Thanks to all who replied to my little comment on Newhaven and the concerns
I have about a viable public reserve system across Australia.
I am shocked, though not surprised, to hear that national park management in
SA is perceived to be so poor. I am worried that it may be so elsewhere.
Given this state of affairs, is there any comment on whether this is linked
to the so-called mega-departments, such as the WA version of CALM, where
resource management and conservation are under the control or one Minister
(conflict of interest?) or is this a general retreat from effective
government control.
I have no concerns about what Birds Australia is doing at Gluepot, though I
have not yet seen on the ground. I am rather pleased with the reports I have
seen. I certainly do not think that is a problem. I am also certain that
they will also be good managers of Newhaven. Will there be a covenant on
these lands that may be binding if one day BA fails and needs to sell these
lands?
I also do not have any concerns about, for example, Indigenous Protected
Lands (IPA's).
Indeed, I guess that I have no real concern for who owns title of land, so
long as the land in question, if deemed worthy of conservation, is managed
according to the IUCN category most appropriate for that site. Remember that
Categories 1 and 2 are the highest protection!
However I do have a concern that governments do not retreat from their role
as protectors of our environment (look at the mess that is England! ...
where most reserves are owned privately and where protection of the wild
environment is holding on to managed parcels of land often modified many
times over) and expect private ownership of reserves. That would place undue
pressure on sites to raise money to cover costs. I would prefer not to talk
of Earth Sanctuaries in this context.
I hope that Hugo is correct that the actions of BA do act as a catalyst to
governments to lift their game and commend the recent edition of Wingspan
for the excellent article on the savanna country and land clearing in
general. I also agree with Hugo that public land managers are asked to be
more concerned with money potential of properties whose reason for
protection was conservation and that this is causing concern. It is a
failure of political will. The various affiliated bodies to NPA-Australia
will no doubt do their best but it will require effort.
Finally I commend BA for this purchase. I am not opposed to this and have
already said I have supported the purchase of Gluepot. However I also
believe that the pressure must be on government to deliver and here we all
have a responsibility.
Brian Everingham
To unsubscribe from this list, please send a message to
Include ONLY "unsubscribe birding-aus"
in the message body (without the quotes)
|
