Bluecray.org » Fire http://bluecray.org Environmental Advocacy Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:00:13 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 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 ...»»]]> 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
  • I should add one more petal as of about 2008 – the use of BULLDOZERS and FORESTRY HEAVY MACHINERY for CLEAR FELLING, as a method of WEED MANAGEMENT. This clear felling includes clearing creek banks down to the water line. Apparently Tweed Shire Council, the NSW and Australian Governments endorse the CLEARFELLING of mature stream bank holding trees along creek systems in the Northern Rivers of NSW.  The photo below shows typical BIOFUEL industry WEED MANAGEMENT. The trees are removed from the creek bank and surrounding flood plain. This is done by bulldozer type heavy machinery.

  • And another petal I have observed over the past years. A method of weed management endorsed by the QLD , NSW and Australian Governments. This is the piling of clear felled vegetation matter into large heaps to be subsequently burnt through the evenings and into the next day or so. This method is employed by the BIOFUEL INDUSTRY in the Northern Rivers of NSW. Farmers in SE QLD and NE NSW also do this. In some instances, these piles are left some weeks before being burnt, but not always.

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!!

Incoming Searches: collage on natural vegetation and wildlife, ecology of weed seed bank, natural vegetation and wildlife collage, short poems on biodivercity&forest, 2008 floods mullumbimby, lantana weed diagram labeled, lamington blue cray, earthship australia, seq catchments biodiversity, short poems on biodiversity

]]> http://bluecray.org/education/weeds-biodiversity-and-australias-land-and-water-stewardship-practices-17.11.2009/feed 0 Endangered ecological community and Kings Forest Development, Tweed Coast, NE NSW. http://bluecray.org/education/endangered-ecological-community-and-kings-forest-development-tweed-coast-ne-nsw-07.10.2009 http://bluecray.org/education/endangered-ecological-community-and-kings-forest-development-tweed-coast-ne-nsw-07.10.2009#comments Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:57:55 +0000 al http://bluecray.org/?p=2477 ...»»]]> Endangered ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITY : Coastal Cypress Pine Forest (Callitris columellaris Forest). This ecological community was once widespread along the coast of Australia in various forms. It is  threatened and very much at risk(*see below) and is listed by the NSW Government.  The LEDA development (Leda Group owned by Bob Ell) at Kings Forest and other nearby potential URBAN and INFRASTRUCTURE developments pose serious threat to these sparse Ecological Communities that are now scattered through the Tweed Coast of NE NSW.

I have struggled to complete this article, so sorry if it has seemed abit over the place. Have been in hospital having an operation and the internet has been not working.   However, from what I can glean,   this Ecological Community HAS been listed as endangered by the NSW Government, – as of 2008. I have just updated this on the 14th October, 2009. And  to echo Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.‘s words of Kilgore Trout in Timequake – I have been sick, now I’m well and there’s work to be done……….And so it goes:-

7-10-2009(1)Callitris columellaris and some of the native grass species found in association with it

  • Threatened species  recorded in Coastal Cypress “Pine” Forest or associated vegetation, including Acronychia littoralis (scented acronychia), Archidendron hendersonii (white lace flower), Geodorum densiflorum (pink nodding orchid) and Drynaria rigidula (basket fern)

Let us look at what job the Callitris columellaris Forest does for the Coastal Ecosystems of Australia. In particular, NE NSW and the Tweed Coast.

  • Firstly, the Ecological Community of this “Cypress” has largely disappeared from the Northern NSW Coastal Region. Accounting for 2% of Australia’s Forest cover (at about the year 2008), the Genus of Callitris was revised in 2006. The species Callitris columellaris and its associated ecological community has disappeared by almost 80% in the North Coast Bioregion of NSW.
  • Secondly, Callitris columellaris is being currently studied as one of the Significant Projects in the Australian Government’s $100 million Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities (CERF) initiative for understanding  and preparing for Climate Change. I guess that means that this plant is somewhat special!
  • Thirdly, Callitris columellaris Forests and their Ecological Communties have withstood the changing dunal system of our Coastal Landscapes for eons – as the sea levels have risen and fallen over time.
  • Fourthly:-The Ecological Communities associated with Callitris columellaris are now so fragmented and sparsley populating the coast of NE NSW that enhancement, re-establishment and re-connection of these communities is essential to help the North Coast of NSW withstand the pressures of Climate Change, sea level rise and native habitat survival:-  Coastal Cypress Pine Forest in the NSW North Coast Bioregion – endangered ecological community listing :- In NSW, Coastal Cypress Pine Forest is currently known from the local government areas of Tweed, Byron, Ballina, Richmond Valley and Clarence Valley, but may occur elsewhere within the NE Coastal NSW bioregion.

This Conifer – (Pinophyta) -  is from a very old – ancient group of plants.  It’s seed is protected in a cone. It has been around longer than the flowering plants of more modern millenia. The Callitris genus is found only in Australia & New Caledonia. That’s right – NO WHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD! At some stage in Australia’s history they have formed GREAT forests across our continent. ***

  • Fifthly, Callitris columellaris grows primarily on sedimentary soils of a sandy nature. Seed banks of these soils are  easily altered by clearing, fire, water table changes, environmental weeds, machine and other human traffic disturbance. The resilience by sandy soil seed banks to recreate their native vegetation cover is lessened by continual disturbance, weed infestation and over cultivation.(see below #)
  • The above dangers to an already fragile seed bank will increase with Bob Ell’s proposed INTENSE urban development and associated infrastrutures, industries and traffic.  The Tweed Coast has been pressured enough by development of housing estates, shopping centres, transport corridors and habitat fragmention / clearing.
  • There is the looming threat of climate change and rising sea levels to consider also. Gold Coast coastal developments are testimony to this. Habitats and ecological communities have totally disappeared with intense non sustainable developement. The sea is moving inland, and the dunal systems are, and have already been disappearing over the past thirty years. The fragmented remnants of time tested ecological communities that inhabited coastal areas – wetlands, old dunal systems, estuarine areas – require rescuing, rather than surrounding and over-running by non sustainable development.
  • Threats that will affect the Endangered Ecological Community (still awaits listing?) of the Callitris columellaris Forest include weed invasion, human interference such as trampling, fragmentation, easement maintenance and illegal rubbish dumping. Fire is a great threat to this Ecological Community

Recently Updated2Phantom Koala (PK) and Benoit look at coastal development further south of Kings Forest, on the Tweed Coast. They see that fences, roads, bare earth, fires, cars, people, cats, dogs, fences, mown land, rubbish, noise, cleared land and building after building present many challenges to the native wildlife that rely on  the remnant Callitris trees and their associated ecological communities.

Find out more about the Endangered Ecological Community of the Callitris columellaris Forest at bluecray environmental search.  The PDF “Coastal Cypress Pine Forest in the NSW North Bioregion” should be  available at the NSW Department of Environment Climate Change & Water. You will be able to find out more about what other plants grow in this endangered Ecological Community and its associated vegetation.

Look up threatened species & ecological communities at the NSW Government’s Threatened Species Website

North Coast Bioregion of NSW -

Look up Callitris collumellaris at the Australian Government Department of  Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry – Bureau of Rural Sciences : Australian Forest Profiles – Callitris.

FIRE : the more people – the more fires are lit. This is a reasonable consideration when bringing urban populations close to Significant State Sites and Endangered Ecological Communities . Especially where that Endangered Ecological Community contains species that do not recover well from fire. This year (2009) quite a few fires have been fought on the Tweed Coast:- a number of them have been thought to be suspiciously lit.

* A note here about the listing of this community and the endangered status. I had thought that at  the time of writing this post, the list was yet to be implemented by the  Government. I had thought that listing wouldn’t occur, due to technicalities, politics, insufficient urgency… etc etc…perhaps like the KOALA, it never does get listed, and just disappears from the area/North Coast NSW Region all together. Pedantics can be an interesting feature of rationalising destruction and non sustainable development. The reality of endangered and the “legals” of endangered can be two very different things.

***The great Callitris Ecological Communities have withstood just about everything that nature can throw at them. These great forest cycles can be upwards of 500 years. As a human lifetime is nowhere near that, we are unable to grasp just what this means, unless we look carefully at the GREAT CYCLES.  These precious CONIFERS have kept ecological communities and habitats going, thriving, changing, maintaining biodiversity in times of stress from climatic and geological changes.  Should climatic change and stress occur in Australia, one of the tried and tested species of plants, that can probably recreate ecological communities is Callitris columellaris.

# Whilst wetland sedimentary soils can have a high seed bank percentage and longevity, sandy soils that are well drained tend to have much less seed held in the soil. Due to the nature of the overclearing and disturbance of  Tweed Coast Soils, many weed seeds now inhabit the seed bank, both below and above ground. These form strong competition for the Callitris species and the  associated native vegetation that is critical for the survival of this ecological community.

Phantom Koala and Part3A of the Planning Law .

Koala Sagas : “When Phantom Koala was Young”   and “There is a Way”- two poems about how Phantom Koala lost his mother, and then found her in trapped in Kings Forest, thus becoming a “Hero”.

For more about some of the Wildlife and Plant Species threatened by Leda’s  Kings Forest development try Kings Forest Development threatens 21 Threatened Species of Fauna . Some of these species are also known to be found in Callitris columellaris forests – I have made a note beside some of these species in the Kings Forest threatened species list below, but others on the list may also be present in Callitris Forests and ecological communities as well. It is hard to say, as the Callitris columellaris Forests have been so badly destroyed in recent decades, and historical scientific evidence is extremely scattered.

And NOW, some of the threatened Kings Forest species:-

the Koala

Rose-crowned Fruit- Dove (Ptilinopus regina) – and images .

Grass Owl (Tyto capensis) -

Masked Owl (Tyto novaehollandiae) – known to inhabit Callitris forests

Black Bittern (Ixobrychus flavicollis) –

Black-necked Stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus ) -

Bush stone-curlew  (Burhinus grallarius) (Aust. Govt) and at NSW Govt- and images .

Bush-hen (Amaurornis olivaceus) -

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) – known to inhabit Callitris forests

Eastern False Pipistrelle (Falsistrellus tasmaniensis) -

Yellow-bellied sheathtail Bat (Saccolaimus flaviventris) -

Common blossom Bat (Syconycteris australis) - and images . known to inhabit Callitris forests

Common Planigale (Planigale maculata) -  and images . known to inhabit Callitris forests

Long-nosed Potoroo (Potorous tridactylus) – and images .

Red-legged Pademelon (Thylogale stigmatica) – and images .

Little Bent-Wing Bat (Miniopteris australis) - and images .known to inhabit Callitris forests

Grey-headed flying-fox(Pteropus poliocephalus) and images .

Olongburra Frog (Litoria olongburensis) and images .

Wallum Froglet (Crinia tinnula) and images .

Glossy Black-cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami) and images .

Archidendron hendersonii (white lace flower) – a species of threatened flora that is found at Kings Forest

  • search for  Aboriginal  (Indigenous peoples) research literature for the North Coast of NSW at the Libraries Australia Search
  • I had the opportunity to speak with a young Indigenous Australian a number of years back. She told me how her “totem” animal was no longer living on the planet. It was EXTINCT. She described how it felt to go to a museum, and see an exhibit of this dead totem. She told me that it felt very strange indeed. This made me feel sad for her.  I grew up spending many hours sitting under these trees and listening to stories, learning about nature. Back then, there were many more of these trees along the coastal strip, together with their biodiverse ecological communities. Back then, people were already speaking out about the clearing of forests, and our precious habitats. The facts were already there, the data, the knowledge. That was three generations ago.
  • Reforestation of Degraded Lands at http://www.agroforestry.net/ .
  • Search results (Google search) for Managing Our Coastal Zone in a Changing Climate .

The Ecologically Sustainable Development LINKS page includes (as at November 2009):-

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

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

Incoming Searches: ecological community, bioregion australiana flora, callitris columellaris, endangered animals and plants from tweed area, phantom coast endangered animals, mt lamington etymology, goannafood chain in ecosystem, leda illegal clearing, la fauna de la biorregion paleartica, fauna de australis y collage

]]> http://bluecray.org/education/endangered-ecological-community-and-kings-forest-development-tweed-coast-ne-nsw-07.10.2009/feed 2 Phantom Koala and Part 3A of the NSW Planning Law http://bluecray.org/environment/phantom-koala-and-part-3a-of-the-nsw-planning-law-24.09.2009 http://bluecray.org/environment/phantom-koala-and-part-3a-of-the-nsw-planning-law-24.09.2009#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:26:28 +0000 al http://bluecray.org/?p=2022 ...»»]]> The NSW Government, in Australia, is currently undergoing more public scrutiny concerning developer and government corruption.   Corruption in land dealings has had a long history along  the eastern coastal strip of Australia. Also,  money and ego can play a large part in the  well being of Australia’s environmental sustainability for future generations.

Phantom Koala becoming a HERO

Phantom Koala

Below are a a few links that may help you understand what is happening in the Tweed Coast concerning development.

Concreting the Coastal 2003 : Clearing and Development Pressures on the NSW Coast 2003 Total Environment Centre PDF – this compiled resource by the TOTAL ENVIRONMENT CENTRE show problematic development, land clearing activity, approvals and proposals in coastal nsw 2002 -2003. It looks at the larger, more controversial, uncompleted developments at that time – (not the smaller, under the radar ones, nor the already completed ones). This is an excellent recent historic resource.

Kings Forest Development threatenes 21 Threatened Species of Fauna . This article includes a list of some of the Threatened species (including the Koala -Phascolarctos cinereus ), with links to find out more about some of them.

Phantom Koala sees that the KOALA -which has been “iconised” by a number of organisations- is much much more than an ICON##(see below). Inappropriate development  threatens many more individual endangered species than just the KOALA of the Tweed Coast.  The creation of “sustainable development” which is NOT sustainable development, but in reality, development that threatens many AT RISK vulnerable individual Australian wildlife species and their habitats on the Tweed Coast is inappropriate for this day and age of disappearing species and habitats.

In July 2005, with very little consultation, the NSW government introduced a new Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act. See more about the implications of this planning law HERE.

Urban Taskforce – representing property developers

Planning Workshop Australia – Kings Forest and some other State Significant Sites’ work for developers

link on Sylvia Hale (Greens elected Member of the Legislative Council NSW) website to the Green’s Bad Developer Awards – to be announced October 15th 2009

Ian Cohen : media release Kings Forest (11th March 2010)

Some Regional Advocacy Links and   EDO Compliance Portal .

Stateline NSW – Special Features: Systemic corruption in New South Wales?
View the letter from The Greens to the ICAC and the ICAC response.

search for Bob Ell development on bluecray’s ENVIRONMENTAL SEARCH engine

search for Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act on bluecray’s ENVIRONMENTAL SEARCH engine

PK and Moneybags discuss the future on the Tweed Coast

PK and Moneybags discuss the future on the Tweed Coast

As I am writing this advocacy article, (24th September 2009)  fire fighters are battling a blaze close to Kings Forest, on the Tweed Coast. While this fire has been contained, 40 ha of land has burnt, requiring 6 tankers to respond to the emergency. *The State Significant Site of Kings Forest and the surrounding area is under serious threat by a potential development being engineered by Bob Ell, one of the wealthiest people in Australia, who has a history of environmental vandalism. Development, habitat disturbance and inappropriate land management in Australia’s eastern coastal strip between Brisbane and Byron Bay has led to vaste numbers of native Australian fauna and flora disappearing forever from this zone.

The creation of Kings Forest as a State Significant Site and Part 3A,  as successfully lobbied for by Bob Ell’s Leda Group ??(see Planning Workshop Australia above), has resulted in limited appeal actions on the part of advocates and concerned parties over inappropriate development there. To understand how Part 3A of the NSW works – try this link here to the Nature Conservation Council articles on Part3A of the Environment Planning & Assessment Act in NSW

When fires occur in the Australian landscape, many species are equipped with survival mechanisms that help them withstand the pressures of fire regimes so that these species can survive the ravages of fire in the Australian landscape.

4-08-20091

However, when there is little resilient native bushland left about the area burnt, the wildlife and native plant populations can be stressed beyond repair. As development increases on the coastal strip, and as more people arrive to live in that region, more fires will become the norm. People often light fires, and the more people that are living in an area can often equate to more fires being lit.

Phantom Koala is hoping that love of Australia’s Natural Heritage will prevail over money and ego of developers and planners who use the Part3A of the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act to over- develop the remaining low coastal remnant habitats  of the Tweed Coast.

PK_CAUTION_29-05-20091

Phantom Koala hopes that the spread of Coastal development from SE Qld into NE NSW doesn't become the development from 'ell

And while you are here, have a look at these:-

AFAC 2009 - Annual AFAC Conference Incorporating the Bushfire CRC Conference.  AFAC = Australasian Fire & Emergency Service Authorities Council

“Determining the distribution and abundance of a regional koala population in south-east Queensland for conservation management” 2004,  at CSIRO Publishing by David S. Dique, Harriet J. Preece, Jim Thompson and Deidré L. de Villiers

PK and Benoit looks at biodiversity v's moneybags. They see that moneybags makes things empty, and biodiversity makes things beautiful and abundant

PK and Benoit look at biodiversity v's moneybags. They see that moneybags makes things empty, and biodiversity makes things beautiful and abundant

##  Developments  under the umbrella of “its ok if we make it into some type of environmental Koala sight seeing tour” or more hollow motherhood statement theme developments that are based on tokenism as opposed to valid sustainable environmental practices that cater for many individual Australian Wildlife HABITATS that are required for BIODIVERSITY resilience.

Tim Flannery on Biodiversity -  Copenhagen Climate Council at bluecray Environmental Search

“A Balance of Faeries” 1989 by al at bluecray – a true story about Koala Habitat Destruction, and how little by little, the Koala Habitat of SE QLD and NE NSW, if continually destroyed at the rate it is, will have far reaching consequences for our Children’s future. “A Balance of Faeries” tells us that the destruction of small, seemingly insignificant parcels of biodiversity in our natural landscapes,  leaves us increasingly exposed to the greater forces of nature, WIND, SUN, HEAT, RAIN, FLOOD, FIRE . And that, folks, can lead to some rather harsh realities!

*AND one more thing – concerning BUFFER ZONES and KOALAS: the concept of a 50m buffer zone is an absurd and very much an “80′s way of appeasing developers’ mindsets or trying to enlighten politicians who still hadn’t been educated.

Lobbying for , say a 50m Buffer zones about large non sustainable developments does a disservice to KOALAS and all Australian native wildlife. Particularly threatened species.  Buffer zones are a concept that came about to help ease political mindset into caring for our Natural Resources adn Natural Heritage. We must move forwards in a clever way now, and really see what chronic non environmentally sustainable over-urbanisation of our East coast Australian landscape is doing to our biodiverse ecological heritage. If we must lobby for buffer zones – at least one or two Km is the barest minimum – preferably more.

Many native animals need quite a few kilometres of habitat to live and reproduce in, particularly if the area is already degraded. Some need even more. Buffer zones are not really an adequate way of addressing danger and stress to threatened species when non sustainable urban development is in the area.

Animals do not read maps, follow scientific reasoning or keep up with where the next quick multi billion dollar development is being orchestrated. Some small native wildlife- threatened native species adapt, if they are able to, to small buffer zones, like ones I have seen suggested – 50 m, but the stresses and the pressure from urbanisation will eventually take their toll. Mostly, even a few kilometres is far from adequate, when it comes to other environmental issues, such as fire, climate change and human settlement consequences – fire, pests, domesticated animals gone wild, noise and light to name a few.

significant_threats1

Particularly over time,  “buffer zone”  is a term that is long outdated. Integration of landscape features, infrastructure development and environmentally sustainable living necessitates that we move beyond this false concept, and move directly to honest and authentic land custodianship and land and water stewardship. The ’80′s concept of “wildlife corridors” must also be viewed in the wider context, for the 21st Century and beyond.

Habitat Clearing and habitat fragmentation, that is done little by little,  is such a serious threat to the Koala and indeed, all native Australian Wildlife, that we, as responsible Australian Citizens, can no longer turn a blind eye, and allow inappropriate “supposed Environmental Stewardship”, under the guise of “necessary development” to continue.

“don’t be fooled again”

Incoming Searches: australian native animal droppings, hazell donna australia, hortico weed killer MIX DIRECTIONS, plant in transit2012, swallowtail butterfly nsw australia

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Canungra, whilst having areas of beautiful Rainforest around the Township, is also prone to FIRE through vegetation and property. This is due to a number of factors, including the tall Eucalyptus Forests (many regrowth areas), that surround the Town of Canungra, an increase of People living in the area (thus lighting fires), high lightning strike rate, land management practices that allow build up of  fuel in undergrowth, plus certain climatic conditions and weather patterns.

  • For FIRE information in Canungra, including Rural Fire Brigade Contacts and Rural Fire Wardens you can consult this Scenic Rim Regional Council’s website LINK, regarding fire permits, fire or volunteering in the Canungra Area.
  • Or, if you cannot find the above link try this link here to the Rural Fire Brigades in Qld
Incoming Searches: plantas de la biorregion etiopica, development land warfare centre cunungra, australian land warfare centre canungra, back creek gorge, training area - canungra, scenic rim council bushfire prone area building, landwarfare centre, koalas canungra, kingscliff erosion, fireweed in tas how to get rid

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