Bluecray.org » habitat http://bluecray.org Environmental Advocacy Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:00:13 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 b is for biodiversity http://bluecray.org/environment/b-is-for-biodiversity-11.09.2010 http://bluecray.org/environment/b-is-for-biodiversity-11.09.2010#comments Fri, 10 Sep 2010 20:57:46 +0000 al http://bluecray.org/?p=4871 ...»»]]> A short poem for biodiversity, and a koala poem about KOALAS and developers, created by bluecray, to remind us that Biodiversity is to be honoured as necessary for our childrens’ futures. Biodiversity is disappearing from our earth due to the greed, ignorance and selfishness of  mankind.  Australian biodiversity is disappearing at an increasing rate within the Mt Warning Caldera Region of NE NSW & SE QLD, Australia.

Qld State of Environment Reporting .

NSW State of Environment Report 2009 .

Australian Government State of the Environment Reporting

North Coast Bioregion (NE NSW and SE QLD, Australia)

Ongoing habitat clearing is a main cause of biodiversity loss in the Northern Rivers of NSW and in SE QLD. Habitat clearing, on large scale,  is done by wealthy corporations, individuals and governments that seek to create growth in the name of  “SUSTAINABILITY”. The habitat destroying infrastructures, developments and industries that are created by greedy, selfish people are usually created under the guise of  “Sustainable Enterprise“, Social wellbeing and more recently, saving the world.

B is for beauty,  wild bounty blessed
I is for insects, not seen as a pest
O only treads with respect on the ground
D dreams of nature’s deep secrets  and sounds
I is for instinct, information, ideas
V is variety, birds voices you hear
E is for earth, as it welcomes each day
R  respects  nature and its complex way
S is for  simple life, to use less is more
I instructs industry to respect nature’s law
T takes the time to heal our earth’s health
Y is young futures that share nature’s wealth

environmental advocacy collage showing Biodiversity, Bioenergy, Biofuels and Wisdom thereof, concerning the Northern Rivers, NSW, Australia approach to Camphor Laurel Habitat harvesting

The people who condone, support and profit from habitat destroying  infrastructures, industries and developments are seen to be holding money, power and prestige as their “God”. In the light of eternity, these moneybag people are the destroyers of earth’s biodiversity. They create lies and deceptions, social myths and fear agendas in an attempt to control the populations of Australia.

Bluecray calls these people “moneybags“.  They are often mean spirited people who pretend to be caring, loving and supporting of the future world for our youth. They are far from that.  The moneybag people are takers and userers. They act without honour. The moneybag people usually hold more possessions, land and monetary assets than others. Moneybag people support unequal distribution of wealth. Moneybag people create, support and profit from the insanity that is called war. Not all wealthy people are “moneybags”. Not all people fighting wars are “moneybags”.

The moneybag people are often hidden from public scrutiny or behind overwhelmingly complex  man made laws, technologies and physical barriers. The “LAWS” that the moneybag people create and support, on close scrutiny, are either against the founding laws of our Australian Nation or against International laws agreed upon to preserve the human rights of our innocent youth .

These moneybag people work against the Law of God and the Law of Nature. Often these moneybag people are seen to exhibit great religious self righteousness and Socially accepted responsibility. Often they have friends, associates  and colleagues who are also corrupt and greedy. These moneybag people profit from the victimisation, propaganda and powerplay of the average Australian citizen. They are often sociopaths. They often operate under the guise of being “needed” for the well being of the Australian people.

Moneybag people like to be “in CONTROL”…………of everything they can see, hear, feel, and think of. Moneybag people have been on earth for a long time, through many generations. They feed off  the “depowering” of individuals. They create people power structures and values via indoctrination, fear, propaganda and other manipulative human tools. Moneybag people create wars, insanity, suffering, co-dependent social structures, market based “realities” and toxic wastes to help with their survival.

The moneybag people are destroying our beautiful biodiverse world. In the end, all that they will destroy is their souls. Mostly, moneybag people know that what they are doing is wrong, evil, unfair, without honour. Mostly they have sociopathic sickness, that creates a false reality in their minds. They work hard to ignore that they are heading down the path towards their soul’s destruction. The harder they work to cover up their lies and false realities, the more others see them. Little children and animals see them for what they are, increasingly, these days. God always saw them, and always will see them for what they are.

said the “Powerful” moneybag………..

Peaceful koala asleep in your tree
can you find a new home?
‘cos I want this for ME!
My smart homes of luxury,
devices and cars
Can you find a new place please?
we’re beginning to tar
the roads to our golf courses, shops and afar
dear Koala, please move
‘cos I want this for me!

Iconic koala, so high in your tree
can you find a new home, cos your home pleases ME!
I know that since owning your home many years
my promise to plant more has gone in arrears
But my bank balance thins, and development’s slow
so dearest Koala – could you please go?
My token tree plantings show ALL that I care
My bulldozer mates made a nursery with flair
cleared ground, sterile landscape, is full of gum trees
waiting to plant out in near coming years

so, Koala please go
‘cos I want this for ME!

Maaate, Koala, climbing slowly, to tree top so high
could you please come down quickly, my bulldozer’s nigh
My authority’s sanctioned, I’ve owned this land years
So Koala, please come down, and please disappear

Hey Koala, dear icon, I’ve found a great zoo
I can put you in bars, charge a fortune to view
Now my lots are all ready, the buyers are here
So Koala, please answer – you’ve nothing to fear

I see that you’re ill, fevered, trembling and scarred
relocators are here, so don’t make this hard
How can you stay, when I’ve planned all my life
to get rich from your home. Stop giving ME strife!

Koala in MY tree, My lots worth much more
Please come down, I promise to plant trees – lots more
I promise, I will, though I know it takes time
my bank balance dwindles – it’s no longer PRIME
I need this development to help me spend more
on energy rich lifestyle that opens the door
To boys’ clubs, and honour, as I sponsor the host
to gaming, recreation, shopping centres and most
of the god given pleasures that make me prestige
I’m rich, and your poor – you’re out of my league

So Koala, marsupial, dwindling here
I’ve made millions from your home – and much more through next year
yes, Koala, I ignore that your sick, threatened, ill
cos this home is ALL MINE and the money’s a thrill

I’m hidden from scrutiny, my buddies back all
I’ve invested in infrastructures, parks and a mall
So, Koala – please leave here, and live by the road
While I wait at heaven’s gate, with my life soul’s great load

Oh koala – what’s this, you’ve escaped – now you’re here
In god’s arms, oh so peaceful now ’tis i have the fear
And god’s angels tell me, the gate here is closed
and my goods and great doings are ALL now MY LOAD
Dear god, can I pay you, my hotels, and shops,
my real estate legacies – though they’re all at a stop
But I promise, the trees, that I never got round
to planting – well, god, can I offer bare ground?

I see that the gates to the heavens stay shut
Oh god, please tell me why, I’m in purgatory’s rut?
My chattels and cargo, are heavy and bleak,
I am grand! I WANT heaven! what’s that? I’m not meek?

said the Koala……
w’ell you were warned, Maaaate

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.

Incoming Searches: biorregion neartica, BIOREGION PALEÁRTICA, bioregion australiana, flora de la bioregion paleartica, poems on biodiversity, flora de la bioregion neotropical, bioregion neotropical, flora de la bioregion neartica, flora de biorregion neartica, fauna del la bioregion etiopica

]]> http://bluecray.org/environment/b-is-for-biodiversity-11.09.2010/feed 2 Biodiversity, Bioenergy, Biofuels and Wisdom http://bluecray.org/advocacy/biodiversity-bioenergy-biofuels-and-wisdom-31.08.2010 http://bluecray.org/advocacy/biodiversity-bioenergy-biofuels-and-wisdom-31.08.2010#comments Tue, 31 Aug 2010 03:11:38 +0000 al http://bluecray.org/?p=4686 ...»»]]> Condong Mill, Sunshine Electricity, Delta energy, individual land owners and other Bioenergy consortiums, providers, merchants and “tradespeople” are currently conducting a war on biodiversity in the Northern rivers of NSW, Australia.  How?

By working with Forests NSW to destructively harvesting Camphor Laurels as biofuels to create GREEN ENERGY. They are currently doing this in the TWEED SHIRE, NE NSW, Australia. The NSW Government and the Tweed Shire Council supports and approves of this “WAR on BIODIVERSITY”.

Note from Author:- I first wrote this article when the Bioenergy Habitat destruction was coming into full swing in Burringbar, NSW. Upon talking to locals recently (December 2011), what I had feared appears to be occurring. Those local machine operators who were contracted by the  ENTREPRENEURS  of this BIOENERGY MOVEMENT have apparently  been left high and dry with machinery that they have now limited use for, as the BIOENERGY clearfelling appears to have ceased, with funding withdrawn.

The local people, who were possibly promised much work, and may have been misled into investing heavily in machines for this failing enterprise now are without the envisaged work. Where does this leave them. ? Is it fair to have roped local people into such a disgraceful, unscientific and wastefully destructive enterprise?  Over-capitalizing in machinery for ignorant CARBON FARMING, CARBON MANAGEMENT, CARBON TRADING – CREDITS and OFFSETS etc is just one example of how this new “GREEN INDUSTRY” is potentially harmful in the long run. This can be particularly so for the little investor, the average local man or woman who is misled by ENTREPRENEURIAL HYPE.

Were these people adequately informed that this venture was based on highly  ignorant Land and Water Stewardship? Where do these locals sub-contractors go to from here? Is there support for them, given that they have probably been misinformed about the nature of the enterprise right from the start? Why weren’t these subcontractors and landholders adequately informed about the current LANDCARE information concerning gentle remedial approach to CAMPHOR forest management and native vegetation /habitat restoration and revegetation. If the camphor clear felling by bulldozers resulted in more agricultural land for cattle, where was the net benefit in CARBON MANAGEMENT? and WHERE was the follow up AUTHENTIC LAND AND WATER grazing land management promoted – improved pastures, appropriate fencing, native “vegetation corridors”, seed bank management (both for weeds and native vegetation), creek line restoration following the destruction of camphors along creek lines, sedimentation in creeks by bare soils created by the camphor clear felling. This list is pretty long. I shall stop here.

Some answers need to be given here. Who contracted who? Who spearheaded this waste of money, misuse of people’s  time, energy and local subcontractors’ and landholders’ investments? What happens to the landholders who were so badly informed as to  how to manage the Camphor Laurels on their land?

Perhaps the NSW Labour Party individuals, the Tweed Shire Councillors who supported and signed off on this venture, the Australian Government’s advisors and associated ENTREPRENEURS of this venture can give answers? Perhaps the Senator the Hon.  Penny Wong could find it in her heart to ask some questions as to why this venture was ever allowed to occur in the first place? We are all on a steep learning curve, here in Australia, concerning our LAND and WATER management skills. However, while we, as a country, can hopefully learn from our mistakes, it may be a good thing to at least honour those who have been severely misled, concerning the green harvest opportunities of clearfelling  Camphor Laurel forests with heavy machinery. This is especially so, when science and local knowledge pointed to it being a big mistake, right from the very beginning.

AND NOW.. back to the older 2010 articles:-

Forests NSW :- and their Sustainable Forestry Management statements including  their voluntary certification under the Australian Forestry Standard – AS 4708:2007 (AFS)

When this Australian Forestry Standard is agreed to, it means that the operations of the industry support SUSTAINABLE Forestry Management.

DISHONOUR:-  legal meaning of dishonour – this can include breach of faith, shame, nonadherence, noncompliance and LACK of PRINCIPLE

HOW does this Australian Forestry Standard stand with the environmental non-sustainability of destroying habitat -largely a key threatening process (in a region where many Australian native wildlife animals are already undergoing habitat destruction, habitat fragmentation and biodiversity loss pressures)?

ComLaw Act Compilations – Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000 -      “The objects of this Act are:

  • (a)    to encourage the additional generation of electricity from renewable sources; and
  • (b)    to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in the electricity sector; and
  • (c)    to ensure that renewable energy sources are ecologically sustainable.“

Ecologically sustainable is defined in this above act as:-

  • “ecologically sustainable means that an action is consistent with the following principles of ecologically sustainable development:
    (a)    decision?making processes should effectively integrate both long?term and short?term economic, environmental, social and equitable considerations;
    (b)    if there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation;
    (c)    the principle of inter?generational equity, which is that the present generation should ensure that the health, diversity and productivity of the environment is maintained or enhanced for the benefit of future generations;
    (d)    the conservation of biological diversity and ecological integrity should be a fundamental consideration in decision?making;
    (e)    improved valuation, pricing and incentive mechanisms should be promoted.    “

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

This “War on Biodiversity” is being carried out by clear felling native  (including endangered) wildlife habitats -  using many bulldozers, heavy machinery, trucks and other vehicles -  working  10 hours  per day, up to 6 days per week on private land. They have caused the habitats that they are clearing and demolishing,  to become bare, steep sloped exposed soil.

Environmental advocacy collage showing BIOENERGY (green energy) habitat destruction where the endangered Rufous Bettong lives, in Upper Burringbar, Tweed Shire, NE NSW (Mt Warning Caldera Region), AUSTRALIA. The Wallaby and Joey (to right) actually live in the “bioenergy” area you see being cleared. That is their home being destroyed in August/September 2010. The frog and snake also live only 500m away.  There are many snakes, frogs, birds, lizards, small marsupials, insects that lived and are still trying to survive in this clearing of habitat that is going on all about them. Three Richmond Birdwing Butterflies were seen 100m from the sites being cleared by bulldozers.

  • Regional Development Australia – Northern Rivers :- and their Timber and Forestry Information for the Northern Rivers, NSW. This information includes the PDF :-  From Pest to Profit. Prospectus for the commercial utilisation of camphor laurel in the Northern Rivers region of NSW.
  • “Power Energy From Renewable Energy Sources” – article at Sunshine Sugar stating that  “The project is one of the largest renewable electricity generation projects currently underway in Australia and from mid-2007 at Condong and late 2007 at Broadwater, these two generators will supply the total electricity needs of the towns of Lismore, Casino, Ballina, Byron Bay and Murwillumbah – all from accredited renewable fuel sources.“
  • “Green Power” Landline 28th November 2008 (Pip Courtney)
  • “Tree Harvests not so Sweet” article at the Northern Star by Dominic Feain 11th January 2010 – Lorraine Vass (President of  Friends of the Koala) was quoted as saying that the Camphor Laurel clearing was increasingly happening and ““It’s becoming very obvious driving around the region, and we are deeply concerned about damage to biodiversity, habitat for significant species, soil erosion and the risk of further weed infestation.”" The article goes on to state that there was an urgent need to reassess Camphor Laurel management and clearing due to the Ecological and habitat issues surrounding the increased clearing rates.

IN CONTRAST to Authentic Land and Water Stewardship and authentic ecologically sustainable land management, the following has been observed concerning the Bioenergy, Green Fuel  and NSW Forestry approach to Camphor Laurel management:-

Very little native wildlife HABITAT is left, where they have carried out their destructive work. They then, prepare the vegetation they have  taken, (via habitat destruction of endangered species habitats), into vaste piles of  “BIOFUEL” – or camphor laurel chip/dust, which is then trucked away to their storage areas for conversion to 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.

Burning of vegetation is also occurring onsite, with the smell of Camphour Laurel burning weeks on end. Camphour Laurel is known to produce TOXINS that may cause  illnesses and health problems in humans, and probably animals as well. This is a disputed scientific agenda that has become somewhat of a red herring in the case of the management of Camphor Laurel.

Bluecray reminds anyone that is experiencing health issues due to dust, smoke and related water contamination from this War on Biodiversity to consult their Doctor, and register their situation. Native wildlife that experience health problems, including death of their family members, unfortunately, have no one to tell – no one to go to for help – and indeed, no home either. Bluecray suggests that the benefits of current Camphor Laurel populations for native wildlife habitat survival outway the “toxins” considerations, when taken into the context of having either Camphor laurel stands that are regenerating habitat areas in highly disturbed landscapes or clear felled, bare landscapes, with limited habitat value, and disturbed soils immediately vulnerable to increased weed emergence and growth.

The Broadwater Action Group Ltd bravely took the Richmond Valley Council, and the NSW Suger Milling Co-operative Limited to the NSW Land and Environment Court in 2003, attempting to contain this destructive, toxic and high energy form of harvesting biofuels.

Many – most- conservation groups in NSW will be aware of this issue, and some will have documents concerning the issues of clearfelling native wildlife habitat, under the guise of “green energy” and “weed management”.

BIOENERGY AUSTRALIA -  and its  MEMBERS .

National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development at Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts :-Objective 16.2 is “to incorporate ESD principles as a fundamental objective of relevant government authorities involved in economic, environmental and social decision making” . By this objective,  Governments   WILL “incorporate ESD principles into the objectives of relevant legislation as appropriate, particularly for legislation concerning natural resource use and management”

Energy and Water at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre .

biofuelsaustralasia.com.au :- “Farmers welcome move to turn noxious weed into biofuel”

thinkgrowsustain.com :- Future Focus – current information on green tech and green technology projects in Australia:-

  • 9. Innovation in harvesting, processing and transporting camphor laurel “It is proposed to harvest and deliver at least the equivalent of 40,000 green tonnes of camphor laurel over a two-year trial period. If successful, the system will be expanded in an endeavour to control the several million tonnes of camphor laurel estimated to be standing on the north coast of New South Wales.“   “With the assistance of a $500,000 grant under the Renewable Energy Commercialisation Program, camphor laurel will be harvested to supply efficient year-round energy production for the power station at Condong sugar mill. The project stems from an innovative idea put forward by State Forests of NSW and is co-funded by the NSW Wales Sugar Milling Co-operative and Delta Electricity.“
  • 11. Factory- based “cane trash” separation system .

DISHONOUR:-  legal meaning of dishonour – this can include breach of faith, shame, nonadherence, noncompliance and LACK of PRINCIPLE

The Wallaby in the above photo has been seen living in the area where the work is being done for BIOENERGY. There are many birds that use the area  being cleared. The Spangled Drongos have just arrived, the wrens and scrub birds are building nests. I see these birds each day, and they used the area being cleared as habitat…many species fauna flora, being killed and moved away, stressed, surviving. I have seen at least two Rufous Bettongs 500m from the Bioenergy extraction and processing work. Wompoo and Rose-crowned Fruit Doves have also been seen in the areas being cleared, prior to clearing.

AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY . Programs at the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism . They said ontheir ENERGY page:-

“The Australian Government is committed to the provision of adequate, reliable and affordable energy to meet future energy consumption needs and to underpin strong economic growth, consistent with the principles of environmental responsibility and sustainable development. “

BIODIVERSITY THREAT + HABITAT CLEARING  =   ??

Soil Degradation  + Habitat Loss  =  ??

BIODIVERSITY LOSS  + CARBON STORAGE LOSS  =  ???

THREATENING PROCESS  + DECREASING CARBON STORAGE   = ?????

  • Your “GREEN ENERGY” money that you pay is going into NOT WHAT YOU THINK . You Green energy money may  be going into HABITAT CLEARING, BIODIVERSITY LOSS and IMMEDIATE release of Carbon via bulldozers, machinery, habitat clearing and biodiversity loss. This is because of?
  • What about the Law. Where is the contract here?  There are farmers, landholders and heavy machinery local contracters who have been very ill advised, concerning this method of “green energy harvests”. There is a certain shame attached to those who have ill advised these local landholders and contracters/subcontractors. Perhaps some of these people should examine the basis of their contract. Especially in the light that this industry will eventually prove to be environmentally harmful. It may prove to be socially and regionally economically harmful to those who, as local individuals, have invested in this form of harvest, under the ill-advised guidance of corporate (overseas and Australian) opportunistic green energy “entities”. These “entities”  have clearly carried and acted out a lack of due regard and care  for those locals,  who have invested in heavy machinery and land clearing, following advise from these opportunistic CORPORATE ENTITIES. Not to mention the lack of care to the environment, wildlife habitats and ecosystems of the TWEED SHIRE.
  • Who contracted WHO to do this work? The NSW Government and the Tweed Shire Government have answers here.  The Land and Environment Court could possibly see this type of work in a very clear way? Judges working with contract /common law areas?  How would they view this? I am not a lawyer, but it would seem that there is something not honourable in this approach to BIOENERGY. Somewhere, the process has become NOT what it should be.

Camphor Laurel Abundance in the Tweed Shire 2004:- (map3A.pdf) -

Northern Rivers Invasive Plants Action Strategy 2009-2013 for the use of all public and private land managers

NSW Industry and Investment/ NSW DPI  fact sheet 733 – Camphor Laurel PDF and Noxious Weed Declarations showing an extract of the LEGAL REQUIREMENTS from the Noxious Weeds Declaration Data base (This web page provides access to the details of weeds declared in New South Wales, Australia under the Noxious Weeds Act 1993. The information is taken from the Orders published in the Government Gazette. The Order lists the weed, the control class and the control requirements for each species declared in a Local Control Area.)

CLEARING VEGETATION – EDO Fact Sheet 5.3

Native Vegetation Management and Clearing at NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water.

Native Vegetation Act 2003 – Public Register – what is it? NSW Government

the DECCW’s Public Register LINK is HERE .

Many semi trailers of Camphor Laurel “dusty ground fibres” taken away to the Green Energy Storage, each day  – at Condong Mill?? Murwillumbah

In bluecray’s article “Weeds, Biodiversity and Australia’s Land and Water Stewardship Practices (17th November, 2009), you will find some of the principles of Weed Management that are largely ignored by mainstream land and water custodians. There is reference to:-

“Converting stands of camphor laurel to rainforest” – here you will find some excellent information about “Current approaches to Camphor Control” and management-  (John Kanowski and Carla P.Catterall – Griffith University’s Centre for Innovative Conservation Strategies and the Northern Rivers CMA)

The Tweed Shire and NSW Government is allowing mass clearing of Camphor Laurel Vegetation communities and Native wildlife HABITATS across the Tweed Shire, in the name of “GREEN ENERGY”.  The immediate results are bare lands, native flora and fauna losses, multiple localised biodiversity losses, loss of seedbank containing native vegetation, loss of the humus layer that is essential for soil health and loss of ( carbon storing) soil holding tree root systems across steep sloping land, in the foothills of the Burringbar Range.

Some of this destructive habitat loss, being engineered by local land owners, eco clearing consultants, machine operators, the Tweed Shire Council, Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority, National Parks and Wildlife NSW, Condong Mill, Sunshine Electricity, Delta Energy, the NSW Government and the Australian Government (to name some of the groups involved in this mass biodiversity and native wildlife habitat destruction)  includes HABITATS of ENDANGERED SPECIES.

As far as I know, ground trials for this type of work began over ten years ago, at least, if not further back. (Still gathering information here). Also, regulation of this type of INDUSTRY (Bioenergy) possibly operates against  the laws concerning destruction of habitats that relate to the well being of endangered species in NSW.

Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator .

Land and Environment Court NSW .

You can access the Vegetation pages for Tweed Shire here, and download the Camphor Laurel Abundance PDF for the Tweed Shire  at  Tweed Shire Council Flora and Fauna Management : Includes PDF’s on Vegetation Management Strategy ; Vegetation Types and Communities ; Camphor Laurel Abundance ; Koala Sightings ; Soil Landscapes, Steep Land and Drainage Lines ; Ecological Values and Rehabilitation Priorities

  • “Fence jumping weeds kill NSW’s natural biodiversity” article at WWF – Garden plants that have escaped into the wild make up 69 per cent of Australia’s population of threatening weeds. Of the 127 individual weed species identified as threatening NSW biodiversity, 82 were deliberately introduced as ornamental plants and 56 of these are still available for purchase in Australia“   The editor of WWF article reminds us “The threat posed by weeds to Australia flora and fauna as a single factor is second only to land clearing.”

Camphor Laurel is a CLASS 4 Noxious Weed. More info about Class 4 Noxious Weeds can be found in the bluecray environmental search .

Bluecray has commenced a new campaign concerning this type of approach to ENERGY CONSUMPTION, Marketing and production, due to perceived destructive consequences on local habitat and biodiversity within the Mt Warning Caldera Region of NE NSW and SE QLD.

This article has been written to help explain Biodiversity, Bioenergy, Biofuels the Wisdom therein – and how this all relates to the Mt Warning Caldera Region of NE NSW and SE QLD.  Bluecray will endeavour to show how the current approach to harvesting certain biofuels will promote net increased atmospheric carbon release, net carbon storage loss, on a local level, and direct loss of biodiversity in the immediate and possibly short & long term future.

Bluecray also QUESTIONS the FOLLOWING ways

  • that the current, above “green energy” extraction of Camphor Laurel demonstrates an illegal act,
  • that the way some land holders in the Tweed shire have permitted these actions, demonstrates either an illegal act, or has been done following professional consultation that has advised illegal acts
  • that way that the Tweed Shire Council and the NSW Government has permitted and endorsed these Camphor Laurel Extraction Industries could be shown to be  illegal. Bluecray believes that the extraction process for Camphor Laurels, as done in the Tweed Shire, for BIOENERGY contravenes current laws and agreements in place, within Australia and Internationally.

Bluecray will welcome any discussion about these matters, as many minds make a greater “wit”, and it is With Intelligent Thought, that perhaps the perceivable outcomes of this current “War on Biodiversity” can be led to armistice.

Firstly, to help you with some ecological and environmental background:-

“potential value of weedy regrowth for rainforest restoration” -

Loss of Biodiversity – at bluecray environmental search engine.

Evolution and Development of a Code for Private Native Forestry in New South Wales, Australia – search results at bluecray environmental search engine – some of these links may help you understand the current, evolving state of play concerning Private Forestry practices

It is hoped, that with this series of articles, the people who have been affected  by or advocated against this habitat destroying activity by bioenergy entities, will become better informed as to the legal venues which they can use to create a legal argument that will lead to a moratorium and injunction on this form of Camphor Laurel habitat clearing, until it is further understood within the full scope of BIODIVERSITY and ENERGY use in NE NSW and SE QLD (and beyond).

Some of the people who are operating in this industry could lose  income through this action, and so it should be seen as important that decisions to halt this Camphor Laurel extraction not be taken lightly. In fact, in preference to injunction and moratorium, these people who are engaged in this industry should be employed, rather, to work towards habitat restoration in a legal, and environmentally sustainable way. However, the “might is right” tendencies of the Corporate energy groups may chose not to agree, as their profits, projected agreed quotas and economic viability may be at risk. Corporations and agencies need to think outside the square and work within Authentic Land and Water Stewardship Principles. They could perhaps do some sums and work out a more cost effective, environmentally sustainable way to create fuel from biowaste and living organic matter.

NSW Constitution : about the Land and Environment Court – extract from a Chief Judge (Mahla Pearlman) Land and Environment Court of New South Wales Paper entitled “The Role and Operation of  The Land and Environment Court of New South Wales”

“The Forgotten Forests the environmental regulation of forestry on private land in NSW between 1997 and 2002 by James Prest,  University  of Wollongong 2003:- the paper can be found at Research Online http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/413 .

The Pursuit of Practical Wisdom by vice-chancellor Steven Schwartz, of Macquarie University. (August 25th 2010).  ”Wise up: Restoring wisdom to Universities” .

A final word here, for this first article of bluecrays’ journey into the world of BIODIVERSITY, BIOENERGY, BIOFUELS and WISDOM:-

Court Cases, Lawyers, Corporations, individual workers, politicians, beaurocratic representatives can all be tied up , very expensively, in COURT ROOM SCENARIOS. Bluecray believes that it is better to educate, advocate, honour individuals’ Constitutional rights and the rights of individuals, under the LAWS of GOD and NATURE, over the seemingly endlessly increasing LAWS of COMMERCE and ENVIRONMENTAL LAW.

It is better to change our ways, accept that we have done wrong, and move ahead speedily, in a creative and harmonious way, than to stop, argue, debate endlessly and waste valuable resources of the people of Australia.

Bluecray also believes, however, that one of the most powerful and important resources available to the people of Australia, is its BIODIVERSITY and WISDOM thereof.

tread lightly, my friends. Alison Polistchuk

……..about 17 years ago, I was invited to be part of a steering committee for developing protocols re clearing under powerlines in Queensland – the big powerlines that you see transversing the landscape, bringing power to your locality. Back then, environmental considerations were deemed of minimum importance, when it came to electricity, power generation, and land and water stewardship management issues. I suggested back then that heavy machinery operators should be given training in a national standards approach to habitat management issues and understanding of soil/natural vegetation dynamics. The idea fell on deaf ears, and today, the idea is still, apparently considered non essential for heavy machinery operators within the elctricity/power industries. As I write this, the bulldozers are still relentlessly killing and destroying poor Rufous Bettongs’ habitat, and the habitats, homes and food sources of our other precious little native animals. Shame on you, NSW Government. Shame on you, Tweed Shire Council, Shame on you Bioenergy providers.  Mammals – marsupials, are disappearing at an unprecedented rate in Australia, and still the emperors of power play their tunes of glory.

The above picture of habitat destruction in the Tweed Shire, by the extraction of Camphor Laurel creates immediate loss of carbon storage that may take many years to replace. THIS form of harvesting habitat trees under the name of “weed management” is based on high energy inputs with immediate habitat, wildlife and native emergent flora losses. There are documented scientific research articles, as well as in principle demonstrations that show this to be a destructive and wasteful, non sustainable approach to energy resource management.

Conservation of Australia’s BIODIVERSITY at Australian DEWHA

The Precautionary Principle . OnlyOnePlanet

The Rainforest Information Centre .

Australian Government State of the Environment Reporting . and BIODIVERSITY .

Habitat advocate – Habitatadvocate.com.au

Public Interest Advocacy Centre :- “The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is an independent, non-profit law and policy organisation that works for a fair, just and democratic society, empowering citizens, consumers and communities by taking strategic action on public interest issues. ”

Total Environment Centre .

a balance of faeries :- you will find bluecray’s story “A Balance of Faeries” here – telling the true story of how bulldozers and fuels, powered together with mankind’s lack of WISDOM, results in loss of the smaller, essential biological components of our wonderful Australian landscapes. This makes the degraded landscapes lose their biodiversity, and lessens the landscape’s ability to withstand the greater forces of nature- wind, sun, heat, cold, fire, rain, flood etc.

Loss of Hollow-bearing Trees – key threatening process determination:-

(a) it adversely affects threatened species, populations or ecological communities, or
(b) could cause species, populations or ecological communities that are not threatened to become threatened.

“Trees retained during harvest are susceptible to damage from logging operations and post-harvest burning, or can suffer poor health owing to changes in abiotic conditions (Gibbons and Lindenmayer 2002). Consequently, retained trees are prone to early mortality, especially with repeated exposure to harvesting events over their lifespan. Prescriptions for forestry operations also stipulate that young trees are retained for long-term replacement of hollow-bearing trees, typically with one recruit for every hollow-bearing tree. The age structure in natural forests, where recruitment and loss of mature trees is at equilibrium, indicates that only a small proportion of younger trees survive to reach maturity. A ratio of one-to-one will be inadequate in itself to sustain the stipulated minimum densities of hollow-bearing trees in harvested areas. In addition, the average age of hollow-bearing trees in harvested areas will continue to decrease as the few remaining very old trees die. Trees are also retained in areas excluded from harvesting, such as along drainage lines, with the aim of creating a matrix of harvested and non-harvested areas. In the longer term as trees mature in exclusion zones they will help to provide hollows across production forest landscapes, yet their usefulness to fauna is affected by the reduction in hollows and the quality of foraging habitat in the surrounding forest.” from http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/determinations/lossofhollowtreesktp.htm

DISHONOUR:-  legal meaning of dishonour – this can include breach of faith, shame, nonadherence, noncompliance and LACK of PRINCIPLE

“Ecologically Sustainable Development: Legal Principles “  a paper by Justice Peter Biscoe, Land and Environment Court of New South Wales delivered on 15 April 2009 to the postgraduate course in Environmental Law and Policy conducted by the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of New South Wales .

NSW  Sugar Industry Renewable Electricity Generation : a case study presented by the University of Ballarat. This Case Study explains the processes involved in creating the NSW Sugar Industry Renewable Electricity Generation.

  • It shows timelines and technical information that is easy to understand. It is well presented and worth a read. Unfortunately, it does not indicate the ecological significance of clearing Camphor Laurel on a large and lengthy scale, as is being done in the Northern Rivers Shires in NE NSW, Australia for renewable electricity generation. There is a link to the environmental impact statement for the Broadwater Biomass Cogeneration Proposal (I couldn’t get it to work, though).
  • It also does not show the calculations concerning the energy that is required to create the “green fuel” from Camphor Laurels and the “energy calculations” for the loss of biodiversity and ecological sustainability  from systems being destroyed by camphor extraction.
  • It does not show calculations for biodiversity and carbon storage losses such as carbon storage in root systems, trunks, stems etc , soil and seed bank sustainability factors and calculations relating to individual habitat threatening processes, the loss of native flora and fauna in the extraction process and soil degradation calculations.  These calculations, when compared to the time and energy that it will take to repair the camphor extraction sites, once the machinery and trees have gone, would be interesting to see.

EDO Scientific advice and fact sheets : here you will find helpful info regarding “how to review an air quality assessment & how to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions associated with development proposals, with a focus on coal mines.”

photo of  how your green energy is made by NSW  Sugar Industry Renewable Electricity Generation – Burringbar, Northern Rivers, NSW, Australia

WAKE UP!!!

Wilderness Society “Would you burn their homes to power yours?” “An absurd loophole in the federal legislation means that burning forests is eligible for the same Renewable Energy Certificates as power generated from the sun and wind.” All over the world, people are beginning to realise that the use of Bioenergy, Biofuels and Habitat Clearing for Energy Consumption is causing mass destruction of BIODIVERSITY.

The Australian Federal Government will eventually come to realise – and already SHOULD KNOW – that this type of Habitat Clearing will have net biodiversity loss in the near and far future. The “credentialled” advisors and consultants, eco clearing “tradespeople” and environmental advisors who recommend such Habitat Clearing carry with them liability that will eventually lead them to having to rectify and compensate for the damage that they have profited by.

Profits from misleading the general public and landholders about the biofuel industry, under the guise of clearing rubbish vegetation, noxious weeds and providing clean green fuel will not be enough to pay for the eventual regeneration works that will be required to remediate the habitat destruction that has been promoted by their unscientific, adhoc industry. Once a habitat, that has taken over thirty years to evolve,  is cleared it cannot be repaired in a few years. It can take a lifetime. In the case of clearing endangered species habitat, complete repair may never occur again, ever, as the endangered species may have disappear forever before the repair is done. This is part of the precautionary principle’s essence. Taking due care.

Incoming Searches: loss of biodiversity, biodiversity loss, pictures of land degradation biodiversity loss air pollution, habitat loss, habitat destruction, habitat destruction in australia, collage on biodiversity, a collage of affected biodiversity, collage making on environment, bioregion neártica

]]> http://bluecray.org/advocacy/biodiversity-bioenergy-biofuels-and-wisdom-31.08.2010/feed 0 I will protect you and teach you…. http://bluecray.org/advocacy/i-will-protect-you-and-teach-you-30.07.2010 http://bluecray.org/advocacy/i-will-protect-you-and-teach-you-30.07.2010#comments Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:05:25 +0000 al http://bluecray.org/?p=4503 ...»»]]> Mothers of children all around the world care deeply for their childrens’  future. Mothers protect and teach their children. In this uncertain world, protecting and teaching our young requires, amongst other things, continuity of educational basics within a safe teaching environment.  Environmental concerns and fears do not always seem immediate to our lives, if we live in Australia – particularly within the cities and towns along the eastern coast..

We hear about these dreadful things that are happening in our world  – fires, floods,  droughts,  earthquakes,  war,   oil / gas disasters, species extinction, habitat loss,  increasing pollutions and nuclear threat, but often, we are so busy in our own little world, that all these things seem far away from the safety of our homes here.  Living safely in our homes, we also forget that there are many homeless families and individuals in Australia.

Homeless Persons’ Legal Service .

youhaveafriend.org.au – sign the petition here to help the Tweed get a drop in centre for homeless people. The Tweed district has the highest per capita homeless rate in NSW, Australia. “homeless forced to camp on the street” article in Tweed Shire Echo 7th October 2010

The ACE Study – “Bridging the gap between childhood trauma and negative consequences later in life” Adverse Childhood Experiences Study & Score

Public Interest Advocacy Centre :- “The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is an independent, non-profit law and policy organisation that works for a fair, just and democratic society, empowering citizens, consumers and communities by taking strategic action on public interest issues. “

Below is a poem about a mother and her young son. In the poem, the mother is looking after her son with love and care, teaching him all she knows…..but harsh circumstances prevail  upon her and and, uprooted from her home, she endeavours to find a new place to live with her son….

I will protect you and teach you……..

(an environmental advocacy  poem )

“For you, little young one, as you sleep with your dreams
cradled in arms of protection, it seems
that your future on earth faces heat, drought and less
than the past futures made by “them” leaving this mess.”

“I cry for your children, your hopes dreams and cares
As mysterious moneymen count ill gotten fares.
The userers wallow in time stole from you
Masked wasters of life , toxic moneys accrued.”

“You stir as  the night owl glides from its tree
And the howling of dogs surrounds you and me
My arms close  about you, ancestral strength
I’ll protect you and feed you,  I’ll teach you at length”

“Now waken my dear one, the night closes in
And it’s time that we moved through this forest -so thin
We’ll find a tall tree where the shelter is safe
To keep us till morn – ”

They moved on in good faith.

Following tracks, the mother  showed son
what she’d learnt and had followed when she had been young
But tracks, trees and wetlands – were now tarred concrete
It went on for miles,  it hurt their bare feet.

“For you, my dear young one, hold fast on my back
I promised to lead you, but I’ve lost my old track
The morning approaches, dogs bark -  so near
My darling – please waken – I smell a great fear”

The mother and child then ran for their lives
straddling a fence and cut by the wires.
The fierce dogs chased them and hounded them hard
as a tall tree loomed up – unfenced in its yard

Scrambling treeward  they climbed, then looked down
three dogs barked out loudly with dark dogged frown
Up in the tree, confused,  bleary eyed
Mother cradled her child -  with full strength of the wild.

.  … ….    ….   .   ….    …. …  .

It was a crisp winter’s morning……..a young child woke up and looked out of her window.

(She had woken suddenly from a nightmare, where, as she played in a faery glade,  large fierce dogs came to attack her.  In her dream, she had run into a tall building where smiling business suited men , dripping with oil and tar, offered her suitcases filled with plastic money . )

The young child cried out to her mother,  “Oh Mother – look see – a Koala is in our tree!! Oh, Mama, I think it has a baby with it!!!”

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.

“I will Jail you and Feed you” – Balance of Faeries article at bluecray.wordpress.com – includes links to help you understand SEPP’s for NSW Koala Plan of Management.

Clearing the habit of Habitat Clearing .

“Koala warning ignored in assessment” article at Tweed Shire Echo 30th September 2010 which states:- “A draft habitat study which warned about the plight of the Tweed’s dwindling koala population had been kept secret by Tweed Council while the state government assessed the controversial township of Kings Forest which it recently approved”

SEPP 44 koala plan of management – search results bluecray environmental search

State Environmental Planning Policy 44 - Koala Plan of Management – NSW  Consolidated Regulations

Below is some Koala Legislation, policy, koala advocacy, habitat management information for NE NSW and SE QLD, Australia:-

(not exhaustive, but includes links to some current (2010)  ways in which the governments of Australia steer people and their industries  to save the Koala on the east coast of Australia from increasingly localised Extinction -  habitat clearing and koala corridor destruction-  death and illness.)

  • Spatiotemporal dynamics of habitat use by koalas: the checkerboard model .   William A.H. Ellis, Alistair Melzer, Fred B. Berkovitch  Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology Volume 63, number 8,1181-1188, DOI: 10.1007/s00265-009-0761-2.           find at http://cat.inist.fr/ or   SpringerLink .  Published online 31st March 2009 – the keywords are :-  foraging strategies , koalas , phascolarctos, resource use, spatial ecology, home range.

joint submission prepared by the North Coast Environment Council and the NSW Nature Conservation Council:- Re: Phascolarctos cinereus (Koala) – Assessment of Koala’s eligibility for listing as a threatened species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999


Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) EPBC Act nomination to list as a threatened species , ( link disappeared!.. like the Koala?)  at Australian Government Department of  the Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts.  FIND  the KOALA info the Australian Government makes available…..

by searching for KOALA listings  at the Australian Government Department of  the Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts.

NCC of NSW = Nature Conservation Council of NSW – their Assessment of Koala’s eligibility for listing as a threatened species under EPBC Act 16th June 2010

KOALA at Qld Government Department of Environment and Resource Management .

KOALA Response Strategy at Qld Government Department of Environment and Resource Management – this link has the following information, mostly  in PDF format :-

There is also the following information:-

I am not sure as to what “on the ground IMMEDIATE SOLUTIONS ” to the plight of the Koala all these initiatives are creating.

The information about koala habitats and the capacity to create useful extension tools and outreach programs for KOALA GUARDIANS and koala future wellbeing has been about for decades. Whilst new techniques, scientific studies and all typesof “credentialled experts” and authentic Koala HABITAT guardians have contributed to this “new approach” from the Qld Government, the fact remains that Koalas are and HAVE disappeared from many KOALA HABITAT areas in SE QLD and NE NSW. KOALAS are, right NOW, and in the near forseeable future, GREATLY AT RISK

The above poem about habitat destruction and its consequences on wildlife mothers and their young shows us that the education of young wildlife by their parents can be very stressful in a constantly changing environment. This is especially so when the native fauna habitat is destroyed or altered dramatically. Non environmentally sustainable development and its related infrastructure nightmare in SE QLD and NE NSW are two of the many factors destroying habitat for native Australian wildlife.

BIODIVERSITY LINKS : -  some useful  links for Biodiversity, Flora, Fauna, Koalas, Ecology and Catchment Management  (NE NSW and SE QLD – Mt Warning Caldera Region)

Animal Law Centre :- nice animal advocacy site – giving an overview of Animal Law in Australia – references and links to Australian and State legislation. Includes animal law and the Australian Constitution, enforcements and threatened species laws in Australian States

KOALA SCHOOL

Biodiversity Certification :  enabling ” local government in areas with high development pressure to provide for the protection of biodiversity, including threatened species at the strategic planning stage. These are likely to be mainly urban and coastal areas.

Certification can switch off the need for threatened species assessment under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, providing more certainty for local government, development applicants and other stakeholders. Biodiversity must be improved or maintained for certification to be conferred. ” from environment.nsw.gov.au  – biodiversity certification”

More plans, more paperwork, more “expert opinion” and re-hashing of studies, more re-arrangements of habitats and ecosystems to justify heavy machinery handling and toxic lifestyles???? hard to say, but more than likely it is going to be the same as it always is……. better to focus on education of our young in environmentally friendly ways of living… then, instead of  regulations, paperworks, endless time and money spent on professional “spin”, people may just end up walking gently with the earth….

PLANNING GUIDELINES FOR KOALA CONSERVATION AND RECOVERY – C McAlpine – 2007:- search results bluecray environmental search engine

Advocacy for Animals at Encyclopaedia Britannica and Kangaroo Culling .

Wildife – Native Australian Wildlife Advocacy at (We)  can do better .

Meanwhile, at Kingscliff,NE NSW:-  large developments (that will further fragment our native wildlife habitats) are planned nearby (Kings Forest, Cobaki Lakes ) and the sea is moving inwards – “Hungry Mother Nature bares her teeth” -  infrastructure damage at Kingscliff on the NSW North Coast -  by coastal erosion (2010): SMH article by Saffron Howden

Kingscliff battles beach erosion (story 11th august 2010):- at ABC local + other local beach coastal erosion stories from NE NSW (Tweed and Byron shires)

the above environmental advocacy images by al at bluecray

Tread lightly, honour the earth – it is the only home we have.


..                             and now,

for some philosophical freedom food

TRY

*******************FREEDOMAIN RADIO***************

blogs + philosophy + podcast+ videos +philosophical conversations….

“The Bomb in the Brain”

Human Contraptions: Episode Guide - “Academy Award-winning animator and political cartoonist Bruce Petty takes us on an anarchic journey for five minutes each” topic.

Ideas Serving Knowledge and Vision .  Some astrobabble for the anarchist – Includes Australian Federation Astrological Chart.

Incoming Searches: bioregion australiana flora y fauna e collage, i will protect you poem, abc annie gaffney frogs interview, i will protect you if you, i will portect you poems, frogs tweed, concretingfiletype: ppt, collage on extinction and conservation on a chart, australian wildlife scats, snakes currumbin valley

]]> http://bluecray.org/advocacy/i-will-protect-you-and-teach-you-30.07.2010/feed 0 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 Cross – Cultural Environmental Education and the evolution of Australia’s Cultural Policy http://bluecray.org/advocacy/cross-cultural-environmental-education-and-the-evolution-of-australias-cultural-policy-03.11.2009 http://bluecray.org/advocacy/cross-cultural-environmental-education-and-the-evolution-of-australias-cultural-policy-03.11.2009#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:57:17 +0000 al http://bluecray.org/?p=3183 ...»»]]> PK_and_the_planner_talk_all_nightMinister for the Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts, Peter Garrett, has opened a National dialogue on National Cultural Policy (October 2009).  There is both a FORUM for discussion, ideas and comment , and opportunity for making a FORMAL SUBMISSION on our future National Cultural Policy.

The website page at this link:-  http://nationalculturalpolicy.com.au/ , but now appears to be offline (November 2011) This includes (did include)  a short, one page discussion outline. The three key themes for this discussion are

  • keeping culture strong
  • engaging the community
  • powering the young

Bluecray is currently putting together a Formal Submission.  The submission has a largely Environmental Educational and Advocacy agenda.  WHY?

Because  ENVIRONMENT encompasses all. Cultural interactions of our many different communities do not preclude  our diverse and wonderful Environment.

City_life_lismore_ne_nsw_and_heritage_diversity

##Australian Centre for Cultural Environmental Research – “The Australian Centre for Cultural Environmental Research (AUSCCER) is an exciting new research initiative commencing in 2009, funded by the University of Wollongong and the Australian Research Council (ARC).“##

AND SO……………..

ENVIRONMENT gives us the breath of life, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the energy we use and the waters we share. Our unique Australian Environment  inspires our Art,  Stories, Music, Architecture, Lifestyles and Visions.

Culturally, Australia IS a distinctly diverse continent. Our Heritage is unique & complex – both its social and  natural components.

“Reading the Constitution out Loud”  by Marcia Langton at Meanjin.com.au  .

Cross-Cultural Environmental Education & Australia’s Cultural Policy

Cross-Cultural Environmental Education in Australia does not  only mean Aboriginal cultures interfacing with other non-indigenous cultures. It is about all cultures interfacing, in a pluralistic #(see below) sense. And all Cultures, including Aboriginal CULTURES have stories, art, crafts, foods, plants,  animals and heritage that have woven their way into our unique pluralistic Australian Nation.

However, the Traditional,  long time Custodians of Australia, with their widespread Cultural Heritage, are to be treasured and respected. Our Indigenous Peoples have a UNIQUE HERITAGE and are immensely precious, as is their contribution to our  National Natural and Cultural Heritage.  Within Aboriginal Cultures,  the Environment and the Culture of their country & people are intrinsically linked. This is a basis for Australian Indigenous LAND CLAIMS.

Cross-Cultural Environmental Education has much to offer. Cross-Cultural Environmental Education can show us the way, when it comes to understanding our Land and Water Stewardship processes and responsibilities.

wisdom_in_engineering

Cross-Cultural Environmental Education can help the young in the cities, increasing urban and semi-rural developments,  re connect with natural processes at a fundamental level. It can help awaken a more basic understanding of our Natural Environmental Heritage. It can help foster Regional Environmental Sustainability by facilitating  Cultural activities,  teachings, stories, dance, music and information that help our young choose a way of respect for Nature.

caldera picsEnvironmental Advocacy Collage : CHOICES for Australians

Now, below is the basis of bluecray’s FORMAL SUBMISSION to the Department of the Environment, Heritage, Water & the Arts:-

“TOTEM” based Cross-Cultural Environmental Education at a Catchment, Regional and Local level via the School “House” System.

  • The word “TOTEM”, is used, for lack of any better word. I mean it in a very loose sense here, not in the strict sense of a personal, clan or inherited indigenous TOTEM.
  • The word “TOTEM”  is used to encompass a  practical understanding  and care of a particular LOCALLY or REGIONALLY SIGNIFICANT native plant or animal species or genus. Caring for a specific component of the local natural environment, when commenced in the early formative and schooling years of a child, provides opportunity for that child, when an adult, to more fully grasp the concept of Nature.
  • BY this, I mean a “TOTEM” caring that is integrated into a student’s schooling, through exposure and interaction with teachers, artists, community workers, scientific workers, wildlife and environmental volunteers and experts, cross-cultural educators, musicians, story tellers.
  • A caring that, through continued exposure to an understanding of that “TOTEM” over time, brings with it increased awareness and understanding of the habitat necessary for it’s survival and well being. An understanding, that when carried into adulthood, will foster in many, more informed decision making, as Australian youth become active community members and leaders.

Collages13

Choice of  “TOTEM” could include a particular plant or animal that is currently :-

1. endangered or threatened (at risk) within the area of the school’s “Catchment”. eg Koala, Spotted-tailed Quoll, Powerful Owl, Richmond Birdwing Butterfly – the list can be seen by looking at individual bioregions and their threatened species lists

2. particularly relevant to the  environmental & ecological well being of the catchment area about the school. This includes ecosystem health. I am talking here about a key signature species, that  if looked after, can be instrumental in helping the biodiversity of  habitats, ecological communities and ecosystems naturally occurring within that “Catchment”. This type of list may include frogs, insects, mammals, plants that whilst not threatened under legislation, are still key indicators for health within the school’s region.

3. easily identifiable, able to be learnt about, incorporated into a variety of syllabi content across the schools’ curriculum, as well as in sport and cultural experiential learning programs. This type of list may include more common animals and plants that already have  significance to large groups of people – Koala, Wallaby, Cockatoo, Crow, Python – the list is again very long.

4. specifically identified by Australian Indigenous peoples as an animal or plant that they feel deserves more understanding and respect.

Why Chose a TOTEM based cross-cultural environmental educational approach?

  • To encompass a holistic caring  and Stewardship approach toward a particular native plant and/or animal species  or genus and its HABITAT, through continued and diverse cultural exposure via all types of cross-cultural experiences, at a basic level of an individual’s schooling life.
  • To foster  greater understanding and Stewardship responses in a youth, for when that individual later becomes an active, functioning adult member of the Australian Community at large.

Why chose a School “HOUSE” system by which to deliver such an innovation?

  • I have chosen the school “HOUSE” system as this is often the basis for many activities within a school and one that often unites students on a number of different levels. It can be the basis for group learning, sport, achievement and exchange. It has CONTINUITY. Some schools already use native animal names for their “houses”. For new schools, this is an opportunity to engage Cross-Cultural learning, should their house system be formed about a “TOTEM”.
  • To engage Students, via continuity, throughout a region, catchment or local area. To create a vehicle for an ongoing cultural dialogue,  via cross-cultural learning, with a  “SIGNIFICANT ” animal or plant, ( its history, habitat requirements and interactions, ecological contributions). This can help the students, over time, to more fully appreciate, understand and learn to live with a particular animal and/or plant species or genus.

18-06-2008

Cross-Cultural Environmental Education and the Murray Darling Catchment System:-

Whilst some Australian Schools already have animals, and possible even plants as the “SYMBOL” for their “HOUSE” system, I am suggesting here that this concept can be encouraged Australia wide, especially in a Catchment or Regional context. New Schools could be encouraged to adopt this strategy, as they have less historical ties to other “HOUSE” names and house naming heritage.

However, my main idea, of “TOTEMS” and the School “HOUSE” system has the MURRAY-DARLING Catchment System in mind. This idea could prove to be valuable, culturally and environmentally significant.  I perceive it as workeable for a Cross-Cultural Environmental Education framework, if implemented as a Cross-Cultural Education Innovation along the Catchments of the Murray-Darling Rivers.

And so, in response to the three key themes for a National Cultural Policy

1. Keeping culture strong:-

All types of cultural heritage come under the umbrella of our unique Australian Environmental Heritage that is the setting for future Australian Cultural Exchange.

  • National identity with our native wildlife and landscapes is already very strong, but based mainly on superficial understanding in the way of how to engage in meaningful Land & Water Stewardship.  Cross- Cultural Environmental Education can strengthen our National Identity, whilst keeping our pluralistic cultural identity.
  • To maintain an ongoing dialogue with the country. This has often been associated with Aboriginal use of art and other cultural activities – in the form of painting, singing, dancing, celebrations and  stories.
  • However, as well as Aboriginal Cultural exchange, there other valuable community members who have been practicing land custodians, Land and Water Stewards, Wildlife Carers and Vegetation specialists. Their stories, practical work, art, visions, music, photography, literature and creativity are part of our Cultural Environmental fabric.
  • There are a number of other cultural experiences, concerning our native wildlife and habitats that can also be shared, for heritage purposes, in a “TOTEM” based Environmental Education initiative. For example building and architecture, gardening and landscaping, engineering and earthmoving, farming and livestock management, entertainment and recreational activities. These things all have cultural components in our diverse Australian Culture

2. Engaging the community:-

  • The concept of Totem based Cross-Cultural Environmental Education within schools can be encompassed via ARTS, ENVIRONMENT, HERITAGE and many other forms of CROSS-CULTURAL exchange.
  • As  a Regionalized and Catchment concept, this can only be a good thing, for our future as an environmentally sustainable nation of many identities, all caring for the Country.
  • WATER CATCHMENTS, as a geographical and environmental reality, provide a basis by which localised and Regional cultural identity can be fostered, via linking with native wildlife habitat, and Land and Water Stewardship.
  • Along any particular stretch of an Australian River or Creek System, there is always some animal/plant that needs mentorship, needs more habitat, needs help from threatening processes. In short:- a key signature animal or plant, that can act as an indicator for the Total Catchment Health.
  • If Schools are encouraged to create vision with a “TOTEM” based environmental educational “HOUSE” system, leaving all types of “religious” implications out of it, cross-cultural outreaching may work for well with this  Vision.
  • The word “totem” may work to ostracize some religious groupings,or more orthodox communities. Implementation of  this concept of a “TOTEM” based environmental educational initiative may need to look further into the meaning of the concept “TOTEM” , perhaps coming up with another “WORD” that satisfies the overall general meaning of the word “TOTEM”. It is important not to ostracise people who may be offended by the word, due to religious beliefs.
  • At the heart of this idea of  the  word and concept -  “totem” -  is caring and fostering the future of our Australian Environment. The idea of linking one back to the environment, fostering a more harmonious life with one’s natural heritage. Using a signature animal or plant as a focus for creating environmental wellbeing , at a catchment or regional basis would involve Integrating the Cultural and Cross- Cultural components of Art, Music, Storytelling and Caring.
  • Communities about many schools already have the information, or can locate the information for any number of native wildlife or plants that are undergoing habitat loss or threatening processes:- linkage with that part of the Community and the Student – this is what is important. It is important, in this day of a largely urbanised Australian Identity, to pass on information, using the process of CONTINUITY and a vision of CARE,  for the Land, Water and Habitats of our Natural Heritage. Continuity is important for community.
  • The life cycle of the animal, the environmental and ecological contribution, the local carers experiences,  the science, the art, the stories, the songs etc: –   These, if combined into cohesive education and carried, at an all encompassing level through the School housing system, will engage many young people into understanding their local environment at a basic educational level. It will create opportunity for youth to be part of meaningful cross-cultural exchange via art, environment, sport, education and community.

3. Powering the young:-

  • Vision leads us forward. Cohesion and continuity in the Vision, from elders to the younger creates strength in outcomes. The young, if educated in ways of the environment via cross-cultural exchange, creates a stronger future, and a powerful base for future, cultural discernment, tolerance, understanding and empathy via  many levels.
  • Continuity, especially in times of great change, can be a useful tool. Continuity, with Cultural exchange can provide our Australian youth with practical skills, enhanced by increased awareness and understanding for vision building. This can help the Australian Nation’s young obtain the discernment necessary to help create  an Environmentally Sustainable Future

Some links (whilst not anywhere near exhaustive or comprehensive, these links are to give  you a taste of what is available currently), as an example of  resources for Cross-Cultural Environmental Education:

Negotiating Diversity – A Field Guide to the Convention on Biological Diversity -  and REFERENCES .

Department of Education and Child Development South Australia : there is a great resource library here for teachers, concerning Australian Indigenous Stories

Bangarra Dance Theatre , Laura Aboriginal Dance & Cultural Festival ,  Arts in  Queensland, Stories of the Dreaming at Australian Museum, Koomurri : Australian Aboriginal Dance Connections.

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

“Nature and society: anthropological perspectives” By Philippe Descola, Gísli Pálsson (at Australian Library collections) ISBN:  0415132169 (pbk.)

Griffith University : Centre for Public Culture and Ideas – “its central brief is to encourage greater collaboration between these areas, while articulating with contemporary debates in public culture and ideas.”  This centre promotes seminars, public lectures and events.

Queensland Stories : these include – “A collection of 11 digital stories made by Year 11 and 12 Modern History students at Park Ridge State High School. These stories explore the local history of the Park Ridge and Logan areas – from the Indigenous history of the area, to its volunteer organisations and small businesses.”

“How the Murray River was made” a story from the Bangerang Aboriginal Community, as told by Irene Thomas. A story for young children

The etymology of the words culture, cultural, environment and education.

The Ecologically Sustainable Development LINKS page includes :-

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

Environmental Education for a Sustainable Future: National Action Plan
Environment Australia, July 2000 ISBN 0 642 546 665 (9 years on, where are we now?)

**A pedantic note:

In his speech to the National Press Club (27th October 2009), three main themes were identified and outlined by the Minister, Peter Garrett:-

Keeping culture strong, engaging the community and powering **the young.

It is interesting  that the words “Powering the young” were chosen. I would guess, that with the scope of professional bearing that Peter Garrett brings to his portfolio, his understanding of the etymology and definition of the word “POWERING” is enough for him not to make a typographical or ideological mistake with regard to this choice of word.

I, personally, would have preferred to have seen the word “EMPOWERING”.

There IS a difference, you see, although in some contexts the word may be seen as similar.

from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary – POWERING definition

etymology for POWERING from wiktionary

from the Free Online Dictionary – POWERING definition & EMPOWERING definition

etymology for EMPOWERING from wiktionary

# pluralism – definition

pluralism – etymology (“toleration of  diversity within a state or society“)

Collages21-2The above poem ‘by my’  Crow friend, Benoit, illustrates how simply a totem can explain environmental stewardship.

other bluecray “totem” stories at bluecray blog “Journey for Wisdom in the Land” .

Philosophy LINKS at bluecray.org

Biodiversity LINKS at bluecray.org

Cross-Cultural blog - A blog for students and teachers participating in the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric project. (Stanford University)

Warlpiri Media Association – Central Australian Media – and  PAW Media .

Incoming Searches: environmental collages, crow totem, collage using indigenous materials, etymological meaning of environment, environmental education, cross cultural education, cultural collage, crow friend, pic of modernage public school biodiversity, cultural environment

]]> http://bluecray.org/advocacy/cross-cultural-environmental-education-and-the-evolution-of-australias-cultural-policy-03.11.2009/feed 0 Macleay’s Swallowtail – a beautiful green and brown butterfly http://bluecray.org/photos/macleays-swallowtail-a-beautiful-green-and-brown-butterfly-15.03.2009 http://bluecray.org/photos/macleays-swallowtail-a-beautiful-green-and-brown-butterfly-15.03.2009#comments Sat, 14 Mar 2009 17:53:05 +0000 al http://bluecray.org/?p=1240 ...»»]]> macleays_swallowtails22A number of years back, I was living in the rainforest nearby to Rosebank, between the Nightcap National Park and the Whian Whian State Conservation Area . This area of the Mt Warning Caldera Region is rich in biodiversity, with beautiful NSW State managed conservation (protected) areas.

I became acquainted with the Macleay’s Swallowtail Butterfly, whilst living there. It is a beautiful green and brown Swallowtail.  I would often see it high in the Eucalypt and rainforest canopy, flitting and fluttering its way quickly through the air, at a height and speed that made it hard to see very clearly.

Since I have been living in the foothills of the Burringbar Range, near Burringbar, I have seen many of these butterflies. Sometimes up to twenty a day. The swallowtails fly closer to the ground here, possibly due to the lack of any forest canopy, and the supply of lower growing  flowering plants in the area.

Often, armed with my little digital camera (a very cheap, small one), I run outside, trying to photograph them as they land on the pink lantana that grows at the back of my yard. They land on the lantana flowers, visiting very quickly, then they are off!  They seem to visit the lantana flowers then fly into the camphor laurel that abounds in this area of the Burringbar Range foothills.

I often observe the Macleay’s Swallowtails and the Blue Triangle Butterflies flying about each other very closely.

Macleay's Swallowtail being caught and killed by a White flower spider

Macleay's Swallowtail, feeding from a Lantana camara flower, is caught and killed by a White flower spider

Macleay’s Swallowtail –  Graphium macleayanus (Leach, 1814) – at the Australian Faunal Directory – with references for IBRA, distribution maps (Australian Bioregions) , and ecological descriptors. The Macleay’s Swallowtail is not a threatened species.

The list of known host plants for the Macleay’s Swallowtail Butterfly is also at the Australian Faunal Directory .

websites with Photos of Macleay’s Swallowtail:-

Macleay’s Swallowtail – at Reiner Richter’s beautiful photography website – there are also photos of orchids, reptiles, fungi, dragonflies, mammals, more butterflies, damselflies and birds. Sorry, cannot find this beautiful photography anymore – perhaps you can search the web for it?

Macleay’s Swallowtail – at flickr.com – photos by Tobias N. Hyashi – there is a great collection of photos here – Australian wildlife, insects, many butterfly photos and more  including a field guide to Australian Butterflies – worth checking out!

Larva and adult butterfly photos of Macleay’s Swallowtail at Don Herbison-Evan’s & Stella Crossley’s site – Swallowtails and Birdwings Australian Papilionidae . You might like to visit their site about caterpillar frequently asked questions also, to learn more.

Eggs photograph of the Macleay’s Swallowtail can be found HERE at Lochman transparencies (wildlife, flora and scenic imagery)

Coff’s Harbour Butterfly House has resources to purchase, as well as being a tourist destination, further South along the NSW Coastline. There is a beautiful butterfly poster to be found at this site.

Macleay's Swallowtail & white flower Spider - Upper Burringbar, NE NSW, Australia. (Mt Warning Caldera Region)

Macleay's Swallowtail & white flower Spider - Upper Burringbar, NE NSW, Australia. (Mt Warning Caldera Region)

And about the flowers that I see this Swallowtail visit so briefly, and feed from?

Lantana camara : Fact sheet (NSW)

Weeds in NSW  - Weed Related Resources

Weed Definitions at the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Weeds of National Significance (Lantana is one of these)

Review of the declaration of Lantana species in NSW – this is a PDF file – lengthy, but worth reading if you wish to understand more about Lantana as a weed species. In Appendix 1, it carries a description of it’s weed status throughout the States of Australia.

NSW Government – implementing the Lantana Plan :  some research for the Plan :  the Plan to reduce the impact of Lantana on Biodiversity

Lantana at Richmond Landcare June 2008 Vol2 Issue 2

Lantana is a rather complex plant species weed, owing to it’s genetics, variability, historical spread. The pink variety is considered a lesser evil in some council areas, however, it is still considered a declared weed.

Lantana also has some environmental benefits.  Its habitat and soil protection benefits in some locations and situations are very clear. Lantana has been shown to not spread very easily into forest systems that are intact, however, as most forest systems suffer or have suffered disturbance at some time, the spread of Lantana camara is a serious environmental issue to many land managers across Australia.

The best way to understand a weed is to understand the nature of the plant, and why it has become a pest. Clearing and frequent disturbance of land increases weed growth, especially where the endemic native plant populations have been weakened by continuous historic disturbance and weed infestation. Birds and other animals are often the vectors  of  Lantana (eating and dipersing seed).

Spraying of herbicides is often the recommended and recognised way of dealing with lantana. Bluecray advocates Integrated Pest Management when dealing with Lantana, and above all, sound land and property management that gradually pressures Lantana from re-establishment, once contained.

This requires the covering of land with other vegetation, that competes with and shades out lantana. Vegetation management, particularly after clearing or spraying herbicide is critical. Fostering alternative seed sources to those birds who eat lantana is essential. And, as birds can fly some distance, a local and even regional approach to land mangement is best.

Bluecray also questions the suitability of spraying herbicides over large scale areas, over prolonged continuous periods,  near water ways, sensitive habitat areas or certain threatened species populations. However, that is another article, in itself.

Lantana management  is a complex issue, and hopefully, I shall write more articles about weeds, biodiversity and plant strategies for survival in the near future.

Lantana camara SE QLD at bluecray Regional Environmental News – Mt Warning Caldera , also the search results for Lantana camara and fauna at the same search engine.

Weeds of National Significance : search results at bluecray Environmental Search Engine

Lantana camara- Weeds of National Significance 2001 Australian Govt.

Invasive Terrestrial Plants : EPA Queensland - State of the Environment Reporting 2007 – Now at Department of Environment and Resource Management

July 2009 – 10th Qld Weed Symposium : look for it at the Weed Society of Queensland Inc.’s website .

CRC for Australian Weed Management  -  WEEDS – National – site no longer  updated after sept 2008

An Australian Weeds Committee National Initiative :  National Portal -at weeds.org.au – a “one stop shop” for much of the National and State Government Weed

IBRA – Australian Government

and something to think about:-

Hill topping and butterflies at Bluecray Advocacy Links search engine

1990′s Butterfly list compiled/unpublished checklist inc. Mt Warning Butterfly Study  in:   Calodema vol 6 2006

Incoming Searches: baby eastern brown snake pictures, green and brown butterfly, macleays swallowtail, macleays swallowtail butterfly, australian butterflies northern nsw, common paddock weeds, blue triangle butterfly, macleay\s swallowtail, blue swallowtail butterfly species, what do green swallowtail butterflies eat

]]> http://bluecray.org/photos/macleays-swallowtail-a-beautiful-green-and-brown-butterfly-15.03.2009/feed 0 Richmond Birdwing Butterfly – conservation, recovery and community action http://bluecray.org/education/richmond-birdwing-butterfly-conservation-recovery-and-community-action-08.03.2009 http://bluecray.org/education/richmond-birdwing-butterfly-conservation-recovery-and-community-action-08.03.2009#comments Sun, 08 Mar 2009 09:56:51 +0000 al http://bluecray.org/?p=991 ...»»]]> pararistolochia_praevenosa1The Richmond Birdwing Butterfly is a truly beautiful butterfly. Listed as threatened by the Qld Government, this Birdwing Butterfly has a renowned presence in the Mt Warning Caldera Region of NE NSW, Australia.

The Richmond Birdwing Butterfly is cited as one of the many outstanding evolutionary features of the World Heritage Listed Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves that occur in the Mt Warning Caldera Region.

This large green, black and yellow butterfly has inspired community action resulting  in many Pararistolochia praevenosa (see picture below) and P. layehana vines to be planted back into the region. There is still, however, much more work to be done. Although the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly is dependent on these vines for its continued lifecycle, it will be the planting of biodiverse forests, woodlands and other vegetation communities, that will help it’s long term survival.

Increasing biodiversity helps the survival of many plants and animals, in their complex lifecycles, just as increased diverse  community involvement in  projects for the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly has helped improve the Butterfly’s survival chances.

25th March 2009 – interview with Ray Seddon,  Co-ordinater of the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly Network, Qld.

Richmond Birdwing Butterfly : at the Queensland Museum PHOTO

Insects of Lamington National Park – Richmond Birdwing Butterfly PHOTO

Richmond Birdwing Butterfly  (Ornithoptera richmondia) : Queensland Threatened Species Listing – VULNERABLE.

  • The 2009 link I had to the QLD EPA is now not working, as the Qld Government keeps changing their website links and departmental names and responsibilities : they have not kept a redirection to their new link for the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly. However, you can now access information on the vulnerable listing and this butterfly HERE ( the Qld Department of Environment and Resource Management ) . The information on the new Qld Government  DERM webpage will give you the conservation status, habitat and distribution, description, threatening processes and actions.

Richmond Birdwing Recovery Network : lots of information here on the butterfly, it’s host plants, it’s life cycle, mapping, photos & community networking. This is a volunteer network based in QLD, Australia

The cultivation of Pararistolochia layehana from richmondbirdwing.org and much more on other Pararistolochia species –  Vines, Nurseries growing vines.

Please note that vines are covered by Qld legislation, and as such, you should be careful where you buy your vines from, lest they have been stolen from wild habitat areas.

Qld Society for Growing Australian Plants – native nurseries, plant information, local branches and more

Maroochy Birdwing Butterfly Project at the Maroochy Catchment Centre, Qld, Australia.

The Richmond Birdwing Project – photos, results, information – Qld.

Richmond Birdwing Butterfly vines (Parastolochia praevenosa and **P. laheyana)  : listed as RARE  ( Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 2006) under the  Qld Nature Conservation Act 1992 .  This rare status may change over the coming months, due to a reorganising of the threatened species listing categories . Pararistolochis praevenosa is the main vine being used in SE QLD and NE NSW for the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly recovery

Richmond Birdwing Butterfly Ornithoptera richmondia : Biodiversity Assessment NSW North Coast – species at risk, and their recovery process . This document recommends research, habitat retention through reserves, and records that there is little data known (Australian Government’s  Australian Natural Resource Atlas)

Australian National Botanic Gardens

Park and Fire Management Plans – NSW Government

Lismore City Council encourages planting of the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly vine (Parastolochia praevenosa)

Case study 3: Adopting caterpillars – the Richmond Birdwing butterfly :This is  one of 13 case Studies of Community Involvement in Recovery and Threat Abatement at the NSW Department of Environment & Climate Change :  Community Involvement Guide for Threatened Species

“Australian Butterfly performs for World Media” -CSIRO media release Sept. 2000 – this article will give you a little history on the Richmnond Birdwing Butterfly and why is a THREATENED SPECIES

Ecos Article Jan. 2001 “Changing habitat: the revival of the Richmond birdwing butterfly offers hope that through research, education, dedication and teamwork, local communities can secure a future for threatened species.”

Land for Wildlife – Queensland

Land for Wildlife – New South Wales

Richmond Birdwing Butterfly Part2 : Their Host Vines by Deborah Metters (Regional Land for Wild Life SEQ Catchments) April 2007 Newsletter Land for Wildlife SEQ.

Land for Wildlife at Greening Australia .

Land for Wildlife at SEQ Catchments .

Wildlife Preservation Society of Qld .

** Pararistolochia laheyana PHOTO – is this species the fomer Aristolochia deltantha var. layehana?

  • I have seen one Richmond Birdwing Butterfly at Lower Beechmont, SE Qld, from memory back in about 2000, then another flying through Upper Burringbar, NE NSW, in 2009, and as an update to this article, in late September, 2010, I observed three Richmond Birdwing Butterflies flying high in the air at Upper Burringbar within the space of three days.  They really do look like small birds, at first, until you realise that the wings are going very slowly compared to a small bird flying, and on closer looking, you see the green and black of the wings. Each time that I have seen them flying, they have been about  10-20 feet up in the air, and at elevations over 750 feet above sea level.
Pararistolochia praevenosa - drawing of a plant near the Lamington Plateau, SE QLD

Pararistolochia praevenosa - drawing of a plant near the Lamington Plateau, SE QLD

Incoming Searches: richmond birdwing butterfly, richmond birdwing butterfly location, birdwing butterfly vine, richmond birdwing butterfly information, richmond birdwing butterfly life cycle, richmond birdwing butterfly habitat, facts about the Richmond Birdwing butterfly, richmond river blue butterfly, pararistolochia laheyana, richmond birdwing vine

]]> http://bluecray.org/education/richmond-birdwing-butterfly-conservation-recovery-and-community-action-08.03.2009/feed 0 Rufous Bettong and the Glyphosate Bank http://bluecray.org/education/rufous-bettong-and-the-glyphosate-bank-06.03.2009 http://bluecray.org/education/rufous-bettong-and-the-glyphosate-bank-06.03.2009#comments Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:05:17 +0000 al http://bluecray.org/?p=948 ...»»]]> pk_litoria_chinting_look_for_rufous_bettongThe Rufous Bettong of NE NSW, Australia is considered vulnerable under NSW Threatened Species Legislation. The Rufous Bettong is a threatened species in the Northern Rivers and across areas of NSW.   I share some mutual habitat with a Rufous Bettong that lives nearby,  in Upper Burringbar, NE NSW.  The Burringbar area is part of the Mt Warning Caldera’s Ranges and Catchments that were once deeply forested,  with rich biodiversity. To see a picture of the Rufous Bettong – Click HERE

Next to my place is the small beginnings of a wide gully.  This gully has been transformed by road building and other building near  it.

It travels via a number of waterholes , then feeder creek  eventually to Burringbar Creek.

The land is surrounded by forested areas, agricultural land and small localised rural settlement.

At least one Rufous Bettong  visits  & lives in this area for a number of weeks each year.

Thickets of vegetation, old fallen tree logs, a variety of niches to  set up a nesting spot and stay for a while to live could definitely be appealing to a Rufous Bettong.

The gully and surrounding land is part of  this Rufous Bettong’s territory. Its home and backyard.

Rufous Bettongs live in and eat from these  backyards. These yards are rather extensive – over kilometres in range, with more than one nesting site, contained within that area, depending on what the Rufous Bettong is doing, or what environmental changes are occurring.

I share some of the  Rufous Bettongs’  yard,  here near Burringbar .

My vegies are shared with Rufous B.  The sweet potato growing here is often found dug up. I hear it digging and foraging about  in my little organic garden, bush and nearby grasses  in the evenings.

However, the grassed area next door is not mine. It belongs to someone else. Someone sprayed glyphosate across it. Also at  the top of the sloping catchment  is a road.  The council and contractors  herbicide and mow the roadside at least twice a year.

The area of tall introduced grasses, that afforded the Rufous Bettong extra protection became yellow and died quickly after the gully was sprayed.

The pathways and resting spots of other small animals that lived there were more apparent for a short while, until they re-adapted their travel and lifestyles.  The changing of the landscape can have many consequences.

This little open gully leads through a range of small landscapes and vegetation communities:-

regenerating, resting forest habitat;

many camphor laurels;

cleared areas;

tall exotic grasses;

creek rainforest communities in a high state of disturbance;

and areas of strong shady  canopy from tall treed areas with little understorey. This understorey area is full of leaves, native and the more prolific weed tree seedlings, branches, rocks, weeds.

You can hear the Rufous Bettong moving about outside, when it is living  here.

One day, last spring, I had gone into the sprayed area to plant several trees. At this time, the tall grass was a rough blanket of dead yellow, falling in death to expose the deep thatched nature of the grasses’ understory.

The thatched layer was quite high, and opened up  in places.

The Rufous Betong had nested in one such thatched area  when I walked next to it. I disturbed it, gave it a fright.

Extracting itself from the undergrowth, it thumped away very quickly. Poor dear Rufous Bettong!

Lessons learnt?

pk_litoria_chinting_look_for_rufous_bettong1Lesson 1 :  Aepyprymnus rufescens – RUFOUS BETTONG * = beautiful!!!

lesson 2 : sudden change and human traffic can cause stress to a vulnerable animal… a threatened species listed animal – marsupial… one of 25 listed little darlings

lesson 3 : Rufous Betong , one of 25 threatened Marsupials in NSW RUFOUS BETTONG – vulnerable marsupial species listing in NSW

“The rufous bettong (Aepyprymnus rufescens) is listed as VULNERABLE on the schedules of the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act. The species was listed because:
* Its population and distribution have been severely reduced
* It faces severe threatening processes
* It is an ecological specialist (it depends on particular types of diet or habitat)” from http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/determinations/RufousBettongVulSpListing.htm

Australian Government Biodiversity homepage

Threatened Species and Ecological Communities – Australian Govt

EPBC ACT listing of  Threatened Fauna in Australia here you will find Nominations, Recovery Plans, Quick Links searches, and EPBC Act Lists for Threatened Flora, Fauna, Recovery Plans, Critical habitat, Key Threatening Processes, Threatened Ecological Communities, Threat Abatement Plans

Australian Macropodoidea: conservation status, likely change since white settlement, suggested reasons for the change. (From Calaby and Grigg, 1989) : Family Potoroidae – Potorros, Bettongs, Rat-Kangaroos

Species, Populations, Ecological Communities – Threatened Species Profile Search :    at the   NSW Government Environment :  Threatened Species in NSW Listings

Threatened Species - NSW Government

there are 25 threatened marsupials in NSW – NSW  Government Threatened Species

bluecray Regional Environmental News – Mt Warning Caldera  SEARCH :Rufous Bettong

Rufous Bettong distribution and vegetation association – Northern Rivers, New South Wales

Rufous Bettong at Australian Museum Online – unfortunately, today I was looking at this link, and there is no longer any mention of the Rufous Bettong there (June 2009)

Mammals of Lamington National Park  Rufous Bettong

Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of Australia: A Monitoring Strategy 2005 ISBN 0 86443 746 3  from archived Rainforest CRC (no longer operating but archives available still)

Some Wildlife of the Scenic Rim – 2007 : talks for From a Series of wildlife workshops hosted by Wildlife Tourism Australia and the Logan and Albert Conservation Association , sponsored by Beaudesert Shire Council through the Community Environmental Assistance Grants Program and Community Events Program

Rufous Bettong at the Marsupial Society of Australia

Australian Terrestrial Biodiversity Assessment 2002 at  Australian Natural Reousrces Atlas

Hortico Weed Killer  360 Concentrate Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS SHEET) = GLYPHOSATE MSDS

Incoming Searches: betong marsupial, baby white tail spiders, betong status nsw, rufous bettong, bittong- animal, australian animal betong, rufous bettong backyard, pet betong marsupial, betong the animal, batong marsupial

]]> http://bluecray.org/education/rufous-bettong-and-the-glyphosate-bank-06.03.2009/feed 0