Logan and Albert Conservation Association
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.
Transition Movement - what is it?
A Transition Initiative is a community working together to look Peak Oil and Climate Change squarely in the eye and address this BIG question: "for all those aspects of life that this community needs in order to sustain itself and thrive, how do we significantly increase resilience (to mitigate the effects of Peak Oil) and drastically reduce carbon emissions (to mitigate the effects of Climate Change)?"
The Transition Movement was born out of the Kinsale Energy Descent Action Plan (see link below), inspired by David Holgrem's book Permaculture - Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability and Richard Heinberg's book Powerdown. While this movement started in the UK in late 2005, it has spread rapidly in Europe, North & South America, South Africa, Australia & NZ. There are over 100 officially recognised Transition Towns (or cities, districts, villages, islands & even a forest!) and over 900 other communities worldwide thinking about the energy descent journey (see links)
In the transition approach, cutting carbon is one of many resilience indicators for communities to prepare for an energy-lean future.
Other community resilience indicators might include:
Transition Towns - sustainable communities and energy descent
The Sunshine Coast became Australia's first Transition Initiative in September 2007 after delivering the successful Time for an Oil Change energy descent action planning course, establishing the Sunshine Coast Energy Action Centre (www.seac.net.au) as a community education centre focussed on positive solutions to climate change and peak oil, and also for its part as a catalyst for Australia's first Energy Descent Action Plan (EDAP).
Sonya Wallace and Janet Millington are the founders and co-ordinators of Transition Sunshine Coast and have been working on these initiatives for almost two years. They will share their experiences and the lessons they have learnt about transitioning to ensure your venture is an ongoing success. Sonya has a background in emergency planning, communications and crisis management, and also has her Permaculture Design Certificate. Janet is a well-known permaculture teacher, a respected school teacher, school garden expert and now published author. Janet has her Diploma of Permaculture and a Master of Education.
Transition Towns are becoming increasingly popular around the world as people decide to take real action in making the move from oil dependency to local resilience in their local area. These workshops will give you the skills and tools to do the same in your community and join the rapidly growing Australian network.
Brisbane Saturday 15 November 2008
12.30 - 4.00 pm Queens Park
Save our Reef, Save our Pacific Neighbours
State government was not present at the Brisbane community action event to hear and share citizens' concerns for the impacts of global warming.
Members of the Greens, Queensland Conservation Council and the World Wildlife Fund marched today with other residents from Brisbane and nearby areas in the Walk against Warming, in conjunction with walkers from every other Australian capital city. Walkers formed a large map of Queensland. See it here.
Queensland Conservation Council spokesman Toby Hutcheon said that a good outcome for us would be for the Rudd government to take a strong role in the lead-up to the UN climate negotiations in Poland.
Clean energy, strong climate targets, and a safe future. It was worth voting for, it's worth fighting for.
Canungra community hosted the recent film forum on Australia Pumping Empty which was incredible. Engineer and energy expert, Lionel Orford, attended the evening and spoke of our imminent future and our only real alternatives to the energy crisis we face - conservation and sharing our resources to get by with less. Attendees travelled from Boonah, Beaudesert, Ipswich, Canungra area, Tamborine Mountain, Beechmont! Not big in numbers, but big in awareness. Deputy Mayor, Cr Dave Cockburn, and indigenous elder, John Long, opened the forum onto Scenic Rim Transition to Resilience.
Lionel said Peak Oil almost certainly happened in the first half of 2008 and we now face a worldwide decline rate of as much as 9% a year from existing oil fields. Some experts believe that Peak Oil was the underlying trigger for the worldwide economic crisis. This, in turn, caused demand for oil to fall faster than supply resulting in the dramatic drop in the oil price over the last few months. Lionel predicts prices will remain volatile and will spike up again as soon as there is any economic recovery. However, he states the oil price can't just go up and up - anything over about $120-150 destroys demand in fairly short order - as we have recently observed.
It was truly a most amazing forum listening to Lionel Orford - he had the audience riveted to their seats !
As part of the Silent Voices forum, attendees received an invitation to meet with Mayor Pam Parker and Division 11 Councillor Hajnal Ban. Come along and Share a cuppa with the Mayor
When Friday 21 November 2008
Where Zarraffa's Coffee Shop Cusack Lane Jimboomba (near Coles).
Council's website advises that Division Six residents will have the opportunity to chat with Councillor Luke Smith during two community consultation days planned for November. See website for details. Bookings were needed for 2 days - 20 and 21 November. If successful, Cr Smith will continue to meet with residents in Loganholme and Bethania on a regular basis throughout 2009. Former Beaudesert Shire residents had monthly 'councillor access meetings'.
Seems this is not a common practice in Logan. We really appreciated knowing that opportunity was available - without booking. Are Logan councillors too busy to schedule some community access time?
Community groups in far north Queensland are very alarmed at the Premier's recent announcement that the draft FNQ2025 Plan would be amended to allow large scale tourism developments outside the urban footprint.
News reports state that accommodation for up to 250 people and accompanying facilities with a floor area of no more than 4000sqm will be allowed outside the Cairns urban footprint, as long as they are not in areas of high ecological significance or on good-quality agricultural land.
Small-scale developments such as backpacker hostels and farm stays, which are already allowed, will have the option of taking in up to 100 people and have larger facilities.
Community is very concerned at the watering down of urban sprawl constraints under the Plan and the potential damage to sensitive areas which warrant
protection. While the formal submission period on FNQ2025 has ended, CAFNEC wants to keep up the pressure for amendment of FNQ2025 so that it protects wildlife corridors and important habitat, especially for cassowaries.
Join the campaign by sending a letter to the Deputy Premier using the points suggested in this letter by CAFNEC here.
Current opportunities to support current Queensland Parliamentary EPetitions are available here including recycled sewerage effluent, daylight savings, Gold Coast Hospital,light rail for Brisbane, proposed destruction of Fairy house to upgrade roads, mining in Wildlife Reserves.
Other opportunities to comment and help shape our future are available online as follows:
The federal government’s discussion paper on improving fuel efficiency of Australian vehicles is open for comment until 7 November 2008. See www.environment.gov.au/settlements/transport/
According to Minister for Natural Resources and Water Queensland has a number of river systems which have been almost untouched by development and are therefore in near natural condition, with all, or almost all, of their natural values intact. They are important because they:
• help sustain healthy ecosystems for native plants and animals
• support sustainable economic activities, such as grazing, fishing and eco-tourism
• provide unique opportunities for recreation and tourism.
One way of preserving this valuable part of our natural heritage for the benefit of current and future generations is to designate them as ‘declared wild rivers'.
Do you agree with this statement? Read more about this process and have a say. You can do this online from here.