Category: Environment

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Close to home

mtcooroora.jpg

Mt. Cooroora, one of the several fascinating extinct local volcanic plugs revered by the indigenous people of the Sunshine Coast, is the site of the dreaded yearly King of the Mountain race at Pomona, not far from our place. Since the aboriginal people considered, we have heard, this mountain as a place of sacred women’s business … unsurprising considering its breast-like shape … the race is perhaps inappropriate. Every fourth Sunday in July, bevies of fitness addicts grunt their way to the top and hurtle down. We choose to climb the mountain only on special occasions – the last time was at the turn of the millenium.

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Alien fungi visitation

fung3.jpgAlien fungi 1Alien fungi 2

They came with the torrential rain during the past month to inhabit the bush and compost heap on our property. We’ve never seen these species before … anyone who knows what they are, we’d love to know. The pink tentacled monstrosity is particularly weird.

The second two could be stinkhorns? The red specimen also looked a bit like this fungus – Aseroe rubra. There’s more info about the bizarre Australian stinkhorns here.

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Blog Action Day – let’s put the environment first for a change.

Rarely are we interested in participating in these ever more ubiquitous days of blog solidarity, however given that our upcoming election may pivot around environmental issues, here’s our contribution.

Let’s face it, follks, both major Asstralian parties are off the mark when it comes to ensuring our environment and we who have plundered it survive. Neither party is willing to address the main issue adequately – that our consumption levels are far too disgustingly gluttonous for sustainability. Both parties preach a blind necessity of population growth for productivity growth without questioning the longterm viability of this profligacy or the patent lack of common sense in promoting ever increasing gobbling of resources and abominable expansion of concrete slums along the Australian coastline. Both Libs and Labs are paid off by lobby groups, from industry, religious groups and workers, which mean these issues are submerged. Look no further than the recent Gunns debacle in Tasmania, the rape of democracy in Queensland with forced council amalgamations which will assist developers at the expense of the environment particularly in the South East quarter, the Traveston Dam horror, the ghastly influence of the loony Exclusive Brethren in our elections, not to mention the insidious and historically all pervasive intrusions of the male dominated Catholic church nuthouse with its destructive, self-interested policy of rampant human reproduction.

Sneaky, our opportunistic scrub turkey agrees with our major parties’ shortsighted economic irrationalism. Without human waste, Sneaky’s lifestyle would be greatly impoverished.

Sneaky the scrub turkey

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Turtle Travesty in Brisbane

Take note, Brisvegans – the feeding of the habits of the profligate industrial corporations and unsustainable agricultural enterprises who use the lion’s share of the water in South East Queensland, predominantly to maximise their export profits, will have a permanent, disastrous effect on the ecosystem of the Mary River if the Traveston Crossing dam is constructed.

Anna Blight is not backing down on either Beattie’s dictatorial dam proposal or Council amalgamations, though she has whined in the understatement of the century, “To be frank, I think we could have and should have handled it better along the way”. With an environment impact report due out this month, Big Thighs also admitted “Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull could knock it back on environmental grounds.” Here’s hoping.

Travis the endangered Mary River Turtle comes to Brisbane again this weekend

After being a hit with the crowds last Sunday at Northey St Markets, this Saturday 6 October, Travis, a 40 year old Mary River Turtle will be in New Farm Park from 8:30 – 10:30am.

Bob Brown, Senator and Parliamentary leader fo the Greens will be at New Farm Park at 9:30am to meet Travis in “person” and discuss the threat to the Mary River Turtle posed by the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam on the Mary River.

The Mary River Turtle is an endangered species and occurs in only one river – the Mary River a couple of hours drive north of Brisbane!

To find Travis and Trevor (Travis’s human size counterpart) enter New Farm Park from Brunswick St and follow the internal road to the childrens playground. Travis and his support crew will be in that area.

For further information please contact Tanzi on 0405848375.

Hope to see you and your family there.

Please forward this message to anyone who you know who would like to meet Travis,

Kind Regards,

Australian Freshwater Turtle Conservation and Research Association (AFTCRA) Inc. and the Save the Mary River Co-ordinating Group.

Endangered Marry River catchment species