Continuing from previous message:
The best thing that environmentalists can do then is to try to
minimise the damage.
Precisely, Bob, we are trying to rescue some of our natural assets
from the ashes.
On the other hand, I am quite concerned about the comment that
artificial roosts
are planned for the Toorbul area.
It is my observation that Toorbul has a significant area of natural wader high
tide roosts at the moment and there doesn't appear to be any
development in the
area that would disturb those sites.
Question: Are there plans to 'develop' the Toorbul area in such a way that the
natural roosts would be damaged thus requiring artificial roosts to be
established?
If not, why is there a plan to interfere with the natural habitats? (It
seems to me that any area used for an artificial roost would impact on natural
habitat of some kind.)
There are not any plans to develop Toorbul to my knowledge, and our
hopes to create artificial roosting at Toorbul are additional and
complementary to the current roost, not a replacement. However, there
are problems which we have had to address. We have a lot of waders to
relocate from Dux (up to 1000 Eastern Curlew alone have used Dux on
peak passage), and North Headland will not be big enough. Toorbul is
not a high tide roost in the true sense, because during 30% of all
high tides the roost is inundated, and once the water rises the birds
fly to Dux to roost. The Toorbul roost would best be described as a
staging roost. I know it is a favourite place for people to go and
watch waders, but you won't find waders there over a 2 metre high
tide (Brisbane Bar), and even lower when a strong SE wind blows. Our
need is to create some safe king tide roosting to replace that
currently available at Dux. Near the current Toorbul roost is an area
(not natural habitat) which could provide further roosting space on
higher tides, but it is also not very big. We are beggars, and we
can't be choosy. Wish we could.
Not being a capitalist myself (perhaps an accident of birth?), I
don't share the
rosy view of developers that Jill appears to. But then I don't suppose I have
met the right ones.
Oh please, Bob! I carry no brief for developers in general, but the
brief I carry is that of rescuing something worthwhile from an
otherwise doomed situation. I am not prepared to lie down and die and
let the waders lose essential roosting. That's the alternative. And I
repeat that the people we are dealing with are good to deal with.
A succession of developer dominated local councils in Redcliffe, a city from
which it is possible to see Bribie Island, has seen that city progressively
deprived of most of the natural habitat and wader roosts that made
the area one
of great
significance.
Precisely my viewpoint. There has been a net loss of waders in your
area through these habitat losses. We've probably got your birds in
the Pumicestone Passage. It's probably your birds we're trying to
house!
Finally, I am intrigued by the notion of an environmental consultant
who "didn't
know much about waders" but who is advising a company developing an area where
the main threat is to a wader habitat.
No, that's not how it is. I must be careful. Suffice to say that a
different environmental consultant, not from Queensland, was engaged
to handle waders exclusively, and has been quietly dropped. His
interpretation of information which he commissioned was rather
creative. Peter Scott is a competent environmental consultant, but
was originally engaged for a variety of other environmental matters,
in which he has considerable expertise. He slipped into discussions
with us, and we found him very good to deal with. And he takes
advice. We are very happy dealing with him.
Incidentally, I must admit to being a hypocrite to a significant
degree in that
as a Self-funded Retiree espousing distaste for capitalists and their twisted,
self-serving attitudes I am dependant on
the capitalist system for my meagre income and am willing to justify
that in my
own mind.
Well, Bob, if you want to eat, you have to earn a living, and you
don't have much choice when you look for ways to fund retirement in
our society. I'm in the same boat as you, but I have no problem with
it. And not all capitalists are greedy. Humans are just animals, and
human behavoiur is not always praiseworthy. I'm not out to change our
society. I just accept it. And get on with trying to salvage
something good from the ashes.
Now, having attended to matters which you raised, I want to add that
you have caused me to think further. The lengthy and complex
discussions I held with myself, before deciding to embark upon this
path, were all based upon the premise that I was dealing with the
certain destruction of a habitat. The approvals to develop had
already been given years before I ever saw the site (I first heard
of Dux in 1990, and then only sketchily). I have only known it as a
construction site, which became a roost. You have made me look more
broadly at how I would respond, if I had involvement in an activity
before any approvals were issued, or destruction occurred. And that
is an entirely different matter.
I guess I can partly answer that by looking at the work I am doing
with terns at the other end of the Pumicestone Passage. I see a
threatened habitat, namely the Caloundra sandbanks. It has not been
destroyed, it is a very rich natural asset. It is threatened by
population pressure, that death by a thousand cuts. I want to
conserve that habitat for birds for the future. But I realise that
only good quality information will protect those sandbanks. People
need to know why they should value those sandbanks. So I spend a year
gathering data, then I write up the results, and then I start
pressing buttons in the right quarters to gain my protection. If that
fails, then I'm buggered. But I don't think like that. I won't fail.
Gee, I'm exhausted after that.
Cheers,
Jill
--
Jill Dening
Sunshine Coast, Qld
26º 51' 152º 56'
Ph (07) 5494 0994
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