Environment Roundtable
Cairns Environment Roundtable was held on Sunday 28 February 2010 when Kate Jones, Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability met with representatives of environmental groups in the area including Syd Walker of Friends of the Earth Kuranda.
Syd presented the following briefing paper on three issues that particularly concern us:
- Transport,
- Water Quality
- Continuing vegetation clearance and associated wildlife habitat loss
Briefing Paper
1/ Transport with specific reference to the Kuranda Range
During this visit to FNQ, Ministers may well be lobbied by advocates of a proposed Four-Lane Highway through World Heritage, linking Cairns to the Tablelands.
This proposal was put on hold by the Bligh Government – when it announced that a decision over the highway would be deferred for at least a decade. But the main roads lobby never lets up.
Friends of the Earth Kuranda is one of many groups and networks that applauds the decision taken by the Bligh government to defer a decision on a new Highway. Developing the tablelands with the same car-dependency model that’s already rampant in FNQ is no way towards a sustainable future – quite apart from World Heritage and biodiversity issues specific to the proposed area and route.
However, we urge the Government should act now to reduce pressure on the existing two-lane Kuranda Range road, through effective demand management and better use of existing local rail facilities.
It is nothing less than a scandal that the busy and scenic Kuranda Range Road is still used by waste trucks to transport solid waste from a long-time malfunctioning ‘recycling’ facility in Cairns to landfill in Mareeba. Both ends of their journey are on existing rail links. Why isn’t rail used?
We ask the Government to put serious effort is put into revitalising rail in FNQ – and to pursuing transport demand management strategies. Taking effective action to reduce traffic on the Kuranda Range would be an excellent test-bed for broader sustainable transport planning.
FoE Kuranda proposed quite a sophisticated demand management project a couple of years ago. Our proposal was not accepted for funding by the State Government. We wish to know what the Government intends to do instead?
2/ Water quality
Among the plethora of threatening processes affecting the Great Barrier Reef is the hot potato of sediment , nutrient and especially pesticide run-off from land.
We have been appalled, over the years, at the complete absence of any serious monitoring of our local river – the Barron – for pesticide content. It’s known that several hundred pesticides are used in this catchment annually. The toxicity of this complex brew is really unknown. It is a serious issue for the reef and river wildlife – but there are additional concerns that the drinking supplies of townships such as Kuranda, extracted from the river without elaborate filtering for complex chemicals, may also be unsafe for long term use.
The Premier’s aspirational target of a 50% reduction of pollution run-off onto the Reef over the coming 4 years is a positive beginning. But there must be real monitoring – or it will be impossible to know whether or not it has been achieved – and real action, especially with regard to farmed land – or such an ambitious target will never be achieved.
Organic agriculture provides an obvious way forward – and we’d like to see a lot more government support for this small but not insignificant part of the Queensland agricultural sector which tends to overlooked.
We would also like to see the State Government require its own agencies and local councils to move rapidly, where possible, to chemical-free land maintenance strategies.
3/ Continuing vegetation clearance and associated wildlife habitat loss
As other groups at this meeting are leading on this issue we will not duplicate their efforts in this short briefing presentation, other than to note our deep concern over continuing loss of native vegetation in this area and our frustration that the existing planning regime fails to give adequate protection to this priceless asset.
End of briefing paper
Living with Flying Foxes: Connect Magazine articles
Isn’t it about time we accepted and welcomed the Flying Foxes into our lives and gardens?
We are so fortunate to share this tropical paradise with some of our very unique flora and fauna.This makes us a major destination for ecotourism and it also attracts scientists from all over the world to visit and study our very special tropical environment.
We are very lucky to have two more or less permanent flying-fox colonies in Cairns, one is located right in the centre of town, near the library attracting many fascinated overseas visitors and photographers.
At the moment you can even watch two different flying-fox species there. The nomadic Little Red Flying-Fox that mainly feeds on the nectar of the blossoms of the eucalyptus and other native trees and the more permanent resident the Spectacled Flying-Fox, also known as the Fruit Bat.
They feed on nectar as well as on native rainforest fruit, pollinating trees and dropping seeds while flying around, planting new trees and contributing to the diversity of our rainforests.
Being nocturnal animals, it looks quite spectacular around dusk when they leave their roosting trees to fly off into the night sky to feed and work all night, pollinating and planting trees.
Flying foxes are very intelligent and social. For safety they like to live near people, mainly during their baby season, where there are less predators like pythons and birds of prey. On their long flights to find food, they can’t take their babies with them and have to leave them alone overnight.
With major clearing of native forests, they are rapidly runningout of native food and have to fly very long distances to feed. To beat starvation they had to adapt to the risky life of finding fruit in orchards and gardens.
They soon discovered that the farmers didn’t like to share their fruit, and out came the guns, electric grids, pesticides. Also being caught in barbed wire fences and on powerlines still kills many these days.
The use of electric grids and shooting of flying-foxes is not allowed in Queensland anymore. Many thousands died before they finally got protected, leaving some species on the endangered list.
Another huge problem are weeds with edible seeds like the wild tobacco plants.By feeding so low from these trees, they will pick up paralysis ticks, mainly during baby season between September and January. They are not immune to the tick and hundreds of mums fall out of the trees paralysed, leaving the babies to starve.
Wildlife Rescue volunteers search accessible colonies to rescue, hand raise and finally release the flying-foxes after many months of caring back into the wild.
Of course, flying-foxes have their fair share of illnesses and diseases just like all of us. Many of them are stress related. There is certainly no danger to people if you don’t disturb or handle them.
If you happen to find an injured flying-foxes and don’t know what to do, just get in touch with Wildlife Rescue, Batreach in Kuranda (4093 8858) or the Tolga Bat Hospital.
All these rescue places are run by volunteers and rely on donations. Even just a box of fruit and vegetables will help to feed the animals. Also planting native flowering and fruiting trees in areas where you would like to see the flying-fox might just keep them from raiding your orchard.
Acceptance and sharing of our resources is important. There is an abundance of food for all of us.That’s the law of nature, as long as nobody tries to take it all.
Gaby Schierenbeck Connect Magazine March 2010
Foe Kuranda member, Wildlife Carer and Batreach volunteer
Flying-Foxes and the Need for a Healthy Environment
The survival of wildlife depends on our awareness when we clear and change their habitat and environment, to ensure that whatever we plant or introduce doesn´t harm them or take away their food source altogether.
Several flying-foxes, mainly of the Little Red flying-fox species, have come into care recently, very sick with symptoms of severe poisoning, and white powder still in their fur.
The poison used to protect bananas from bugs and insects gets into their fur, and by just licking and cleaning themselves they absorb the poison, which will make them very sick and often kill them.
These particular flying-foxes feed on banana flowers and other flowers in orchards, when they can’t find enough native flowering trees. They feed on the nectar, just as birds or butterflies also do.
Feeding on nectar does not prevent fruiting, and since bananas are protected by bags and picked green, they cannot get at the fruit. In any case, Little Red flying-foxes rarely eat fruit, and green, un-ripe bananas are definitely not part of their diet.
The poisons used on bananas are used on many other fruits as well, and can be very harmful for human consumption.
In the last issue of Connect Magazine I wrote that flying-foxes, just like all of us, can also get sick. Often this is stress-related due to habitat loss or, like this example shows, by poisoning.
Unfortunately the words ‘just like all of us’ were not printed, which changed the meaning from what I had intended.
So I would just like to make you aware again that these beautiful animals are smart, healthy and clean and don´t mean any harm. They are no threat to humans; flying-foxes are protected wildlife and like any other wild creature they should not be handled unnecessarily.
Flying-foxes are closely related to primates, and are in fact our nearest relatives, (since we don’t have monkeys in Australia).
They are extremely important pollinators and tree planters and feed in our orchards only out of desperation to survive. They are very social and trusting creatures, and like human neighbourhoods for safety.
We in turn need to be aware of their environmental benefits and the importance of learning to live in harmony with them.
Gaby Schierenbeck Connect Magazine April 2010
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