I read with much interest Mark’s concerns on the vanishing
small patches of vegetation and the pruning of trees due to the response to the
2003 bushfire, the in-fill program and drought. I also note Mark’s
final comment ‘Are we as a group going
to sit back and watch all this happen before our eyes or is there more that COG
can do?’.
COG is very active in the area of conservation issues
within the ACT, for instance we are awaiting replies from three letters to
various Ministers at present. From my short experience on the COG
Committee it has become obvious to me that letter
writing to the appropriate Departments is all very well but the letters go
nowhere if they contain ‘motherhood’ statements for instance
decrying the loss of ‘bush’ within the Bush Capital. Yet
another letter to appropriate authorities may make us feel good but……..
Letters only work if they contain hard data and persistent follow-up.
As a responsible organisation specifically interested
in birds and their habitats we therefore need data to demonstrate the effects
of pruning, clearing etc on the cities bird life but at the same time this
effect needs to be isolated from the effects of drought. An obvious
source of these data would be the Garden Bird Survey but how do we identify the
drought effects? We could identify those areas that have little
vegetation and compare with areas that are well vegetated but unfortunately there
are very few contributors from the new suburbs of Gungahlin and Tuggeranong with
the smaller gardens and less vegetation.
A possible way forward would be for COG to support a
project that examines the effects of pruning and tree removal on the avifauna
of the area or to examine the difference in species abundance between those older
well vegetated suburbs and the newer, suburbs with small gardens.
Any other suggestions?
Chris
24 Bardsley Place
Holt
ACT 2615
Tel: 02-62546324
