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.

Because the NSW Department of Planning has approved a Woolworths Development in their beautiful little township, and the towns folk are still determined to have their valid arguments, for why this is not OK ,to be heard. A court case is pending, and the township of Mullumbimby needs your support!

Try these links to understand just why.

Firstly:-

Mullumaction.org : the Mullum Community Action Network that has formed to work to preserve the rural identity of the little township from being over-run by one of the two corporate giants (duopoly) in the Australian Grocery supply industry. Issues such as inadequate groundwater management, unfair competition against small local businesses, visual and physical impacts from the building of a large woolworths shopping centre in the township are just a few.

Mullumbimby at google maps.

bluecray Environmental Search Engine results for:-

Woolworths Mullumbimby .

Woolworths Gambling Poker Machines .

Mullumbimby Action Woolworths Court Appeal .(Woolworths Vs Byron Shire Council at NSW Land and Environment Court – possibly November 2009 hearing)

Woolworths hardware giant .

Phantom Koala sees that small regional communities can offer sustainable resources in a variety of ways, and large corporate developments offer sameness, blandness, non renewable resource dependency and the”rich get richer while the poor get poorer” scenarios

There are a number of small rural towns about the area of Mullumbimby. Many of them have small shops, local and regionalised industries  that offer community focus and community values far beyond what the woolworths corporate giant and its development has to offer.

Mullumbimby is a regional resource centre  to many of these small communities, and the issues at stake here, should woolworths gain the upper hand in retail grocery supplies (and possibly hardware as well?) could be against the basic principles of local and regional sustainability, as promoted and supposedly supported by the Governments of NSW and Australia.

The move by Woolworths, supported by the NSW Department of Planning,  to develop in this small rural township is an example of the rush of non sustainable developments that are now in the pipeline. These non sustainable developments have the potential of  overwhelming the coastal strip of NE NSW. Corporate leadership,  when it comes to Northern Rivers of NSW, appears to be based about non sustainable development, species and habitat destruction and land development at all costs to the environment. It is entirely out of step with the Global Vision for local environmentally friendly sustainable vision.

Biodiversity is subtle, and can offer resilience in times of Climatic Change. Regional and local sustainable community diversity can also offer resilience in times of climate change.

other bluecray articles for this topic:-

Mullumbimby Woolworths Approved by NSW Department of Planning 28.01.2009

The Long and Short of Corporate Vision 5.10.2009

Gambling can come in many forms, including throwing money into poker machines, coastal property development and large scale clearing of habitat in the name of habitat restoration

Bluecray experience is that whilst Governments can be elected by people and supportive of people who elect them, there are many voices making up the communities within the Mt Warning Caldera Region. One of the biggest pressures on both governments and communities is the need to make decisions when large corporations and businesses move to develop in a way that does not serve environmental sustainability or regional well being.

There is a current, highly obvious dichotomy within government where some non environmentally sustainable developments are considered “ok” and others are not. Some times it appears like rolling a dice as to what the outcomes will be, but often, there are also deeper undercurrents at play.

National Toxics Network:

Ross Gittens on Gambling, happiness and economic pursuits at the Sydney Morning Herald

Growing by Organics-food Gardens & Sharing : Article at Bluecray Journey for Wisdom in the Land

Wildlife leaves Glyphosate Bank – finds refuge in Organic Garden : article at Bluecray Balance of Faeries

Lantana : This page will take you to the following:-

• Lantana National Priority Framework –  PDF file
• Lantana Weed Spread and Management Actions – the National Management Map (PDF file)
• Lantana control and Management Manual – (6 PDF files)
• Documents and Resources
• National Strategy Download – (PDF file)

weeds.org.au – An Australian Weeds Committee National Initiative – Weeds PORTAL

Weeds.org.au - about John Thorp – policy and weed strategy directions

The Well Trained Activist‘s article “Can Corporate Leadership Theorists Help Activists?”  - This is a great website full of great inspiration, with links to Daniel Goleman’s : Ecological Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence, Social Intelligence page.

Lantana Management : Weeds of National Significance – Strategic Plan for the Commonwealth of Australia and National Weeds Strategy Executive Committee 2001

CSIRO – Lantana – the “Horror Story” – media release 2002

Qld Government : Biosecurity

Introduced Species and the Australian Environment : links at Earth and Environmental Science (UniServe Science at the  University of Sydney)- including links for the Bradley Method, the Australian Association of Bush Regenerators, Fire Ants, Cane Toads, Fish, Water weeds and much more

NWS Lantana Plan : Implementation

NSW Threatened Species : Habitat Management and Weed Control – priority actions

The Dynamics of Lantana camara Invasion of subtropical Rainforest in SE Queensland by Daniel Stock – at Australian Digital Thesis Program (Griffith University 2005)

Pest and Diseases forum at ivillage Garden Web – seems like plenty of people have had lantana experiences in this Gardening Forum

search for  Aboriginal  (Indigenous peoples) research literature for the North Coast of NSW at the Libraries Australia Search

Philosophy of  Environmental Destruction in the Name of Healing : bluecray.org article

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?

Lesson 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

The Mt Warning Region, on the east coast of Australia has vegetation remnants that suggest the region has good resilience to drought continental conditions over time.

Three other important regions that can withstand drier trans-continental periods are the Temperate Rainforests of Victoria, the Dorrigo Plateau Region, Eastern NSW  and Far North Queensland Rainforests.

• bluecray Regional Environmental News – Mt Warning Caldera : WATER
• Water Links SE QLD and NE NSW
• What is an ecological community? and more at  NSW Government Threatened Species
• SE QLD Hazards & Risks at Geoscience Australia –  This is a Group of PDF files that can be downloaded separately so, have a look:- includes chapters on flood, east coast risks, cyclones, multi hazard risk assessment

Australian Government National Water Commission

Weather – Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology

To understand our use of, and impact on the basaltic aquifers of the Mt Warning Caldera Region, monitoring is urgently needed. WHY? Because human populations and settlements are increasing steadily in this Region of NE NSW and SE QLD, Australia.

Try the Bluecray’s Environment Search for Litoria latopalmata  – Mt Warning Caldera

Kremen Lab Group : “In California, our recent findings show that a diverse community of native bee pollinators can provide sufficient pollination services for crops without the addition of managed colonies of honey bees (Kremen et al. 2002), but that this service critically depends on the availability of natural habitat in proximity to the farm site (Kremen et al. 2004). Farm management (organic versus conventional) may also influence the diversity and abundance of native bees found on farms.”  taken from Current Projects at Dr. Kremen’s (University of California, Berkeley, USA) research website

The EDO (Environmental Defenders)  has highlighted that  Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 has resulted in “The limited capacity for members of the community, or even other environmental agencies, to have their voice heard and the reduced rights to seek justice in the Land and Environment Court also suggest that the NSW Government considers that development ranks ahead of the environment, whether that development is sustainable or not”.

It is interesting to think that government decisions that condone inappropriate, non sustainable engineering would exist today given that so much law is being created, money and effort being spent in preserving our crisis ridden environment and its critical disappearance of biodiverse habitats.

I should think that, if one NSW Government Minister/ Director General has the right to veto or modify or condone non sustainable development  at Kings Forest, then this can happen anywhere in the State of NSW.  What will this upcoming decision mean for NSW?  - for Australia? – for the biodiversity of the world?

Stateline NSW : “NSW planning laws under further scrutiny” 2nd Oct. 2009 and the Stateline NSW archive .

Well, if the Minister/Director General vetos, halts or otherwise restricts development in Kings Forest, then State Significant Sites, such as Kings Forest will remain that – Significant.

A precautionary word here.  Should the Minister/Director General and hence, NSW Government, chose to let inappropriate and very damaging land clearing, habitat destruction and inappropriate residential development occur, then clearly, will it be those individuals who are directly responsible for the damage?

Where does the legal responsibility lie here?  How do courts even manage to test this case, if it is not able to be tested in a court of law? Where does the responsibility lie? If not in the courts, does this mean that it is the direct responsibility of the Minister/Director General  alone?

And what type of government is not accountable to the people who elected it?  Surely this NSW Government is accountable somewhere, for it’s development approval decisions.

• “Administrative Law in an Environmental Context” search results at bluecray Environmental search engine
• Duty of care and the precautionary principle : search results at bluecray environmental search engine.

Development is something that will always occur, given the social and economic structure of the world. Developers will always be part of this society and economy, as it goes. Not all developments are “bad”, non sustainable or destructive to the environment.

The Kings Forest Residential Development  ( Tweed Shire ), as seen by the planning documents, is extremely inappropriate and threatening to already threatened species.  The Kings Forest Residential Development, as stands, IS indeed potentially very damaging.  21 threatened species, their restricted and already fragmented habitats, their vulnerability, their capacity to survive intense non sustainable development practices testify to this.

The Kings Forest planning documents show little ” fact”  to convince me that sustainable outcomes (for those 21 species of  threatened native fauna and the vital part they play in the fragile network of threatened species within the NE NSW Region and Mt Warning Caldera Region) will be realised by such a development. This development is on a large scale. Kings Forest IS a State Significant Site. It contains a very large number of threatened species in an already fragmented habitat situation.

Development assurances only on paper, caring “motherhood statements” by developer paid consultants, inability to have standard legal avenues open to protect and advocate for these threatened species – all these things need to be addressed.

The   Caldera Environment Centre in NE NSW, Australia shows insights,  in their submission to the NSW Government and objection to the planned Kings Forest and Cobakai Lakes Development , summing up  the King’s Forest Project situation very clearly. You should have a read of this Submission HERE.

Kings Forest is a powerful place, and development within this area has been historically hard to implement.

The Australian Government, in its wisdom, chose to not list the Koala as a threatened species, although documents show that the Koala is increasingly under pressure within the North Coast region of NSW.  Why did Australia chose to be part of the Agenda 21?

Kings Forest is  a powerful place. Generations of spiritual  guardians, and land custodians have held this place in a natural heritage beauty and sustainable biodiverse capacity and resilience for thousands of years.  The taking away of even small biodiverse components from an area, so fragmented and isolated now, and, as other developments increase within and about it, will result in an immediate lack of biodiversity and cultural heritage significance.

However, I suspect, that bigger wheels are in play here. And while the big wheels of government and money turn powerfully, the biggest wheel of all is nature.

Environmental Planning and Assessment Act1979 – New South Wales Consolidated Acts at AustLII (Australasian Legal Information Institute - A joint facility of UTS and UNSW Faculties of Law)

News Article referring to Kings Beach Development Proposal as a “world standard” environmental management plan by Leda Development’s Regional Manager- Mr Van Rij , December 2008

Ecological communities - their importance, linking, laws, learning at NSW Government of Environment & Climate Change – Threatened Species & Ecological Communities

“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)

search for  Aboriginal  (Indigenous peoples) research literature for the North Coast of NSW at the Libraries Australia Search

Ian Cohen media release :Kings Forest 11th March 2010