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despite the tongue-in-cheek nature (in part) of
this thread it does raise some issues that are frustrating for a lot of us.
interestingly there was a story on foreign correspondent abc, last Tuesday
that is relevant to this topic. here's the synopsis from the foreign
correspondent website:
Patagonia has long occupied a mythical place
in the culture of Argentina. Like the Australian Outback or the Great Plains of
North America, this brooding landscape of big skies and vast distances, has
provided the images that helped defined a nation.
But as reporter Eric
Campbell discovered, this beautiful region is now under threat. The local wool
industry is dying, due to over-grazing and economic decline; and as a result, an
entire way of life is threatened.
Nowadays, men like 61-year-old Don
Carlos Gelos have been forced to make their living shearing sheep for tourists,
rather than working on one of Patagonia?s massive sheep stations, or
?estancias?.
?Tourism is harder for me ? people speak a different
language?, he says, ?I prefer what I used to do before?. But there will be no
going back to the old days.
Ironically the future of Patagonia may depend
on a Yankee land grab. American tycoons and Hollywood stars are buying up vast
areas of Patagonia, much to the consternation of locals. But the newcomers are
bringing much needed investment and, perhaps most importantly, a valuable
ecological outlook.
The American eco-philanthropist, Kris McDivitt, for
example, recently spent $1.7 million of privately raised money setting up Monte
Leon, Argentina?s first ever coastal national park.
?You can?t wait for
governments to protect the bio-diversity and bio-richness of their countries?,
she explained to Campbell, ?I think that individuals need to step up to the
plate and pay their rent for living on the planet?.
the last two paragraphs sum up this debate pretty
well. in brisbane it brings to mind the legacy of Jack Venman. so as concerned
individuals where do we start? - there aren't too many Jack Venmans
about.
peter
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