Logan and Albert Conservation Association

An updated SEQ Regional Plan 2009 - 2031 is in planning now - 12 months earlier than originally planned. A draft will be released in December 2008, with submissions closing end March 2009. HAVE AN INPUT NOW - by Friday 6 June 2008.  

Reporting of wildlife sightings and personal recording is of vital importance. Community members play an essential role in monitoring widlife movements and populations - especially if we notice something out of the ordinary. Residents in the Kerry /Laravale /Tamrookum areas are currently witnessing more dead dying and vanishing wildlife than ever before.

The national body the Australian Pesticides & Veterinary Medicines Authority APVMA states on its website that it investigates all reports of adverse experiences with agricultural and veterinary chemical products. An adverse experience is an unintended or unexpected effect when the product is used according to the label instructions. This includes impacts on human beings, animals and crops, and damage to the environment. There are SEVERAL WAYS TO SUBMIT A REPORT - online, email, complete printed form and post, phone and fax. This page from the APVMA website  has links for those options and other background documents. For your convenience the form to complete for human health issues is here. To report environmental issues use this form.

Traditional farming practices and even weed control by local authorities have since world war two made use of toxic chemicals as an 'instant' method to control nature's response to our land use management.  Such use however is intended to to be tightly regulated in order to avoid adverse effects from mismanagement. The following links have been provided for easier access to those government publications which are freely available on the government websites. The how when where and why - and what to do if there are mishaps are all available.

A significant number of very tall grass trees appear to be dying on a property adjacent to Spring Creek, Kerry Valley. This has occurred after aerial spraying on the nextdoor property went astray during windy conditions. Such vegetation is protected under Environmental Protection Agency legislation.This is a very slow growing species. Information from EPA about the species Xanthorrhoea can be downloaded from the government website.

The Australian Native Plant Pages provides information and extensive links for more information.

If one chooses to gaze upon the slopes of Mt Mahomet, it is not a pretty site:HUNDREDS of dead and dying grass trees tell a sorry tale.

David Attenborough is often quoted as saying:" I know of no pleasure deeper than that which comes from contemplating the natural world and trying to understand it."  Such pleasures are denied here now by an action vandalism in my opinion beyond human comprehension.

   Before the spraying on adjacent property                             After the spraying on adjacent property

The Beaudesert Times is covering the story in weekly papers. Edition for 30 April 2008 will be available here. Formal investigations have been launched by several sections of Queensland Government. Evidence of breaches of agricultural and veterinary control of use legislation and use according to manufacturer's label instructions will be checked by Biosecurity Queensland. Human health issues will be handled by either Queensland Health or the local Workplace Health and Safety officers.

If you are concerned about the loss of protected vegetation, if you are concerned about the water quality, if you have concerns with potential longterm heath risks to residents in the Scenic Rim - or other areas where such toxic chemicals are used, come along to the meeting at Kerry Memorial Hall now confirmed for Wednesday 14 May 2008 staring 7.00pm. Contact email for booking will be posted here.

In the mean time consider writing to or phoning your local councillor, mayor, member of state and federal governments and local newspapers to express your concerns.

A growing band of indigenous leaders now believe that hunting by their people is excessive and no longer sustainable. The leaders argue that a combination of increased human populations and the use of firearms, vehicles and motorboats has distorted traditional notions of hunting.

"It is easy these days for too many animals to be killed," chairman of the Mapoon Aboriginal Shire Council, Guivarra, says. He adds that hunting is jeopardising plans by the Mapoon people to emulate Kakadu's success as an ecotourism destination. "We have the same wetlands and waterbirds, but soon there won't be anything for people to come and see," he says in The Australian 26 April 2008.

Mary River was home to a number of rare and endangered species, including the well known Mary River cod and turtle and the Queensland lungfish. There were also a couple of smaller fish regarded as rare or endangered. There used to be nine species of lungfish in Australia, but all of them are now extinct except for the Queensland lungfish.  This was part of the interview with Professor Angela Arthington Professor of Environmental Science at Griffith University and a research member of the Australian Rivers Institute, Angela Arthington during ABC Radio's rural program, Bush Telegraph.

Pro and anti-dam advocates of the Traveston Crossing dam issue were interviewed on Bush Telegraph this week.Reporter Greg Muller interviewed six people, five warning of dangers and one - dam construction company boss Graeme Newton saying all is well with the project. Read The Gympie Times coverage here .

A huge range of titles are available both on line and via bookshops and libraries. The catalogue or list is available here. Web specials, downloads, online ordering etc are available. This is also a useful tool to find new titles to request at your Council library. Some older resources are free eg from 2001 Resetting the Compass Australia's Journey Towards Sustainability. This work was highly was highly regarded. eg “This is a timely and important book which should be at least on your bookshelf, if not on your desk or even your shoulder-holster! ... The span of the book is truly impressive, and the language is always clear and compelling.” Ian Lowe, Griffith University, Brisbane (Australian Journal of Environmental Management v.8 no.3 September 2001)

In view of the hazardous outcomes of recent aerial spraying in Kerry Valley Scenic Rim these two older resources could be useful - Review of Agricultural Chemical Spray Drift and Spray Drift Management  - both available as free downloads.

If you do read any of these titles and would like to submit a review please send it to ecoinfo[at]laca.org.au.

On my wish to read list are the following titles -

Native Mice and Rats written by Bill Breed and Fred Ford

Australia’s native rodents are the most ecologically diverse family of Australian mammals. There are about 60 living species – all within the subfamily Murinae – representing around 25 per cent of all species of Australian mammals. They range in size from the very small delicate mouse to the highly specialised, arid-adapted hopping mouse, the large tree rat and the carnivorous water rat. Native Mice and Rats describes the evolution and ecology of this much-neglected group of animals. It details the diversity of their reproductive biology, their dietary adaptations and social behaviour. The book also includes information on rodent parasites and diseases, and concludes by outlining the changes in distribution of the various species since the arrival of Europeans as well as current conservation programs.

Good Gardens with Less Water  -  companion to Kevin Handreck’s best-selling Gardening Down-Under

It is possible to have a great garden anywhere in Australia, even under the toughest water restrictions. Good Gardens with Less Water will show you how. This new book is a practical guide to gardening with limited water.

The full report is available here. This report has many implications for what we as a community do and each can do.