Bluecray.org » a balance of faeries http://bluecray.org Environmental Advocacy Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:44:22 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Weeds, Biodiversity and Australia’s Land and Water Stewardship Practices http://bluecray.org/education/weeds-biodiversity-and-australias-land-and-water-stewardship-practices-17.11.2009 http://bluecray.org/education/weeds-biodiversity-and-australias-land-and-water-stewardship-practices-17.11.2009#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:03:15 +0000 al http://bluecray.org/?p=3605 Read more »]]> industry_and_government_weed_management_versus_holistic_land_and_water_stewardship_for_biodiversityWeed Management in Australia is a high energy industry. It is based on mowing, slashing, burning, mulching, spraying, grazing. Whilst prevention is the obvious first step in weed management, Australia’s horticultural and agricultural industries have offered little help. These industries are  responsible for many plant species being used, sold, distributed and promoted prior to them then taking hold as weeds.

These industries also appear to offer herbicides as an acceptable answer to mainstream Australian weed management. Diminishing biodiversity due to a weed chronically infesting an area is often the “umbrella” under which mass herbicide application occurs. The logic of killing on a large scale to create biodiversity is a remarkable dichotomy that does little to serve future life on earth.

  • Condong Mill, Sunshine Electricity, Delta energy, individual land owners and other Bioenergy consortiums, providers, merchants and “tradespeople” are currently harvesting biofuels to create GREEN ENERGY. They are currently doing this in the TWEED SHIRE, Northern Rivers, NSW, Australia.   They are doing this by clear felling native  (including endangered) wildlife habitats,  using bulldozers working  10 hours  per day, 6 days per week on private land.  At least three  Rufous Bettongs have been seen and heard living and nesting adjacent to this area over the past  years. Habitats that they are clearing and demolishing   become bare, steep sloped exposed soil.  Vegetation  taken, (via habitat destruction of endangered species habitats), is conveyed via machinery, into vaste piles of  “BIOFUEL” – or camphor laurel chip/dust, which is then trucked away to their storage areas for burning as GREEN FUEL.  This work has been going on for some time now, under the umbrellas of  “save the world from greenhouse gases” and “lessen the Mining of non renewable resources” pressures. This is weed management gone mad, is highly destructive to native flora and fauna “remnant habitats”, and gives the appearance of  using more energy to create less energy. This type of vegetation management gives the local area of Upper Burringbar, NE NSW  decreased habitats for endangered species and short-medium term loss of carbon stores and overall biodiversity loss. I call this “war on Biodiversity”.  What laws protect biodiversity, at a local level, in this situation????
  • Rufous Bettong at NSW Threatened Species – Northern Rivers
  • Some bluecray educational storyline articles about the Rufous Bettong and Habitat Clearing :- “PK and Litoria look for Rufous Bettong, and on the way, meet up with Goanna” ;  “Rufous Bettong and the Glyphosate Bank” ;   “Goanna leaves the glyphosate bank, the butterflies leave too” and   “Wildlife leaves glyphosate bank – finds refuge in organic garden“.


***You can click on each of the illustrations in this article to get a brief idea of the body of this article, if you are in a rush!!***

Collection and distribution of local, native seed.

Largely an unmentored industry, a strong and diverse Australian Native Seed Industry offers a practical, low energy solution to Australia’s Weed Management issues.

Australian_choices_to_destroy_or_to_nurtureHabitat and ecological community restoration projects, developments, infrastructure landscaping and environmental rehabilitation programs -  all of these require a concerted, coordinated Vision and National Direction concerning their use of local provenance and provincial native plant species.

To date, this has not been effected by the Australian Government, nor any State government or Local Authority. There are some token gestures in place. There is some  work on a handful of native pasture grasses. Native plants are required to be used in development and infrastructure works, but not always local provenance or provincial strains. There has been some funded work for plant species that make up a large percentage of Australian Vegetation communities, but  that are relatively unkown in economic terms. (See LINKS below)

The Nursery Industry has many cultivars for Australian trees, shrubs, groundcovers and vines . With the rise of plant variety rights in the 80′s, the trend to market same style, same shape, uniform product has trended the development of Australian native species towards  cuttings (the same genetetic source) for mass growing and planting. This isn’t helping biodiversity, as it promotes the same genetic species being spread throughout an area, whilst the other genetic strains die out. This has occurred already in our food industries, and shouldn’t be allowed to happen in our natural environmental industries.

The Forestry industry has a large network of Australian native seed available for distribution – mainly trees and shrubs. Greening Australia has a mentorship program for native seed. There are also a number of other small seed industries that promote Australian native plant seed via collection and distribution. CSIRO  has some great information on native seeds and native seed banks.

The Society for Growing Australian Plants has been at the fore regarding work done on Native Plants. However, much, much more needs to be accomplished, if we are to replace our vaste weed inhabited, poorly managed landscapes with a diversity of local provenance and provincial native plant species.

Instead of focusing on the WEED, the focus is better centred about the SEED BANK.

the_seedbanks_of_australian_native_species_need_your_helpEnvironmental Management, under the leadership of the Australian Government,  has mentored the use of  herbicides over large scale areas of weed infestation, as well as fostering the use of herbicides in small scale revegetation and habitat rehabilitation projects. This is a destructive form of habitat restoration. Scientifically scrutinised, trials show varied results from these methods, depending on the agenda of the trials. Once the weed infested area is sprayed, then there are a number of possible outcomes:-

  • the weed or another weed reinfests the area
  • the habitat, weakened by the destruction, loses initial biodiversity
  • the area remains low in biodiversity after only a small population of native plants are established through plantings and sowings (mainly plantings)
  • other plants and animals (Australian Native) become stressed and ill
  • the area, if allowed to naturally regenerate, without continual slashing, mowing, burning and herbicide spraying, may regenerate with increasing biodiversity, once animals (birds, marsupials, insects etc) move back into the area and act as seed vectors.
  • planting of selected, same type species of native plants may struggle to form healthy habitats, due to lack of initial biodiversity planning and plantings.
  • overall short term biodiversity loss until the future vegetation community and/or ecological community begins to function, often at least several years after spraying and destruction.

Australian Higher Learning and Understanding about Seed Banks (weed and non weed)

Historically, (and fairly recently), Australia has condoned  ill informed higher educational and extension practices that have also led to many weed infestations. Examples of this ?

  • Tertiary and college teaching of species lists that include potential environmental weeds – for landscaping, architecture, agriculture, forestry and horticulture students.
  • Tertiary teaching of Integrated Pest Management, yet focusing largely on the Agricultural Chemical Industry and it’s use of herbicides in pasture, recreational, infrastructure and development land and water management. ( I was extremely lucky to study, for part of my Bachelor of Applied Science with the (old) Plant Protection Department at the Gatton Agricultural College – Now University of Queensland Gatton Campus , where the dedicated staff gave me a sound,  very informed background in both Integrated Pest Management AND Pesticide Application Technology and Safety. )
  • The use of herbicides for many government sponsored environmental rehabilitation projects:-  Landcare, Land for Wildlife, Large scale/regional Weed Management – (eg Bitou Bush, Lantana), environmental training projects for the unemployed and a range of scientific trials in development of food and textile cropping for the high energy, biologically wasteful practice of monoculture.
  • The use of herbicides in Environmental training projects without consideration to gentle bush regeneration methods, without use of local provenance and provincial native seed and without habitat care.

bush_regeneration_the_choices_mainstream_madness_or_holistic_helpThe above picture shows two flowers. The flower on the right shows good Land and Water Stewardship. The flower on the left show very poor Land and Water Stewardship. Both flowers have, at their centre, the SEED BANK. {I use this term rather loosely here, as some plants self propagate by tuber, rhizome, suckering, air layering, leaves, stems. Some “seed banks” are held in the ground, some above ground on the plant, whilst, as in rainforests, the seed bank germinates, but often the plant is held, as a seedling, in a dormant state, awaiting an opportunity to grow bigger.} I have used the words seed bank, or reserve of future plants (native and weed) to keep this story simple.

The left flower is ill formed, out of balance and sick looking. It shows the current types of weed management practices that appear to be advocated for, by the NSW, Qld and Australian Governments. Herbicides are offered as a solution to weed control over and above the growing of native local provenance and provincial stock “seed” plants for seed collection, distribution and growing on in areas infested by environmental and noxious weeds. Extension methods, as perceived by bluecray, are in the main, for herbicide use.(Reference:- “Noxious & Environmental Weed control Handbook – a guide to Weed Control in non – crop, aquatic and bushland situation.” Rod Ensbey, Regional Weed Control Coordinator Grafton NSW (NSW DPI Bookshop, ORANGE, ISSN 1443-0622)

The flower on the right is full formed, balanced and well. It shows the type of educational and practical solutions to weed management that cater for BIODIVERSITY and Habitat care. (Reference:- see ##below)

So now you have the lowdown on my practical understanding of this issue, let us continue…..

The Flower on the right has biodiversity as one of the PETALS of knowledge. Biodiversity is all essential, when it comes to Environmental Stewardship.

The petals on the flower are not all encompassing, as there are a number of other “petals”  that I could add, but in order to keep it simple, let us look at the PETALS on the Right Hand FLOWER:-

weed_management_choices

  • BIODIVERSITY : speaks for itself!!!
  • Competition :- bare topsoil, degraded, overgrazed land with poor water runoff management offers little competition to weed invasion. On the other hand, a resilient and biodiverse vegetation community offers good competition to invading weeds
  • Rain:- rainfall can trigger weed seed germination & invasion. It is also a useful natural aid for cultivating out weeds from an area. Run-off can carry both weed and native seed. Pooling of nutrients, after run-off can help create little islands of biodiversity.
  • Soil and Water Health :-weed infested water and weed infested soils contribute to poor land management hygeine. They can be sources of future infestations via seed bank stores. Degraded topsoil can foster the increase of opportunistic weed species as opposed to Native Seed regeneration.
  • Fire:- over burning can create bare degraded soil – thus increasing the opportunistic weed seed bank’s capacity  to colonise the burnt area. fire can also release native seed that is held in above and below ground seed banks
  • Weed Map:-knowing where and when the weeds occur is essential to understanding the overall situation of the land being managed. Knowing where outbreaks are high or low can help you decide where to start your weed management strategy. A good focus for a weed map is to show the areas of HIGH RESILIENCE of native vegetation or working pasture. These are the areas that, if protected at their “edges”, can expand, as the seed source of wanted plants is already there.
  • Seed Map:-knowing where to get native seed from, locally or regionally is essential to replacing vegetation. This is especially so where over grazing, over clearing, over cultivation and over spraying occurs. Your SEED MAP can also include the local seed resources nearby to you, where birds and other animals may act as vectors to carry the seed to your “weeded” or “regenerating” area.
  • Time Management:- this is a pivotal knowledge point. If you do not have the time to manage your weeds, then perhaps you can look at how your time is managed. Herbicides are often used, due to time shortage. However, they are increasingly energy reliant. Also, naturally occurring cycles of weeds need to be understood, if management is to be successful. The biological and seasonal/yearly timing,  with regard to the overall weed and native seed cycles needs to be understood. Some weeds may stay in the seed bank for a number of years, until the conditions are right for germination. Planning ahead with a good supply of native seed for competition with weed seed germination can be helpful, when the conditions are good for germination events (after rain, seasons, disturbances, flooding etc)
  • Cultivation:- cultivation primarily disturbs soil. This can give the seedbank signals to begin growing. If you know what weed or native seed is in the soil, then once cultivation begins, you can expect that seed to germinate, to some degree (depending on the season, rainfall, temperature, soil conditions and so on)
  • Grazing:- over grazing, overstocking and disturbance by hoofed animals created degraded land. Weeds, if present in the seed bank, can then colonise the disturbed site unless other legumes, pasture grasses and herbaceous native plants are present and resilient in the grazed area.
  • Wildlife:- wildlife often help seedbanks function – they eat and transfer (vector) seed, fruit and other plant material. Birds are an excellent indicator of how successful a weed management program is. A general rule of thumb:- more bird species, the more biodiversity. Wildlife disappears when overly destructive weed management techniques are used. Wildlife can carry both weed and native seed. If you look under a tree or post where birds sit, you will often find seedlings coming up. Some are weeds, some are native. You can help native wildlife by planting native, local plants, and they can help you by bringing in more seed, when they visit the plantings. Nice one, nature!!!
  • Overwhelming:- some weeds, if in their initial colonisation period throughout an area, can be overwhelmed by native plantings. Time is important here, and patience. Shading out, nutrient competition, drought tolerance and native plant survival strategies often allow native plants to prosper where non native plants die. However, weeds, as opportunists, mainly do the overwhelming, in disturbed, non resilient, native remnants.
  • Suppression:- techniques such as mulching, shading, high native plant densities and lack of disturbance can act to suppress weed cycles.
  • Eradication:- this is best done at the initial onset of a weed infestation. This is best done where the weed has only spread to a small area. Eradication, on a larger scale demands strict replanting, resowing, non disturbance follow up practices. It often involves follow up weed seed bank germination for following seasons, and hence, more maintenance.
  • Co-existing:- weeds infest an area and compete successfully, where the native seed bank has diminished or is supressed by the invading weed, cultural practices and disturbance. Co-existing of weeds and native vegetation is prevalent throughout much of Australia. some weeds co-exist so well, that they have become “naturalised”. Many flora and faune co-habit successfully with these weeds. However, co-existence of weeds with natural landscapes can offer a source of further weed spread in surrounding disturbed, non resilient habitats and ecological units.
  • Habitat Enhancement:- at the crux of all weed management should be Habitat Health. The killing of weed vegetation en masse destroys whatever habitat there is, creating stress for our native wildlife and often destroying small surviving native plants that struggle to live with the weeds. Constant mowing, constant spraying, constant traffic and cultivation, constant burning – these things destroy habitat.
  • Life Cycles:- the life cycle of the weed must be fully understood. some weeds have yearly lifecycles (annuals), some are herbaceous perennials (long & short lived), some are long lived woody species (small and large trees). Weed cycles give us an idea how and why they have invaded a disturbed area. Weed vectors such as wind, animals, human traffic, run-off, soil movement need to be understood. Weed propagation and renewal processes need to be understood fully. Where weeds have infested an area to the point of lack of biodiversity of native plants and animals, their growth and regeneration cycles need to be fully appreciated. These areas of widespread, non biodiverse areas of weed are often the target for herbicide use, burning, mowing and other destructive forms of habitat management. The life cycles of native plant species endemic to the area need to be understood fully, before any destruction of the existing weed infestation occurs. Otherwise, if there is no native seed bank to replenish the area, the habitats will suffer short term, and possibly long term.
  • Resilient Areas:- where native vegetation is biodiverse and functioning with fewer weeds. These areas are to be treasured and enhanced. It is from these areas that native fauna help disperse native seed into surrounding weed infested areas. These areas can also be at risk of weed invasion, once disturbed. These areas are at the forefront of the weed infestation line. Spreading the resilient areas outwards, into the weed infested area is recommended. This can be done by either edge weeding (Bradley Method style) or by planting “islands” of similar vegetation comunities nearby, thus creating a chain of native vegetation stands that offer native fauna a refuge, habitat and food source. The native vegetation “islands” become future sources of seed bank, that can then naturally spread further or be used for future plantings of more “islands”.

Now let us look at the PETALS on the government extension offered by the NSW Government for Weed Management:-

  • Slashing
  • Mulching
  • Fire
  • cultivation
  • Reafforestation
  • Biological
  • Flame Weeding
  • Goats
  • Herbicides
  • Land Management – Pasture, grazing, cropping, hygeine, weed identification

weed_remnant_vegetation_interface

NATIVE SEED BANKS and WEED SEED BANKS

**Bluecray does not advocate the taking of seed from just anywhere, should you wish to collect native seed for yourself. You can, of course, take the seed from native plants on your own property, however, be mindful that the seed is also part of the functioning ecology in situ. To take from, usually means that you will also have to give back. This is especially true for endangered species and seed that doesn’t germinate easily. Taking this seed may mean a net loss in the overall seed bank, should your seed not germinate, and be wasted.

The interface between a weed area and a native bush area can be very dynamic, and hard to map out. It can change dramatically season by season, and is not something that can have a “line” drawn to show the weed from non weed area. Much of the seed bank is either under the ground, held in the above ground vegetation or growing nearby to be dispersed by wind, water, soil movement, animals and traffic.

Weeds and native plants compete for food, light, space, water. Weeds are often tough, adaptable, both by genotype and phenotype, opportunistic and are very good at renewal of themselves,usually by prolific seeding, suckering, tubering, leaf fall or air layering. Weeds, like some native plants, can produce chemical inhibitors that hinder the germination of other seeds nearby . Weeds method of spread also help them succeed. They often are wind born, but also eaten by animals, transported by water, animals, vehicles, movement of soil and dumping of vegetation “waste”.

Remnant vegetation is disappearing along much of our coastal strip, and also inland. It is becoming fragmented, weed infested and losing resilience.

Resilient remnant vegetation is important to protect. Weeds to not readily invade intact, resilient native remnant vegetation. Weeds invade disturbed landscape situations. The following diagram shows the hard to define line between weeds and remnant vegetation.

weed_remnant_resilient_vegetation_interfaceThe capacity for the remnant vegetation to buffer up against incoming weed populations and spread depends in part, on its resilience. Resilient native remnants have capacity to withstand  opportunistic weed spread, via having enough seed bank and vegetation cover to outcompete the weed. They can  “win” by having reserves of seed, soil cover, niche populations via biodiversity and sheer domination over incoming weed populations by giving little  soil, light, water for the weed to grow. However, once the native vegetation stand loses its resilience, loses its biodiversity, and particularly, once it is disturbed, then weeds can gain a foothold.

Regarding time and space management in the world of weed and remnant vegetation “frontiers”?  Remember, weeds compete with the native stand for the resources of space, light, water and food. The weeds may co-exist with the remnant stand. They may suppress the native stand. They may overwhelm  or strongly compete . They may eradicate the native stand. This can also work the other way. The native vegetation may co-exist, suppress, overwhelm, eradicate or just compete with the weeds.

weed handbook response

##Reference:- (My own experiences:- Many years of varying types of seed bank studies(under and post graduate), native seed collecting, distribution and growing, environmental consulting for Department of Transport and power utilities, Integrated Catchment Committees, landcare groups, liason with organic growing and permaculture communities, foundation teacher and set up for TAFE horticultural studies, Bremer, 2nd paid landcare coordinator in QLD (100,000ha – lower Brisbane Valley and Bremer River- almost twenty years ago), award winning schools project on environmental weeds, training council and groundspersons in pesticide application and safety technology and integrated pest management, numerous habitat restoration and revegetation programs, training Greening Australia staff for native australian grasses educational extension- mid 90′s).

The following excerpt is from “Clearing the Habit of Habitat Clearing” – at Journey for Wisdom in the Land:-

HABITAT
H – for humanity, its history and  its law
A – for Aborigines and their ancestors before
B – biodiversity – to me it spells out “FREE”
i – for the little guy – that means you and me
T – for the teacher that leads us through the land
A – for AUSTRALIANS that learn to understand
T the Trust of wildlife friends living hand in hand

CLEARING
C is for cutting and clearing their land, taking their bedding, dispersing their clan
L is for larsony, looting and lost
E is for Everything in rubbish piles tossed
A is for Arid Lands’ creep from the west, and
R is remorse for failing this test
i is the little guy – that means you and me
N is right NOW. Wake up!!! LOOK and SEE!!!!
G is for Global, Gaia, God, Gift and Ground

Gracious abundance for many times round!!

]]> http://bluecray.org/education/weeds-biodiversity-and-australias-land-and-water-stewardship-practices-17.11.2009/feed 0 Land and water stewardship : Rescuing Remnants http://bluecray.org/education/land-and-water-stewardship-rescuing-remnan-24.10.2009 http://bluecray.org/education/land-and-water-stewardship-rescuing-remnan-24.10.2009#comments Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:05:02 +0000 al http://bluecray.org/?p=1779 Read more »]]> clearing_and_burning_off_on_beechmon_plateau_2009tI have just been to visit the beautiful Beechmont Plateau, in the Gold Coast Hinterland, SE Qld, Australia.  Adjoining this Plateau is the Lamington Plateau, host to the Lamington National Park , Gondwana Heritage Rainforests and all things wonderful. These biodiverse rainforests with an ancient heritage extend along the border of NE NSW and SE QLD.

The Beechmont Plateau was largely a cleared section of the Mt Warning Caldera Region during the 20th century. Photos from the 1930′s show the plateau as having large bare expanses from habitat clearing,  clear felling and extensive timber getting.

Many weed species (eg privet, lantana ) and some remnant wet and dry sclerophyll forest  have now revegetated the plateau and its escarpments, which was intensively farmed by the dairy industry up until  deregulation began just before the turn of this century. Fires are a regular hot weather feature on the escarpments and some sections of the plateau. I have spent many nights watching fires burn out of control about the plateau, and quite a few houses have been destroyed by fire and landslides over the years . Indiscriminate clearing and burning off is still taking place.

clearing_and_burning_off_on_beechmon_plateau_2009tIn this photo, Phantom Koala watches a “farmer” on Beechmont Plateau burn trees that have been cleared

The plateau and its escarpment is under pressure from development as more land is currently being subdivided and sold for housing estates and smaller rural pursuits. This may or may not be a good thing for biodiversity and the water aquifers, depending on the land and water stewardship that prevails into the future.

The Beechmont Plateau is flanked by the open and closed sclerophyll forests and rainforests of the Land Warfare Centre (Canungra), to the west, the Lamington National Park with its Upper Coomera River Catchment to the west and south. These include biodiverse rainforest Gondwana Heritage habitats and ecosystems. To the east lies more diverse Gondwana Heritage wonders of the Springbrook Plateau and much of the Nerang River Catchment and (the Hinze Dam Catchment). This water of the Nerang river Catchment is now part of the SE QLD WATER GRID. The basaltic aquifers of the region are largely unmonitored.

Collages8Environmental Advocacy Collage : Beechmont Plateau, SE QLD, Australia

Back in the early 1990′s two gifted environmentalists, Iris Flenady and Ros Woodburn created, a beautiful educational package for schools to use, concerning Remnant Vegetation Restoration and Habitat Rescue. This Book, “Rescuing Remnants” is worth a look at, and bluecray recommends its use in helping teachers grasp Remnant Vegetation Educational plans and methods.

On a more scientific level, Robert Kooyman‘s works, in association with other authors gives us a rich insight into the complexities of Native Vegetation in the Mt Warning Caldera Region of NE NSW and SE Qld. More about some of Robert Kooyman’s work can be seen here at Rainforest Rescue .

Opportunities for combined agroforestry, carbon sequesration and biodiversity within the Scenic Rim (Mt Warning (or WOLLUMBIN) Caldera Region of Australia).

Having attended an agroforestry workshop over a decade ago, in the “high country” of the old Beaudesert Shire, I became convinced back then, that these three components:- agroforestry, biodiversity and carbon sequestration can work very well within the Mt Warning Caldera Region, if put together using the soundest of authentic Land and Water (Environmental) Stewardship principles. The New South Wales Good Wood guide is a splendid start to understanding the types of trees that can be grown within this region. Should you be interested in further discussions concerning this article, please do not hesitate to contact me at bluecray.org

NSW Good Wood Guide :-

Agroforestry LINKS at bluecray.org

Beechmont at wikipedia

The work done by the Rescuing Remnants volunteers , beginning almost two decades ago has created stands of native endemic, largely rainforest plantings that can show the level of Carbon sequestration that is possible in the region of the Mt Warning (Wollumbin) Caldera.

If the stands of trees that have been planted would be measured, (which would be rather easy) they could readily show what level of Carbon sequestration is possible on this and the neighbouring Springbrook Plateaus.

These plantings are a valuable heritage that is directly related to Iris and Ros’s dedication and to the National Parks and Wildlife people, numerous volunteers, landholders, teachers and school children who participated in the Rescuing Remnants program. Some of the Remnant to Remnant plantings are on private land, some on public land. Many are now forming small forested “islands” of rich biodiversity and valuable seed for the birds and other fauna of the area to spread across the Plateau and surrounding region, by natural means. This is a wonderful example of Land and Water Stewardship.

I am not too sure if this program is still running, but I had had some involvement with it years back, and it was a highly valuable education resource for both the school at Beechmont and the community at large. It was dependent on the dedication of the School, community and National Parks to mention some key “players”.

A nice reference for this area is “TAMING the PLATEAU – HISTORY of the BEECHMONT DISTRICT”. compiled and edited by Robert Longhurst. ISBN 064612353X

Rescuing Remnants Beechmont – search results at bluecray Environmental Search Engine. There is not much on the internet about the Rescuing Remnants program. I will ask about it next time I am on the Plateau and see what is happening concerning any recent/ongoing community work with the program, and fill in details as soon as I can.

A beautiful area to the west of the Beechmont Plateau, is the Back Creek Gorge (see google search for Back Creek Gorge conservation association) ( + Killarney Glen – now in the Canungra Land Warfare custodianship?), which the Fitzgerald Family worked hard to preserve and conserve for many years.

The World Heritage listed Gondwana Rainforests are  found along the border of NE NSW and SE QLD, and a map of their location can be downloaded at Australia’s World Heritage page at the Australian Government’s Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.

Gold Coast City Council, SE Queensland

Scenic Rim Regional Council, SE Queensland

Dry Sclerophyll Forest &  Wet sclerophyll Forest : search results at bluecray Environmental search engine

The geology of this plateau largely explains what type of vegetation units once were present, and why open and closed forests, wet and dry rainforests occur where they do. I shall endeavour to write more on this at a later date.

basaltic soils SE QLD : bluecray environmental search engine results

rhyolitic soils SE QLD : bluecray environmental search engine results

The Rainforest Information Centre .

See also “Carbon Trading in the USA” at ABC Landline archives October 2009. This story illustrate what happens when the “free market” is allowed to take over what is essentially an environmental issue that needs to be kept out of the hands of those people whose ego’s and greed is running amok, and placed back into the hands of caring land and water stewards.

AND LASTLY, here are some links to other stories that I have written about education and biodiversity that you may find interesting:-

Stewardship – the Balances

Australia’s Drop in the Ocean – the Draft Carbon Pollution Reduction  Scheme Bill – and a brief outline as to WHY Australia’s economy would be best suited to being based on BIODIVERSE FOREST establishment across as much of the continent as possible, and employing endemic, provincial, genetically diverse seed and propagation materials for the Forests.

A Balance of Faeries – revisited:- a story about clearing fragile remnants where Koalas and other vulnerable species live, and why recovery of those remnants may never occur unless immediate authentic land and water stewardship  action is taken.

Growing by Organics – food gardens and sharing

Totem Based Education for Biodiversity :a brief outline of how Schools can introduce into the School “HOUSE” system an environmental education template for species recovery and habitat understanding at a basic and localised level.

some Bluecray Murray Darling Links

Goanna leaves the Glyphosate Bank

PK and Litoria look for Rufous Bettong

“Clearing the Habit of Habitat Clearing” – at Journey for Wisdom in the Land

]]> http://bluecray.org/education/land-and-water-stewardship-rescuing-remnan-24.10.2009/feed 0 Australia’s environmental vandalism heritage :the Tweed Coast developers and our childrens’ future http://bluecray.org/education/australias-environmental-vandalism-heritage-the-tweed-coast-developers-and-our-childrens-future-23.10.2009 http://bluecray.org/education/australias-environmental-vandalism-heritage-the-tweed-coast-developers-and-our-childrens-future-23.10.2009#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:24:48 +0000 al http://bluecray.org/?p=2772 Read more »]]> benoit_et_fiftyOur Children’s Future, when it comes to environmental vandalism is not only OUR concern, but Their concern. The Greens  have given out their Bad  Developer Awards recently. The Tweed Shire Council and the NSW Department of Planning have received dishonourable awards for the worst Government Department and the worst Council.

Perhaps you would like to see  other recipients of these developer awards? Try Sylvia Hale’s website – it has all the details. And while you are there, why not give them some support for their work in trying to make our children’s earth environment a little safer, and more secure.

Environmental Advocacy collage reminding us that Caring for our Country is also about Caring for Our Children

Environmental Advocacy collage reminding us that Caring for our Country is also about Caring for Our Children

And now, a poem about an innocent child, and the questions she asks of some developers,  who are environmental vandals, and who are taking away her future safety by their actions,  perceived intentions and lack of integrity.

Phantom Koala and the Crow
An earthmover grinding the earth to a pulp
ignored the quiet pleas of wildlife it gulped
A single white gum tree alone bare and frail
did little to stop it with it’s lonely wail
Phantom Koala had run to escape
the metal equipment that made the earth shake.

And the Crow flew above seeing real from the fake……..

The grey suited gentlemen clothed in their greed
surveyed the bare landscape – “We’ll spray all THAT weed!”

“We’ll build a great golf course, – town centre or two
we’ve got the approval – it’s from (YOU KNOW WHO)
We’ll plant it with trees from our nursery stand
The Tweed Folk will pay us back tenfold our grand”

Then suddenly out of the dust and the fray
A small child came playing – she was heading their way.
The crow looked on smiling – Pk laughed on too
THEY knew what would happen-what that small child would do!
She fronted the grey suited money men then,
she took out a notebook and proceeded with pen
“My classmates and I wondered why you all lie?
My classmate are asking which drugs make you high?
My classmates and me see you just as you are
takers, deceivers, your game’s ‘below par‘!!”
“My classmates are young yet our lives pay for you,
so my classmates are wondering WHAT IS it you do
with this fortune you take from our years, from our life?
Do you mean to keep taking and give the young strife?”
The grey suited gentlemen, now covered in dust
from the earthmovers’ rampage and their lives filled with lust
puffed up their fat cheeks to start lies afresh
but by now it was out and they’d been caught in a mesh
of innocence asking WHAT WAS IT they did?
and WHY where they hiding – WHAT WAS IT THEY HID?

Then as the grey men tooted plans, power, law, the child ran off laughing saying , “you are a bore!”

and Phantom Koala, who’d found a good tree,laughed at the grey guys, and gave the child cheer!
The Crow flew off with her, to her classmates in school
and they all got together to write a new rule
Let the freedom of children and life for the young
be respected by those with power far flung
let the food land and animals waken
each day to loving and caring- a more
honest way.

Links:-

NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water : Summaries of Legislation (ACTS) that the Department operates under

“Administrative Law in an Environmental Context” search results at bluecray Environmental search engine

NSW Department of Planning : … and the legislation and planning instruments associated with it. Including Part 3A of the Planning Law and State Significant Sites.

The EDO (Environmental Defenders Office) has created a Major Projects Toolkit for the people of NSW, Australia. The Toolkit can be found at the EDO website. It is easy to read and understand.

Cumbersome Laws relating to Environment and Planning in NSW reflect a
complicated, alienated and basically not easy to understand environmental planning process.

The EDO  Major Projects Toolkit is a simply presented 21 page downloadable PDF that outlines how people in NSW can interact and become involved in Major Project applications.

Duty of care and the precautionary principle : search results at bluecray environmental search engine.

Coastal Development & Sea Levels – some Australian Links:-

  • National Sea Change Taskforce: Link to – Conference at Byron Bay 2-3 March 2010 “The program will focus on the complex issues currently facing coastal LGAs including sea level rise, the legal implications of climate change and ageing populations………Byron Bay has been selected to host the event because of its relevance in terms of coastal hazards, development pressures and issues associated with climate change impacts”

The TWEED COAST is also experiencing engineered non sustainable development:-

Maps for the Tweed Coast Area near Casuarina, Kings Forest, Cudgen, Cudgen Creek , Wooyung – in fact much of the coastal area of the Tweed Shire!

Koala planning habitat loss se qld - search results environmental search engine at bluecray

Koala planning habitat loss ne nsw – search results environmental search engine at bluecray

“A Balance of Faeries” 1989 by Alison Polistchuk :- a story about Koala Habitat destruction west of Brisbane, SE QLD :- Why the Koalas’ Habitats, when slowly taken from them, over time, piece by piece, leads to increased biodiversity loss on a much larger scale for many of the other Australian Native Wildlife and Vegetation Communities AND why it is important to respect the “LITTLE THINGS” in life.

Land and Water Stewardship : Rescuing Remnants .

  • The Hinterland of the Gold Coast, SE QLD and the Scenic Rim Region of SE QLD  adjoin NE NSW. The Mt Warning Caldera Region contains important habitat areas that are at risk to native wildlife. This Region is under increasing pressure from development and infrastructure implementation, as well as exceedingly poor land & water stewardship.
  • The Koala is just one of many native Australian marsupials at risk by over clearing and fragmentation of habitat, largely due poor planning on the part of the Qld & NSW Governments.
  • The concept of rescuing remnants and degraded landscape enhancement via participation of school educational systems, community involvement and dedication of State Planning Authorities lacks integration with developers of land, infrastructure and townships.
  • The native Australian plant nursery and seed bank distribution industry for local endemic (provincial) native plants is largely  unsupported by all sectors of Australian Society. Reliance is on volunteers and government funding for programs such as Remnant to Remnant to succeed.
  • Developers of towns, urban and regional centres, infrastructure and recreational facilities rarely support authentic Land and Water Stewardship on a scale that is meaningful to lasting and real outcomes. This needs to change, and State and Federal Government planning is responsible, in a large part for implementing the change.

National Sustainability Initiatives at the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts. This website page includes links to the related areas of :-  EPBC Reporting, Indicators & Local Agenda 21, as well as to  Ecologically Sustainable Development LINKS .

The Ecologically Sustainable Development LINKS page includes :-

  • Conferences and Events
  • Sustainability Networks and Discussion Groups
  • State Government Sites
  • Australian Government Environment Sites
  • Local Government Sites
  • Non-Government Organisations

Coastal Development : search reslults at Environmental Search Engine

Planned retreat, climate change & biodiversity – Byron Bay :- this is a workshop by the EDO Northern Rivers on 3rd December 2009. Whilst this is for Byron Bay, you may find some interesting information at the EDO website

Giri and the 22 Arrows of Truth – Myths for a Modern Age Part 3 A bluecray story about integrity and honesty and the machiavellian nature of a person who was once a key political “behind the scenes” player.

Kings Forest Project Development – sleepless days & nights to come for endangered species at Balance of Faeries bluecray blog

“Kings Forest and the future Tweed” – search results at Bluecray ENVIRONMENTAL SEARCH ENGINE – a search engine designed mainly for the Mt Warning Caldera Region, NE NSW and SE QLD. It’s up the top of the page, on the RHS – ENVIRONMENT SEARCH – can you see it? you may like to try your own “keywords” search. We are still improving it, to make it even more useful.

Syrma – Al Ghafar – a fixed star – relating ASAD, stenography and great fortunes and much more than meets the eye. The Sun is currently, as I write this, at approx. 1-2 degrees Scorpio. In a few days, it will reach a conjunction with this Fixed Star.

National Toxics Network .

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