RALLY for KINGS FOREST KOALAS :- Saturday 10th December, 2011

Article in the Tweed News at goldcoast.com.au “Tweed activists call for planting now” (Nikki Todd, 16th Jan 2012)… Friends of Cudgen Nature Reserve have called for KOALA TREE PLANTINGS to be done immediately, at the LEDA ‘s KINGS FOREST DEVELOPMENT. The Landcare Group is asking that the KOALA food trees offered (20,000) to be planted by Leda should be planted now, as to leave them too long, for planting, will result in loss of KOALA life. The trees have been promised as part of a buffer zone near the Cudgen Nature Reserve.

“Concern over Kings Forest Koalas” – recent historical concerns about the impact of development at Kings Forest and the health of the diminishing local Koala population.

“More time urged for Kings Forest say” at ABC news 9th Dec 2011

 SUMMARY_Cudgen_Lake

An article by the Tweed Shire Echo (13th October 2011) outlined some of the concerns about this illegal clearing in the Cudgen Nature Reserve.( see “”cowboys” trash nature reserve” – article by  Luis Feliu and Chris Dobney).

Cate Faehrmann of the NSW Greens has attempted to find answers, (site legal notice NSW Govt Hansard)  concerning this dark operation of environmental vandalism. Cate Faehrmann is a courageous champion of the voiceless homeless millions, that are our endangered Australian Wildlife.

• Senate Environment and Communications Committee (Parliament of Australia : SENATE):-  ”The koala—saving our national icon” 22 September 2011  Commonwealth of Australia 2011 ISBN 978-1-74229-524-4
• FRIENDS of the KOALA : Koala Carers and volunteer support for the KOALAS of the NORTHERN RIVERS, NSW.
• ” Your Guide to Living with Koalas” – the City of Ballarat’s excellence award winning brochure (Planning excellence award from the Planning Institute of Australia). If you cannot find this guide, try searching for “Your Guide to Living with Koalas” in the bluecray Environmental Search.

This illegal clearing and environmental vandalism of the Cudgen Nature Reserve, is not the first such case, in the Tweed shire, nor indeed, in NE NSW and SE QLD. This is one of a long line, of illegal and government sanctioned clearings and degrading operations, that have and are still occurring. A careful search of the internet, public libraries (you should be able to find Hansard in the Library) , and news articles in newspapers can show you much more information than I could write here.

• Help the NSW Government Office of Environment and Heritage remedy and educate about illegal clearing of Native Vegetation in NSW. This NSW Government Office of Environment and Heritage has huge responsibilities, and a vaste number  of  (about 45 in total) ACTS that they administer.

• You can also look at Tweed Coast Estuary Management Plan HERE.

• The Cudgen Nature Reserve Plan of Management link is HERE**
• Australian Wetlands Data Base – NSW References
•  Kings Forest development application process
• Consider the following:-
  • “The National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974, requires that a plan of management be prepared for each nature reserve. A plan of management is a legal document that outlines how the area will be managed in the years ahead.”   &   “Now that the plan has been adopted by the Minister, no operations may be undertaken within the Nature Reserve except in accordance with the plan.”  (from the Cudgen Nature Reserve Plan of Management Part A. Introduction).
    
  • In the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974, have a look at Part 4 division 6; Part 5; Part 6A; Part 7; Part 8A; Part 14; Part 15… these parts of the Act may help you understand the seriousness of the illegal clearing that has occurred, of vegetation, wildlife habitat and wetland area of the Cudgen Nature Reserve.

• Australan Institute of Criminology -” Illegal Native Vegetation Clearing” .    Here you will find references to the NSW Native Vegetation Act 2003 .  There are also references to the following:-
  • Primary Statutes within NSW Concerning Clearing of Native Vegetation are:-  the Native vegetation Act 2003,   Threatened Species Conseration Act 1995 and the Environmental  Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (Local Environmental Plan)
  • Examples of Maximum Penalty for offences
  • Much more. This webpage is worth reading.
  •  Environmental crime in Australia “Research and public policy series no. 109″, by Samantha Bricknell (ISBN 978 1 921532 64  1  ISSN 1836-2079)  Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, October 2010 . This publication is available at the AIC’s website.

And now, back to original ARTICLE:-

However,  if pointing a  finger at identities and individual men or women who it is only “believed” may have taken part in this current proactive method of Environmental degradation, remember that a “forensic” trail/investigative instruments can be helpful. Sometimes, things are not what they appear.  Some more general points worth considering, when abhorrent and illegal clearing occurs may be:-

• The Australian Government’s “Australian Institute of Criminology” website has some useful INFORMATION on illegal native vegetation clearing.  Environmental crime in Australia “Research and public policy series no. 109″, by Samantha Bricknell (ISBN 978 1 921532 64  1  ISSN 1836-2079)  Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, October 2010 . This publication is available at the AIC’s website.
• Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales – Zoologist Article 2007 Vol 34 (2) – Milledge D Opinion Piece Threatened species conservation at the local level in New South Wales – this article can be found at the ZOOLOGIST data base for their journal. This article concerns NSW threatened species conservation, refers to illegal clearing, and degrading environmental management practiced by landholders, who then develop the landscape into inappropriate urban developments. Proposed developments ( such as KINGS FOREST – adjacent to where this illegal clearing of Cudgen Nature Reserve took place),  then even further degrade the ENVIRONMENTAL and ECOSYSTEM HEALTH, both to the local and regional detriment. It is  noted in this article that the  NSW government administerd threatened species CONSERVATION was at a low level (2007).
• Adam Gosling’s full paper presentation at the Healthy wetlands 20th NSW Coastal conference 2011 stated ”Australia is reported to have lost between 75 and 90 percent of coastal wetlands over the past 200 years (Finlayson, 2000. Usback & James 1993). Not only have wetlands been decimated historically through land clearing for agriculture and urban development and drained or isolated from adjoining wetlands, they remain one of the most severely threatened ecosystems in eastern Australia through coastal development and land use.“
• LAND CLEARANCE – a National Key Threatening Process - The threatening process meets s188(4)(a), s188(4)(b) and s188(4)(c) of the EPBC Act.   Description of Land Clearance from ” the Advice to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage from the TSSC on a public nomination of a Key Threatening Process under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999″  -  “Land clearing consists of the destruction of the above ground biomass of native vegetation and its substantial replacement by non-local species or by human artefacts. Native vegetation is defined as vegetation in which native species constitute more than 70% of the plant cover, or other vegetation containing populations of species listed under the EPBC Act. Substantial replacement by non-local species or human artefacts is defined as the achievement of more than 70% of the total cover by species or human artefacts that did not occur previously on the site.  Land clearing includes clearance of native vegetation for crops, improved, pasture, plantations, gardens, houses, mines, buildings and roads. It also includes infilling of wetlands or dumping material on dry land native vegetation, and the drowning of vegetation through the construction of impoundments. It does not include silvicultural operations in native forests and manipulation of native vegetation composition and structure by grazing, burning or other means.  ” Endangered Species Scientific Sub-committee, (ESSS).
• It would be reasonable to think that the Destruction of the Coastal Strip of the Tweed Coast is looking like a very destructive form of Land Management. Laws such as the afore mentioned EPBC Act, with its key threatening Processes, the NSW Primary Statutes within NSW Concerning Clearing of Native Vegetation  -  the Native vegetation Act 2003,   Threatened Species Conseration Act 1995 and the Environmental  Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (Local Environmental Plan) – these laws are not helping with regard to environmental vandalism, and the mass destruction of remnant, highly disturbed (and fragmented) habitat that native wildlife are currently (and often stressfully ) surviving in, on the TWEED COAST….. Why are non ecologically sustainable developments and their associated destructive practices still occurring?  Is this due to due process? Is this due to inadequate legislation? Is it due to discretionary powers as opposed to obligatory requirement? Is this due to lack of education? Is it due to lack of practical management skills in authentic land and water stewardship? OR is it due to the fact that the fabric of society is living a massive lie, and that high energy, wasteful, destructive, non ecologically sustainable practices are still “running the economy, socially mainstream acceptable perceptions, and that, basically, the majority of people just really do not care about the future wellbeing of the Tweed Coast, the wetlands, the ecosystems of Australia, the biodiverse fabric of nature that supports us all, and the future of our Children??????  Where is the common good clearly displayed,  within this  social and legal machination of Ecologically Sustainable Development?
• Perhaps  this clearing of endangered Koala habitat in Tweed Shire may have occurred because all about the Northern Rivers, HABITAT CLEARING is occurring as a matter of course, and the clearing agent thought it was OK?
• Perhaps the man or woman who cleared the area of Cudgen Nature Reserve, or who INSTRUCTED the Habitat Clearing didn’t know that Australian Wildlife is rapidly disappearing from this area of the Tweed Shire???
• Perhaps they needed the money to live, and instructed the clearing to help them survive in this harsh economic environment, where property values are sliding, rents are increasing and non sustainable developments are stressing the land and water health to the point where the little man (and native animal) can no longer survive??????????. I have often observed that where clearing of land occurs, that is damaging to the environment, there is usually a chain of events that can be tracked, that will show where the real responsibility lies. Usually, it is found to be hand in hand with ignorance + the illusion that the illegal/legal clearing will lead to profit. 
• Occasionally, I have observed that vegetation and habitat destruction is prompted by a basic criminal mindset.  Whatever the case is, at Cudgen Nature Reserve – ignorance, greed or amoral /immoral mindset – the man / woman responsible requires immediate attention by all concerned over this illegal act. EDUCATION concerning the plight of threatened species (and disappearing wetland vegetation communities / habitats / ECOSYSTEMS) is lacking – both in the general public and professional/political arenas. The corporate arena ?- this arena has long since lost its authenticity and credibility:-  the mass destruction of  coastal wetlands from the North of Brisbane (QLD) to Ballina Shire (NSW) attest to this.  

It is important to let the due process occur. It is also important to recognise the real and immediate victims of this crime –  The Native Wildlife of the Tweed Coast and Hinterland. It is of most importance that it be recognised that, when it comes to development in the Tweed Shire, infrastructure and development processes have both an insidious and uncaring trend – both as social implication for the human residents, and for the environmental health of the region.

• Tweed Coast Estuary Management Plan HERE.

• The Cudgen Nature Reserve Plan of Management link is HERE.

What is of note, concerning this most recent highly publicized act of proactive land degradation in the rapidly developing Tweed Coast is:-

• IF the surrounding area of  VEGETATION COMMUNITY, ECOSYSTEM and NATIVE WILDLIFE HABITAT  were intact, RESILIENT, CARED FOR( by individuals, companies, developers, landholders, Environmental Australian and NSW LAWS), then a small area of highly disturbed, highly degraded Habitat and Ecosystem may recover rather quickly.
• Authentic Land and Water Stewardship, if enacted out by Australian, NSW and QLD Laws, individuals and corporate entities, could help save, and indeed enhance our threatened species and threatened Ecosystems. This is clearly not the case, when it comes to these Australian, NSW and QLD LAWS, corporate entities and individuals.
• Koala Corridors and Buffers Zones should be part of the WHOLE DEVELOPMENT APPROACH. The area being developed for human settlement and infrastructure SHOULD include a whole plan approach, whereby the KOALA and ITS HABITAT is integral and 100% incorporated into the whole design.
• This is the same for ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE PRINCIPLES :-  water storage for each house; SUSTAINABLE WASTE MANAGEMENT and WASTE MINIMISATION; improved and enhanced wetland and INTEGRATED CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT & integrated native wildlife  habitat  enhancement throughout the entire development; sensible covenants on fencing, dogs, cats, rabbits, vegetation; energy efficient materials/design and development procedures & processes; local and regional environmentally sustainable employment opportunities; local food & local sustainable industry creation or mentorship; fire, flood, noise, environmental and noxious weeds awareness. Town Planners know these lists more comprehensively. These things reinforce the importance and inherent understanding of not clearing areas such as the Cudgen Nature Reserve. RESPECT!!!!
•  SOCIAL INCLUSION and COMMUNITY RESOURCE areas. Educational information for all prospective and existing settlers to the REGION can be of great value also – particularly for ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS, and SOCIAL WELLBEING. TRANSPORT should be state of the art Environmentally Sustainably Networked and Implemented, by both the developer (who profits and thus should care where and how his/her profit arises) and the Governments (who should CARE and show diligent leadership). Healthy minds, educated people, these days, try to do the right thing by our beautiful endangered species and their homes.
• NATURE RESERVES ARE TO BE RESPECTED BY ALL – that is why they are nature reserves.

Nature, when left undisturbed, or when disturbed only slightly, has remarkable resilience, if it is surrounded by INTACT RESILIENT NATIVE  VEGETATION and healthy Ecological Units and Ecosystems.

In my original “Balance of Faeries” article, I explained how, little by little, the degrading of small land parcels can add up to large scale degradation. I explained that unless the smaller fragments of  Wildlife Habitat are preserved and actively enhance, then the larger factors of WIND, SUN, RAIN, DROUGHT, adjoining DEGRADED LAND, FIRE, FLOOD etc will take their toll. I explained, via my imagery, that the little things in our complex NATURAL ENVIRONMENT serve to keep the bigger components in check, thus promoting Native Vegetation Community and Ecosystem Resilience. I explained that the current scientific knowledge base ignores these little  components, in large – both in scientific studies, and in our overall LEGAL and HIGHER LEARNING knowledge base. The COMPLEX pattern, of usage and dependency within our current Australian ECOSYSTEMS,  by Australian Wildlife is largely an unknown scientific fact.

This is because many studies that have been conducted, have been conducted once the land has already been disturbed for many decades. This is because many studies use other studies as their basis. This is because many important studies are disregarded, ignored or superceded by studies done by scientists who have a minimal level of understanding of the complexity of Australian Wildife requirements, in a cross dependent sense. This is because the Corporate, Scientific and Legal worlds often operate behind closed doors.

In defence of the dedicated workers in Australian Wildlife understanding and demonstrating scientific research – many good and valuable studies HAVE also been made, concerning Native Australian Wildlife. Studies concerning the Koala have often been used as a POLITICAL, corporate  and  development/ infrastructure FOOTBALL. The degrading developments and infrastructures have HISTORICALLY won this football game.  I can readily say that, in the light of the  corporate greed  V’s Nature battles, corporations have historically existed for a relatively short time. Nature is, has, and always will be, running the show, and winning in the long and even short term.

Personally, I have little faith in the  NSW Government’s ability to address this issue of the clearing of vegetation in the Cudgen Nature Reserve. Why? Because they are probably snowed under with all kinds of investigations concerning illegal clearing and other environmental acts of vandalism. I have even less faith in the developers and their associated networked entities who have been developing the Tweed Coast and other areas of NE NSW ( and SE QLD )in such a way that their LACK of DUTY OF CARE, to current & future human populations health and well being, is so obvious, yet not held to account. Education is important in these matters.

However, some interesting facts are emerging:-

How much money does it take to destroy lives? Why do individuals and corporations and governments seek to destroy on one hand, yet soothsay that they are SUSTAINABLE and ENVIRONMENTALLY CORRECT? Why are people still able to use bulldozers and other heavy earth moving equipment, mining processes, and other methods of land use that clearly lack precaution of due care (with subsequent degrading land and catchment re-design) without the necessary education and accountability, concerning the power they wield? How much due process is involved in remedy?  Why is development on the Tweed Coast continuing to fragment already stressed Habitats and Ecosystems? Did the men or women involved in this illegal clearing of the Cudgen Nature Reserve know what they were doing?

I had better leave it here. Research and talk to others. Find out what is going on.

Oh, and one more thing…… for those of you versed well in astrology, have a look at the current planetary stories. Neptune is finally direct in the last degrees of AQUARIUS, and heading towards PISCES. Illusion, deceit, over institutionalising of faith and vision are on the rise. Exposure of deceit, lies and corruption will become easier for those who follow God’s Law and God’s Natural Law.  As Neptune approaches the fixed star Fomalhaut, the guardian / Archangel Gabriel and WATCHER of the SOUTH, approx. 4 degrees Pisces, and then Deneb Adige at about 5 degrees Pisces, the precession of the equinoxes will unfold one of the greatest stories of mankind. Balance will become of utmost importance to the entire planet.

The above astrological / environmental collage shows Neptune direct (as of 10th Nov 2011) in Aquarius. The above horoscope is for the 17th November, 2011 and is taken from What Watch at papertv.com .

With the entry of Neptune in Pisces, the birds of the air will tell the story, better than any man or woman. The small animals of the earth will bear witness. Those of pure heart and who practice redemption, those who have the COURAGE to own up to PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY will find their wings.

ARCHANGEL GABRIEL and the BUTTERFLY EFFECT (a poem by TAIKO)

excerpt from A Balance of Faeries:-

“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.”

The following KOALA POEM is a reflection of an earlier poem that I wrote in “B is for Biodiversity“. Sometimes, when I write on bluecray.org , I add a poem or two.  This following POEM is about a Developer who has  learnt how to listen and respect NATURE’s LAWS.  It is in direct contrast to the Koala Poem that I wrote last year (where the moneybag developer was ignorant and thought only of profit taking for himself and his mates).

said the “Enlightened” developer………..

Peaceful KOALA asleep in your tree
can you please share your land
and let me live here?
My homes of simplicity,
clean electricity
gardens and bikeways
can you share with me please?
I’m fond of your family
I’ll enhance our shared home
slow roads, tracks and parklands,
over which you can roam.
Dear KOALA, please tell me how to help you stay free!

Iconic KOALA, so high in your tree
can you see the new bushlands, they were planted by ME!
I know that you’ve struggled at home many years
You wandered and waited amidst local fears
But development’s slow, I’ve had time to think
so KOALA – i’ve planted a great Carbon Sink.
My learned approach will show ALL that I care
No bulldozer damage, no smoke fills the air
Diverse native landscapes we’ve planted for you
They’re resilient, and strong, i hope they will do

KOALA please tell me how to help you stay free!

Dearest KOALA, in treetops above
how else can i help you, in patience and love
My authority’s sanctioned, I’ve owned this land years
So KOALA, dear friend, i hope you’ll be pleased

Hey KOALA, dear icon, i’ve covenants here
I’ll protect you from dogs, cars, diseases and fear
Now our lots are divided, some share a great view
So KOALA, please answer – it’s all up to you

I see you’ve been ill, fevered, trembling and scarred
but your welcome to stay here, in all of my yards.
My planners invite you to tell me what more
you’ll need for your home. We respect nature’s LAW.

KOALA in our tree, our lots are surveyed
The wetlands are thriving, new homes are displayed
And wildlife’s returning, coming into it’s prime
bio- diversity balance and time.
This development’s needed, and it helps me spend more
on those that need houses – the young and the poor
My development teaches ALL- you are our host
now why don’t they do this on all of our coast?
The GOD given wonders of nature make more
than ignorant developments bulldozed next door

So KOALA, marsupial, once dwindling here
I’ll start small scale nurseries, to give you more cheer
and all of the school children, that go to my school
will thank you KOALA – you’ve made their homes cool

We’ve local food markets, each home has a tank
They say I am great, but it’s you i must thank
And KOALA – i’ve told all “go slow on your road”
Even after i’ve gone with my life soul’s great load

Oh KOALA – what’s this, i see you’re now here
In GOD’s arms, oh so peaceful with nothing to fear
And GOD’s angels tell me, they’ve opened the gates
for me and my load, and all of my mates
Dear GOD, i look down, from heaven and smile,
my real estate legacies – they’ve been all worthwhile
I promised, delivered, enhanced all my land
native plant woodlands – all of them grand.

I see that the wildlife and children run free
It is you, dear KOALA who educates me
And GOD, i now wonder about all the fuss
The hustle and bustle – all i needed was trust
My chattels and cargo, are lightweight to hold,
I’m glad that i learnt from KOALA’s dear soul

said the Koala……
w’ell, Maaaate, what can I say… you listened and learnt.

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

His search and their saga – ever so long,  told PK quite clearly that something was wrong!
For months on end, that stretched to years, calling through fences with their tears

Across that void – that fierce road,
the trucks, the cars – their rushing load.

But now the best bit will unfold
As Pk’s stories now are told

One early evening waiting near the talking tree for his mother dear, he heard the wrens and bush birds say that to get to the coast there WAS a way
It was very long, and took some skill, and involved a risk of getting killed
Pk ask more from his flying friends, and they told him of roads that had no ends
However if game, they said that PK could travel those roads for part of the way

“Stick to the edges, and watch for the lights they’ll freeze you and fix you and BOY those cars bite”
“So stay in the shadows, and travel with stealth and you’ll get to a place which is full of ill health -
the drained swamps of coastlands” – the refugees called, but take take care of  dogs so that you won’t be mauled

God speed you PK, called the Birds of the Land, as he started his journey with their helping hand.

Familiar with Mooball and Cudgerra Creek, his crossing of this place took more than a week.
Then suddenly there he was ,over THAT ROAD – that huge roaring thoroughfare with it’s faceless load.

Now where to begin to start tracking his Mum? Her scent was not there on the road he had come,
so sniffing the breeze in the quiet morning light, he touched on a memory ever so slight.
The “feel” of his mother! It came from these trees- she’d been here before, but it had been some years.

The urge to continue, to follow his nose – led him to a high fence and again more loud roads.

Yet our hero undaunted, his mother he’d find -  then suddenly Pk saw one of his kind……..

A cousin – a cousin! There in the tree – he called out “KOALA! it’s PK!…. it’s ME!!”
The cousin’s eye’s opened   his nose sniffed PK.   Then he slowly pointed north,    saying     “that is the way”.

Now trembling with fatigues of his open road walk, our darling PK said “so sorry- can’t talk”. For gone were those days of the safe bushland life, now the people of Tweed were  giving them strife.
The human machines screamed and roared all the day, the constant truck noise – the people – the fray.
Bravely PK lumbered slowly along, to the east and the north where it felt very wrong.

Something was happening that made PK sick – he’d felt it before, it was like a bad trick.
And there – in the distance, from a tall tree he spied, the lay of King’s Forest. Was it there he could hide?

For all about PK, was nothing but bare – all cleared and flat land and the trees were nowhere! There were fences and houses, and small shrubs and trees, but the way to the forest was filled with disease.

The waters were putrid, the sparse old trees ill. Yet PK kept going, with his strong free will
He “knew” that his Mother would be near this place – this great fading Forest – ( Tweed Coast’s disgrace)
Past cypress and tea tree, our little friend ran, then though a sharp fence and across the bare land

And suddenly there he was facing his MUM! She cried out PK – you really have come!

OH reader, now listen of PK’s delight! To find his dear mother at last – what a sight!

Full adventure was over, he could rest .. he could talk. Then he told his Mama about his “LONG WALK”,

so proud of her son and his clever repose – big roads and big fences- do more than we suppose.

*******************************************************************

The above Poem, about Phantom Koala and how he finds his mother and becomes a Hero, reminds us that Koalas  are at very high risk here, on the NE Coast of NSW.

The actions and work by the Australian Government has done nothing to save the plight of the Coastal Koala, here in SE QLD and NE NSW. Koala population Numbers are dropping dramatically, and the same habitat destroying development is continuing at an alarming pace, all along the coast.

However: THERE IS A WAY!!!

Download some KOALA info here:- from the EPA, QLD.

“Koala (Phascolartos cinereus) survey and habitat assessment of Lot 4 on RP 35335 Doolong South Rd, Wondunna, Hervey Bay, Queensland / conducted for the Hervey Bay City Council” -  by ddwfauna August 2005,  is a good start….

” When Phantom Koala was Young -  A Koala Saga “ : my wordpress version of the first PK poem at Balance of Faeries blog.

“A Balance of Faeries” 1989 by al at bluecray – a story about koala habitat destruction – little by little – and the consequences

Kings Forest at articles Balance of Faeries blog and more links

Wisdom in the Land blog has Koala Planning Dreaming : a simple guideline for developing land, hand in hand with nature

Kings Forest : articles at bluecray.org and more links

***And, for inspiration……Some beautiful Koala ART WORK and a poem “Winter Koala” by Carol McCormack

]]> http://bluecray.org/advocacy/there-is-a-way-06.08.2009/feed 0 http://bluecray.org/environment/koala-conservation-and-queensland-government-draft-se-qld-regional-plan-2009-to-2031-10.03.2009 http://bluecray.org/environment/koala-conservation-and-queensland-government-draft-se-qld-regional-plan-2009-to-2031-10.03.2009#comments Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:34:56 +0000 al http://bluecray.org/?p=1018 ...»»]]> Koala Advocacy was reaching a critical level many years ago in SE Queensland. Draft South East Queensland Koala State Planning Regulatory Provisions at bluecray Environmental Search.

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

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

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

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

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

Recent Background:-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Regional Workshops and Articles:-

• 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

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 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