Bluecray.org » fragmented vegetation 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, seq catchments biodiversity, short poems on biodiversity, methods of mulching, wallum animals and plants, lantana weed diagram labeled, lamington blue cray

]]> http://bluecray.org/education/weeds-biodiversity-and-australias-land-and-water-stewardship-practices-17.11.2009/feed 0 Koala Conservation and Queensland Government Draft SE QLD Regional Plan 2009 to 2031 http://bluecray.org/environment/koala-conservation-and-queensland-government-draft-se-qld-regional-plan-2009-to-2031-10.03.2009 http://bluecray.org/environment/koala-conservation-and-queensland-government-draft-se-qld-regional-plan-2009-to-2031-10.03.2009#comments Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:34:56 +0000 al http://bluecray.org/?p=1018 ...»»]]> Koala Advocacy was reaching a critical level many years ago in SE Queensland. Draft South East Queensland Koala State Planning Regulatory Provisions at bluecray Environmental Search.

I have tried to update this article a number of times. The Qld government appears to keep rearranging itself, its departmental responsibilities and Koala Habitat visions. I wonder now, if anyone there even knows what they are doing??? (SEE BELOW##). Perhaps, for more info, you could try searching the QLD GOVERNMENT .

{###(UPDATE 25th August 2010)I wrote an article more recently on Koalas – “I Will Protect You and Teach You” (30th July 2010) which has more recent Queensland Koala legislation, policy, ecology info. Also, see my article in Balance of Faeries blog – “I will Jail you and Feed you” – which is more about the NE NSW Koala situation concerning the Tweed Coast Koala Advisory Group. Koala populations in SE QLD and NE NSW  are still decreasing rapidly.} However, what I have written below will possibly still give you more background info… good luck!!!

Submissions are currently invited on two issues shown below: (click HERE for the link to these DETAILS at the QLD Department of Infrastructure and Planning)

* 1. The moratorium on clearing vegetation, part of the Draft South East Queensland Koala State Planning Regulatory Provisions (PDF icon 151 KB). Submissions close 24 December 2009.
* 2. The biodiversity development offset area policy, part of the Proposed South East Queensland Koala Conservation State Planning Regulatory Provision (PDF icon 794 KB). Submissions close 1 December 2009.

Please remember, there are areas where Koalas are not deemed as important, within SE QLD Koala Mapping – some of these areas, West and South-West of  Brisbane, will now be seen as opportunities for inappropriate development, despite Koalas actually being present there. Koalas need these areas, deemed less important by government planning, for their health, and movement. It is important that inappropriate development in these areas doesn’t destroy what remaining koala “corridors” are in place, and the chance for future Koala “corridors” to be created and enhanced.

Recent Background:-

Back in the mid nineties, the Queensland and SE Qld Local Governments’ approved ongoing development processes were continuing the 20th century’s relentless rate of clearing & destroying coastal wetlands and Koala habitat areas. This rate was far from environmentally sustainable for future generations of South East Queensland, and indeed, the world.

Rates of development are currently still environmentally unsustainable, despite Ramsar Convention, Agenda 21 and protection of threatenend species and ecological communities at various levels of government ( SE QLD ; NE NSW ; AUST ).

Koalas have long been a political and development “football”, and now issues of relocation,  infrastructure development, and conservation / habitat status are again being re-defined by governments and “scientists” throughout the Mt Warning Caldera Region.

Now that we have almost completed our first decade of the 21st Century, the environmental law capacities of the combined Australian Governments have vastly increased. They have become much more complex, supported by an array of GIS and mapping data, studies, scientific processes and protocols.

Study after study has been completed. Map after map has been produced.

Regional Planning instruments have multiplied faster than wire coathangers in a wardrobe, AND  YET – Koala corridor after corridor is still being destroyed, even as I write this article. And,  -  more elections and regional plans are looming!

Dedicated on the ground Koala carers, hard working community groups, well meaning scientific researchers, and informed environmental legal advisors have gradually impacted on the Government. There still remains

  • developer trends to clear land in a wholesale manners
  • government trends to implant infrastructure as a necessity that over-rides environmental sustainability
  • increasingly complex regional planning documents.

The Queensland Government has closed the comments for the new Koala Planning Regulation provisions, but the Draft QLD Government SEQ Regional Plan 2009-2031 is still open for submissions. Workshops around SE Qld have been held, and are still being held.

Invitations for Comment closed for the SEQ Koala State planning regulatory provisions on Feb 27th. Information concerning these Koala Planning Provisions for SE QLD appears to be in the hands of the  Queensland State Government Department of Infrastucture and Planning .

Regional Workshops and Articles:-

**Qld Department of Infrastructure and Planning : DRAFT Qld Government SE QLD Regional Plan 2009 – 2031 Submissions close on April 3rd 2009.

There is, however……. A PLAN… yes, another PLAN!!! The National Koala Conservation Strategy !

And so, summing up, and I am sure that I have missed lots of links and info, but have a search around, and you are sure to find what you need. Just be tenacious.

1.The Koala’s well being in SE QLD appears to be in the hands of Qld Planning and Infrastructure.

2.As I mentioned above, there is a new SEQ Regional Plan for 2009-2031 being put together now, in its DRAFT form and submissions are still open.

3.The Australian Government has a National Koala Conservation Strategy, but does not actually protect the Koala by Legislation.

4.The Environmental Protection Agency, the Agency acts under legislation listed at this Link:  Legislation .

5.The KOALA is recognised by the Queensland Government under the Nature Conservation Koala Conservation Plan 2006

6.The key Koala Corridors of the old Beaudesert Shire and Boonah Shires – Now the Scenic Rim Regional Council – have been left out of these reasonably new SEQ Koala Plan documents due to the KOALA populations, distribution and Planning guidelines.

**Draft South East Queensland Koala State Planning Regulatory Provisions at the Qld Department of Infrastructure and Planning. You can view Maps here, documents etc concerning the future direction of Queensland Government Development protocols and the threat to Existing Threatened Koala Populations of South East Queensland. Keep all this in mind if you are commenting on the new SEQ REGIONAL PLAN 2009-2031. The Koala Maps provided by the website of the Qld Department of  Infrastructure & Planning seemed  exceedingly frustrating to read, over technically presented, and are extremely slow to load if you do not have high speed internet!

Ipswich Koala Protection Society – (IKPS) – wild life rescue, image gallery, how you can help Koalas of the Ipswich Region, and LINKS

##PLEASE NOTE : The Links  that do not appear to work anymore are mainly the QLD EPA LINKS. The Google search engine now resends many of the links to the  DEPARTMENT of  ENVIRONMENT & RESOURCE MANAGEMENT.

And so, what we appear to have is a sudden change in where all the KOALA information can be found, concerning recent internet public information on the KOALA in Queensland.

When this article was written, the Department of Planning and Infrastructure appeared to be holding much of the information about planning for the KOALA 2009.   Here is the current (October 2009) info available at the QLD Dept. Planning & Infrastructure KOALA PAGES . It shows timetables for the events surrounding Koala Planning 2008-2009 and the Queensland Governments State Planning Policy.

Also, it shows how this Department (QLD DIP)  is responsible for introducing interim development controls, updating the SEQ Regional Plan Section2.2 Koala Conservation and “fast-tracking the development of a state planning policy for koala conservation in SEQ, in collaboration with the Department of Environment and Resource Management.”

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Remember: The Queensland Government Environmental Protection Agency has a copy of the KOALA Conservation Plan 2006 for the Management of Koalas in SE QLD 2006-2016. In this Plan, the Koala appears to be left out of consideration within  Scenic Rim Regional Council Areas. This statement is now obsolete, as the EPA appears to have disappeared from the QLD Government to be replaced by the Department of Environment & Resource Management. Talk about keeping people confused! This is amazing. No wonder the Poor Koala is disappearing and facing entrapment in this region, when the Government Land Stewards can’t even show consistency in their own organisation.

And you should see what is happening just over the border on the Tweed Coast , NE NSW, concerning KOALAS. It is ongoing development that appears to be relentlessly and carelessly repeating the mistakes of the SE QLD non sustainable Development agendas of the past two decades.

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***”New nominations for species and ecological communities will be assessed under the EPBC Act by the Threatened Species Scientific Committee (TSSC) according to the criteria for the new categories and listed accordingly. The TSSC will reconsider the status of the initial list of threatened species and communities in line with the new refined EPBC categories as information is updated and made available for assessment” from  : EPBC ACT LIST of Threatened Species

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And where is the KOALA?????

Phantom Koala and Benoit compare biodiversity with moneybags. They decide that biodiversity fills the world with beautiful things, and moneybagsmakes lots of dangerous empty spaces full of machinery and bare earth

Phantom Koala and Benoit compare biodiversity with moneybags. They decide that biodiversity fills the world with beautiful things, and moneybagsmakes lots of dangerous empty spaces full of machinery and bare earth

“A preliminary investigation of the distribution of koalas and their potential habitat in the Tweed Shire, and implications for management”  by Judy Faulks . Find article at – Australian Zoologist, June 1991 Vol. 27(1 & 2). Whilst this investigation was in NE NSW, there are implications for Koala populations in SE QLD, so why not have a read!.

9-07-2009

Phantom Koala (PK) articles  at  Bluecray Balance of Faeries blog  &  Bluecray Wisdom in the Land blog :  there may be some more useful links here in these articles:

LINKS:

thekoala.com – simply presented koala information for the lay person or young student

Koala at Wikipedia

Koala Research at the Environmental Protection Agency – QLD Government

Griffith University : Griffith Research online – The Research and Management of Non Urban Koalas – oops, couldn’t find it!!!

Koala research LINKS : at Koala research site

Koala Links : at koala research site (I contacted this research team, a number of weeks back, for more information to put into my articles, but have yet to receive an answer)

My own personal  experiences with Koalas and Koala advocates includes having shared habitat with them on the Marburg Range, west of Brisbane, Qld  for many years.  Living between the Nightcap National Park and the Whian Whian Forests – Fox Road, Rosebank, Lismore Shire. And living at  Upper and Lower Beechmont in the Hinterland of the Gold Coast.

Koalas have come to my door, talked to me from the trees. I have watched them eat leaves from trees that are not on  koala tree lists, watched them climb trees that are not on any koala tree lists, talked to volunteers that have released Koalas into the Scenic Rim Regional Council Area (old Beaudesert Shire), talked and worked with Koala carers, scientists and advocates who have testified in Court on behalf of Koala’s when Highways have been built through the SE QLD Region. I have also talked with wildlife workers who have worked with entrapped Koala Populations on the Gold Coast, SE Qld.

My art for Phantom Koala (PK) was conceived many years ago, as a vehicle to explore and portray the Koala as an animal that is largely misunderstood, romanticised, politicised and exploited for monetary gain.

“A Balance of Faeries” 1989 by al at bluecray.org – a story about habitat clearing, Koalas, and how little by little, the Koala Habitat clearing in SE Queensland has  implications for more than Koalas

If you look at the trend for infrastructure development within the SE Qld Region, there will be a focus to develop the west of the Brisbane metropolitan region. Infrastructure of vaste arterial road systems and associated developments will occur, and if the KOALA is not included within any protective legal mechanism, this will mean a halt to Koala Population travel along the current, already fragmented “corridors” west of Brisbane and Logan Cities and the Urban Development to the Qld border and into NE NSW. The Old Shire of Boonah and Beaudesert (Scenic Rim Regional Council) are in this region, as is Ipswich City Council . To the south of the Border, in NSW, lie the Tweed Shires, Kyogle Shires and Lismore City Council areas.

****example of proposed development areas west of BRISBANE:- “Supercity plan to cope with population growth in southeast Queensland” – as told by the Courier Mail May 2010 – “The ULDA will now take planning control for the identified areas from the Ipswich and Logan councils to assess their capacity to deliver more than 100,000 new homes.”****

  • Entrapment of Koalas in fragmented, localised, often non biodiverse vegetation communitites and habitats logically can cause stress, and much work on the part of caring koala workers , to maintain their upkeep.
  • Koalas do not read maps, understand planning documents, line up willingly at scientific or ecological expert’s offices and ask to have trackers put onto them, or be examined (even if this is done “with care”).
  • Koalas do not understand state borders, council boundaries or roadside signage.
  • Koalas do not line up to be taken to zoos, be cuddled by people eager to have their photo taken with them.
  • Koalas do not form lines in eager anticipation of  being rescued, when engineers of infrastructure, mines and housing developments bring in bulldozers and large mass destruction machinery.
  • Koalas have, however, been documented to run extremely long distances, under stress, when released into unkown habitat areas.
  • Koalas have been documented to come to people, when they need help.

If you have read to the end of this article, I congratulate you. It is, indeed, a very long article. But it barely scratches the surface of what is required to help Koalas of the Mt Warning Caldera Region.

Become informed, listen to your heart and  try not to become exhausted by the  rigidity & rigmarole of bureaucracy.

Above all, inspire others to create a world where  ”laws” to protect these beautiful and unique animals are no longer necessary, due to increased respect for  Natural Law and true custodianship and stewardship of  of Koala habitat in Australia.

Back in the 1990′s I was involved in a number of different community environmental initiatives – landcare co-ordinator, ACF Gold Coast Inc. committee member / campaigner  and  ICM Committees (Lockyer Ck SEQ & Loders Ck SEQ) rep.

Community environmental education and activities that I engaged in included:

  • Government policy planning
  • lobbying for Koala corridor linkages
  • vegetation mapping
  • community workshops
  • land & water  management issues
  • development forums
  • roadside management
  • habitat fragmentation
Incoming Searches: koala corridor, mullumbimby flood levels, Koalas and corridors, koala corridors, koala corridor maps, scenic rim koala map, frogs of the northern rivers nsw, food chain goannas, butterflies s e queensland, koalas vegetation

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