In the Bluecray “Journey for Wisdom in the Land” blog stories, I mention that the Goanna visited the Glyphosate bank, and eventually, the Goanna left also.

Here are a few LINKS to explore, to further understand restoration ecology, the complexity of biodiversity in disturbed fringe rainforest ecosystems and to help you with decision making with regard to suitability of spraying with Glyphosate (or any other herbicide) and mowing the area,  when embarking on a restoration project.

Factors affecting the use of reforested sites by reptiles in cleared rainforest landscapes in tropical and subtropical Australia. article at : Restoration Ecology 14, 67-76.  Kanowski, J., Reis, T., Catterall, C.P. and Piper, S. (2006)  This article can be found HERE.

Restoration Ecology – Wikipedia article

Pesticide fate and behaviour in Australian soils in relation to contamination and management of soil and water: a review : at CSIRO Australian Journal of Soil Research

NSW Government – Parliament Questions and Answers time at HANSARD : No. 10, Tuesday 19 September 1995 : if you scroll down this page, you will see Q’s & A’s pertaining to the NSW Government’s answer to the management of Bitou Bush involving the spraying of GLYPHOSATE. This is back in 1995. And if you have a look at current practices today, you will find that glyphosate is commonly sprayed in many areas of LAND and WATERWAYS. Landcare Groups, Land Managers, Developers, Councils – the list is endless as to those practicing glyphosate spraying.

Infection of frogs by amphibian chytrid causing the disease chytridiomycosis – key threatening process listing : KEY THREATENING PROCESS in Schedule 3 of the Threatened Species Conservation Act, NSW

“Is Batrachochytrium dendrobaidiss really the proximate cause of frog decline?” 2005 Shelley Burgin

Some other Articles concerning chytrid fungus HERE

Chytrid fungus at Wikipedia

Inclusion of species in the list of threatened species under section 178 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (55) (07/12/2007)  : This instrument amends the List of Threatened Species (16/07/2000) to include Litoria booroolongensis (Booroolong Frog) in the endangered category – at COMLAW

Action Statement Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988No. 118 Booroolong Frog :  Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victorian Government : this is a PDF, downloadable from the above link. I shall give you a small section from Page 4 of the above Action Statement where glyphosate and chytrid causing disease is mentioned: -

“Over the past 20 years there has been an increase in the general use of broad-spectrum herbicides (Tyler 1989).  The active ingredient in many formulations, glyphosate, and the surfactant have been shown to be toxic to frogs and tadpoles (Bidwell and Gorrie 1995).  Formulations which contain glyphosate and surfactant are commonly used to control emergent water weeds.  The wide use of these pesticides may have contributed to the decline of the Booroolong Frog in rural landscapes, such as the Northern Tablelands region.

Studies of ill and dead frogs have implicated a chytrid fungus in the decline of some tropical and sub-tropical frog species in north Queensland and Central America (Berger  et al. 1998; Lips 1999). Several species of temperate riverine frogs have been infected with this fungus (Berger et al. 1998; Berger unpublished data).”

Bluecray Regional Environmental News-Mt Warning Caldera  Search Engine:-

search “Litoria booroolongensis threatened species”    RESULTS

some useful article on restoration and ecology: at Biodiversity Assessment & Management Pty Ltd (BAAM)

And so, lets just look at what has been going on here:-

Frogs , especially very small frogs, can be undetected in banks of streams and gullies. They may be in the soil, under vegetation, on vegetation or in the water. If, and when, a person comes into this habitat, and sprays glyphosate, some frogs are documented as not handling this very well. It may make them sick. Sickness from a chemical, plus loss of habitat, via death of vegetation (less cover, lessened insect activity, loss of biodiversity – even IF it happens to be that the only current biodiversity in the area is weeds) can cause stress. Stress can be a cause of illness manifesting.  I now leave it up to you to work out.

CHOICE 1. Spraying stream banks and gullys, or indeed, anywhere, with glyphosate,  thus killing vegetation and habitat areas. Mowing and slashing and/or spraying, thus decreasing groundcover for smaller wildlife species

PK wonders if Litoria & her friends will escape the Glyphosate and Slashers in the Landcare Project on their Creek in NE NSW

CHOICE 2. Sound, environmentaly sustainable practices for maintaining biodiversity . This may include:

• careful, selective  hand weeding,
• mulching with local leaves, branches  and debris,
• dense planting to promote quick canopy,
• leaving wood, rocks and logs in place, rather than removing to allow a slasher in
• incorporating native groundcovers, grasses, herbs  and middles storey plants and seed into revegetation program,
• slow mindful approach to sensitive stream bank areas – there is a huge choice of careful land stewardship methods.
• Basically, minimum disturbance of the habitat that is to be regenerated is best, thus allowing the species already present, to stay, in a protected habitat situation. In a later article, I shall discuss these and other methods,  a bit more in depth.

And so, in answer to WHY Goanna left the Glyphosate Bank in my story?  Well, because, (and there IS some artistic licence here) ……..

Because all the other wildlife began to feel ill, exposed, and the seed and insects had gone. The small seed eating birds left.  They all had to move into other animals’ habitats for a while.

And  Goanna left too,  before he got too stressed or chased by a slasher!  And of course, the tall grasses with their open high thatch, as well as the cover of lantana, leading from the forest to the grassy bank had allowed the goanna some protection, as he searched for food in the gully and along the bank. Once all this was dead and dried up and sparse, the goanna, being more exposed in his searching for food,  left the Glyphosate Bank.

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

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

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

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

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

Recent Background:-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Regional Workshops and Articles:-

• The Logan and Albert Conservation Association : activities for DRAFT Qld Government SE QLD Regional Plan 2009 – 2031 . This is a very informative article concerning Koalas.      The Qld Governmant SEQ Koala State planning regulatory provisions in the Mt Warning Caldera Region of SE QLD can be found on the LACA site HERE.
• The Gold Coast & Hinterland Environment Council has some info regarding a workshop held,and other LINKS for the SEQ Regional Plan. They have sent a submission.
• LACA also has articles on Information relating to the preservation of the Koala population in Logan and Albert Shires .
• EDO QLD (Environmental Defenders Office QLD) has held, and is holding more workshops for this Draft SE QLD Regional Plan 2009-2031
• The Qld Conservation Council held this event, but the link has now disappeared (updated 3rd December, 2009)  :  Event: ‘Draft South East Queensland Koala State Planning Regulatory Provisions Seminar – Brisbane’

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

• SEQ Catchments Submission page and information for the DRAFT  SE Qld Government Regional Plan 2009-2031. Well, if you look, there doesn’t appear to be much information about the above  DRAFT, so why not try the Department of Natural Resources and Water ? The LEGISLATION that they work under can be found on this page HERE . There is information on VEGETATION, but the KOALA appears to be missing, as does mention of the DRAFT SEQ Regional Plan 2009-2031. And, oh look, the KOALA is also missing from the Australian Threatened Species LISTS under Legislation!!! ( Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) Endangered Species Protection Act 1992) ***(see below)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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And where is the KOALA?????

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

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

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

• A Balance of Faeries – revisited
• Holiday time for PK & Litoria near Egg Rock
• PK (Phantom Koala) ponders past Pottsville for Food
• Kings Forest Koalas and NSW Planning Laws
• Koalas Mt Warning Caldera Region NE NSW SE QLD
• Phantom Koala and the Roadworks
• Corridors Conservation and Phantom Koala
• PK and Litoria

LINKS:

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

Koala at Wikipedia

Koala Research at the Environmental Protection Agency – QLD Government

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

Koala research LINKS : at Koala research site

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Community environmental education and activities that I engaged in included:

• Government policy planning
• lobbying for Koala corridor linkages
• vegetation mapping
• community workshops
• land & water  management issues
• development forums
• roadside management
• habitat fragmentation

Faerie tales are stories of imagination, folklore and historical heresay. Many faerie stories can have deeper meanings behind their outer words. Now perhaps you do not believe in faeries . You may think that faeries are merely symbolic adornments in childhood books, movies and from cultures of a bygone age.

Now that you are grown up, you may be quite sure that faeries, santa clause and the easter bunny are not real. Or, you may have your own ideas about faeries, that no one else seems to have at all.

Well, all that aside, if you have some time to spare, have a read of my story below. It is a true story, and it has no faeries in it at all. Well… there is just one reference to faeries – right near the end.

• ……….   bluecray koala articles …… phantom koala

My story takes place on the Marburg Range, some 35 kms west of Brisbane on the east coast of Australia. The year is 1989…..

Part One: The Afternoon

The afternoon was peaceful, broken only by the sounds of cicadas , and scrub birds , as they settled into their nesting trees for the evening ahead. A bulldozer came slowly up the dusty road. Grinding noisily, its metal tracks, and steel chains broke the quiet of the afternoon. The bulldozer stopped outside my little farmhouse, high up on the ridge.

Then the unthinkable happened.

The first large tree to go creaked mournfully, its roots loosening eerily from the soil, in passive opposition to the bulldozer’s strength.

The second large tree gave even less opposition, and the native bushes, herbs and grasses beneath were pushed into a tangled pile, flattening the unseen creatures that inhabited the narrow road verge. Birds’ nests fell. The koalas‘ food and roadside refuge was gone. Lizards, marsupials and baby birds of the understorey had little hope of survival.
The living wonder of the road verge was to be destroyed in 30 minutes, by over a million years honed into the diesal powered steel of the bulldozer.

My heart ached for the bush creatures and their homes.
Their lives, so cruelly flattened and trashed.

At first, my screaming thoughts wanted me to yell at the bulldozer driver “STOP!!! STOP!!- you are killing so many defenseless beautiful creatures and plants!!”
Instead, I stood transfixed in disbelief, watching the dozer fell the third tree then the fourth, fifth, sixth – on and on, up the road verge, heading to the top of the ridge.
Those brief moments of hearing that bulldozer do its work, they would change my life forever.

Spirit reeling, I tried to conceive how such a thing could be happening! No one else was watching – just me and the bulldozer driver. So much destruction of so much life taking place.

No one cared. No one cared at all. And if they did, well, what could they do?

This was not a large forest, protected by vigilant activists, prepared to chain themselves to trees. My heart began to ache, beyond this mindless act, to all the other places on earth that were silently witnessing the same destruction.
As a powerless observer, my anger and helplessness grew, and I did not know where to channel it.

The bulldozer driver did not realise. It was his job, and he had a family to feed. I could not be angry at him. But still my anger grew, threatening to consume me.

I needed a quick respite, a quick solution, to temper this anger – turning it into love.

Then a thought came suddenly to me. I could store this anger, transforming it with love, to hold deep in the base of my body, deep below my stomach. I could store this energy and use it, lovingly, thoughtfully, creatively, in future days, months, years and decades, as a power source. A power source dedicated to generating compassion and love, for nature’s bounties, gifted to humanity. What a big ask of myself! But then again, I could not deny this event.
I would remember this day for eternity. The day the grey boxes fell before the bulldozer.

As the bulldozer driver stopped to reconnect some chains, I went over to him, and asked of him ” Why do you clear this stretch of land? Do you realise that this soil is highly dispersive – it washes away so easily with rain that the land here is riddled with deep sub terranean holes? The apect is so harsh, that without adjoining vegetation ( I pointed to the adjacent overgrazed paddock ) this road verge will not recover for many decades”.
He replied ” The owner of the property up the road wishes to put in electricity. Power lines are coming through. He is connecting power to that little quarter acre block, at the top of the ridge, so that he may sell it more easily”. And that was that. Legally ok!! Socially sanctioned.

After years of living on this range, I had grown to deeply respect the earth, and the natural balances that permeated through it. The harshness of the climate, at times, sent alternating flash flooding, and merciless drought. Fire could spring up quickly, within the badly managed vegetation and the lower valleys had became choked with salted soils and slow running creek water that resemble the sea in it’s saltiness.

The Eucalypts, with their long roots sunk deep into the earth, drew the water that lay in the rocky aquifers beneath. This was third generation regenerated bushland (from the clearing of the past 150 years) giving homes to many native animals. Beneath the box and red gums, grew all manner of remnant dry vine scrub plants, interspersed with the wildy spreading, naturalised weeds, that had arrived with agrarian settlement.
Silvereyes and double-barred finches nested in the hoop pines, blue wrens frequented the scrubby understoreys, koalas clamboured lazily tree to tree, goannas and snakes made frequent appearances, and after the rains, the frogs sounded in the dams and gullies along the side of the ridge.

Part Two: The evening

That evening, I suffered a disquiet that I had never known before. Falling asleep, my tears for the defenceless roadside homes turned into a dream. This dream eventually woke me. Such forces in a dream I had never experienced before.

I dreamt that I was in my little farm house, with my family. Suddenly a great wind tore through the house, ripping doors from hinges, hurling furniture to the walls. Our lives were in peril. The house was being destroyed by something so great, and invisible, that in the dream, my husband called to me, “Get the children, we must escape – we shall be killed!!”.

Now, in our dreams, we can be a hero, that in waking life, seems absurd.

Holding my husband back with one arm, I cried “NO! I can see what is happening – it is all coming from the bookcase” . I ran to our bookcase, which spanned the length of the living room wall, high to the ceiling, crammed with books, all tightly packed together, against the entire wall.

The wind was now of tornadic proportions, as I fought desperately to get near the bookshelf. I searched frantically for the source of the wind. There it was! Funneling through a small gap, on the bottom shelf. This was the only gap in the bookshelf that lined the wall and the wind was howling out of it, tearing past me and ripping my home apart.

“I know what to do” I cried, and kneeling down, desperately searched the floor for the missing book, that had fallen from the bookshelf, to stop this gap , and block the fierce wind.

The gap was so small, and the wind coming through it seemed to have no end. My hands felt about, on the floor. THERE it was, the book!!

I held it in my right hand, and pushed it back into the hole in the bookshelf. The strain was enormous, the wind so strong. I summoned all my physical, mental, emotional and spiritual strength to push that book back in, and suddenly there it was, back in place.

The wind stopped. But I was utterly spent – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. The effort woke me from the nightmare, worn and exhausted. As I awoke, I knew that the name of this book must be remembered, this little book that held so much force at bay. In my waking, lucid moments, I frantically tried to decipher the tiny print on the cover. Oh, it was so hard to read, and I was waking fast. But YES, there it was! I could see it written on the cover – “A Balance of Faeries”.

I woke up, exhausted.

Part Three: The morning

There is not much more to say now. The dream has been recorded.

This dream has had a profound influence on how I view the world and share my view with others.

My place, within the natural processes that the world has gifted me, seems very small, insignificant. But, like that tiny book, in that great big bookshelf of my dream, small, seemingly insignificant parts of a much greater collective can have far reaching consequences.

The tiny, “non- significant” parcels within our delicately balanced environment can have an critical part to play in survival of all living things on earth.

The collective knowledge of mankind (the bookshelf) holds such power behind it, that should the knowledge not be complete, the power that is held can escape, creating havoc and untold destruction.

Part four: The return

I have since returned to visit the Marburg Range, some months back, before the 2008 summer rains drenched it once again, and after many years of drought, harsh winds and relentless sun. The road verge leading to the top of the ridge is bare, no trees have grown back yet, and no koalas, birds or marsupials could be seen on the narrow strip that was cleared so suddenly, 20 years ago.

With biodiversity comes the ability for our ecological systems to withstand the greater forces of nature – wind, sun, rain, fire, cold, heat. With knowledge and understanding of the smaller, delicate portions of nature, comes an ability to hold back the greater forces that great knowledge exposes us to.

It is time to wake up.

Links:

• 22nd MAY 2008 – International Day for Biological Diversity – The Theme this year: Biodiversity & Agriculture find out more at Convention for Biological Diversity website – I couldn’t find Australia amongst the signatures in the protocol – why is that?
• smallisbeautiful.org – “Linking people, land, and community by building local economies”

• Vegetation Clearance – Position Statement by the Ecological Society of Australia -

• Australian Government Biodiversity: Toolbox
• Australian Government Biodiversity : National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia’s Biodiversity
• Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland (WPSQ)  - Link to Dr Len Webb’s involvement in the WPSQ Judith Wright‘s involvement with  WPSQ

Queensland State of the Environment 2007 download at the Qld Government Environmental Protection Agency website

New South Wales State of the Environment Report 2006 download at the NSW Department of Environment & Climate Change website

• National Land & Water Resources Audit – Australian Government: Collating data & information on Australia’s Natural Resources for future sustainable development and management

• Salinity Indicator trials – National Summary Report : Final report 30th April 2007. This report can be downloaded as a PDF. Go to The Australian Government’s National Land & Water Resources Audit

• Download the Soil Conservation Act 1986 – This Queensland Act for Soil Conservation has been in place since 1986 – yet the SE Queensland Region is still undergoing landclearing, ecological degradation and water pollution at unsustainable levels for the future population’s well being.

Roadsides, Powerlines & Stock Routes:

• Queensland Government Department of Main Roads -Environmental Accountability

• NSW Roads & Traffic Authority – Environment

• NSW Roadside Environment Committee -

• Queensland Department of Employment & Industrial Relations – Vegetation Management Guidelines-for under powerlines

• Greening Australia & Energex – vegetation species choices & management around overhead powerlines

• Energex, Trees & Powerlines -

• Country Energy’s Vegetation Management -

• The Queensland Stock Route Network – 2.6 million hectares : Qld Government Natural Resources & Water -

• The Environmental Case for converting Stock Routes into “Protected Corridors for Travelling Stock & Biodiversity” under Climate Change -by Birds Australia Southern Queensland -
• Action on NSW & QLD Stockroutes search results at the   - The Wilderness Society -

a few more interesting links:

• Native Vegetation Management in NSW : how the Native Vegetation Management Act 2003 interacts with other Legislation .

• Lismore City Council , NE NSW may get rid of Tree Preservation Order – this may threaten Koala populations in region according to Friends of the Koala (Northern Rivers, NSW): 20th May 2008

• Acts & Subordinate Legislation (as in force) A-Z listings : at the Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Council , Queensland Government .

• Synopsis of the Queensland Environmental Legal System – at Environmental Law Publishing. Case Studies in Environmental Litigation ( Federal Court of Australia & Queensland Courts)

• Acts & Regulations (in force) A-Z listings (including Environmental Planning Instruments in force): at the NSW Parliamentary Counsel’s Office , New South Wales Government

• Environmental Defender’s Office New South Wales Ltd : Compliance PORTAL – a tool to assist citizens in enforcing environmental law
• EDO Queensland Inc – the Law Reform activities include a paper & submission on the Qld Government Koala Plan Draft (March 2005)

• The Change Agency Education & Training Institute Inc : Supporting Effective Community Action

• Non violent Direct Action Workshop (25th May 2008, Brisbane, SE Queensland) – information via Queensland Conservation Council Website -

• Friends of the Earth -local groups: Brisbane (SE QLD) & Northern Rivers (NE NSW)

• North East Rainforest Alliance NEFA – homepage -

• Men of the Trees – Australia

• Men of the Trees (QLD) -

• Men of the Trees (NSW) -

• Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest (1992) -

• Findhorn Foundation -

• “Life at findhorn” by Jonathon Dawson (9th Feb. 2008) – article in the New Statesman – British current affairs magazine

Some historical reading about Forests in NE NSW:

• The Wilderness Society Campaigns NOW & recent history   Forests of NE New South Wales

• Chain Reaction published by Friends of the Earth :  “The Story of the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA)” by Carmel Flint Summer 2005/6

• Earthplatform.com – Environmental Search Engine : North East Rainforest Alliance search

• old NEFA site ? try the NEFA homepage

Bluecray.org endeavours to create cohesive insight, useful resources and links, and practical networks for the people and organisations that have the wellbeing of the Mt Warning Caldera region at heart.

While this website is under construction, much of the information may seem a little scattered, as the task of refining regional environmental advocacy resources links and information is a mammoth task! Meanwhile, bluecray.org honours the many people who have dedicated their lives and work to date, in order to advocate for the Mt Warning Caldera Region – its unique biodiverse habitats, ecosystems, natural heritage and beauty.

Please pay another visit to bluecray.org over the coming months, and do not hesitate to contribute your ideas and suggestions. All are welcome.

cheers,

from bluecray