Our petition  SIGN IT HERE 

TO: THE HONOURABLE GREG HUNT, MP, FEDERAL MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

PROTECT KOALAS AND QUOLLS  

Ask Federal MP Greg Hunt to

SAY NO TO INDUSTRY AT NORTH MACLEAN

Dear Minister Hunt, 

Please reject the development application for the proposed North Maclean Enterprise Precinct at North Maclean, South-East Queensland which involves clearing 289 acres of koala and quoll habitat.

 Why is this important?

There are significant environmental and community concerns

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS Sign to support our petition here

Since 1996, the environmental concerns raised by the community at North Maclean and Munruben have never been addressed. There have been numerous sightings of vulnerable Koalas on and around the property. There have been numerous sightings of endangered Spotted-Tailed Quolls in adjacent properties - these quoll sightings have been the first in the Greater Brisbane Area since the 1930s . Quoll roadkill has been collected from the area confirming the presence of quolls in this area. The proposed site provides valuable habitat for koalas, quolls and other threatened species including the endangered grey headed flying fox, the Swift Parrot and the vunerable Glossy Black Cockatoo. 
There have been no detailed impact assessments of industry on these vulnerable/threatened species. No frog or reptile studies have ever been carried out. 
By signing the petition, you are asking Minister Greg Hunt to REJECT the North Maclean Enterprise (Industry) Precinct proposal. You will be giving our unique Koalas, Spotted-tailed Quolls and other Endangered/Vulnerable wildlife of North Maclean and Munruben a chance of survival. If this development application is approved at North Maclean, 117 hectares (approx. 289 acres) of koala food and shelter habitat will be totally cleared. The major threat to koalas is the loss of habitat. This vast proposed site is only 45% of what is eventually planned for the koala habitat of North Maclean. This current application is a dangerous precedent in the area that should not be approved.

COMMUNITY CONCERNS Sign to support our petition here

LACA calls for strong climate action from State Government - to end  ‘Alice in Blunderland’

We are celebrating our 25 years of advocacy and activism by calling a public meeting to urge the Newman Government to reverse its ‘Alice in Blunderland’ approach to climate change action and Reef protection. 

LACA climate spokesperson Barry Fitzpatrick said LACA could not support the Government’s recently released draft Long Term Sustainability Plan to save the Great Barrier Reef, describing it as ‘completely useless’ because it lacks any commitment to take strong action to reduce the State’s greenhouse gas emissions. 

Read Logan and Albert Conservation LACA submission here.LongTermSustainableReefPlan_LACA_submission_bf.pdf

‘It is really disappointing that, after a quarter of a century of campaigning , LACA still finds itself battling the same old political games around critically important environment issues like this.’

Members of the public are specially invited and welcome to attend our  meeting which will be held at Kimberley College, Carbrook on Saturday 15 November, starting at 2.00 pm. Contact : Barry Fitzpatrick 0427002640 

                   World Wetlands Day 2 February 2013

                   Wetlands and Water Management.

                     Wetlands are not wastelands.

The key objective of World Wetlands Day 2013 is to raise people's awareness of the interdependence between water and wetlands, to highlight ways to ensure the equitable sharing of water between different stakeholder groups and to understand that without wetlands there will be no water.

Cartoon by Seppo - Finnish environmentalist.

The importance of wetlands to the world has been recognized in the international Ramsar Convention signed in 1971. Wetlands  include lakes and rivers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands and peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, near-shore marine areas, mangroves and coral reefs, and human-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs, and salt pans. There are 163 contracting countries and area governed by wise use protocol is 197,347,539 hectares.

 Moreton Bay in SEQ south east Queensland is number 631 joined since 22 October 1993. See complete site list here.

This makes the health of Logan and Albert Rivers doubly significant as they contribute to the health or otherwise of Moreton Bay. Unfortunately the Healthy Waterways Report Card for these waterways is lower than acceptable ie not healthy.

SEQ environment groups warn of the looming threat to Moreton Bay from the sheer scale of proposed urban development throughout the region. Over a decades worth of achievements could be undone if the massive new unsustainable urban development throughout SEQ is allowed to occur with out having to fully consider and put in place measures to avoid impacts to waterways.

Large-scale catchment wide rehabilitation projects and the adoption of world's best development standards in the vicinity of one billion dollars needs to be invested to repair catchment degradation throughout the region; otherwise the ecological health of Moreton Bay is likely to continue to decline overtime.

Another F for fail for  the Logan River Estuary surely should mean that all levels of government should be aware of the damage our present human activites is causing and business as usual - despite the rhetoric - will not reverse the degradation.The southern Moreton Bay Ramsar site is also in poor health.

'The 2010 report card shows the condition of the Albert and Logan estuaries remain in poor condition, despite over ten years of hard work to improve their ecological health. The poor estuary health is caused by high nutrient and sediment levels, which is continued to be caused by existing inappropriate urban and industrial development throughout the catchment. Impacts to waterways are set to escalate if a business as usual approach is taken to the massive urban development planned for our part of the region.

When will the political will change to work towards a healthy catchment and ecosystem whose value for longterm human survival is essential. Without a healthy ecosystem [planet] we will not have a healthy sustainable lifestyle.

Queensland Conservation Association released their comment in this media release. QCC_healthywaterwaysreportcard20oct.doc  Bytes 01/01/1970, 10:00