.wethepeoplewillnotbechipped.com/main/news.php
http://wotnews.com.au/like/big_brother_back_to_check_up_on_land_clearing/4946875/
http://interceder.net/news/Productivity-Commission
http://twitter.com/FarmOnline/status/13325794889
http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac;jsessionid=A95B9C30CF878CFFC436C2D9E41902D0?sy=afr&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=1month&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=10&rm=200&sp=brs&cls=50&clsPage=1&docID=SMH100504GQ5ISMQ84IR

UCL Media Update - 7th May 2010
The article in the Sydney Morning Herald was mentioned on the UCL media ‘in the news’ update website, which was also emailed to all staff at UCL.

Andrew Lane finishes survey number crunching - 7th May 2010
Andrew Lane worked as a research associate on the project, part-time, between March 2010 and May 2010. He worked on processing the survey returns and collating the results through statistical software, so that we could analyse the results. Andrew did a fantastic job. This means that the report writing-up can start very soon now.

Interview Mentioned on Faculty of Laws Website - 5th May 2010
The article in the Sydney Morning Herald was mentioned on the UCL Law Faculty’s website.
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/news/index.shtml

Interview in the SMH is picked up by the farming media - 5th May 2010
The piece published in the Sydney Morning Herald was reproduced on Australia’s farmonline – the biggest rural news online site in the country (also incorporating rural newspapers including: The Land | Queensland Country Life | Farm Weekly | Stock Journal | Stock & Land | North Queensland Register).
A link to the article and the comments left underneath by a lot of farmers can be found on this link:
http://theland.farmonline.com.au/news/state/agribusiness-and-general/general/big-brother-back-to-check-up-on-land-clearing/1819656.aspx
The article was also the most viewed article on the farmonline and the Land websites on both the 4th and 5th May!

Meeting with Ronan Kennedy - 5th May 2010
Ray met with Ronan Kennedy on the 5 May. Ronan is an academic at the School of Law at NUI Galway. His research focuses on the relationship between information and communications technology and environmental regulation. They discussed different ways that technology might be able to assist in environmental monitoring,

Interview published in the Sydney Morning Herald - 4th May 2010
I was interviewed in an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald on the 4th May 2010. The interview entitled 'big brother checks up on farmers' was covering my ESRC research on satellite monitoring and enforcement of environmental laws in Australia. The article, which was on the front page and page 2 of the newspaper, can be seen on this link: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/big-brother-checks-up-on-farmers-20100503-u3rk.html

When I looked the article seems to be the most viewed article of the day on the online version of the Sydney Morning Herald website!

Meeting with Professor Williams at Chatham House - 23rd April 2010
On the 23 April 2010, Ray had a meeting at Chatham House, home of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, with Professor Maureen Williams. Professor Williams is head of the Space Law Committee of the International Law Association. Professor Williams is on the advisory board to the project.

Flight Cancelled to Amsterdam – Supposed to be Key Note Speaker at Conference! - 18th April 2010
Was supposed to be the key note speaker at a conference organised by the The Hague Environmental Law Facility, Institute for Environmental Security, on Tuesday 20th April. See link: http://www.envirosecurity.org/events/HELF_Meeting.php

But just been informed that my flight has been cancelled due to the volcanic ash. There are also no seats left on Eurostar! The conference is apparently still going to go on, but sadly (for me anyway) without me.

Meeting with Professor Neil Gunningham - 16th April 2010
I met with Professor Neil Gunningham from the Australian National University in Canberra, on the 16 April. Professor Gunningham is an expert in identifying the contribution that broader, innovative forms of regulation can make to safety, health and environmental policy. I discussed my research on satellites and got some suggestions as to reading on environmental regulation and the broader literature on compliance, perceptions and behaviour.

Project Website hits –12th April 2010
As of 12th April 2010, over 16,000 visitors have now looked at the satellites and the law project website.

ISPRS ESPI IAA IISL Conference, Vienna– 8 & 9th April 2010
I attended a very interesting two day conference, entitled ‘Current legal issues for satellite Earth observation’, in Vienna, at the offices of the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) on the 8th and 9th April 2010. This event was co-organised by the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS), the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) and ESPI.

The conference, which was attended by around 50 experts in the field focussed on two issues: treaty monitoring and law enforcement through satellite Earth observation and privacy conflicts from high resolution imaging.The conference programme can be viewed here. I presented a paper at this conference and was also one of the participants in the final session roundtable.

Conference Speakers
Speakers at the conference (from left): Kai-Uwe Schrogl (ESPI), Ray Purdy (Faculty of Laws, University College London), Catherine Doldirina (McGill University, Montreal), Jean-Michel Contant (IAA), Matxalen Sánchez Aranzamendi (ESPI), Gunter Schreier (DLR), Ed Parsons (Google Earth), Herbert Allgeier (Chairman of the ESPI Advisory Council), George Cho (Law Faculty of Applied Science, University of Canberra), Frans G. von der Dunk (Space and Telecommunications Law Program, University of Nebraska), Sai'd Mosteshar (London Institute for Space Policy and Law), Atsuyo Ito (Researcher, Tokyo), Rainer Sandau (ISPRS-IPAC), Jean-Francois Mayence (Belgian Federal Office for Science Policy), Tanja Masson-Zwaan (IISL), Jana Jentzsch (Attorney-at -law, Hamburg)

Rountable Discussants

Notice of Upcoming conferences – 19th March 2010
1) Conference on "Current legal issues for satellite Earth observation" 8-9th April
The ISPRS/ESPI/IAA/IISL conference on Current legal issues for satellite Earth observation will be held on 8-9 April at ESPI in Vienna, and will address two important and topical aspects of satellite Earth observation:
• treaty monitoring and law enforcement through satellite Earth observation;
• privacy conflicts from high resolution imagery.

Further details can be found on this link.

2) Conference on environmental law monitoring using satellites at The Hague Environmental Facility on the 20 April 2010. Details to appear on this web site.

Offprints of JEL Article Posted Out – 18th March 2010
I posted out offprints of the JEL article today to a numbers of institutions and indiviudal researchers that have been interested in this research area. These included:

Department of Energy and Climate Change (UK), Centre for International Earth Science at Columbia University (US), Environment Agency of England & Wales, UNEP Division of Early Warning & Assessment (US), Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Justice (US), Institute of Air and Space Law (Leiden, Netherlands), National Centre for Earth Observation (UK), Resources for the Future (US), Joint Research Centre – European Commission (Italy), US Environmental Protection Agency, European Environment Agency (Denmark), University of Nebraska (US), The Intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (Switzerland), University of Ohio (US), European Space Agency (Italy, France), Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (US), European Commission (Belgium), Natural Environmental Research Council (UK), Division of Environmental Law and Conventions – United Nations Environment Programme (Kenya), Akin Gump Law Firm (US), MC Mehta Foundation (India), National Centre for Remote Sensing, Air & Space Law (US), Millbank Law Firm (UK). Cantor Akema Law Firm (US), London Institute of Space Policy and Law (UK), Crowsey Incorproated (US).

If you would like an offprint of this paper please contact me.

JEL Article out in print – March 2010
The article that I wrote in the Journal of Environmental Law came out in print in March 2010. The citation for this article is:

R Purdy, ‘Using Earth Observation Technologies for Better Regulatory Compliance and Enforcement of Environmental Laws’, Journal of Environmental Law 22:1 (2010), 59-87.

Mention in Govt Magazine On the Wallaby – 26th February 2010
Information about the seminar to judges in South Australia, that Ray and Mark Storry did in February 2010 was covered in the joint January and February edition of On the Wallaby. This magazine is published by the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation, of the South Australian Government. You can download it from this link.

Leave Adelaide Sunday – 14 February 2010
Ray leaves Adelaide and this is the end of the research phase in Australia. Although not coming home just yet – have a break in Tasmania before returning back to the UK on March 1st.

Posting the Surveys and Research Materials Back to the UK – 12th February 2010
All of the documents collected on the trip (including the returned surveys) are boxed up and taken over to the Australia Post Office in Victoria Square. Heading back to London for analysis

Goodbye to the UCL School in Adelaide.

Meeting with Bronte Treloar – 11th February 2010
Ray met up with Bronte Treloar from the Department of the Premier and Cabinet for South Australia. Bronte is the Director of the University City Project. Bronte is the man responsible for the really impressive new UCL campus in South Australia.

Final meeting with John Winkworth – 11th February 2010
Ray met with John Winkworth of the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation. John is the manager of the investigations department, and did a brilliant job coordinating many of Ray’s research meetings whilst in the State.

Invited Talk to Judges in South Australia – 10th February 2010
Ray was invited to talk at a Judicial Development Twilight Session in Adelaide. The title of the talk was “Computer Technology and its Implications for Judicial Officers – Can we rely on satellite imagery evidence”. 30 Judges from across South Australia attended this 2 hour event.

The aim of this twilight session was to give judicial officers a basic understanding of the technology, by which satellite imagery including images from “Google Earth” are created, how their provenance might be tested and the limits of their usefulness as an evidentiary tool. Ray and Mark Storry (who was the co-presenter) also wanted to raise judicial awareness of satellite imagery as evidence, to enable its use in vegetation clearing case to be more readily understood / accepted by judges. They were also interested of what the judges thought of the evidence, what they would question, and implications affecting the weight and merits that might be attached to the evidence.

The flyer for this event is attached.

University of Adelaide Library Wednesday – 10th February 2010
One last visit to the library this morning to pick up two reports on landholders perceptions. One of them had to be specially ordered in from Roseworthy Agricultural College!

Meeting with Mark Storry, South Australia Government – 9th February 2010
Ray and Mark Storry met up to ‘fine-tune’ their invited talk at the Judicial Development Twilight Session – which is taking place on Wednesday 10th February. Mark is a senior spatial information officer with the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation with over 35 years experience in Cartography including the application and interpretation of spatial information within Geographical Information Systems 'GIS', specializing in satellite and aerial imagery. He will be concentrating on presenting the technical side of satellite evidence in the courtroom and Ray will be talking about some of the legal implications of its use as evidence.

Project Website hits – 5th February 2010
As of 5th February 2010, over 15,000 visitors have now looked at the satellites and the law project website.

Survey Results – 4th February 2010
The final numbers of surveys received were:
• New South Wales - 96 completed surveys
• South Australia - 153 completed surveys
• Queensland - 142 completed surveys

The above figures totaled 391 surveys completed from 3000 posted, which is a return rate of 13%. This was a little disappointing as we were hoping for closer to 20%, but many of the Government officials Ray spoke too thought that he had done well to get over 10% returns. The figures were also affected by the high number of questionnaire booklets that did not reach their intended target and were returned to sender. We had 279 letters returned, which was about 9% of the surveys posted. This high figure was probably caused by a mixture of farmers leaving the land in recent years (retirement, selling up because of takeovers or poor environmental conditions e.g. drought) and probably the age and accuracy of the address database purchased.

The internet survey also received 15 completed surveys. Seems that this was not a popular method of completing surveys, even though it got lots of national and State publicity.

So the total numbers of returned surveys seems to be 404.

Announcing the three lucky prize winners drawn from the survey – 3rd February 2010
To encourage responses to the survey, three prizes were on offer for those who enter a draw. The three lucky winners were chosen at random by: Maria Stavrinakis and Tony Owen (both UCL School of Energy and Resources, Australia) and Rachel McDonnell.

The prize winners (who all chose to receive an iPod nano) are:
• Rob Von Wald, Charters Towers, Queensland.
• Len Paton, Forbes, NSW.
• Jim Byrne, Lameroo, South Australia.

Research at University of Adelaide Library – 3rd February 2010
In the morning of the 3rd February Ray visited the University of Adelaide to look through the catalogue for publications on vegetation clearing.

Opening all of the Satellite Monitoring Surveys and counting! – 2nd February 2010
The day was mainly spent opening all of the responses to the survey and sorting them into piles!

Ending of the Satellite Monitoring Survey – 1st February 2010
The survey of farmers on satellite monitoring of vegetation clearance closed on Monday, February 1, 2010 at 12pm BST.

UCL School in Adelaide Moves into New Offices –1st February 2010
Ray visited the new offices of the UCL School of Energy and Resources, Australia. The new UCL wing in the Torrens Building, which opened in January 2010, is an amazing work space and extremely impressive.

Back in Adelaide – 31st January 2010
Touched back down in Adelaide. Two weeks left to wrap up all of the investigative research and post home the documents!

• ADELAIDE

Left Sydney – 31st January 2010
Ray flew out of Sydney today to go back to Adelaide.

Meeting with Nicola Atkinson – 30th January 2010
Ray met with Nicola Atkinson on the 30th January 2010. Nicola is an experienced environmental lawyer who is National Learning & Development Manager at Blake Dawson.

Meeting with Peter Wells – 29th January 2010
In late afternoon of the 29th January 2010, Ray met with Peter Wells. Peter is the General Manager of Camera Enforcement at the Licensing, Registration and Freight Directorate, of the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority. He was formerly working in a compliance context for the Department of the Environment on land clearing and the use of satellite monitoring, and provided a useful historical background to how the current compliance controls had developed.

Meeting at the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists – 29th January 2010
Ray visited the offices of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists in the early afternoon of the 29th January 2010. The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists is an independent group of Australian scientists concerned with advancing solutions to secure the long term health of Australia's land, water and biodiversity. Since coming together in November 2002, the Wentworth Group has been the catalyst for a series of ground breaking land and water reforms across Australia. The Wentworth Group’s report, A New Model for Landscape Conservation, provided a management model for native vegetation in NSW and was adopted by the Carr Government as policy in 2003.

Final Meeting at the Head Office of the Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW – 29th January 2010
In the morning of the 29th January Ray had a final meeting with David Fowler at the Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW. Ray had some final questions that had arisen during his other interviews that he wanted to talk about. They also discussed issues such as access to imagery used in prosecutions, and how the UCL research was planned to be disseminated and time-scales.

University of Sydney Law Library – 28th January 2010
Ray spent the day reading and conducting research in the Freehills Library, which is the new law library at the University of Sydney. It was an impressive space.

Drive Back to Sydney from Dubbo – 27th January 2010
On the six hour drive back to Sydney, from Dubbo, we experienced a whole range of weather conditions. The outside temperature dropped from 40 degrees Celsius in Dubbo to 15 degrees Celsius during the course of the journey; ending in 24 degrees Celsius in Sydney. We witnessed blinding sunshine, close lightning strikes, massive hail stones, and fog with unbelievably bad visibility and finally lots of humidity.

Afternoon meeting with Richard Hicks of the Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW – 27th January
In the afternoon of the 27th January Ray met with Richard Hicks. Richard is the Manager of the Remote Sensing & Land Assessment Group of the Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW, based in Dubbo. Richard is the key person in the Government on the technical side of the satellite monitoring programme; he discussed some of the technical and cost implications of using satellite derived information in a regulatory context. Richard and his group also showed Ray a variety of satellite images that they were using for monitoring farmers which was extremely useful.

Morning meeting with Michael Burns of the Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW – 27th January 2010
In the morning of the 27th January 2010 Ray met with Michael Burns who is Manager of Compliance for the Department of Environment and Climate Change (Dubbo, Inland North). Ray got a perspective of an operational investigator on the ground as to whether the satellite monitoring had been a success and the impact it had on those regulated this way, both in terms of behaviour and regulatory relationships.

Driving to Dubbo – 25th January 2010
Set off for Dubbo, which is 412km away from Sydney in inland north New South Wales. Stopped off on the way in the Blue Mountains on the 6 hour drive towards the centre of Australia.

Meeting at Price Waterhouse Coopers – 21st January 2010
Ray met with Andrew Peterson on the 21st January 2010. Andrew is an environmental lawyer in the Sustainability and Climate Change team of Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) in Sydney. Ray met with Andrew to discuss his experiences as a defence lawyer in a number of major cases, at both State and Federal level, all involving in some way the use of satellite imagery as evidence in the court. Andrew explained his thoughts on how this evidence had been utilised, and what as a defence lawyer his team had sought to question or contest.

Afternoon Meeting with the Judicial Commission of New South Wales – 20th January 2010
In the afternoon of the 20th January Ray visited the Judicial Commission and met with Hugh Donnelly (Director of Research and Sentencing), Murali Sagi (Director, Information management and Corporate Services), and Ernie Schmatt (Chief Executive). Ray got to hear about their really groundbreaking work on producing electronic databases including the Judicial Information Research System (JIRS), Sentencing Bench Books, and work they had been doing on sentencing statistics for environmental offences. This is to enable consistent sentencing in the courts, but also has possibilities for research analysis to inform on sentencing patterns and policy/legislative reform. This was really interesting stuff and New South Wales appears to currently be the world leader in developing such judicial IT tools to assist the courts.

Morning Meeting with the Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales – 20th January 2010
In the morning Ray met with Mike Wills and Vincent Wong of the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA). Mike is Manger of the Intelligent Heavy Vehicles and Access Management Programme, and Vincent Senior Project Manager of Intelligent Heavy Vehicles in the Compliance and Freight Strategy Group in New South Wales. Ray was interested in how they had been applying new technologies to road compliance. A new national programme was using GPS technologies as a compliance tool for heavy vehicles accessing certain networks. Drivers of heavy vehicles could seek concessions in terms of road access or higher mass loads in return for paying a small fee to have a GPS transponder monitoring their movements and informing the RTA.

Afternoon meeting at the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper – 19th January 2010
Ray met with Ben Cubby, the environmental correspondent at the offices of the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. They discussed the UCL research project and possible dissemination of the conclusion of the Australian survey that Ray was undertaking.

Morning meeting at the Department of the Environment and Climate Change – 19th January 2010
Ray met with Gordon Plath and David Fowler of the Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) in the morning. David is the Manager of Native Vegetation Operational Support in the Environment Protection and Regulation Group of the Department. He has kindly been the main contact and coordinator of Ray’s research and meetings whilst in New South Wales. He also met with Gordon Plath who is the Manager of Litigation in the Department. They discussed operational staffing and practice, the use of the imagery in the programme and as evidence court, and communications with landholders – to name a few things.

Driving back down NSW – 16th-17th January 2010
The long drive back to Sydney from Armidale was not so rushed, and gave us a chance to look at some of the beautiful sights. These included waterfall way, Bellingen, Nambucca Heads, South West Rocks and Forster-Tuncurry.

Meeting at the University of New England (UNE) – 15th January 2010
On Friday, Ray went to the University of New England (UNE), Armidale, to meet with a number of their staff. He met with Dr. Robyn Bartel, a Lecturer in the School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences, Professor Paul Martin, Director of AgLaw (The Australian Centre for Agriculture and the Law), and Professor Martin Thoms, who is Chair of Geography at UNE. Dr. Bartel is probably Australia’s foremost leading expert on land clearance. Ray spoke to Robyn and her colleagues about their interesting research on land clearance issues and farmers reactions to environmental regulation.

The Long Road to the University of New England – 14th January 2010
Ray and Rache left the house in Sydney in their hire car at 9.30am for the long drive to Armidale, which is in the north of the State of New South Wales. Much of the 525km journey was memorable for torrential rain and very close lightning strikes. They arrived at Peterson’s Guest House in Armidale at 6.45pm.

Meeting at the Environmental Defenders Office (New South Wales)– 13th January 2010
In the afternoon Ray met with Jeff Smith and Rachel Walmsley at the Environmental Defenders Office for New South Wales. Jeff is the Director and Rachel the Policy Director for this organisation. The Environmental Defenders Office is a community legal centre specialising in public interest environmental law. The Environmental Defender's Office Ltd, (EDO), is a not-for-profit community legal centre specialising in public interest environmental law. They help individuals and community groups who are working to protect the natural and built environment. They also give policy advice to Government and have had a notable interest in land clearing, including producing a recent document reviewing the native vegetation legislation.

Meeting with the Chief Judge at the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales – 13th January 2010
In the morning and early afternoon of Wednesday 13th January, Ray met with The Hon Justice Brian Preston, who is the Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court of NSW. Ray got a number of perspectives on land clearing, as the judge had experience with these cases as both a barrister and a judge. In this four hour meeting they discussed points such as judicial acceptance of such imagery, use of expert witnesses, sentencing in environmental offences (and specifically land clearing cases).

Afternoon Meeting at the NSW Farmers Association Tuesday – 12th January 2010
Ray met with David Eyre in the afternoon of the 12th January. David is the Senior Policy Manager, Environment, Economics, Business and Trade, NSW Farmers Association. Ray wanted to get a clearer picture of the drivers for clearing, the impact of satellite monitoring on farming communities, whether this had affected relationships between the regulator and regulated, and whether the legislation and/or satellite monitoring was broadly opposed or welcomed by the farming community

Morning Meeting at the Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW – 12th January 2010
Ray met with Neil Bennett and Jeremy Black (the latter through a conference call facility) at the Head Office of the Department of Environment and Climate Change, New South Wales. Neil is based in the Parramatta office of the Department and is Director of Information Sciences in the Scientific Services Division (SSD). He is also Acting Director of the SSD. Jeremy also works in the Information Sciences branch of the department and is based in Grafton, which is in the north of the State.
Scientific Services Division (SSD) manage the Department’s remote sensing programs including the acquisition, processing and interpretation of spatial data, including medium and high resolution satellite imagery, aerial digital photography and newer technologies (eg LIDAR). Ray discussed the use of satellite data for the monitoring of land clearance from a technical perspective – including data used, preparation for court and resourcing.

Articles on Land Clearing from the Sydney Morning Herald – 11th January 2010
Ray was in communication with Wendy Frew, Chief of Staff at the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH). The Sydney Morning Herald is published out of New South Wales and is one of the country’s biggest daily newspapers. Wendy used to be the environmental correspondent and passed on a file of all the articles published in the subject area of land clearing, by the SMH over the last few years.

• SYDNEY

Moving on to Sydney - 23rd December 2009
On the 23rd December left Brisbane for Sydney.

Meeting with Bruce Goulevitch - 17th December 2009
Farewell meeting with Bruce Goulevitch and the team at the Indooroopilly Government offices.

Meeting with Bruce Goulevitch - 16th December 2009
Ray met with Bruce Goulevitch of the Department of Environment and Resource Management, Queensland Government in the afternoon of the 16th December. Bruce is the Principal Scientist of the Remote Sensing Team which examines vegetation clearing. He probably knows more about land clearing monitoring using satellites than any one else in Australia.

Meeting with Jeanette Durante - 16th December 200
In the morning of the 16th December 2009 Ray met with Jeanette Durante. Jeanette does community consultation for the Department of Environment and Resource Management in Queensland. They discussed the consultation that had taken place with the farmers about the vegetation clearing laws and the satellite monitoring that would be used to check compliance.

Meeting with Matt Peate - 15th December 2009
In the late afternoon of the 15th December 2009, Ray met with Matthew Peate. Matt is a Senior Lawyer in the Litigation unit, Environment and Natural Resource Regulation Group, Queensland Government. They talked about some of the cases that had gone through the court system where satellite data had been used as evidence.

Meeting with Kelli Read - 15th December 2009
In the early afternoon of the 15th December 2009, Ray met with Kelli Ready. Kelli is manager of investigations in the Compliance and Investigations Unit of the Department of Environment and Resource Management, Queensland Government.

Meeting with His Honour Judge Marshall Irwin - 15th December 2009
In the morning of the 15th December 2009, Ray spoke with His Honour Judge Marshall Irwin. He is a Judge in the District Court of Queensland (2003–), and before that was the Chief Magistrate, in the Magistrates Courts of Queensland (2003–2008). Judge Irwin had presided over a case where satellite imagery was used to demonstrate illegal clearing. Interestingly, he had previously addressed The Australasian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulators Network (AELERT) on his experiences in court with using these new technologies. They discussed evidential admissibility and the courts possible views on admissibility and these technologies.

Walk Against Warming - 12th December 2009
Ray participated in the walk against warming march in Brisbane on Saturday. Walk Against Warming is Australia’s biggest community day of action on climate change.
http://www.walkagainstwarming.org/index.php?p=home.php

Meeting with Environmental Defenders Office Queensland - 10th December 2009
Ray met with Jo Bragg and Scot Sellwood of the Queensland branch of the Environmental Defenders Office on Thursday 10th November. The Environmental Defenders Office is a community legal centre specialising in public interest environmental law. Ray got a public interest perspective on the land clearing legislation and the successes and failures of it in operational practice.

Meeting with Alan MacSporran SC - 10th December 2009
In the morning of the 10th Ray met with Alan MacSporran, a Barrister and Senior Counsel at the Queensland Bar. Alan had been the Governments chosen legal representative on most of the vegetation clearing it had brought to court. They discussed whether any aspect of the use of satellites as evidence had been challenged in court, the reactions of the judiciary to it, and the legislative amendments to the vegetation legislation which had simplified how satellites imagery could be used as evidence.

UCL Laws News Website: Mention of ABC Radio Interviews - 9th December 2009
The UCL Laws website ran a news story today about Ray’s radio interviews whilst in Australia. This news piece can be found on the following link:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/news/index.shtml

Interviews at the Department of the Environment Resources and Management - 8th December 2009
Ray spent the day meeting a number of key staff at the Department of the Environment Resources and Management. He first met two of the regional investigators: Chris Holeszko and Warren Raddatz. They explained the inner operational workings of an investigation, and how they thought the farmers had reacted to both the legislation and the satellite monitoring.

Later on he met a regional compliance coordinator (for the central west region of Queensland), Jeremy Driscoll. They discussed the outcomes of the satellite monitoring from a compliance context and whether there were statistics collated which could indicate the impact that this monitoring might have had.

Queensland Environmental Law Association Conference on Vegetation Regulation - 7th December 2009
On Monday Ray attended a conference in the city on vegetation regulation, which was organised by the Queensland Environmental Law Association. This conference was very well attended, with approximately 150 attendees from Queensland law firms, consultants, and Government. The purpose of the conference was to consider some topical issues relating to vegetation regulation, including: the new regrowth clearing laws; prosecution trends; and ‘on the ground’ issues arising out of the new requirements. The speakers included Melanie Simmonds (special counsel, Deacons), Ralph Devlin SC (Barrister), Susan Malone (solicitor, HopgoodGanim) and Alan Chenoweth and David Francis (Chenoweth Environmental Planning and Landscape Architecture).

New Newspaper Coverage: ‘Is big brother a friend or foe?’ - 4th December 2009
An article about this ESRC research project appeared in page 3 of today’s issue of Rural Weekly. It contained a summary of the research and the web link to the survey, to enable farmers to participate in the survey.

A copy of this article can be downloaded from here.

Meetings at Queensland Law Courts: Judges of the District Court and Planning and Environmental Court - 4th December 2009
Ray met with His Honour Judge Michael Rackemann, who sits on the District Court of Queensland and the Planning and Environment Court of Queensland. They discussed the use of satellite imagery as evidence in Queensland courts, including admissibility, presentation within the courtroom, and the use of expert witnesses. Judge Rackemann mentioned a recent case that he heard in 2009 where Google Earth was used by a party as evidence to illustrate a point.

Ray also met with Her Honour Judge Julie Dick of the District Court, who has a strong background in criminal law. They discussed admissibility of satellite evidence in court, in terms of any human rights or privacy legislation within the State/Australia.

Meeting with Andrew Freeman - 3rd December 2009
Ray met with Andrew Freeman on the 3rd December 2009. Andrew has just started as Project Manager (Environmental Systems) at Meat & Livestock Australia. Before that (only a few weeks ago) he was the CEO of AGFORCE, a Queensland rural lobby group. Andrew discussed the attitudes and reactions of the farmers towards the vegetation clearing legislation in Queensland and the regulatory satellite monitoring that followed. Getting the perspective of someone representing the farmers and having to communicate to them the changes in the law and regulatory monitoring was extremely interesting.

Meeting with Greg Sullivan, Brisbane City Council and AELERT Network - 2nd December 2009
On Wednesday, Ray met with Greg Sullivan. Greg is the Branch Manager of Compliance & Regulatory Services at Brisbane City Council. He used to be in charge of the compliance operations in respect of land clearing in Queensland and has a lot of knowledge on how the legislation and enforcement strategy developed.

Greg is also the Chair of the Australasian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulators Network (AELERT), which is a network of environmental regulatory agencies. Its aim is to build relationships between jurisdictions to facilitate the sharing of information and improve the regulatory compliance capacity of member agencies. It also seeks to develop national standards for training and best practice in environmental regulation.

Meeting at the Centre for Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Science, University of Queensland - 1st December 2009
On Tuesday Ray visited the University of Queensland where he had a meeting with Dr Stuart Phinn from the Centre for Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Science, in the School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management. Stuarts research interests are in environmental monitoring and management applications for earth observation data; particularly - Biophysical Remote Sensing, Remote Sensing Education and Training, Spatial Analysis, Statistics and Modeling. They discussed the work going on at the University of Queensland including the project - terrestrial ecosystem research network (TERM). Ray also found out that Stuart has used the Satellites and the Law website in reading lists for his students!
Whilst at the University of Queensland, Ray also met Glenn Campbell, a lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering and Surveying at the University of Southern Queensland. They discussed compliance behaviour and laws and Glenn gave some examples of studies in South East Asia.

Project mentioned in the Newsletter of the Queensland Farmers Federation - 1st December 2009
Details of the UCL survey of farmers in Australia were listed today in this week’s weekly bulletin of the Queensland’s Farmers Federation. This can be seen on the following link: http://www.qff.org.au/weekly_bulletin/101/

Meeting at the Canegrowers - 30th November 2009
Ray visited the Canegrowers for a meeting on Monday. Canegrowers is the farmer representative body for Australian sugarcane producers. They are also one of Australia’s largest and most influential farmer representative bodies. He met with Bernard Milford (Senior Manager, Policy) and Suzi Moore (Manager, Public Relations; and Acting Editor Australian Canegrower Magazine). Ray wanted to get a clearer picture of the drivers for clearing, the impact of satellite monitoring on farming communities, whether this had affected relationships between the regulator and regulated, and whether the legislation and/or satellite monitoring was broadly opposed or welcomed by the farming community

Meeting with Bruce Goulevitch, Queensland Government - 30th November 2009
Ray met with Bruce Goulevitch of the Queensland Government. Bruce is the Principal Scientist of the Remote Sensing Team which examines vegetation clearing. Ray got some background as to the politics behind the legislation and how the legislation had developed since its inception.

Interview on ABC mentioned in the UCL Media Update - 27th November 2009
The interview on ABC national, which was aired on the 23rd November, was reported in the top UCL stories in the media. This is sent to all UCL staff and also appears on the UCL media website.

Meeting at the Queensland Bar - 26th November 2009
Ray met with Philip Sheridan, a Barrister called to the Queensland Bar. Before he was a lawyer, Philip worked for the Government, where he had a technical background using GPS and satellite systems for monitoring and mapping pastoral land ground cover. Philip was now using these experiences in acting as a defence lawyer in a number of cases where illegal clearing was alleged, and earth observation data was used as evidence in the court. Ray wanted to get some perspective from a defence lawyer as to what sorts of challenges might be made as to the reliability of the evidence, and the weight that might be placed upon it by a court.

First Meeting at Department of Environment and Resource Management, Queensland Government - 25th November 2009
Ray met many of the staff members of the Remote Sensing team in Land and Vegetation Science, Natural Resource Sciences, Department of Environment and Resource Management, Queensland Government. Bruce Goulevitch, who heads this team, is kindly helping Ray coordinate Government meetings within the State. The team also made a number of very useful suggestions as to who Ray might wish to meet from outside of Government whilst he was in Queensland.

Telephone Interview with Farmer from Western Australia - 24th November 2009
Ray held an interesting telephone discussion with a farmer from Western Australia, Colin Nicol, about the project and the focus of the survey. Colin, whose farm is located east of Perth, near the rabbit proof fence, was formerly the President of the Western Australian Farming Federation. His concerns with the use of satellite imagery included privacy issues, and also trusting technology and the dangers of satellite information being misinterpreted. More widely, Colin thought it somewhat unfair that he paid rates for the whole of his farm, even though he was not able to use all the land because of the vegetation clearing laws. This penalised him for not broad scale clearing, like some other farmers, before the legislation came into effect. He also mentioned that the Government was sometime guilty of double-standards in letting certain industrial and mining developments remove vegetation but came down hard on farmers.

Interview aired on ABC National - 23rd November 2009
Ray was interviewed on ABC Radio National – Australia’s biggest radio station, on Monday 23rd November. This interview was broadcast on the Bush Telegraph show (Mondays–Fridays 11:00), which provides "an entertaining look at rural and regional issues around Australia".

A link to the website write up can be found on this link: http://www.abc.net.au/rural/telegraph/content/2009/s2750585.htm

A recording of this interview can be downloaded here.

Arrive in Queensland - 22nd November 2009
Ray touched down in Brisbane this afternoon.

• BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

Survey Mentioned in Western Australian Farmers Newsletter - 20th November 2009
Details of the UCL survey of farmers in Australia were listed today in this week’s copy of the WA Farmers.This newsletter can be accessed through the following pdf attachment

Meeting at the National Farmers Federation - 19th November 2009
In the afternoon Ray met with Deb Kerr of the National Farmers' Federation (NFF). The NFF is an Australian industry association that represents Australian farmers at national level. NFF's members are the state-level farmers' organisations, national commodity councils, and other affiliated members. Deb is the manager of natural resource management in Australia and Ray met with her to discuss the NFF’s position towards satellite monitoring and how the farmers feel about the legislation and this form of monitoring.

Meeting at the Australian Institute of Criminology - 19th November 2009
In the morning Ray met with Samantha Bricknell of the Australian Institute of Criminology. This Commonwealth Government department is Australia's national research and knowledge centre on crime and justice. They undertake evidence-based research to inform policy and practice and Samantha is working on a report on environmental crime. Ray met her to discuss statistics and trends with land clearing and more generally, environmental crime.

Dinner with Tim Malthus - 18th November 2009
Dr. Tim Malthus of CSIRO kindly invited Ray and Rache to a really nice BBQ dinner at his home, with his family – Vanessa and Isla.

Invited Talk and Meetings at Geoscience Australia - 18th November 2009
Ray was invited along to a seminar discussion at Geoscience Australia on the 18th November. Geoscience Australia is an agency of the Australian Federal Government. It is a world leader in providing first class geoscientific information and knowledge which enables government and community to make informed decisions about: the exploitation of resources, the management of the environment, the safety of critical infrastructure and the resultant wellbeing of all Australian’s. It produces and purchases geospatial products such as topographic maps and satellite imagery.
The seminar at Geosciences Australia was organised by Dr. Adam Lewis, Group Leader, National Earth Observation Group, Geospatial & Earth Monitoring Division and Dr. Medhavy Thankappan, Director, Science and Strategy, National Earth Observation Group, Geospatial and Earth Monitoring Division, and a number of other key staff at Geosciences Australia. Participants at the seminar also came from the Department of Climate Change and Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts with an interest in monitoring and compliance of climate change and water.

After then seminar Ray gave a one hour (invited) lunchtime talk on his research to staff at Geosciences Australia in their main lecture theatre.

Interview on ABC National - 17th November 2009
In the afternoon on the 17th, Ray went to the ABC studios in Canberra where he was ‘remotely’ interviewed by Michael Cathcart, who is one of the presenters of the Bush Telegraph show on ABC national. This interview and recording is due to be aired nationally on the 23rd November between 11-12am. The Bush Telegraph Show’s website can be seen on this link: http://www.abc.net.au/rural/telegraph/default.htm

Seminar Discussions at the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts - 17th November 2009
Ray participated in a focussed seminar discussion organised by the DEWHA department of the Commonwealth Government entitled “Use of satellite remote sensing for environmental monitoring and enforcement”. Ray gave a 30 minute presentation on his research on the ESRC and AHRC projects. The Government representatives then gave an overview of compliance and enforcement in DEWHA, how initial satellite imagery other ‘in house’ tools/systems are used by compliance practitioners, how enhanced/further imagery products are accessed/developed by DEWHA’s in-house capability, and how satellite imagery is used in actual investigations, case preparation and prosecutions.

Participants from the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts at this seminar discussion included: Grant Pink (Director, Compliance Support Unit), Jan Klaver (Director, Compliance 2 Section), Steve Mercer (Director, Compliance 1 Section), Jason Ferris (Director, Environmental Resources Information Network (ERIN) Landscape Analysis and Ecology Section, Luke Bond (Director, Environmental Investigations Unit). James Lehane (Investigations & Intelligence Manager, Investigative Services and Intelligence Team Compliance Support Unit).

Survey Questionnaire Returns Latest - 16th November 2009
So far there has been a pretty good response from the farmers in returning questionnaires. Ray has received back 73 completed surveys from New South Wales, 100 completed surveys from Queensland, and 120 completed surveys from South Australia. This is a total of 293 returns so far from 3000 posted. This is a response rate of nearly 10% and the survey does not close until February 1st 2010. The response rate should also be considered in light of the 245 surveys that have been returned so far as no longer at that address.

Invited Talk at CSIRO - 16th November 2009
Ray was invited to give a talk on his research under the ESRC project to CSIRO Land and Nature in Canberra. The CSIRO, or to give it its full title, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, is the national government body for scientific research in Australia. The land and nature division is one of the 16 organisation bodies within CSIRO and provides scientific expertise to enable the sustainable use of Australia's land and water resources. About 30 staff from the CSIRO attended this talk.

He also participated in a meeting with Dr. Tim Malthus, Research Group Leader, Environmental Earth Observation, Professor Arnold G Dekker, Senior Scientist Aquatic Remote Sensing, and several other key staff from CSIRO Land and Water.

Arrive in Canberra - 15th November 2009
Ray arrives in Canberra.

• CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA

Farewell Adelaide Lunch – 13th November 2009
Ray had a goodbye lunch with John Winkworth (‘Winky’), who had done a fabulous job organising meetings with all the key people in South Australia for this research, and Professor Rob Fowler of the IUCN environmental law network.

Meeting with John Winkworth – 13th November 2009
Ray met with John Winkworth in the South Australian Government to go over some of the research conclusions reached in South Australia. Ray wanted to fill in some of the gaps and get further information on investigations and compliance data.

Meeting with Mark Storry of the South Australian Government – 12th November 2009
On Thursday morning Ray met with Mark Storry (Manager, Data Analysis, Native Vegetation & Biodiversity Management Unit). Mark has responsibility for checking all of the satellite data and monitoring land use change and vegetation clearance in the state. Ray discussed a number of technical points with Mark about data sourcing, monitoring techniques and evidence preparation for use in court. They also discussed evidential successes in court and lessons learnt.

The Research and Survey Mentioned on the Website of the Sheepmeat Council of Australia - 12th November
This website publicised the survey to farmers working in the area of sheepmeat production in Australia. The weblink to this can be found on: www.sheepmeat.com.au

Article in the Stock Journal – 12th November 2009
An article about the ESRC research project appeared in today’s issue of the Stock Journal. This newspaper is South Australia's only rural weekly paper and reaches a large number of the rural community in the State. The article covered the survey and gave a link to the survey website.

Two meetings with the South Australian Government – 10th November 2009
Ray met separately with Paul Gould (Manager, Native Vegetation and Biodiversity Management Unit) and Mark Aberdeen (Prosecution Liaison Officer, Compliance, Native Vegetation & Biodiversity Management Unit). They discussed the questionnaire that had been sent out to farmers and the actual departmental resources. They also went through the research questions that Ray had prepared.

Survey Link and Research Project Covered in NARNEWS website and bulletin - 9th November 2009
NARNEWS, which is produced by the Western Australia Landskills Organisation, have also published a story about the research and link to the opinion survey webpage. This weekly online and published newsletter is for people in the Northern Agricultural Regions of Australia.
The newsletter can be seen on the website: www.landskills.com.au/latest%20NARNEWS%table.org

Survey and Research Covered in South Australian Farmers November Newsletter - 9th November 2009
Information about the survey and research was reported in the monthly news letter of the South Australian Farmers Federation on the 9th November. The South Australian Farmers Federation is the state's principal farmer organisation providing representation and support to farmers.
This newsletter can be accessed through the following pdf attachment (link to follow)

Meeting the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (Australia) and some of the dolphins! Yay! – 9th November 2009
Although not connected with the ESRC project, Ray got the chance to meet another two environmental organisations whilst in Australia – the Australian branch of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and the Kangaroo Island Dolphin Watch Group (an affiliated body of the former). Margi Prideaux and Tony Barton of these organisations really kindly organised and took Ray and his partner Rache out on a boat to see the various groups of dolphins which live in the surrounding areas of Kangaroo Island, South Australia, and to hear about their innovative marine education and research programmes involving school children in the State.

Telephone Discussion with Queensland Farmer – 6th November 2009
Ray held a telephone discussion with a Queensland farmer, Charles Mason, about the project and the focus of the survey. Charles commented that the research was possibly framed wrongly, as that most farmers were not overly worried about satellite monitoring, but that the Government was using it for the wrong reasons and motives. He thought that land clearing monitoring was possibly ok, but its use to monitor farmers had been distorted because they were increasingly marginalised over why they were monitored and what land they did and did own, and what they could do on their own land. Charles was a little concerned that Government bodies were already planning to apply satellite monitoring to climate change and other environmental laws, which might not be proven.

Meeting with the Crown Solicitors Office – 5th November 2009
Ray had a meeting with the Crown Solicitors Office, Attorney-General’s Department, of the Government of South Australia. The primary role of this Office is to provide legal services and advice to government where: there is a significant need for public sector perspective; and the work is otherwise in the public interest. He met with Michael Grant (Managing Solicitor), Michelle Sutcliffe (Senior Solicitor) and Amanda Boxall (Solicitor) to discuss the use of satellite imagery in illegal vegetation clearing cases brought by the Government. They discussed a number of current cases which were taking place in the State and the implications of satellite imagery as evidence in an enforcement context.

Environmental Court meeting – Her Honour Judge Christine Trenorden meeting – 4th November 2009
Ray met with Her Honour Judge Christine Trenorden on the 4th November 2009. Judge Trenorden is the presiding member (or most senior judge) in the Environment, Resources and Development Court in South Australia. The ERD Court was established in Adelaide in 1993 and has jurisdiction with issues of development, heritage, the environment, water resources, irrigation, mining and native title. They discussed the actual use of satellite imagery as evidence in the court, as well as Ray trying to discover the honourable judges’ perspective of its use as evidence to date and what questions regarding its admissibility and accuracy she might potentially ask if confronted with it in her courtroom. Ray and Judge Trenorden also discussed the possibility of a training event in South Australia for judges on digital and satellite images as evidence in the courtroom.

Project Website hits - 3rd November 2009
As of 3rd November 2009, 13,500 visitors have looked at the satellites and the law project website.

Radio Interview on the Queensland Country Hour Show – 2nd November 2009
The radio interview on ABC which Ray was in was broadcast on the Country Hour programme in the State of Queensland on the 2nd November 2009. The radio webpage mentioning this programme can be found on this link: http://www.abc.net.au/rural/qld/content/2009/11/s2730999.htm

Canegrowers Covers the ESRC Project and Survey - 2nd November 2009
The Canegrowers association, an Australian farming group, published an article about the farming survey that Ray is doing on their website, in their fortnightly ‘Sweet News Ezine’ (email magazine) and published magazine; which is sent out to members. Canegrowers is the peak representative body for Australian sugarcane growers. A link to this story can be found on this link: http://www.canegrowers.com.au/hottopics/raypurdy.aspx

Australian Future Farmer’s Network Covers the ESRC Project and Survey – 31st October2009
The email newsletter of the Future Farmers Network carried a story about the UCL project and also a link to the online survey of farmers. The Future Farmers Network is Australia's national network for young people in rural industries.

Ray’s ABC interview mentioned in the UCL Media Update – 30th October 2009
The ABC interview on Country Hour, which featured Ray, was reported in the top UCL Stories in the Media. This is sent to all UCL staff and also appears on the UCL media website.

Meeting with Megan Dyson - 29th October 2009
Ray met with Megan Dyson on the 29th October. Megan is on the Board of the Environmental Protection Agency in South Australia. The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is South Australia’s leading environmental regulator, responsible for the protection of air and water quality, and the control of pollution, waste, noise and radiation. Ray and Megan discussed the use of satellite and aerial monitoring by the EPA in South Australia and the ESRC project, and where some of its principles might be applied to environmental regulation in South Australia.

Radio Interview on ABC Broadcast – 29th October 2009
The radio interview on ABC which Ray was in was broadcast on the Country Hour programme at 12pm on the 29th October 2009. This was broadcast in South Australia. Ray discussed at length the ESRC project and the motives behind the research, as well as publicising the project survey. It also featured discussions on satellite monitoring with Andrew Freeman, deputy ceo, Agforce; and Craig Whisson, executive officer, Native Vegetation Council (South Australia). The radio webpage mentioning this programme can be found on this link: http://www.abc.net.au/rural/sa/content/2009/10/s2727770.htm
A shorter recording of this programme can be listened to by clinking here (link to follow)

Meeting with Environmental Defenders Office – 29th October 2009
Ray met with Ruth Beach and Melissa Ballantyne of the Environmental Defenders Office (South Australia) on the 29th October. The Environmental Defenders Office is a community legal centre specialising in public interest environmental law. They discussed illegal vegetation clearing in the State from the perspective of a public interest group. Ray also used this discussion to get a greater perspective on whether environmental crimes, and breaches of environmental law, were dropping/increasing/or remaining stable over the last few years in the State. This was to help gauge the wider impact of satellite monitoring of vegetation clearing.

Meeting with the Native Resources Management Council of South Australia – 28th October 2009
Ray had a meeting with Dennis Mutton and Craig Whisson on the 28th October. Dennis is the Presiding Member, and Craig is the Executive Officer of the Natural Resources Management Council in South Australia. The NRM Council is an independent body whose key role is to advise the Minister for Environment and Conservation on the management of the State’s natural resources. They have the decision making authority to decide on formal individual applications to clear vegetation. They also manage the native vegetation fund, which spends money on replanting new vegetation.

Meeting with South Australian Farmers Federation – 28th October 2009
Ray met Sandra Keane, the Natural Resources Executive Officer at the South Australian Farmers Federation on the 28th October. The South Australian Farmers Federation is the state's principal farmer organisation providing representation and support to farmers. Ray and Sandra discussed the issue of satellite monitoring and vegetation clearing from a farming perspective. Ray wanted to get a clearer picture of the drivers for clearing, the impact of satellite monitoring on farming communities, whether this had affected relationships between the regulator and regulated, and whether the legislation and/or satellite monitoring was broadly opposed or welcomed by the farming community.

Radio Interview on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)– 27th October 2009
Ray was interviewed in the South Australia studios of ABC for the Country Hour radio programme, which is broadcast daily between 12 and 1pm. He was interviewed by Annabelle Homer.

Talk and Discussion with the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation, South Australian Government – 26th October 2009
Ray gave a talk to staff members of the South Australian Government about the project. Following this there was a group discussion with these key staff members of the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation (DWLBC). This included: Paul Gould (Manager, Native Vegetation and Biodiversity Management Unit), Mark Aberdeen (Prosecution Liaison Officer, Compliance, Native Vegetation & Biodiversity Management Unit), John Winkworth (Manager, Investigations Unit), Mark Storry (Manager, Data Analysis, Native Vegetation & Biodiversity Management Unit) and Ben de la Torre (Compliance Assessment Officer, Native Vegetation & Biodiversity Management Unit).

Contacting Stakeholders and Farming Groups - 23rd October 2009
Ray contacted a number of organisations to help them publicise this survey to the Australian farmers and landholders. These included:
Farming Associations: National Farmers Federation (Canberra), South Australian Farming Federation. AGFORCE Queensland, Australian Farming Institute, Canegrowers Association Queensland, Future Farmers Network, New South Wales Farming Association, Agforward (Queensland), Queensland Farmers Federation, Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, Victorian Farmers Federation, Australian Dairy Farmers, Cattle Council of Australia, Western Australia Farmers Federation, Tasmania Farmers and Graziers Association, Ricegrowers Association, Australian Cotton Growers Association, Australian Dried Fruit Association

Media: Farm Writers Association of NSW, Farm Weekly (Western Australia), North Queensland Register, Queensland Country Life, Stock and Land (Victoria), Stock Journal (South Australia), The Land (NSW), Rural Business (New South Wales, ABC Rural.

Online Survey on Land Clearing goes Live - 22nd October 2009
The online version of the Australian survey that Ray is conducting went live on the UCL opinion website today. Please contact Ray on his email address: uctlrap"at"ucl.ac.uk if you want to complete this online survey.

Environmental Defenders AGM and Lecture - 21st October 2009
Ray attended the annual meeting of the Environmental Defenders organization. After the meeting all the participants went for dinner and Ray had a chance to speak with many of South Australia’s environmental lawyers. There was also an after dinner speaker, Greg Ogle, who gave a talk on the Gunns 20 and other slap-suit environmental cases in Australia.

Surveys on Land Clearing Posted – 21 October 2009
As part of the research for the project, 3000 UCL questionnaire booklets were planned be posted to a random selection of Australian farmers. On the 21st October these questionnaire booklets were posted to farmers in SA, NSW and Queensland by my postal agent in Australia, dot2dot Post Pty Ltd. Thanks Bernie! The booklets were sent in colour with a signed covering letter explaining the research project and information why the farmers would help by participating in this survey. Here’s hoping for a good response.

Meeting with John Winkworth –20 October 2009
Ray met with John Winkworth, again in late afternoon on the 20th to try to firm up possible meetings with both Government and external bodies whilst in South Australia. They made a list of ten groups of people that should be contacted and made preliminary steps to fix up meeting times with these.

Visit to University of South Australia – 20th October 2009
In the afternoon of the 20th Ray visited the new School of Law at UniSA in their new offices. He was taken there by Rob Fowler and met with the Dean of Law at the School, Professor Paul Fairall, and other members of staff to explain his research in South Australia and look for new research linkages with the School. Paul AND Rob made a number of suggestions of possible people to contact outside the State as well in both NSW and ACT.

Meeting with Rob Fowler – 20th October 2009
Ray met with Rob Fowler who is an adjunct Professor of Environmental Law at UniSA. Rob plays a leading role in a number of important external organisations in Australia including the Chair of the South Australian Environmental Defenders Office, Chair of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law and the Australian Conservation Foundation. They discussed the UCL project and the implementation and enforcement of environmental laws within South Australia.

UCL School of Energy and Resources – 19th October onwards
(After battling the jet lag) Ray officially started work in Australia on the 19th October. He will be based during his time in Adelaide at the new UCL School of Energy and Resources – this is the first UK university campus in Australia. The link to their website is: www.ucl.ac.uk/australia/

Meeting with John Winkworth – 15 October 2009
Ray met with John Winkworth, who is the manager of the Investigations Unit, Resource Allocation, in the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation, Government of South Australia. John will be kindly helping Ray coordinating meetings within the State.

Arrived in Australia – 15th October 2009
Ray touched down in Adelaide on the 15th October.

• ADELAIDE – AUSTRALIA

Website on Intute - 1st October 2009

This satellites project website has now been included on the Intute research database. Intute is a free online service providing access to the very best Web resources for education and research, selected and evaluated by a network of subject specialists. The service is run by a consortium of UK universities and partners. The link on the Intute website is visible here: http://www.intute.ac.uk/cgi-bin/fullrecord.pl?handle=20090911-14131421

ESRC Project reported in Australian Farming E-Newsletter – September 7th 2009
The Canegrowers association, an Australian farming group, published an article about the research project on their website, in their fortnightly ‘ezine’ (email magazine) and published magazine; which is sent out to members. Canegrowers is the peak representative body for Australian sugarcane growers. A link to this magazine can be found on this link: http://www.canegrowers.com.au/contact-us/magazine/index.aspx

Research Fellow Appointed on the Project – September 1st 2009
Andrew Lane was appointed as a research fellow on the project for the month of September. Andrew has wide experience within UCL in organising and putting together surveys and will help Ray develop the online and paper questionnaires to be completed by farmers in Australia. These surveys are intended to be distributed within Australia on the week commencing the 20th October 2009 when Ray is in Australia.

Article on Earth Observation and Enforcement Accepted for Publication in the Journal of Environmental Law – 24th August 2009
An advance access version of a paper written by Ray Purdy was made available on the website of Oxford University Press / Journal of Environmental Law in August 2009. The article entitled “Using Earth Observation for Better Regulatory Compliance and Enforcement of Environmental Laws”. The abstract and full pdf version (for subscribers) of this paper is available on the following link: http://jel.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/eqp027

Australia Flights Booked - July 21st 2009
Ray will arrive in Australia on Thursday 14th October 2009. He will stay there until February 2010 visiting Adelaide, Canberra, Brisbane and Sydney.

First Project Advisory Board Meeting - June 24th 2009
The first advisory Board meeting of the ESRC project took place on June 24th. The project has a highly distinguished and knowledgeable Board to provide advice on the implementation of the project. Many of the Board were able to attend the first meeting at UCL in London, including: David Stott, Simon Kay, Andy Shaw, Joanne Wheeler, Ray Harris, Frans von der Dunk, Jonathan Robinson, Tanja Masson-Zwaan. Apologies were received from Maureen Williams (in Argentina) and Richard Macrory (in Italy).

Australian Academic Visit - 10th June 2009
Ray met with Professor Michael Jeffery and Professor Donna Craig on June 10th to discuss research interests, in this area, in Australia. Professors’ Jeffery and Craig are currently based at the Centre for Environmental Law, Macquarie University, Sydney, but will move to new tenured positions at the School of Law, University of Western Sydney, in July 2009. They discussed the ESRC project and Ray received advice on the Australian legal system as well as useful project contacts within Australia.

European Centre for Space Law Notification - 10th June 2009
The European Centre for Space Law sent an email out to all of its members on June 10th informing them of the ESRC project. Members of the ECSL include professionals working in the space sector, lawyers, university professors and students. The Centre provides a forum for all those wishing to take part in constructive debates on space law and encourages interdisciplinary exchange between members. It is hoped that this communication will allow greater interest in the project and foster interdisciplinary cooperation with the European research community.

Website Hits - June 9th 2009
The satellites and the law project website has now received over 11,000 hits from countries all across the world. It has received over 1000 hits alone in the last month.

London Institute of Space Policy and Law Seminar - 8th June 2009
On June 8th Ray attended the first seminar of the new London Institute of Space Policy and Law, held at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in London. The Institute is a very recent research and teaching establishment, bringing together leading practitioners, scientists and academics with a groundbreaking focus on the legal and policy aspects of commercial space activity. Ray is already seeking close ties with them on developing mutual research interests in this area.

Project Mentioned on the AELERT Website - 19th May 2009
Information about the new ESRC project was posted on the news section website of the Australian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulators Network (AELERT) on May 19th. AELERT is a network of environmental regulatory agencies that are responsible for the management of natural resources, cultural heritage or the protection of the environment.

This can be seen by clicking here

May 8th – Project Newsletter Update
On May 8th 2009 a newsletter was sent by email to individuals and organisations who had expressed an interest in the research projects on satellite and the law at UCL. This email updated people on research developments at UCL and contained details of the new ESRC research project. This news letter was sent to 214 people in 22 countries including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, UK and United States. It included notifying international bodies such as the European Space Agency, European Commission, GEO, UNEP, and national government agencies.

Meeting at Chatham House - 7th May 2009
In May 2009, Ray had a meeting at Chatham House, home of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, with Professor Maureen Williams. Professor Williams is head of the Space Law Committee of the International Law Association. They discussed dissemination of the AHRC and ESRC project results at the annual meetings of the International Law Association and International Institute of Space Law in 2010.

Website hits - 6th May 2009
The satellites and the law project website has now received over 10,000 hits from countries all across the world.

Workshop Paper on Satellite Monitoring at Surrey University - 29th April 2009
Ray attended an environmental law research day hosted by the Faculty of Management and Law at the University of Surrey at the end of April. This was attended by a number of institution that were research active in environmental law from the UK, US, Belgium and Italy. Ray gave a paper giving details of his AHRC and ESRC projects.

ESRC Society Today - 3rd April 2009
The project award is on the ESRC web site on the following link.

The New ESRC Project Officially Starts - April 1st 2009
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project “Smart Enforcement in Environmental Legal Systems: A Socio-Legal Analysis of Regulatory Satellite Monitoring in Australia” officially started on Wednesday April 1st. Ray will be the Principal Investigator on this 18 month project.

Conference Paper on Satellite Monitoring in New Delhi – 27/28th March 2009.
Ray went to India to attend the first CPR-UCL Workshop, "Regulation, Enforcement and Governance in Environmental Law" at the end of March. This event which was primarily organised by the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, brought together Indian and UK researchers interested in environmental law. Ray gave a talk on using satellites as an environmental regulatory enforcement tool and discussed the potential implications of the AHRC project results, as well as the aims and context behind the new ESRC project.

Application success announced on UCL Law’s Webpages - 9th February 2009
An announcement that Ray’s research application to the ESRC had been a success was posted on the UCL laws news page on its website

UCL FACULTY OF LAWS Centre for Law and the Environment

Centre for Law and the Environment: Satellites and the Law

ESRC Project News and Recent Events

UCL FACULTY OF LAWS
Centre for Law and the Environment

Centre for Law and the Environment:
Satellites and the Law