Totally agree. So many local environmental issues that forgotten due to the myopism on global warming.

For example an invasive species such as Lantana runs rampant through most of the bush and farmlands of eastern Australia. Why can't we get rid of it?

Indian Mynah birds are taking over from native bird species. Why isn't this an important issue that we can deal with?

Cane toads moving across the north of Australia and heading south too.

Carp taking over our freshwater rives.

As Australia appears to entering an economic downturn and unemployment rises, wouldn't it be an idea to employ people at minimum wages (not work for the dole) and get them out there fixing environmental issues which are manageable and have worthwhile outcomes.

Not sure how much it would cost but ten billion dollars should go a fair way to dealing with a few of these issues. Some of the industries could possibly be money making. Get celebrity chefs teaching us how to roast Mynahs instead of quails.

westhammer said...

Yes i love those big trees, they are fkn lovley.dont fkn chop down the big ones thay have been arround for longer than the small ones!

Ah that is another issue entirely. As the young tree grows it consumes carbon, turning it into wood. Why not chop down selected mature trees? I'm not advocating clear felling here. The wood is then chopped up for timber to build structures. Get more house frames built from Australian hardwood that will last for years and years, rather than softwood that does not have the same structural lifespan.

Our timber can also be used to make durable furniture and and decorate our home interiors, rather than using hydrocarbons. Timber has so many uses and Australian hardwoods would have to rate as amongst the most durable and stable woods in the world. As the older trees are felled, saplings grow in their place.

Forestry can be one of the most sustainable and environmentally friendly industries around. Properly managed, a reasonably sized forest of a few thousand acres can support a small timber mill and a few timber getters for times to come.

My parents have a farm of around 200 acres on the mid north coast of NSW, around 1/3 is timbered, mainly along the ridges and scrubby gullies. Around every ten years they have a team of timber getters go in there to log selected trees. My father and I mark the trees to be logged, for three reasons, we do not want all the trees to be felled. Secondly if you don't mark and log the trees, you can be ripped off. Thirdly selective logging allows the fauna and flora to survive, animals such as echidnas, wallabies, many birds, reptiles, all the invertebrates plus the plants too.

Unfortunately the green lobby has locked up so much of the land to forestry and as a result many towns have died as the main employer, the timber mill shut down. So now we import timber and timber products from Asia, clear land for pine plantations that are environments many native species cannot live in, and basically screw the countryside up so big companies can make more money.