I think I tend to agree with Lawrie. There is a tendency to grab hold of
endangered species in an effort to fight anything that someone might disagree
with. Fair enough as all fair in love and war but, in many cases, this may
work against them in the long run.
There is a need to look at the issues rationally. What are the odds of an
Orange-bellied Parrot running foul of a wind powered generator? I was asked a
similar question re. shorebirds in the Hunter estuary several years ago. The
generator was built and, to my knowledge not a single bird strike recorded to
date - in an area where the number of shorebirds is far greater than the total
world population of Orange-bellied Parrots! Simply, in the case of the
Kooragang generator the blades turn slowly and it would be a VERY unfortunate
bird to get clobbered.
What is the population of parrots in the area? Is the generator being built in
the middle of their foraging habitat?
Now, I'm not saying that there is no case, I don't know the first thing about
this particular issue, I'm simply saying that the facts need to be understood
before people make a stand. If the birding community is going to get behind an
issue such as this they really need to be very careful to remain credibility.
Some time ago the Regent Honeyeater was mentioned as a reason to prevent the
logging of Goonoo State Forest, near Dubbo, for charcoal. There has been one
reliable record of Regent Honeyeaters in this forest! In this case those
people putting the case were far better to hanging their hat on something more
tangible such as Malleefowl or Glossy Black Cockatoos.
Anyway, for what it's worth there's my two bobs worth.
David
David Geering
Regent Honeyeater Recovery Coordinator
NSW NPWS
P.O. Box 2111
Dubbo NSW 2830
Ph. Freecall 1800 621 056 or 02 6883 5335
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