I second that, Anthea!
Having done some birding with guides, I have been more than happy to
pay their asking price especially if they are giving up their time and
not part of their usual income/employment.
If you think it is too expensive, then dont' go and don't whinge about
it! Like everything else in this economy driven society, the price is
what people will pay for that service.
As for their (indigenous peoples across Australia - Murri's, Yolgnu,
Koories, etc) connection with the land, it is generally deeper than any
"WASP or Catholic" could understand. Having lived in indigenous
communities in a few places in Arnhem land and only scratched the
surface of this connection, I can only begin to appreciate this.
So birders, be thankful that there is a way to see these parrots and
benefit a local "economy" than not at all.
Yours in all things "green"
Regards
John Harris
Manager, Environment and Sustainability
Donvale Christian College
155 Tindals Rd Donvale 3111
03 9844 2471 Ext 217
0409 090 955
President, Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV)
Past President, Victorian Association for Environmental Education
(VAEE)
>>> brian fleming <> 1/12/2010 2:01 PM >>>
Thank you Debbie, I agree with every word!
Anthea Fleming
On 1/12/2010 1:44 PM, Debbie Lustig wrote:
>
> I have been reading people's opinions about the money being charged
to see Princess Parrots and can hold off no longer. There is an
underlying racism that lurks, a nasty little secret, beneath the
comments of many. How else to explain well-meaning discussions along
these lines (and I paraphrase):
> 'If it teaches them - Indigenous people - to run birding tours then I
approve' (for our - whitefellas' - benefit, of course);
> 'If they share the money among their community then I approve' (since
when were Europeans called upon to share their profits with their
communites?);
> 'They've been given enough money already so I don't approve'
(over-simplifying an unbelievably complex situation); and
> 'If they can get that sort of money, let them try (but I don't
approve)'.
> These sentiments imply a superiority and moral high ground we simply
don't possess. They are more offensive for being subtle.
> People have also objected to the traditional owner's scruples about
(white) birders running around on his land, when we don't have a clue
what it means to be custodians of the land. To protect the animals,
birds and plants; to have a spiritual connection; to be diminished when
the land is trampled on and ignorantly invaded.
> Look at how we have managed custody of our own (stolen) lands, here
in our cities and degraded, agricultural areas - we know only how to
exploit.
> I am fed up with reading this correspondence, couched in economic
terms but informed by ugly, masked racism. From now on, could it be
limited to the facts?
>
>
>
>
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