Logan and Albert Conservation Association

FRUIT JUICE - BUT NOT CITRUS OR PINEAPPLE - NOT FRUIT IS CURRENTLY NEEEDED  - Saturday 13 December 2008 update

We have been advised that 332 babies are in care at the moment... so we are still asking for help... 

We desperately need non vaccinated volunteers to do general duties like making formula, washing, sterilising bottles, cutting up fruit and more - if you are part of an organisation that can pool together to help out contact Trixie asap on 3208 3512

Still need fruit JUICE, washing powder (environmentally friendly, please) and towels AND non vaccinated volunteers to do general duties

If you can help in any way it would be appreciated... Wildlife carers are a very special dedicated group of people who pay for the care and welfare of all species of our native wildlife as well as feeding round the clock when needed.  Have a look at their OZARK website for more information.

To make a tax deductible donation please use the following information

An appeal has recently gone to the general community from Wildcare whose members - registered wildlife carers - are desperate for help after storms caused grey-headed flying foxes to abandon about 300 babies in the Gold Coast hinterland. The Courier Mail published the story explaining that 60 carers from the Gold Coast and volunteer veterinarians are working around the clock, feeding every four hours.

Carer Ms Trish Wimberley said "Normally, female flying foxes will go to the ends of the earth to save their babies so for this to occur, they are really in dire straits."

If you are interested in becoming a registered wildlife carer Wildcare's  website http://www.wildcare.org.au/  has a great deal of information. If you are really keen to help now - today, there are many supporting jobs we can all do to free up the trained carers. Specific information about our native flying foxes is also available here http://www.wildcare.org.au/html/flying_foxes.htm

Don't try to rescue bats though - it's a delicate job that should only be attempted by a trained and vaccinated carer. Contact Wildcare on 5527 2444 for help with rescue of any native animal.

The flying fox or bat is an essential creature of the rainforests. Bats distribute seeds across hundreds of kilometres to ensure our rainforests can regenerate. One wildlife group has the motto 'no bats, no trees, no koalas' and it's true - without bats you would literally have plagues of insects and eventually our rainforests would die. For such a small creature they do a mighty big job.

DROP OFF POINTS in SEQ for fruit, Karicare baby formula and soft cloths

Redlands - Patti Durnin - 0418 883 890

Kooralbyn - Pam Elliott - 5544 6762

Logan - Trixie Benbrook - 3207 3512.

Extra hands are desperately needed on site to assist the carers -

NO VACCINATION NEEDED FOR GENERAL HELPING JOBS

- sterilising bottles and making baby formula, cutting up fruit.

PLEASE VOLUNTEER whatever time you can - all assistance is vitally important and much needed. Each minute volunteered - frees up bat carers to give care to our flying fox orphans.

200 - increased to 300 grey bubs from Canugra Camp came into care suffering dehydration, exposure, maggots and various stages of pneumonia. Hundreds of these orphaned baby flying foxes are down due to the aftermath of the violent storms, heavy winds and constant rain. Our grateful thanks go to the many tired and very dedicated carers who lovingly attend to our wildlife.  Our native baby bats need around the clock feeding - taking time and patience.

Thank you for all the donations that have been and are being received including three dryers. The broken washing washing machine has generously replaced. Many thanks to those donors. Updates will be added re large items.

ALWAYS needed are food - boxes of fruit - apples, pears, rock melon, grapes but not citrus please and Kari Care - human baby formula - birth to 1 month.

It is difficult to understand government decisions at times - and especially since the Queensland government website clearly states that the greatest threat to koalas is loss of habitat. The only way protection is 'guaranteed' is when legistation exists or is created - as governments do - to control actions and activities.

The Koala Plan provides a certain level of protection for areas of habitat that have been surveyed and documented and included in the plan. Queensland government allocated $2.1 million over 4 years to match local councils' spending on surveys - until recently. The website was updated 7 November 2008 but disappointingly does not included the report from the KOALA TASKFORCE.

More disappointment for our members too when we heard that state government has withdrawn its matching $ for $ subsidy for koala surveys in Logan City. This part of Southeast Queensland has been targeted for fast - tracked housing subdivisions for Queensland's growing population - but areas have been flagged without any studies for koalas or other wildlife. Local residents have been sending sightings of koalas (and other wildlife - including spotted tailed quolls) to EPA Wildnet for some time. We know there are koalas here - but they or their habitat is not proected until the habitat is mapped.

The report of other koala habitat surveys is available from this link. Also available is data including major causes of death from 1997 to end April - from Koala hospital presentations. Download from this page.

Scenic Rim Regional Council is drafting its first Corporate Plan - the 2009-2013 Corporate Plan.  As well as holding several community focus group sessions an online survey is also available. Go to http://www.boonah.qld.gov.au/newsEvents/consultation.shtml. This process closed 21 November 2008 - but try it and if it works use it. There is also a version to print out and fill in. Scenic Rim Regional Council is to be commended for its efforts to engage the community to provide input into this important planning document. Look out for council's draft document for the Corporate Plan.

The real test is whether council hears what the community is saying.

Logan residents have not been consulted for input into Logan City's Draft Corporate Plan 2009-2013 but copy of  the draft plan is available an online copy and online feedback is also available. Read more at this link. http://www.logan.qld.gov.au/LCC/council/about_council/corporateplan/draftcorporateplan.htm

Submissions closd 5 pm 12 December 2008 in Logan.

Parsons Brinckerhoff recently prepared a review for the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts relating to the effectiveness of implementing the 1998 National Koala Conservation Strategy. As part of that review you kindly provided a written submission providing your knowledge and opinions of the strategy.

The review of the stratagy has now been completed and the resulting evaluation report Review of Progress in Implementing the 1998 National Koala Conservation Strategy was presented to the steering committee on 9 October 2008. Information obtained from this evaluation will inform the review and update of the strategy. The steering committee is currently revising the strategy, and writing an accompanying implementation plan to address the issues raised in the evaluation report. The revised draft strategy and implementation plan will be available for public exhibition and comment in 2009.

For your information, the evaluation report is now available on the Department's website at:
http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/publications/koala-strategy/index.html

The small town community of Acland has not prospered as promised by Queensland Government. Heritage sites including the war memorial and heritage-listed timber colliery are in the path of planned expansions for 2009. The town is disappearing as houses and infrastucture are removed. The quiet, peaceful and productive farming area remembered from five years ago is now regularly blanketed in a haze of dust and subjected to round the clock noise and mining traffic.

The fabric of close-knit farming community is being ripped apart, and that is the human tragedy and the best quality cropping country will become poor quality grazing country. Read the story reported in Queensland Country Life here.

How many new coal mines does Queensland need? At what cost? Locally and globally? Have landholder interests been protected from negative affects from mining by existing legislation?

A Queensland Coal Communities Listening Tour  has been organised by researchers and community organisers concerned about climate change. They will be holding ‘listening posts' and a public meetings around Central and Southern Queensland

At these gatherings locals are invited to share perspective on coal and climate change in their community.

Trained researchers will listen, without judgement or debate, and share these findings at public meetings across Queensland.

The aim is to develop an understanding of the key issues and concerns of people who are dependent on or affected by the coal industry, and how together we can accommodate these concerns as we seek to address climate change and move towards a sustainable economy.

Read about the tour at this site http://coalcommunities.wordpress.com/about/ 

Many of us may wish for a return to a simpler way of life. Some have made that commitment - a return to their own values and they share their stories of the good life via XXI century letter writing - blogging. A 35 year old Australian mother of two throws in her job as a lawyer and comes home to raise her children thoughtfully, grow her own vegies, bake bread and live a more family oriented sustainable life. The question is, will she be able to balance it all and make enough income to afford her signature coffee - a vanilla latte on skim. These serious matters are explored in the pages of her blog  http://avisionsplendid.blogspot.com/

Healthy wetlands have many values for people and other species. However one littlle mentioned value which WetlandCare Australia remind us is their value as a storage or sink for the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

The world is putting too much emphasis on planting trees to reduce the effects of climate change, according to WetlandCare Australia. A report in New Scientist magazine on 3 May 2008 has identified that restoring drained peat wetlands is better at removing carbon dioxide from the air than planting trees.

World Environment Day on 5 June 2008  has the theme of kicking the CO2 habit for a low carbon economy.

"Reducing our use of coal and petroleum is the most important thing we can do, but its worth remembering that many wetlands are effective carbon sinks," said Alan Cibilic of WetlandCare Australia. "After all, most oil reserves came from coastal waters and lakes in the first place. Wetlands are amongst the most productive ecosystems on earth, and the story gets better. When wetland plants die they sink below the water table where there's little oxygen, so they don't easily rot. These anaerobic conditions are ideal for long term carbon sequestration."

The New Scientist report identifies that carbon does leak back into the atmosphere from wetlands, mainly as methane, which is around 25 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas. Mr Cibilic points out that even if that is significant, peat restoration is still likely to be more effective than tree planting.

Mr Cibilic said that one of the main benefits of restoring wetlands comes from reversing the effects of drainage - in drained wetlands the organic matter oxidises, or rots, as air gets into it, and this releases carbon dioxide.

WetlandCare Australia has highlighted the need for more funding to research carbon sequestration in wetlands, and is urging the inclusion of wetland sequestration in any future scheme to accredit the sequestration of carbon in soil.

"This would have the added benefit of giving wetland owners an alternative income stream. That way farmers could reduce grazing pressure on wetlands at the same time as they reverse drainage, further improving the productivity and habitat value of wetlands," said Mr Cibilic.

"Planting trees will help remove carbon dioxide, which is great, especially if you're also reinstating native ecosystems. But plantations on drained wetlands are definitely to be avoided. Restoring such wetlands will provide more long term benefits for the planet."

Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, yet their extent and health continues to diminish. Many wetlands have been degraded or destroyed completely in the past 200 years.

Wetlands are particularly vulnerable due to the pressures from unsustainable land use activities, and the increasing pressure of population and development along our waterways.

The benefits wetlands contribute to all of us are significant. In fact, the ecosystem services wetlands provide underpin much of our economic activity. The assumed to be "free" services provided by wetlands are taken for granted and include:

Healthier waterways
Flood detention basins which reduce the impacts of flooding
Fish nursery and habitat areas
Drought refuges for stock and wildlife
Nutrient capture and recycling
Filtering and capture of sediment
Significant habitat areas for wildlife - quality of life & ecotourism contribution
Great places to look at and visit - quality of life & ecotourism contribution
Waterway, riparian, and habitat connections between other natural areas - quality of life & ecotourism contribution

More imformation is available from the website http://www.wetlandcare.com.au

Julia Whitty writes in the November / December 2008 issue of MotherJones: NEWS:

The secret to cutting carbon? A dieting support group.

While she marvels, as I do at the incredible migratory feat of the bar-tailed godwit which "manages its hectic calendar and limited resources with a lithe professionalism that enables it to do what no other animal on earth can do-that is, to leave Alaskan shores and strike out over open water to fly nonstop for eight days and 7,200 miles without feeding or drinking before touching down in another hemisphere (New Zealand) during a different season (spring)", the question is for us the human species - can we too be small of footprint, capable of the long haul?

Julia Whitty is Mother Jones' environmental correspondent, a documentary filmmaker, and the author, most recently, of The Fragile Edge, a book on coral reefs. Read this thought provoking article here.