Archive for the ‘Reptiles’ Category

Wildlife Photography from a respectful distance

Saturday, August 17th, 2013
Eastern Water Dragon (Physignathus lesueurii) Eastern Water Dragon
(Physignathus lesueurii)
Taken for the benefit of the photograph, not the dragon
Photo by Editor in Blue Mountains, Australia, 20061112, photo © under  ^Creative Commons]
Click image to enlarge

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Wildlife photography is not about humanising wildlife for entertainment.  It ought to be about awareness, wonder and respect for wildlife and their habitat.

Zoology may be about technical understanding of the structure and classification of the animal kingdom, but since Darwin we have realised that animals are so much more complex creatures of behaviour and integral to ecology than just being taxidermied museum specimens for public display.

Taxidermied Badger

Zoos are just an extension of museums for the benefit of public entertainment.  But they do not respect wildlife in their habitat.

Lion Languishing
[Source:  ^http://katialglobal2viceduau.global2.vic.edu.au/personal-learning/]

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In their habitat and ecological context, photographed wildlife may be better appreciated and valued for their integral role in Nature.  But at a respectful distance.

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Physignathus lesueurii in its habitat Not for the camera, but naturally obscured in its habitat
A more interpretative photo, but still too close.
Photo by Editor 20061112, photo © under  ^Creative Commons]

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“The two basic processes of education are knowing and valuing”

~ Robert J. Havighurst  (1900-1991).

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Empathy for Other Species is the Key to Ethical Wildlife Photography

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[Source:  “Empathy for Other Species is the Key to Ethical Wildlife Photography”, by Jim Robertson, ^http://www.wildwatch.org/Binocular/bino01/empathy.html]

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<< A deep admiration for Nature has led many to another level of appreciation–the craft of wildlife photography.

Unfortunately, not all who photograph wildlife do so out of caring and with respect for our fellow beings. In fact, the behavior of many photographers, both amateur and professional, can only be described as disrespectful, disruptive and sometimes dangerous to the animals they are photographing.

For example, every spring in Yellowstone you are sure to see a large group of photographers standing around–or even sitting on lawn chairs–talking loudly right outside some poor badger’s birthing den, waiting for the family to emerge. Though these folks may think nothing of the clamor of a rowdy bar or ball game, how would they like to live next door to that bar or ball field, or wake up to the racket of an expectant crowd of photojournalists right outside their bedroom window?

Wildlife Photography

In response to this kind of ill-behavior, which invariably results in the harassment or endangerment of wildlife, informal guidelines have been established to spell out just how close, in yards or feet, one should get to an individual animal, depending on that species’ tolerance zone.

 
Badger Den from a respectful distanceBadger Den
This mother and young badger were photographed across the road from their den using a 600mm telephoto lens and a 2X multiplier
Photo © Jim Robertson
^http://www.wildwatch.org/Binocular/bino01/empathy.html]

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But rather than memorizing numbers and gauging distances, perhaps it would be easier for photographers and wildlife observers to apply The Golden Rule in each and every situation.

However, instead of the old, oversimplified rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” why not adopt a revised golden rule that takes into account the differences between ourselves and other species? Maybe something like, “Do unto others as you think they would have you do unto them.” In other words, try to envision what the animals’ needs and self interests are and take into consideration how their lives in the wild are different from our own.

Empathy, the intellectual or emotional identification with another — or the ability to relate to others — is essential for maintaining ethical standards when photographing wildlife.

Last spring I watched from a distance as the annual gathering of noisy photographers was posted outside the entrance of a badger den. They were so deep in conversation and oblivious to their surroundings that none of them noticed as the mother badger finally made a break for it in hopes of procuring food for her young.

The day before, I had photographed the same badger den from across a road with a 600mm telephoto lens fitted with a 2X extender to bring the subject in closer without actually getting close. Because I remained on the opposite side of the road and well away from the den, quietly giving them the space they needed to engage in their activities and enjoy the sunny day, the badger and her young came and went freely, without paying me any notice.

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The Poor Man’s Super-Telephoto Lens:

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Extender-EF-2X-II-small.

<< The lens of choice among the serious pro wildlife photographers I know seems to be the 600mm ƒ/4 super-telephoto. It’s great for subjects that won’t let you get close, is incredibly sharp, and autofocuses quickly and accurately. However, it costs over $7,000.

That being just a bit beyond my budget, when I really need “reach,” I turn my $1,200 300mm ƒ/4 lens into a 600mm ƒ/8 by attaching a $300 2x teleconverter between the lens and camera body.Also known as tele-extenders, teleconverters are available from the major lens manufacturers for their long lenses, and offer three major benefits.

First, as just cited, they’re an economical way to get superlong focal lengths. And they’re not just for the budget-challenged. Pros use them, too—a 1.4x converter turns that monster 600mm into an 840mm; a 2x converter, into a 1200mm.

The second benefit of the teleconverter is that it doesn’t change the lens’ minimum focusing distance.
Add a 2x converter to a 300mm lens that focuses down to five feet, and you have a 600mm lens that focuses down to five feet. (For comparison, my camera manufacturer’s 600mm super-telephoto won’t focus closer than 18 feet unless you attach it to an extension tube; but then it won’t focus out to infinity.)

The third teleconverter benefit is lack of bulk. A 300mm lens with a 2x teleconverter is much more compact than a 600mm ƒ/4 super-telephoto lens. (A 600mm ƒ/8 prime lens also would be smaller than the 600mm ƒ/4, but currently no one makes a 600mm ƒ/8. >>

[Source:  ‘The Poor Man’s Super-Telephoto’, 20090421, by Mike Stensvold, ^http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/gear/lenses/the-poor-mans-super-telephoto.html]

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A national Park like Yellowstone can be the perfect place for photographing animals without causing them undue stress. Since they know they are safe from hunting within park boundaries, “game species” are not so distrustful of human presence.

Although many species are easily viewable from park roadways, they are much less concerned about vehicles than people approaching on foot. Staying in your car makes wildlife feel more comfortable, and your vehicle makes a great blind for photographing animals calmly going about their business. Some of my best photos have been taken out of the window of my rig.

Other examples of photographer misconduct include trimming away vegetation–that may conceal a nest or den from people and predators–to get a clearer photo, throwing food to attract animals, and the all-too-common habit of yelling or honking at an elk, a bison or a family of bears so they will look toward the camera.

By using empathy we can begin to recognize changes in behavior and respect the signals animals use to convey to us that we are irritating them or getting too close for their comfort.

Every year irresponsible photographers are gored by bison, trampled by moose, or charged by bears. When these animals are annoyed to the point that they feel the need to defend themselves, chances are they will suffer or die for it in the end. Thoughtless conduct can also force animals to leave their familiar surroundings, interrupt natural activities necessary for survival, or even separate mothers from their young.

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Bull Elk from a respectful distanceBull Elk 
This bull elk was photographed from my vehicle in Jasper National Park, Alberta, using a telephoto lens
Photo © Jim Robertson, ^http://www.wildwatch.org/Binocular/bino01/empathy.html]

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Outdoor Photographer magazine ran an article in January/February 2000 on “Tips for Photographing Eagles” with the sub-heading “A long lens, the right location and a sensitive approach can get you excellent images of these majestic birds”.

The author of the article, Bill Silliker, Jr. wrote, “If you don’t have a long lens, don’t push it. Ethical wildlife photography requires that we forego attempts to photograph wildlife when we’re not equipped for it or if the attempt might harass or somehow place the subject in jeopardy. Be satisfied with images that show an eagle in its habitat. Editors use those too.”

The other day a neighbour stopped by and, upon seeing the small herd of black-tailed deer who found refuge on my land, asked if I was a hunter. When I said, “No, I’m a wildlife photographer,” he shrugged and replied, “It’s all shooting.”

Well, yes and no.

The obvious, major difference is that the animals “shot” with a camera do not end up dead. But because there are similarities to hunting, many people approach wildlife photography with a similar mind-set. It’s laughable to see photographers in a national park camouflaged from head-to-toe, sometimes including face paint, photographing a bull elk as he calmly grazes alongside the road–fully aware of their presence. And I couldn’t count how many times I’ve seen tourists run right up to a bear, elk, bison, or moose with a tiny disposable camera to get their close-up “trophy” photo.

They seem to think it’s only fair–that they are entitled to get closer–since they don’t have a large telephoto for their camera. But if they were to examine their motives they would realize that their behaviour is not fair to the animal. Is their trophy more important than the well-being of the subject of their photo?

At the height of disregard, some photographers will use hounds fitted with radio collars to pursue and corner bears, bobcats, or cougars for close-up photos of these more elusive species. If they are “lucky”, they might even catch the animal snarling in response–just the way any number of hunting magazines like to portray them on their covers or in juicy, two-page fold-outs. But how would they feel if they had to flee for their lives, chased down by a pack of dogs until they were exhausted or treed, just so someone could get a picture of them?

Wildlife photography should not be thought of as a sport or challenge against nature, or against the animals who did not volunteer for the game.  Would it be considered ethical to make sport of photographing unwilling human subjects?

Unethical practices of those who photograph wildlife for self-serving purposes have given the whole field a bad name. Bill McKibben, author of “The End of Nature” has proposed a moratorium on new wildlife photos, to prevent further aggravation of endangered animals. He argues there are plenty of photos already out there for use in prints and publications. As more incidents of unethical behaviour by photographers occur, the privilege of photographing wild animals will become more and more restricted.

Still, no amount of  harassment or disruption of wildlife in any way justifies the increasingly popular use of game farms by so-called wildlife photographers.

Too often, the “wild” animal seen in a publication or promotional is actually a captive animal sentenced to life on a game farm. Game farms use high fences, costing upwards of $8,000.00 per mile, to keep their preferred, sometimes exotic species in. These fences also effectively keep the native migratory wildlife out, thereby taking up valuable habitat.

While many game farms profit directly from the hunting of animals in their enclosures, others appear relatively innocuous, charging only for public viewing and private photographic sessions with “wildlife models,” including crowd-pleasing kittens, cubs, or fawns bred specifically for that purpose. But as these animals get older and less photogenic, they are auctioned off as “surplus” to the highest bidders–a common practice of zoos as well. It is likely the same animals that appeared as cute babies on calendars, greeting cards, or other publications will end up a few years later at another game farm that does profit from the canned hunting of them.

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Grizzly Bear from a respectful distanceGrizzly Bear
This sow grizzly bear was photographed with a 600mm telephoto
from a supervised Forest Service observation platform along Fish Creek, in Southeast Alaska.
Photo © Jim Robertson
^http://www.wildwatch.org/Binocular/bino01/empathy.html]
 

Most photographers and photo editors do not differentiate between wild or captive animals when selling and publishing images. Using photos shot at game farms supports those who profit from exploiting animals by keeping them captive to serve as models for photographers, entertainment for tourists, or targets for trophy hunters. At the same time, these photos set a new, unnatural standard for closeness and intimacy with animals that the public expects to see in every future image.

And while on the subject of ethics, how ethical is it to top off a day of photographing waterfowl or ungulates with a dinner of poultry or red meat?

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Don’t all living beings deserve our compassion and respect?

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I had long heard that animals feel less threatened by someone who does not eat meat, but I wondered how long a human could survive without consuming the flesh of others. After six years as a vegan, I can attest to the fact that wild animals are not as fearful of me now, and that saying “no” to animal protein is healthier and easier than I ever would have imagined. >>

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Rural Fire Service strategy misguided

Friday, March 30th, 2012
This article was initially written by this editor and published in the Blue Mountains Gazette newspaper on 20051005 as a letter to the editor, entitled ‘RFS strategy misguided‘.
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19th Century heritage-listed ‘Six Foot Track’
..bulldozed by the Rural Fire Service in July 2005, widened into a convenient Fire Trail for its fire truck crews.

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It has been revealed that the June bulldozing or grading of the Six Foot Track near Megalong Creek (Blue Mountains, New South Wales) was a mere drop in the Rural Fire Service (RFS) Bushfire Mitigation Programme.

Across the Blue Mountains, some twenty natural reserves including the Six Foot Track were targeted under the RFS 2004-05 Fire Trail Strategy:

  • Edith Falls
  • McMahons Point
  • Back Creek
  • Cripple Creek
  • Plus some 95 hectares inside the Blue Mountains National Park.

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Read: [>RFS Fire Trail Policy]

Read: [>RFS Fire Trail Classification Guidelines]

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According to the Australian Government’s (then) Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTARS) website, some $151,195 was granted to the RFS in the Blue Mountains alone, for it to bulldoze and burn 144 hectares of native bushland under the euphemism of “addressing bushfire mitigation risk priorities”  (Ed: Read ‘bush arson

The Six Foot Track Conservation and Management Plan 1997, Vol II’ lists numerous vulnerable species of fauna recorded near Megalong Creek – the Glossy Black-Cockatoo (Clyptorhynchus lathami), Giant Burrowing Frog (Heleioporus australiacus), Spotted-tailed Quoll (Dasyurus maculatus).

Glossy Black-Cockatoo
[Source: Dubbo Field Naturalist & Conservation Society
http://www.speednet.com.au/~abarca/black-cockatoo.htm]

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Giant Burrowing Frog
[Source:  Frogs.org.au, ^http://frogs.org.au/community/viewtopic.php?t=4876&sid=0dc45ef08e12cd5e1d27524bca2269f9]

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Spotted-tailed Quoll
(Dasyurus maculatus)
Blue Mountains top order predator, competing with the Dingo

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The RFS contractors wouldn’t have had a clue if they were within 100 metres or 1 metre of rare, vulnerable or threatened species.

The RFS is not exempt from destroying important ecological habitat; rather it is required to have regard to the principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD).

Read: >RFS Policy 2-03 Ecologically Sustainable Development

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The ‘Rationale‘ of this RFS ESD policy states at Clause 1.2:

‘The Bush Fire Coordinating Committee, under the Rural Fires Act 1997 Sec 3 (d), is required to have regard to ESD as outlined in the Protection of the Environment Administration Act 1991, which sets out the following principles:

a)   The precautionary principle namely, that if there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation. In the application of the precautionary principle, public and private decisions should be guided by:

i.   careful evaluation to avoid, wherever practicable, serious or irreversible damage to the environment, and
ii.   an assessment of the risk-weighted consequences of various options.

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b)   Inter-generational equity namely, that the present generation should ensure that the health, diversity and productivity of the environment are maintained or enhanced for the benefit of future generations

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c)   Conservation of biological diversity and ecological integrity should be a fundamental consideration in all decisions.

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d)   Recognising the economic values that the natural environment provides. The natural environment has values that are often hard to quantify but provide a benefit to the entire community. By recognising that the natural environment does have significant economic and social values we can improve decision making for the present and future generations.’

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Yet the RFS policy on hazard reduction is woefully loose in the ‘Bushfire Co-ordinating Committee Policy 2 /03 on ESD‘ – which (on paper) advocates protecting environmental values and ensuring that ESD commitments are adopted and adhered to by contractors.

Experience now confirms this policy is nothing more than ‘greenwashing’.  The RFS wouldn’t know what environmental values were if they drove their fire truck into a Blkue Mountains upland swamp.  There is not one ecologist among them.

While the critical value of dedicated RFS volunteer fire-fighters fighting fires is without question, what deserves questioning is the unsustainable response of the RFS ‘old guard to fire trails and hazard reduction with token regard for sensitive habitat.  Repeated bushfire research confirms that bushfires are mostly now caused by:

  1. Bush arson (hazard reduction included, escaped or otherwise)
  2. More residential communities encroaching upon bushland.

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Under the ‘Blue Mountains Bushfire Management Committee Bushfire Risk Management Plan’ (Ed: their bureaucratic name), key objectives are patently ignored:

  • ‘Ensure that public and private land owners and occupiers understand their bushfire management responsibilities’
  • ‘Ensure that the community is well informed about bushfire protection measures and prepared for bushfire events through Community Fireguard programs’
  • ‘Manage bushfires for the protection and conservation of the natural, cultural, scenic and recreational features , including tourism values, of the area’.

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Instead, the Rural Fire Service is content to look busy by burning and bulldozing native bushland.  The RFS actively demonises native vegetation as a ‘fuel hazard‘, in the much the same way that ignorant colonists of the 18th and 19th centuries demonised Australia’s unique wildlife as ‘vermin‘ and ‘game‘.

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Further Reading:

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[1]   Previous article on The Habitat Advocate:  ‘RFS Bulldozes Six Foot Track‘  (published 20101220):  [>Read Article]

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[2]  Tip of the Bush-Arson Iceberg

What these government funded and State-sanctioned bush-arsonists get up to, deliberately setting fire to wildlife habitat, is an ecological disgrace.

The following list is from just 2005 of the vast areas of native vegetation deliberately burnt across New South Wales in just this one year.  [Source: DOTARS].

Not surprisingly, this State-sanctioned bush-arson information is no longer published by government each year for obvious clandestine reasons, as the bush-arson continues out of the public eye.

The hazard reduction cult is similarly perpetuated across other Australian states – Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, West Australia as well as Northern Territory and the ACT.   No wonder Australia’s record of wildlife extinctions tragically leads the world!  There is little precious rich wildlife habitat left.

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National Park and Wildlife Service  (NSW) Bush Arson:

(Note: ‘NR’ = Nature Reserve, ‘NP’ = National Park, ‘SCA’ = State Conservation Area… as if these bastards care)

Reserve / Activity Name Treatment Area (km2)
Baalingen NR 5
Baalingen NR 6
Bald Rock NP 7
Banyabba NR 0.5
BANYABBA NR 3
BANYABBA NR 24
BANYABBA NR 8
Barakee NP 6
Barool NP 20
Barool NP 6
Barool NP 5
Barool NP 4
Barool NP 2
Barool NP 5
Barrington Tops NP 2.5
Barrington Tops NP 2
Barrington Tops NP 6
Barrington Tops NP 18
Barrington Tops NP 6
Barrington Tops NP 16
Barrington Tops NP 11
Barrington Tops NP 1
Barrington Tops NP 4
Barrington Tops NP 2
Barrington Tops NP 1
Barrington Tops NP 3
Basket Swamp NP 1
Basket Swamp NP 12
Basket Swamp NP 2
Basket Swamp NP 4
Bellinger River NP 1
Ben Boyd NP 0.8
Ben Boyd NP 3
Ben Boyd NP 0.9
Ben Boyd NP 0.9
Ben Boyd NP 5
Ben Boyd NP 13
Ben Boyd NP 5
Ben Boyd NP 0.4
Ben Boyd NP 1
Ben Boyd NP 2
Ben Boyd NP 3
Ben Boyd NP 5
Ben Boyd NP 3.6
Ben Boyd NP 1.9
Ben Boyd NP 1.6
Ben Halls Gap NP 3
Bindarri NP 2
Black Bulga SCA 8
Black Bulga SCA 12
Black Bulga SCA 21
Blue Mountains NP 42
Blue Mountains NP 8.3
Blue Mountains NP 23
Blue Mountains NP 10
Blue Mountains NP 12
Bogendyra NR
Bolivia NR 1
BOLLONOLLA NR 2
Bondi Gulf NR 8
Bondi Gulf NR 6
Bondi Gulf NR 10
BONGIL BONGIL NP 0.3
BONGIL BONGIL NP 0.5
Boonoo Boonoo NP 9
Boonoo Boonoo NP 10
Booti Booti NP 0.5
Booti Booti NP 0.3
Booti Booti NP 3
Booti Booti NP 0.3
Booti Booti NP 3
Border Range NP 6
Border Ranges NP 4
Border Ranges NP 3
Border Ranges NP 4
Border Ranges NP 2.8
Bouddi NP 0.5
Bouddi NP 0.3
Bouddi NP 0.9
Bouddi NP 0.9
Bouddi NP 0.5
Bouddi NP 1.1
Bouddi NP 0.5
Bouddi NP 1.9
Bouddi NP 1.1
Bouddi NP 0.6
Bouddi NP 2.3
Bournda NR 10
Bournda NR 5
Bournda NR 0.5
Bournda NR 0.5
Bournda NR 0.5
Brindabella NP 20
Brisbane Water NP 4.4
Brisbane Water NP 2.4
Brisbane Water NP 3.7
Brisbane Water NP 3.6
Brisbane Water NP 0.3
Brisbane Water NP 3.1
Brisbane Water NP 0.6
Budawang NP 4.8
Budderoo NP 10
Bugong NP 3.1
Bundgalung NP 2
BUNDJALUNG NP 7
BUNDJALUNG NP 4.5
BUNDJALUNG NP 8
BUNDJALUNG NP 1.5
BUNDJALUNG NP 0.5
BUNDJALUNG NP 6
BUNDJALUNG NP 3
BUNDJALUNG NP 3
BUNDJALUNG NP 4
BUNDJALUNG NP 2
BUNDJALUNG NP 1
Bundundah Reserve 1.94
Bundundah Reserve/Morton NP 4.7
Bungawalbyn NP 2
Bungawalbyn NP 2.25
Bungawalbyn NP 4
Bungawalbyn NP 5
Bungawalbyn NP 3
Bungawalbyn NP 4.5
Bungawalbyn NP 6.5
Bungawalbyn NP 5
Bungawalbyn NP 1.65
Bungawalbyn NP 1.5
Burnt Down Scrub NR 2
Burnt School NR 2
Burrinjuck NR 8
Burrinjuck NR 15
Burrinjuck NR 3
Butterleaf NP
Butterleaf NP 3
Butterleaf NP 3.2
Butterleaf NP 1.2
Butterleaf NP 1.6
Butterleaf NP 1.2
Butterleaf NP 2
Butterleaf NP 1.8
Butterleaf NP 1.4
Butterleaf NP 0.5
Butterleaf NP 2.3
Butterleaf NP 3.3
Butterleaf NP 3.9
Butterleaf NP 5.3
Butterleaf NP 0.4
Butterleaf NP 0.5
Butterleaf NP 1.5
Butterleaf NP 2.9
Butterleaf NP 5.3
Butterleaf NP 4
Butterleaf NP 3.3
Butterleaf NP 3.6
Butterleaf NP 1.5
Butterleaf NP 8.8
Butterleaf NP 0.5
Capoompeta NP 10
Cataract NP
Cataract NP 1.5
Cataract NP 2
Cataract NP 2
Cataract NP 1.5
Cataract NP 2
Cataract NP 1
Clayton Chase 5
Clayton Chase 10
Clayton Chase 3.5
Clayton Chase 4
Clayton Chase 3
Clayton Chase 3
Clayton Chase  4
Conjola NP 5.7
Conjola NP 1.8
Conjola NP 8.3
Conjola NP 4.8
Conjola NP 2.9
Conjola NP 4.5
Conjola NP 6.5
Coolah Tops NR 28
Coolah Tops NR 1
Coolah Tops NR 6
Copeland Tops SCA 3
Copeland Tops SCA 3.5
Corramy SCA 0.7
Cottan-bimbang NP 6
Cottan-bimbang NP 16
Cottan-bimbang NP 15
Culgoa NP 30
Curramore NP
Curramore NP 8
Curramore NP 8.9
Curramore NP 11
Curramore NP 5.5
Dapper NR 10
Deua NP 15.2
Deua NP 1.4
Deua NP 1
Deua NP 4
Deua NP 21.5
Deua NP 2.1
Deua NP 1.4
Deua NP 3.3
Deua NP 8.5
Deua NP 20.8
Deua NP 5.3
Deua NP 6.6
Deua NP 28.2
Deua NP 5.65
DUNGGIR NP 4
Eurobodalla NP 0.8
Eurobodalla NP 2.5
Eurobodalla NP 0.8
Eurobodalla NP 2.4
Eurobodalla NP 2
Flaggy creek  NR 3
Flaggy creek  NR 1.8
GANAY NR 2
GANAY NR 2
Garawarra SCA
Garby NR 2
Gardens of Stone NP 18
Gibraltar NP 14
Goobang NP 5
Goobang NP 25
GUMBAYNGIR SCA 12
GUMBAYNGIR SCA 7
GUMBAYNGIR SCA 6
Ironbark NR 13.5
Jerrawangala NP 6.83
Jervis Bay NP 2.37
Jervis Bay NP 5.42
Jervis Bay NP 0.56
Jervis Bay NP 0.82
Jervis Bay NP 1.45
Jervis Bay NP 1.72
Jervis Bay NP 0.21
Jervis Bay NP 0.32
Jervis Bay NP 0.7
Jervis Bay NP 0.4
Jervis Bay NP 0.35
Jervis Bay NP 0.35
Jervis Bay NP 0.48
Jervis Bay NP 1.03
Jervis Bay NP 0.65
Jervis Bay NP 1.91
Jervis Bay NP 0.34
Jervis Bay NP 0.95
Jervis Bay NP 1.46
Jervis Bay NP 0.71
Jervis Bay NP 1.07
Jingellic NR 20
Karuah NR 10
Karuah NR 28
Karuah NR 10
Karuah NR 12
Karuah NR 1
Kings Plains NP 7
Kings Plains NP 0
Kings Plains NP 4
Koreelah NP 6
Kosciuszko NP 30
Kosciuszko NP 9.5
Kosciuszko NP 22
Kosciuszko NP 22
Kosciuszko NP 33
Kosciuszko NP 33
Kosciuszko NP 33
Kosciuszko NP 12
Kosciuszko NP 12
Kosciuszko NP 17
Kosciuszko NP 5
Kosciuszko NP 28
Kosciuszko NP 9
Kosciuszko NP 6
Kosciuszko NP 6
Kosciuszko NP 26
Kosciuszko NP 8.9
Kosciuszko NP 15
Kosciuszko NP 15
Kosciuszko NP 2.5
Kosciuszko NP 8.9
Kosciuszko NP 10
Kosciuszko NP 11
Kosciuszko NP 4.8
Kosciuszko NP 18
Kosciuszko NP 19
Kosciuszko NP 7.2
Kosciuszko NP 7.2
Kosciuszko NP 13
Kosciuszko NP 18
Kosciuszko NP 33
Kosciuszko NP 33
Kosciuszko NP 18
Kosciuszko NP 18
Kosciuszko NP 15
Kosciuszko NP 12
Kwiambal NP 7
Kwiambal NP 3
Kwiambal NP 2
Kwiambal NP 2.25
Lake Macquarie SCA 0.3
Lake Macquarie SCA 0.4
Lake Macquarie SCA 0.4
Lake Macquarie SCA 0.4
Ledknapper NR 15
Linton NR 12.5
Meroo NP 2.4
Meroo NP 0.9
Meroo NP 0.6
Meroo NP 3.3
Meroo NP 3.9
Meroo NP 3.5
Meroo NP 0.5
Morton NP 5.9
Morton NP 8.3
Morton NP 3.8
Morton NP 6
Morton NP 13
Morton NP 0.4
Morton NP 4.5
Morton NP 5
Morton NP 2.7
Morton NP 0.7
Morton NP 2.1
Morton NP 1
Morton NP 6
Mt Canobolas SCA 1
Mt Clunnie NP 6.5
Mt Dowling NR 2
MT NEVILLE NR 11
MT NEVILLE NR 1
MT NEVILLE NR 1.5
MT NEVILLE NR 11
MT NEVILLE NR 1.5
MT NEVILLE NR 3.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 2
MT PIKAPENE NP 4
MT PIKAPENE NP 2.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 1.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 1.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 4
MT PIKAPENE NP 7
MT PIKAPENE NP 2
MT PIKAPENE NP 2.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 6
MT PIKAPENE NP 3
MT PIKAPENE NP 0.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 0.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 2.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 2
MT PIKAPENE NP 1
MT PIKAPENE NP 2.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 6
MT PIKAPENE NP 2
MT PIKAPENE NP 1
MT PIKAPENE NP 2.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 2
MT PIKAPENE NP 1.5
Mummell Gulf NP 3
Mummell Gulf NP 7
Mummell Gulf NP 5
Munmorah SRA 0.7
Munmorah SRA 0.8
Munmorah SRA 0.45
Munmorah SRA 1
Munmorah SRA 2
Munmorah SRA 0.9
Munmorah SRA 1.6
Muogamarra NR 1
Murramarang NP 0.9
Murramarang NP 8
Murramarang NP 1
Murramarang NP 5.1
Murramarang NP 8.2
Murramarang NP 3.1
Murramarang NP 6.8
Murramarang NP 16
Murramarang NP 4.3
Murramarang NP 4
Myall Lakes NP 5
Myall Lakes NP 5
Myall Lakes NP 1.5
Myall Lakes NP 2
Myall Lakes NP 1
Myall Lakes NP 5
NGAMBAA NR 2
NGAMBAA NR 5
Nombinnie NR 10
Nymboida NP 6
Nymboida NP 12
Nymboida NP 3
Nymboida NP 4
Nymboida NP 1
Nymboida NP 4
Nymboida NP 4
Nymboida NP 3.2
Nymboida NP 4.5
Nymboida NP 2
Nymboida NP 4
Nymboida NP 2.8
Nymboida NP 4.2
Nymboida NP 4.2
Nymboida NP 4.2
Nymboida NP 4.2
Nymboida NP 4.2
Nymboida NP 4.2
Nymboida NP 4.2
Nymboida NP 4.2
Nymboida NP 7
Nymboida NP 6
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 10.7
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 19.1
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 13.4
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 18
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 18
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 15
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 33
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 33
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 5
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 5
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 4
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 3
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 7
Parma Creek NR 0.21
Parma Creek NR 0.07
Parma Creek NR 0.3
Parma Creek NR 0.01
Parma Creek NR 0.29
Parma Creek NR 5
Paroo Darling NP 60
Policemans Cap 10
Razorback NR 17
Richmond Range NP 3.9
Richmond Range NP 6.5
Richmond Range NP 3.8
Richmond Range NP 4.5
Richmond Range NP 5.5
Richmond Range NP 9
Royal NP 1
Seven Mile Beach NP 1.09
Seven Mile Beach NP 1.79
Seven Mile Beach NP 2.24
Seven Mile Beach NP 0.74
Seven Mile Beach NP 2.03
Severn River NR 6
Single NP 21
South East Forest NP 5
South East Forest NP 1.2
South East Forest NP 1.2
South East Forest NP 2.6
South East Forest NP 3
South East Forest NP 10.9
South East Forest NP 1.3
South East Forest NP 1
South East Forest NP 1.2
South East Forest NP 2.8
South East Forest NP 2
South East Forest NP 1.2
South East Forest NP 2
South East Forest NP 5.1
South East Forest NP 3.5
South East Forest NP 0.5
South East Forest NP 6
South East Forest NP 3
South East Forest NP 1
South East Forest NP 5.5
South East Forest NP 0.8
Stoney Batter NR 6
Tapitallee NR 0.52
Tapitallee NR 0.33
Tapitallee NR 0.36
Tapitallee NR 0.32
Tarlo River NP 3.8
Tarlo River NP 2.1
Tarlo River NP 2.9
Tarlo River NP 5.9
Tarlo River NP 6.5
Tarlo River NP 2.7
Tarlo River NP 2.1
Tarlo River NP 6
Tollingo NR 150
Tomaree NP 1.8
Tooloom NP 3
Toonumbar NP 31.9
Toonumbar NP 8.5
Toonumbar NP 17
Toonumbar NP 21.5
Triplarina NR 0.71
Triplarina NR 0.32
Triplarina NR 0.66
Triplarina NR 0.75
Triplarina NR 1.34
Triplarina NR 0.31
Triplarina NR 1.24
Triplarina NR 1.35
Ungazetted (Kalyarr NP) 48
Ungazetted (Kalyarr NP) 26
Unknown 7
Wa Hou NR 10
Wa Hou NR 1
Wa Hou NR 7
Wa Hou NR 1
Wa Hou NR 11
Wa Hou NR 1
Wa Hou NR 7
Wa Hou NR 1
Wa Hou NR 1
Wa Hou NR 1
Wa Hou NR 1
Wallaroo NR 3
Wallaroo NR 1.5
Wallaroo NR 8
Wallaroo NR 5
Wallaroo NR 11
Wallaroo NR 7
Wallaroo NR 7
Wallaroo NR 16
Wallaroo NR 6
Wallingat NP 2
Wallingat NP 1.3
Wallingat NP 3.6
Wallingat NP 3.3
Washpool Np 18
Washpool NP 5.3
Washpool NP 5.6
Washpool NP 7.1
Washpool NP 6.4
Washpool NP 1.6
Washpool NP 7
Washpool NP 2.8
Watson’s Creek NR 5
Wereboldera SCA 9
Woggoon NR 144
Wollemi NP 21
Wollemi NP 12
Wollemi NP 10
Wollemi NP 30
Wollemi NP 7
Wollemi NP 11
Wollemi NP 7
Wollemi NP 16
Wollemi NP 2
Wollemi NP 8
Wollemi NP 5
Woodford Island NR 1.5
Woodford Island NR 2
Woodford Island NR 3
Woodford Island NR 3
Woollamia NR 1.51
Woollamia NR 0.77
Woollamia NR 1.95
Woollamia NR 1.88
Woollamia NR 0.74
Woomargama NP 15
Yabbra NP 8
Yabbra NP 45
Yango NP 0.45
Yanununbeyan NP 11
YARRIABINNI NP 2
YARRIABINNI NP 3
YARRIABINNI NP 5
YARRIABINNI NP 6
YARRIABINNI NP 4
Yuraygir NP 4
Yuraygir NP 3.5
Yuraygir NP 1
Yuraygir NP 1
YURAYGIR NP 0.03
Yuraygir NP 1
Yuraygir NP 3.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 28
Yuraygir NP 10
Yuraygir NP 12
Yuraygir NP 1
Yuraygir NP 1
Yuraygir NP 4
Yuraygir NP 3.5
    3,785.10 Ha

i.e.  An area 6km x 6km

.

NSW Local Government Areas (LGAs)

Bush Fire Management Committee / LGA Reserve / Activity Name Treatment Area (km2)
Blue Mountains Northern Strategic Line -Primary 8
Blue Mountains De Faurs Trail – Mt Wilson -Primary 2.8
Blue Mountains Mitchell’s Creek Fire Trail – Primary 3.5
Blue Mountains Nellies Glen Fire Trail 2.8
Blue Mountains Back Creek Fire Trail – Primary 3.2
Blue Mountains Mt Piddington Trail – Hornes Point N/A
Bombala Gibraltar Ridge Fire Trail (2) (PT) 20
Bombala Mt Rixs Fire Trail (PT) 6
Bombala Roaring Camp Fire Trail (PT) 12
Cooma-Monaro Brest Fire Trail (2) (PT) 15
Cooma-Monaro Calabash Fire Trail (2) (PT) 22
Cooma-Monaro Murrumbucca Fire Trail (2) (ST) 15
Cooma-Monaro Bridge Fire Trail (2) (PT) 6
Cooma-Monaro Log In Hole Fire Trail (2) (PT) 5
Gloucester Upper Avon Fire Trail 11
Greater Argyle Mountain Ash Fire Trail 10
Greater Argyle Mootwingee Fire Trail 6
Greater Hume Murphy’s Fire Trail 0.2
Greater Hume Mandaring Fire Trail 1
Greater Queanbeyan City Queanbeyan River Fire Trail 5.5
Greater Queanbeyan City Gourock Fire Trail 5.8
Hawkesbury District Jacks Trail 1.6
Hawkesbury District Duffys Trail (2) ?tenure 3
Mallee Various Fire Trails N/A
Mallee No 21 Fire Trail 20
Namoi/Gwydir Warialda State Forest 6.5
Namoi/Gwydir Zaba-Kaiwarra-Kiora Fire Trail (check) 10
Namoi/Gwydr Blue Nobby Fire Trail (check) 8
Namoi/Gwydr Araluen Fire Trail (check) 6
Snowy River Snowy Plain Fire Trail (2) (PT) 18
Snowy River Crackenback Fire Trail (PT) 10
Snowy River Devils Hole Fire Trail (PT) 18
Snowy River Golden Age Fire Trail (2) (PT) 8
Sutherland Sabugal Pass Fire Trail N/A
SW Mallee Various Fire Trails N/A
SW Mallee Oberwells Fire Trail 28
SW Mallee Mandleman Fire Trail 40
Upper Lachlan Johnsons Creek Fire Trail 15
Warringah/Pittwater Lovett Bay Trail (2) 2.5
Warringah/Pittwater Elvina Bay Trail (2) 1.5
Yass Valley Nelanglo Fire Trail 21
Yass Valley Hayshed Fire Trail 1 7
Yass Valley Hayshed Fire Trail 2 7
       391.90 km2

i.e.   An area 20km x 20km

.

Forests NSW (government’s industrial logger of NSW remnant forests).

(Forests NSW did not publish the area burnt, only the cost. As a rule of thumb use $3000/square km)

Bush Fire Management Committee Reserve / Activity Name NSW
Allocation
Clarence Zone Dalmorton SF $30,000
Future Forests Swan $20,050
Future Forests Tindall $10,680
Future Forests Tooloom $10,425
Future Forests Mazzer $7,341
Future Forests Kungurrabah $4,435
Future Forests Morpeth Park $3,773
Future Forests Loughnan $3,155
Future Forests Inglebar $3,000
Future Forests Lattimore $2,604
Future Forests Byrne $1,755
Future Forests Ziull 4 $1,677
Future Forests Lejag $1,670
Future Forests Ziull 2 $1,600
Future Forests Bates $1,563
Future Forests Ziull 3 $1,454
Future Forests Envirocom $1,410
Future Forests Morgan $1,361
Future Forests McNamara $1,279
Future Forests Neaves $967
Future Forests Zuill $872
Future Forests Boyle $807
Future Forests Fitzpatrick $791
Future Forests Morrow $785
Future Forests Morrow $785
Future Forests Morrow $785
Future Forests Wallwork $665
Future Forests Smith $665
Future Forests Wilson $622
Future Forests Jarramarumba $600
Future Forests Hession $597
Future Forests Edwards $563
Future Forests Maunder $558
Future Forests Kuantan $515
Future Forests Billins $484
Future Forests Cox $475
Future Forests Paterson $461
Future Forests Gladys $415
Future Forests O’Keefe $371
Future Forests Woodcock $369
Future Forests Pratten $346
Future Forests Truswell $323
Future Forests Divine $323
Future Forests Hastings $323
Future Forests White $300
Future Forests Miller $300
Future Forests Koop $300
Future Forests Lacy $277
Future Forests Nosrac $277
Future Forests Tully $277
Future Forests Baker $277
Future Forests Yaganegi $277
Future Forests Siezowski $254
Future Forests Zuill $254
Future Forests Atcheson $254
Future Forests Dissevelt $254
Future Forests Hoy $254
Future Forests Woods $254
Future Forests Dawson $254
Future Forests Hagan $254
Future Forests Skelly $231
Future Forests Robards $231
Future Forests Maunder $231
Future Forests Day $231
Future Forests O’Connell $231
Future Forests Kompara $231
Future Forests Carmen $231
Future Forests Maurer $231
Future Forests Cunin $208
Future Forests GCC $208
Future Forests White $208
Future Forests Hayer $208
Future Forests Southgate $208
Future Forests Peck $208
Greater Taree Kiwarrak SF $40,000
Hastings Cowarra SF $30,000
Hastings Caincross SF $4,000
Hume Clearing fire trails $100,000
Hume New FT $6,000
Hunter Pokolbin SF $13,600
Hunter Myall River SF $12,800
Hunter Myall River SF $12,800
Hunter Heaton SF $12,400
Hunter Bulahdelah SF $6,100
Hunter Watagan SF $3,200
Hunter Awaba SF $3,200
Hunter Myall River SF $3,100
Macquarie Warrengong $16,250
Macquarie Vulcan & Gurnang $11,519
Macquarie Kinross SF $8,800
Macquarie Mount David $6,101
Macquarie Newnes SF $5,199
Macquarie Printing 25 fire atlas’ $2,048
Macquarie Black Rock Ridge $447
Mid-Nth Coast – Taree Knorrit SF $36,000
Mid-Nth Coast – Taree Yarratt SF $16,000
Mid-Nth Coast – Wauchope Boonanghi SF $37,000
Mid-Nth Coast – Wauchope Northern Break $9,000
Mid-Nth Coast – Wauchope Caincross SF $3,000
Mid-Nth Coast – Wauchope Western Break $2,000
Monaro Clearing fire trails $114,685
North East Thumb Creek SF $46,000
North East Candole SF $29,535
North East Various State Forests $20,000
North East Mt Belmore SF $12,115
North East Candole SF $8,900
North East Lower Bucca SF $5,500
North East All North Region $3,300
North East Wild Cattle SF $3,000
North East Orara East SF $1,900
Northern -Casino Barragunda $11,522
Northern -Casino Yaraldi 2003 $8,847
Northern -Casino Yaraldi 2004 $3,207
Richmond Valley Bates $20,000
Richmond Valley Whiporie SF $13,154
Richmond Valley Swanson $12,000
Richmond Valley McNamara $10,180
Richmond Valley Whiporie SF $9,582
Southern  Pollwombra FT $6,360
Southern-Eden Various – whole district $112,019
Tamworth Nundle SF $40,000
Walcha Nowendoc SF $30,000
Walcha Styx River SF $20,000
$1,073,482

i.e.  Approximately an area 20km x 20km

 .

NSW Department of Lands    (what native vegetation’s left).

Bush Fire Management Committee Reserve / Activity Name Treatment Area Ha / Other Treatment Area (km2)
Baulkham Hills Porters Rd / Cranstons Rd 5
Baulkham Hills Porters Rd / Cranstons Rd (2) 4
Baulkham Hills Pauls Road Trail 5
Baulkham Hills Mount View Trail 1
Baulkham Hills Idlewild 2
Baulkham Hills Maroota Tracks Trail 7
Baulkham Hills Yoothamurra Trail 1
Baulkham Hills Kellys Arm Trail 3
Baulkham Hills Dargle Ridge Trail 5
Baulkham Hills Dargle Trail 3
Baulkham Hills Days Road Trail 3
Baulkham Hills Dickinsons Trail 6
Baulkham Hills Fingerboard Trail 3
Baulkham Hills Floyds Road Trail 8
Baulkham Hills Neichs Road Trail 4
Bega Eden Strategic Fire Trail 3
Bega Illawambera Fire Trail 1
Bega Merimbula/Turu Beach Strategic Protection 2
Bega Yankees Gap  2
Bega Millingandi Special Protection (Trail) 1
Bega Wallagoot Strategic Protection (Trail) 1.2
Bega South Eden Strategic Protection (Trail) 1
Bega Merimbula/Pambula Strategic Protection (APZ) 1
Bega Pacific St Tathra 0.5
Bland Bland Villages (FTM)  2
Bland Water Tower Reserve FTM 3
Blue Mountains Cripple Creek Fire Trail Stage 2 5
Blue Mountains Cripple Creek Fire Trail Complex 5
Blue Mountains Caves Creek Trail 0.4
Blue Mountains Edith Falls Trail 2
Blue Mountains Boronia Rd – Albert Rd Trails 1
Blue Mountains Perimeter Trail – North Hazelbrook 1.5
Blue Mountains McMahons Point Trail – Kings Tableland 7
Blue Mountains Back Creek Fire Trail 3.2
Blue Mountains Mitchell’s Creek Fire Trail 3.5
Bombala Gibraltar Ridge Fire Trail 11
Bombala Burnt Hut Fire Trail 5
Bombala Merriangah East Fire Trail 12
Bombala Bombala Towns & Villages (Trails) 10
Campbelltown St Helens Park – Wedderburn Rd (Barriers) 0.3
Campbelltown Barrier / Gate
Campbelltown Riverview Rd Fire Trail 0.65
Canobolas Calula Range FTM
Canobolas Spring Glen Estate FTM
Cessnock Neath South West Fire Trail 2
Cessnock Neath South East Fire Trail 1.5
Cessnock Neath North Fire Trail (2) 1
Cessnock Gates – Asset Protection Zones
Cessnock Signs – Asset Protection Zones
Cessnock Signs – Fire Trails
Cessnock Kearsley Fire Trail 0.5
Cessnock Neath – South (Trail) 4
Cessnock Neath – North (Trail) 2
Clarence Valley Bowling Club Fire Trail 1
Clarence Valley Brooms Head Fire Trail 0.2
Clarence Valley Ilarwill Village 0.3
Cooma-Monaro Chakola Fire Trail 21
Cooma-Monaro Good Good Fire Trail 12
Cooma-Monaro Inaloy Fire Trail 19
Cooma-Monaro Cowra Creek Fire Trail 4
Cooma-Monaro David’s Fire Trail 2.1
Cooma-Monaro Clear Hills Fire Trail 5
Cooma-Monaro Mt Dowling Fire Trail 16
Cooma-Monaro Towneys Ridge Fire Trail 6
Cunningham Warialda Periphery 2 20
Cunningham Upper Bingara Fire Trail
Dungog Dungog Fire Trail Signs
Far North Coast Byrangary Fire Trail 1
Far North Coast Main Arm Fire Trail (NC67) 2
Far North Coast Burringbar Fire Trail (NC69) 1
Far North Coast Mill Rd Fire Trail (NC95) 1
Far North Coast Broken Head Fire Trail (NC68) 0.5
Far North Coast New Brighton Fire Trail (NC44) 0.5
Far North Coast Mooball Spur Fire Trail 1
Far North Coast Palmwoods Fire Trail (NC06) 0.5
Gloucester Coneac Trail 6
Gloucester Moores Trail 6
Gloucester Mt Mooney Fire Trail 6
Gosford District Signs – Fire Trails
Great Lakes Ebsworth Fire Trail 1
Great Lakes Tuncurry High Fire Trail 0.6
Great Lakes Monterra Ave Trail – Hawks Nest 0.7
Greater Argyle Browns Rd Komungla 12
Greater Argyle Greater Argyle Fire Trail Maintenance
Greater Argyle Cookbundoon Fire Trail 2
Greater Taree District Tinonee St Road Reserve 0.25
Greater Taree District Beach St SFAZ – Wallabi Point 0.35
Greater Taree District Sth Woodlands Dr – SFAZ 1.3
Greater Taree District Cedar Party Rd – Taree 2
Hawkesbury District Sargents Road (2)  ?tenure 0.75
Hawkesbury District Parallel Trail (2) 2.5
Hawkesbury District Parallel Trail (1) 1.1
Hornsby/Ku-ring-gai Tunks Ridge, Dural 1
Hornsby/Ku-ring-gai Radnor & Cairnes Fire Trail 0.5
Hornsby/Ku-ring-gai Binya Cl, Hornsby Heights 1.5
Shellharbour District Saddleback – Hoddles Trail 3
Shellharbour District Rough Range Trail 1
Lake Macquarie District Kilaben Bay Fire Trail 1.5
Lake Macquarie District Gates – Access Management
Lake Macquarie District Signs – APZ
Lake Macquarie District Signs – Fire Trails
Lithgow Wilsons Glen Trail 6.1
Lithgow Kanimbla Fire Trail No 314 7.8
Lithgow Camels Back Trail No 312 4.5
Lithgow Crown Creek Trail No 206 7
Lithgow Capertee Common Trail No 203 3
Lower Hunter Zone Access Infrastructure – All Districts
Lower North Coast Cabbage Tree Lane Fire Trail, Kempsey 1.5
Lower North Coast Bullocks Quarry Fire Trail 0.66
Lower North Coast Perimeter Protection, Main St, Eungai Creek, Nambucca 0.6
Mid North Coast Urunga Lagoon, Bellingen 4
Mid North Coast Wenonah Head, Bellingen 4
Mudgee Munro’s Fire Trail 24
Mudgee Munro’s Fire Trail 5.25
Penrith Londonderry/Castlereagh 6
Port Stephens Bobs Farm Fire Trails 4
Port Stephens Salamander Way Fire Trail 1.5
Port Stephens Gan Gan Hill West Fire Trail 1.2
Port Stephens Nelson Bay – Gan Gan Hill (Trail) 1.5
Port Stephens Taylors Beach Fire Trail 1
Port Stephens Nelson Bay – Wallawa Rd (SFAZ) 0.7
Port Stephens Taylors Beach East Fire Trail 3.5
Port Stephens Nelson Bay – Wallawa Rd (Gates)
Port Stephens Port Stephens Fire Trail Signs
Port Stephens Corlette – Salamander Way (Trail) 1
Shoalhaven APZ Access Works
Snowy River Southern Boundary Fire Trail 3
Snowy River Somme Valley Fire Trail 5
Sutherland District Forbes Creek North Trail 1.3
Sutherland District Still Creek Complex (Trail) 3.8
Sutherland District Mannikin Trail 1.5
Sutherland District Viburnum Trail 0.8
Sutherland District Mill Creek Complex 2.6
Sutherland District Loftus Creek Complex 1.9
Sutherland District Cranberry Trail 0.8
Sutherland District Turella Trail 0.8
Sutherland District Freemantle Trail 0.4
Sutherland District Illaroo Trail 0.7
Sutherland District Yala East Trail 0.9
Sutherland District Bunyan Fire Trail 1.2
Sutherland District Rosewell Service Trail 0.5
Sutherland District Belarada Service Trail 0.3
Sutherland District Belbowrie Service Trail 0.3
Sutherland District Leawarra Fire Trail 0.9
Sutherland District McKenzie Service Trail 0.7
Sutherland District Walsh Close Trail 0.7
Sutherland District Yala West Trail 0.7
Sutherland District Barnes Cres Service Trail 0.6
Sutherland District Illumba Trail 0.5
Sutherland District Penrose Trail 0.5
Sutherland District Tatler Place Trail 0.5
Sutherland District Torumba Service Trail 0.5
Sutherland District Friendship Trail 0.4
Sutherland District Kippax – Rosewall Trail 0.4
Sutherland District Tallarook Service Trail 0.4
Sutherland District Billa Service Trail 0.3
Sutherland District Chestnut Trail 0.2
Sutherland District Croston Rd Trail 0.3
Sutherland District Kingswood Rd Trail 0.3
Sutherland District Roebourne Trail 0.3
Sutherland District Whimbrel Service Trail 0.3
Sutherland District Shearwater Trail 0.1
Tamworth Moore Creek Dam Reserve 3.5
Tamworth Moore Creek Dam Reserve 1
Tumut Bundarbo Fire Trail (Stage 1) 30
Tumut Yammatree Reserve 2
Tumut Thomas Boyd Track Head 2
Tumut Tumut Bush Common 5
Tumut Batlow Hill 2
Tumut Rimmers Ridge – Adelong
Tumut Bangadang 7
Upper Lachlan Upper Lachlan Fire Trail Maintenance
Upper Lachlan Isabella Fire Trail 10
Wagga Wagga Silvatite Reserve (Trails) 5
Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga Towns & Villages (Trails) 10
Wagga Wagga Kyeamba Gap 4
Wagga Wagga San Isadore 3
Warringah/Pittwater Sandy Trail 0.1
Warringah/Pittwater Lovett Bay Trail 2.5
Warringah/Pittwater Elvina Bay Trail 1.5
Warringah/Pittwater Aumuna Cooyong Trail 0.2
Wingecarribee P3 Fire Trail 6
Wingecarribee Weir Fire trail 3.8
Wingecarribee Lukes Fire trail 0.1
Wollondilly Bargo Weir Fire Trail 10
Wyong District YMCA North / South Link Fire Trail 2
Wyong District YMCA South / Kanangra Dr Fire Trail 2
Wyong District Lake Munmorah Fire Trails 3.25
Wyong District Hyles St Fire Trail, Chittaway Pt 0.1
Wyong District Big “T” and YMCA Link Fire Trails 1.5
Wyong District Lake Road Fire Trail, Chittaway Point 0.1
Wyong District Big “T” Fire Trail – Crangan Bay 1.1
Wyong District Wyong APZ Signs
Wyong District Lake Road Fire Trail, Tuggerah 1
Wyong District Doyalson North, 219-225 Pacific Hway (Trail) 0.8
Yass Valley Yass Valley Fire Trail Maintenance
               565.16

i.e.  Approximately an area 24km x 24km

. .

Nippon Paper’s ‘Reflex’ brand still “pure”?

Friday, August 26th, 2011

Who does one believe?…

 
 
 
 
 
Greenwash Tick

.

.


.

Tuesday 23-Aug-2011:

‘Paper manufacturer loses green credentials’

by Liz Hobday, ABC News, 20110823, ^http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-23/paper-manufacturer-loses-green-credentials/2851982/?site=melbourne, accessed 20110825]

.
The Wilderness Society says Australian Paper cannot meet environmental standards.  The manufacturer of Reflex paper has lost part of its international environmental certification, after withdrawing from an audit of its wood supplies.

The Forest Stewardship Council was auditing Australian Paper, to check that the wood used to make Reflex paper is not sourced from high conservation value forests.

Luke Chamberlain from the Wilderness Society says the company withdrew from the process, because it cannot meet environmental standards.

“The makers of Reflex paper get their wood from the Victorian State Government native forest logging arm VicForests,
” he said.

“VicForests log in endangered species habitat. They log old growth forests in East Gippsland and the central highlands”


Australian Paper says its products are not sourced from high conservations value forests threatened by logging.

Shaun Scallan
from Australian Paper says they withdrew because the audit process changed while it was underway.

 

“We pulled out because of a change in the definition of part of the standard late in the piece, which did not allow us enough time to then satisfy that changed definition,” he said.

.


.

Meanwhile the same Shaun Scallan of Australian Paper just the day prior on Monday 22 August 2011 posts his media release:

.

Australian Paper retains FSC Chain of Custody Certification’…?

by Shaun Scallan, Australian Paper, 20110822, ^http://australianpaper.com.au/media/2478/AP%20FSC%20audit%20release%20FINAL%20Aug%2022_2011.pdf, accessed 20110825

.

‘Australian Paper has successfully retained Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain of Custody certification (FSC-C002059) in its latest audit.  Auditor Rainforest Alliance confirmed that under the certification Australian Paper may continue to produce FSC-certified product based on sourcing of material from FSC-certified operations and recycled content, as allowed under the FSC rules for Mixed and Recycled product.

.

“We are pleased to have retained our FSC Chain of Custody certification,” Australian Paper CEO Mr Jim Henneberry said.
“Australian Paper has held Chain of Custody certification since 2006. However, we have decided to remove the Controlled Wood component from our certification at this time as there has been uncertainty around the interpretation of key elements of the standards.”

.

“Advice received by Rainforest Alliance from FSC International around the interpretation of the Standard was received after the physical audit had been completed. This left insufficient time for us to address and so we elected to withdraw Controlled Wood from our certification.” Mr Henneberry said.

.

Australian Paper remains committed to ensuring that fibre supplies come from internationally recognised, third party certified sources and also regards the Australian Forestry Standard and PEFC as benchmark certifications under this policy. The majority of wood supplied to Australian Paper is certified to the Australian Forestry Standard.

.

“We are also continuing to consult with a wide range of stakeholders as part of our Future Fibre Strategy review,” Mr Henneberry said.
“It is vital that we achieve the best balance between the environment, the health of regional communities and our ongoing competitiveness. We look forward to sharing outcomes from this review in due course.”

.


.

Meanwhile, we have the boss of Nippon Paper (the Japanese company that owns the misnomer ‘Australian Paper’) declaring Nippon Paper is going gang-busters to become a top global pulp and paper company…(at any cost?)

‘Since I was appointed president of Nippon Paper Group, Inc. in 2008, I have been pursuing “growth-oriented management.” This means exploring every possibility with a consistently positive stance, actively seizing opportunities, achieving the growth needed to become one of the top pulp and paper companies worldwide, as set out in the Group Vision 2015, and developing corporate value that meets the expectations of all stakeholders.’ ~ President of Nippon Paper Group, Yoshio Haga. [Source: ^http://www.np-g.com/e/about/president.html]

.


.

Meanwhile, the stated Charter of Nippon Paper Group includes:

.

‘6. Active involvement with environmental issues assures that…’

.

  1. ‘We shall promote afforestation projects, to create and make effective use of sustainable forest resources.’
  2. ‘We shall promote energy conservation, the use of wastepaper and other measures to effectively use resources that are limited in quantity.’
  3. ‘We shall manage and reduce all types of discharge and waste generated in the course of corporate activities.’
  4. ‘We shall research and develop manufacturing technologies, and products and services that are in harmony with the environment.’

.

[Source: ^http://www.np-g.com/e/about/charter.html#shead2]

Editor:  It is suspicious when a Japanese company is more than content to log and irrevocably destroy another country’s old growth forests, while Japan’s own old growth forests around Mt Fuji remain sacrosanct.

‘In spite of the abundant natural resources, logging is not commonly practiced in the forests of Japan. Japan Forests are venerated and protected since they provide essential soil cover and help in water conservation. All Species are encouraged to grow in the Forests in Japan , from the broad-leaved deciduous to the evergreen coniferous types. There are also many forests which grow near volcanic areas, destroyed and then rejuvenated every time an eruption occurs. The Aokigahara Forest at the base of Mount Fuji is one such forest. Locals as well as tourist camp, trek and hike through these dense forests of Japan to explore their unusual natural beauty.

 

‘Some Japan Forests are designated as Sacred Forests . These forests generally contain an ancient religious Shrine, usually worshiping the Shinto religion and are protected from trespassing and destruction. These forest shrines are still venerated as national treasures.

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Some of the sacred forests in Japan are-

 

  • The Forest of the Yahiko Jinja has many trees like the Cedar, Cypress and Oaks. The Shrine has a sacred Chinquapin tree as well.
  • The Forest of Atsuta Jinja is an important Shinto Shrine, housing one the three important Shinto relics – the holy sword of Kusanagi-no-tsurugi. The forest has evergreens like the Japanese Camellia Sakaki, camphor trees, Ilex and Japanese Honeysuckle.
  • The Forest of Kashima Jingu has over 800 species of trees like varieties of Cedar, Fir and Oak. The Kashima Jingu is an important shrine of the Kanto Area. The forest has been designated as a Wildlife Protection area for the rare birds in the region.
  • The Forest of Shimogamo Jinja covers over 495 hectares and has many different species of deciduous trees like the Zelkova, the Elm and the Hackberry. The Shrine itself has 53 buildings which have been designated as National Heritage Architecture.
  • The Forest of the Kirishima Jingu covers and area of 887 hectares. Located near the Mount Kirishima Volcano, the forest has been destroyed and then recovered for over 60 times.
  • The Forest of the Kasuga Taisha is home to the beautiful podocarpus Nagi. The forest also contains many species of evergreens and shrubs. Trees like the Kasuga, the Andromeda and the Ichii also grow there. People from all over Japan visit the venerated shrine in the quarterly pilgrimages.

[Source:  ^http://www.mapsofworld.com/japan/japan-tourism/forests-in-japan.html]

Japan’s sacred Aokigahara Forest

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Ethics question for Yoshio Haga (President of Nippon Paper Group):

What moral right do the Japanese have to consider their own native old growth Aokigahara Forest more sacred than Australia’s sacred native old growth forests such as those across East Gippland?

Stump of Brown Mountain’s sacred 600 year old Mountain Ash old growth tree.
It was logged by VicForests in November 2008 for Nippon Paper’s Reflex Paper.

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In light of VicForests recent civil prosecution in the Victorian Supreme Court, Nippon Paper Group’s association with VicForests calls into question the reputation of Nippon Paper Group and its brand Reflex Paper:
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‘VicForests has been stopped from harvesting certain coupes in the Brown Mountain forest in East Gippsland containing old growth forest

– habitat for rare and threatened species – until the completion of steps implementing the precautionary principle.’

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‘Environment East Gippsland Inc v VicForests – The precautionary principle in action’

22 November 2010:

[Source: Blake Dawson (Lawyers), ‘Environment Matters’, 20111122, ^http://www.blakedawson.com/Templates/Publications/x_article_content_page.aspx?id=60457, accessed 20110825]

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In Brief:.
  • ‘The Victorian Supreme Court decision in Environment East Gippsland Inc v VicForests firmly embeds the approach to the precautionary principle laid down in Telstra Corporation Limited v Hornsby Shire Council (2006).’
  • ‘The case makes it clear that the precautionary principle can be the subject of an enforceable obligation.’
  • ‘The case also makes it clear that the precautionary principle applies both at the strategic and operational stages of a project or undertaking.’
  • ‘The fact that VicForests complied with its forestry approvals was not enough to satisfy the Court that it had met its obligations with regard to the precautionary principle.’
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‘In Environment East Gippsland Inc v VicForests [2010] VSC 335 conservation group Environment East Gippsland (EEG) won a landmark injunction against VicForests, a state-owned timber business with responsibility for commercial timber harvesting in Victoria’s state forests.

VicForests has been stopped from harvesting certain coupes in the Brown Mountain forest in East Gippsland containing old growth forest – habitat for rare and threatened species – until the completion of steps implementing the precautionary principle.

In this case, Justice Osborn of the Supreme Court of Victoria undertook a thorough analysis of the application of the precautionary principle in the context of a detailed legislative regime aimed at balancing biodiversity protection and commercial timber harvesting.  The case embeds the approach to the precautionary principle laid down by Chief Justice Preston of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales, in Telstra Corporation Limited v Hornsby Shire Council (2006) 67 NSWLR 256.’

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The lead-up to the litigation

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‘The Brown Mountain forests in Victoria’s East Gippsland contain old growth forests and provide habitat for rare and threatened species such as the Powerful Owl, the Spotted-tailed Quoll (mainland Australia’s largest marsupial carnivore) and the Long-footed Potoroo.  However, these areas are also amongst the most productive timber harvesting forests in Victoria and play a crucial role in Victoria’s sustainable timber industry.

In 2006, the Victorian State Government committed to increasing the conservation parks and reserves within the broader Brown Mountain area.  Nevertheless, in 2008 commercial logging in the Brown Mountain area began.

After numerous studies of the area indicated the presence of important threatened and rare species, EEG requested the Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Gavin Jennings, to make an interim conservation order to conserve critical habitat of the endangered Long-footed Potoroo, Spot-tailed Quoll, Sooty Owl, Powerful Owl and Orbost Spiny Crayfish at Brown Mountain.  The Minister did not grant a conservation order, but instead increased the conservation area surrounding Brown Mountain.

Having failed to obtain undertakings from VicForests that it would not proceed to log the Brown Mountain coupes, EEG sought interlocutory injunctive relief.  An interlocutory injunction restraining logging was granted by Justice Forrest on 14 September 2009 (see our article Environmental litigation heats up with some significant wins for public interest litigants in our 2 October 2010 edition of Environment Matters ), pending the outcome of the full proceedings before Justice Osborn in the Supreme Court of Victoria.’

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The legislative regime

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‘Logging of state forests in Victoria is regulated by a complex scheme of legislation, codes of practice, management plans and procedures, described by Osborn J as “labyrinthine”.  The principal legislation includes the Forests Act 1958 (Vic) (Forests Act), Sustainable Forests (Timber) Act 2004 (Vic) (SFT Act), Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (Vic) and Conservation, Forests and Lands Act 1987 (Vic).’

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Responsibilities for timber harvesting and forestry management

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‘VicForests is a state-owned corporation, established in 2004 to undertake the harvesting of timber in Victoria’s state forests.  The Secretary to the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) has overarching responsibility for managing state forests and timber harvesting within forests under the Forests Act.’

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Legal challenge

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‘EEG sought an injunction restraining VicForests from harvesting four coupes at Brown Mountain containing old growth forest.  It also sought declarations that timber harvesting within the coupes by VicForests in accordance with the current forestry regime would be unlawful.

EEG argued that the current conservation measures for the Brown Mountain coupes did not meet the requirements of the regulatory system, which addresses the preservation of conservation values and in particular the protection of endangered species.  EEG also argued that VicForests had failed to implement the precautionary principle.

VicForests took issue with EEG’s standing to sue.  Further, it denied the presence of a number of endangered species and argued that the logging of the Brown Mountain coupes would take place under a legislative framework that adequately protects endangered species and would, therefore, be lawful.  It also argued that it was DSE’s responsibility to stipulate any further requirements for habitat protection in accordance with the regulatory regime.’

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EEG’s standing

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‘Following the settled High Court authority that standing to bring such proceedings depends on the plaintiff’s “special interest” in the subject matter of the litigation (Australian Conservation Foundation v Commonwealth (2000) 200 CLR 591), Osborn J was satisfied that EEG had a relevant “special interest” because:

  • EEG uses the coupes to a greater degree than the general public (for example, the group has a “Valley of the Giants Old Growth Forests Walk” through the affected coupes);
  • EEG’s predecessor was involved in the consultative process for the formulation of the applicable forest management plan; and
  • the government has previously recognised EEG’s status as a body representing this sector of the public interest.’

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The precautionary principle     [Ed: once again]

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‘The VicForests case firmly embeds in Australian environmental jurisprudence the approach to the precautionary principle laid down by Chief Justice Preston of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales, in Telstra Corporation Limited v Hornsby Shire Council (2006) 67 NSWLR 256 (Telstra).  Justice Osborn’s decision in VicForests is the first Supreme Court application of the Telstra principles.

The precautionary principle is integrated throughout the Victorian forestry regime’s many instruments.

Following Preston CJ’s two-fold test in Telstra, Osborn J stressed that the precautionary principle is a test of common sense.  There must be:

  • a threat of serious or irreversible environmental damage; and
  • scientific uncertainty as to the environmental damage.
Justice Osborn stated:

Once both of these conditions or thresholds are satisfied, a precautionary measure may be taken to avert the anticipated threat of environmental damage, but it should be proportionate … [The] degree of precaution appropriate will depend on the combined effect of the seriousness of the threat and the degree of uncertainty.

It is a “wherever practicable” test.

In practice, this meant that once the two-fold test was satisfied by EEG, VicForests had the onus of proving that the threat posed by logging the coupes did not exist or was negligible.  Because it could not do this, the question then became:

  • whether the threat was able to be addressed by adaptive management measures (in this case the requirement for surveys and management zone reviews); and
  • whether the measure alleged to be required (here the permanent injunction against logging the coupes) was proportionate to the threat in issue.
Justice Osborn carefully examined the legislative regime and held that it is not intended that VicForests only apply the precautionary principle at the strategic planning stage:

VicForests is specifically required to apply it [the precautionary principle] having regard to the results of monitoring and research as they come to light during operations. … The requirements of the precautionary principle fall to be considered in the light of the whole of the evidence bearing on these matters as it now is and not as it was at the time VicForests completed planning.

Justice Osborn stressed, however, that the precautionary principle sits within a wider statutory regime that takes into account principles of sustainable development.

He held that unless VicForests complied with the requirements of the applicable Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act Statements and with conditions stated in the relevant allocation order (under the Forests Act) and the Timber Release Plan (under the SFT Act), logging at Brown Mountain would be unlawful.

This meant that VicForests could not rely on its current approvals to log the coupes because DSE had not, for example, changed zonings in the coupes to reflect the presence of threatened species.  VicForests had an ongoing, active duty to apply the precautionary principle, which included responding to new information as it became available.

Importantly, Osborn J stressed that the precautionary principle can be the subject of an enforceable obligation.’

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Outcome

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‘Justice Osborn ordered that VicForests stop harvesting until various measures had been completed to respond to the detection of endangered species and to implement a precautionary approach with respect to their potential extinction. The required measures included:

  • creating or amending special management zones, special protection zones and retained habitat areas to protect the Long-footed Potoroo, Greater Gliders and Yellow-bellied Gliders (as relevant);
  • undertaking further surveys for the Giant Burrowing Frog, Large Brown Tree Frog and Spotted-tailed Quoll; and
  • completing a current review of the Powerful Owl and Sooty Owl Management Areas,
to the satisfaction of the Director, Biodiversity Policy and Programs, DSE.

The difficulty for the Court in formulating its orders was that the power to act on the evidence of rare and endangered species and implement the required legislative and policy changes lies not with VicForests, against whom the injunction was sought, but with DSE.

Justice Osborn overcame this difficulty by stopping VicForests from logging until certain actions are undertaken, these actions being DSE responsibilities.  VicForests had maintained throughout proceedings that it would comply with any changes to the regulatory regime made by DSE, and this was accepted by the Court.

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Significance of the decision

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This case firmly embeds the approach to the precautionary principle laid down by Chief Justice Preston in Telstra Corporation Limited v Hornsby Shire Council (2006) 67 NSWLR 256.

Justice Osborn’s decision makes it clear that:

  • The precautionary principle can be the subject of an enforceable obligation.
  • Parties having an obligation to apply the precautionary principle cannot demonstrate compliance with the principle solely through departmental approval of their actions or relevant approvals under the regulatory regime; the precautionary principle is an active obligation that applies throughout operations, requiring parties to respond to new information as it arises.
  • The precautionary principle applies throughout all stages of operation, not just the strategic planning (or approvals) stage.
The decision has broader implications because:

  • The precautionary principle is embedded in many other statutory regimes in Victoria and around Australia, apart from the Victorian legislative regime for forestry and the protection of endangered species.  The decision has implications for any statutory regime in which the principle is enshrined.
  • Although VicForest is a state-owned enterprise operating within a highly regulated environment, there is scope for the decision to be applied to other types of entities operating within industries where the precautionary principle is relevant.
Furthermore, a decision of the Supreme Court of Victoria has strong precedent value, and is likely to be adopted by the Supreme Courts of other States, and perhaps even higher courts or courts with federal jurisdiction.

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Action points

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Parties under an obligation to apply the precautionary principle need to be aware that:

  • to implement the precautionary principle as per the principles laid down in Telstra, parties need to ask:
    • is there a real threat of serious or irreversible damage to the environment?
    • if yes, is it attended by a lack of full scientific certainty (in the sense of material uncertainty)?
    • if yes, is the threat non-existent or negligible?
    • if no, is the threat able to be addressed by adaptive management and is the measure alleged to be required proportionate to the threat in issue?
  • the principle must be applied at both the strategic decision making stage of a project, and throughout the operational stage; and
  • it may not be sufficient to simply obtain and comply with project approvals – parties need to proactively respond to new information as it arises throughout the operational stage.’
 

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..

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Further Reading:

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[1] >Vicforests’ Ecological Genocide

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[2] Nippon buys Maryvale mill‘, by Ian McIlwraith, The Age newspaper, 20090217, ^http://www.theage.com.au/business/nippon-buys-maryvale-mill-20090216-89bu.html, accessed 20110826]

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‘Paperlinx will take a $600 million hit on its half year results and the future of its Tasmanian operations is under review after last night unveiling the partial sale of its Australian papermaking business.

Japan’s Nippon Paper Group will buy most of Australian Paper, which includes the Maryvale pulp mill in Gippsland
, for more than $700 million, including taking on attached debt and a three-year profit share agreement.

 

Money from the sale, expected to be completed in June, will go to reducing PaperlinX’s debt burden to about $340 million…’

[Editor:  So Paperlinx was in debt to the Australian Tax Office by over a billion dollars?  How can Australia’s pulp industry be profitable then?]

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[3] Australian Paper Watch website  (providing information about the logging of Victoria’s forests to make paper products such as Reflex by Nippon Paper and their ‘subsidiary’ Australian Paper), ^http://www.australianpaper.forests.org.au/

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[4] Nippon Paper’s Maryvale Mill Upgrade, ^http://www.reflex.com.au/2008-Maryvale-Mill-Upgrade/

‘Australian Paper has a long history in the La Trobe Valley in Gippsland, Victoria, dating back to 1937 when established. Today, the Mill is Australia’s largest integrated pulp and paper operation.  In response to global paper trends and changing consumer expectations for our products, Australian Paper (Nippon Paper subsidiary) embarked on a major upgrade of the Maryvale Pulp Mill in 2006 which was completed in December 2008. With an investment of $350 million, the upgrade significantly expanded the Mill’s production of bleached pulp capacity and delivered a range of safety, health and environmental benefits.’

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[5] Loggers, activists clash over forest‘,  by Adam Morton, The Age newspaper, 20110817,  August 17, 2011, ^http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/loggers-activists-clash-over-forest-20110816-1iwew.html
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‘Conservationists have held up timber workers in a fiercely contested area of native forest on Melbourne’s fringe for nearly a month, chaining themselves to bulldozers and climbing trees scheduled for logging.
The protest, which has led to at least 10 arrests, is expected to reach a climax today as activists and local residents march into the logging coupe outside Toolangi in Victoria’s central highlands.

 

Protest organisers claim they have evidence the coupe is home to the endangered Leadbeaters Possum, which scientists say is under threat after Black Saturday bushfires wiped out up to half its habitat.  But the Department of Sustainability and Environment says there has been no sign of live possums. Department spokeswoman Kim Payne said one tree in the coupe had hollows that showed evidence of possum use.  That tree would be left standing, but the coupe did not meet the legal criteria of prime possum habitat and could otherwise be logged.

 

Sarah Rees, director of Healesville-based group My Environment, said it was cruel to think a possum could be protected by retaining a single tree while taking away the forest around it.  She said logging was hurting central highlands communities.

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”Tourism based on the state forest is far more important to the local economy than forestry and the two cannot co-exist,” she said.

The conflict over the Toolangi State Forest was the focus of a public meeting in the area late last week when logging opponents verbally clashed with forestry workers, who accused the activists of restraint of trade. One contractor said he had lost about $80,000 due to the protests.


 

 

David Walsh, spokesman for state commercial timber agency VicForests, said the Toolangi protests had cost forest workers significant time.  Only about a quarter of the 19-hectare coupe had been harvested. He said gates raised to ensure public safety had been damaged. ”VicForests believes these are legal harvesting operations which comply with the detailed legislative framework governing native timber harvesting in Victoria,” he said.

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Editor:  The legal doctrine of ‘restraint of trade’ sought to be applied in the commercial exploitation and destruction of old growth forests, is an invalid excuse.  It is a contemptible euphemism for a ‘right to rape’ old growth ecology that is being contrived by commercial lawyers profiting from the exploiters ~ a case of the morally bankrupt collaborating with the damned.

[6]   Ethical Paper website,  ^http://www.ethicalpaper.com.au/

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[7] My Environment website, ^http://www.myenvironment.net.au/

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– end of article –

VicForests: old growth granny killers

Saturday, July 23rd, 2011

Posted by Tigerquoll:

The VicMolesters are at it again.

Chainsaw-wielding loggers of VicForests are set to target old growth Mountain Ash near Sylvia Creek in the Central Highlands, to Melbourne’s north, east of Kinglake.  That an inferno that was Black Saturday in February 2009 ripped through forests in the area around Narbethong, Toolangi and Kinglake matters squat to these woodchip mercenaries.

The Burned Area Emergency Response Report (BAER) commissioned by the Brumby Government after the 2009 bushfires recommended preserving refuge areas such as those in Toolangi for biodiversity recovery.

That the targeted forests have become isolated islands of habitat to rare wildlife matters squat to them.  That the forests are home to Victoria’s endangered and disappearing Leadbeater’s possum, the Spotted-Tail Quoll, the Sooty Owl, and Baw Baw frog are but collateral damage to these bastards. “Over half the Leadbeater’s Possum’s forest habitat was destroyed in the Black Saturday bushfires, so every last bit that survives is incredibly precious, and essential to this tiny animals’ survival,” said spokesperson for local group ‘My Environment’ Sarah Rees.

“The criteria the government is using to identify Leadbeater’s Possum habitat are too conservative. We’re talking about Victoria’s wildlife emblem, we should be making sure they multiply and flourish, not simply cling on to the edge of survival.”

VicForests old growth logging is all for a quick buck from woodchip sales to make Reflex Paper.  They would sell their daughters for less.

DSE has confirmed the logging coupe contains old growth trees, even though VicForests and Government Minister Louise Asher insisted last week that it was not old growth forest,” said Wilderness Society forest campaigner Luke Chamberlain.


Tigerquoll
Suggan Buggan
Snowy River Region
Victoria 3885
Australia

Petting and eating protected marine life

Sunday, June 26th, 2011

June 26th, 2011 .

Australia’s marine wildlife habitat continues to be decimated by commercial and recreational fishing, urban sewage and runoff, and pollution-caused global warming driving up sea temperatures.

Compounding these threats, new threats have emerged from two recent human sources:

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  1. The ‘Native Pet Trade’

  2. ‘Upmarket Restaurants’

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Threats from the ‘Native Pet Trade’

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The Native Pet Trade in Australia is on the rise.

The more discerning pet owner, not content with a garden variety dog or cat, are seeking more ‘exotic’ pets.  Reptiles andf unusual marine life have become fashionable.

Then there is the increasing number of apartment dwellers without room for a dog or cat, who are now seeking  ‘pocket pets’.  Pocket pets are smaller and include animals such as rats, mice and guinea pigs and native and exotic wildlife species: birds, reptiles, fish, crabs, amphibians and invertebrates.  Sydney in particular has an increasingly dense urban population and with the increasing housing density and apartment living, the popularity of smaller animals as pets is on the rise. The misconception by many seeking small wildlife species as pets is that these species are less needy and easier to care for than dogs and cats.

But the issue is not the interests of the ‘pet’ owner; the issue is the problem of wildlife poaching and inadequate government enforcement.   Irrespective of the motivation, poaching is poaching; albeit for commercial gain, for deviant gratification from killing animals, or perverted ‘pet’ ownership.

Not content with the ordinary garden variety gold fish, discerning private aquarium owners seeking to keep up with the latest trends are seeking out rarer and more unusual marine species to make their showcase fish tank just that little more special and different. It’s a kind a fish tank fashion, it f that’s your thing.  Perceived better that exotic fish, what better way to impress guests that having a real seahorse in your tank?   No thought is given to the fact that these are generally poached from the wild.  No thought is given to about their dwindling numbers or impacts on the ecosystems from which they are poached.

One of the latest aquarium fashion statements particular to Sydney seems to be Weedy Sea Dragons, an Australian native reptile, along with other Australian marine fauna.  People are simply poaching marine life for their own personal gain.

To the casual observer, what may pass for innocuous weekend pastime of recreational beachcombing, has become wildlife poaching.  Recent years have seen a trend of groups of people scouring coastal rock platforms not for chance inanimate objects washed ashore, but specifically taking Australian marine life.  This is poaching is not beach-combing.

Yet governments around Australia are reneging on their custodial duty to protect Australia’s precious marine life.


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Case in Point:   ‘Long Reef Aquatic Reserve’

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Long Reef Aquatic Reserve is a large rock platform situated on Sydney’s northern beaches area at Collaroy and extends from Collaroy rock baths south to the Long Reef Surf Life Saving Club.  It contains a rich diversity and abundance of marine invertebrates rarely seen anywhere and for this reason and due to risks of wildlife poaching, in 1980 it was declared a protected aquatic reserve under the Fisheries Management Act 1994, primarily to protect marine invertebrates found on the rock platforms, and to protect subtidal marine plants and animals.

Long Reef is one of twelve aquatic reserves across New South Wales (Australia) established to protect biodiversity and provide representative samples of our wonderfully varied marine life and habitats.  Only fin fishing is permitted. No marine plants or animals can be harmed. This includes the collection of empty shells and dead plants or animals because they provide important habitat or food for living invertebrates. The penalties for breaking the rules are quite severe. NSW Fisheries legislation provides for fines up to $110,000 and on-the-spot fines also apply. All fishing or diving gear may also be forfeited.

[Source: NSW Fisheries Sydney North, http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/nationalparks/parkHome.aspx?id=a0004]

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Weedy Sea Dragon

One of the protected species of Long Reef is the Weedy Seadragon‘ (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus), a marine fish related to the seahorse that grows up to 45cm in length.  It is found only found in shallow coastal waters of southern Australian from Geraldton WA, to Port Stephens NSW and down around Tasmania. It is the only member of the genus Phyllopteryx. Weedy Seadragons are named for the weed-like projections on their bodies that camouflage them as they move among the seaweed beds where they are usually found.

Due to their unusual appearance, they have become the target marine poaching by private aquarium owners and those in the native pet trade seeking to profiteer.

Weedy Seadragon‘ (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus)

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There is much concern for the future of the Weedy Seadragon and others in their family.  They are threatened by habitat destruction, and potentially by the aquarium trade. Currently seadragons are protected under fisheries legislation federally and in most states where they occur, it is illegal to take or export them without a permit.  [Source: http://www.abyss.com.au/scuba/pc/Weedy-Seadragon-p4291.htm]

Continual wildlife pillaging on Long Reef is causing reduction in the numbers and diversity of marine life including the weedy sea dragon.  Despite the prospect of a $3300 fine or six months’ imprisonment, few offenders have been caught by authorities, because government monitoring by fisheries inspectors is woefully inadequate.  The last arrest was in September 2009, when Manly police caught two teenagers with water dragons stuffed into their backpacks. The teenagers, who were from the western suburbs, told police they wanted to take the lizards home as pets.   The poaching is also driven by the black market for native pets.

Water Dragon (Physignathus lesueurii)
 
 
 
One doesn’t have to look far to find Water Dragons for sale on the Internet.  They seem to go for $65 – $100.

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‘Lizards For Sale’

www.tradingpost.com.au/Pets
 

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‘Red Phase Bearded Dragons’

www.ultimatereptiles.com.au/…/dragons/dragongallery.html
 
 

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‘Reptiles For Sale – petpages.com.au’

www.exotic-pets.co.uk/lizards-for-sale.html
 

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‘Australia Reptiles / Amphibians for Sale, Adoption, Buy, Sell …’

www.adpost.com

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‘Chinese Water Dragons Classifieds’

Water Dragons For Sale, $24.99 Each Plus $39.95 Overnight Shipping! … 60 Gallon Lizard Tank. 60 gallon 50inchesx13inchesx23inches including stand,screen …
www.hoobly.com/0/2619/0/

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‘The Pet Directory: World’s largest online pet directory of …’

Specialising in Lizards – Over 80 species of Geckos, Dragons, ….. pythons pythons for sale snake breeders lizards for sale lizard breeders water dragons …
www.petdirectory.com.au/?Reptile_Breeders…1…
 
 

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‘Buy Water Dragons Online. For Sale with Same Day Shipping’

Water Dragon. Manufacturer: ABOUT OUR LIZARDS; Average Size Shipped – Varies… Please add to cart to see current sizes available; We have beginner reptiles …
www.bigappleherp.com/Water-Dragon
 

‘Gippsland Water Dragons – Aquarium and reptile online shop in …’

The Gippsland Water Dragon(Physignathus lesueurii howittii) is a large lizar. It is grey-green and brown with black banding on back and a row of spines …
www.amazingamazon.com.au/…sale/lizards-for-sale/lizards-for-sale/gippsland-water-dragons-for-sale.html
 
 
 
 

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Threats from Upmarket Restaurants

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Also along Long Reef  locals have reported witnessing groups poaching marine life on the protected rock platforms.

“Groups and whole families that start at Palm Beach in a bus and go down the peninsula, combing all the rock shelves for marine life, looking for anything they can sell in a restaurant or eat themselves – sea urchins, shellfish, cunjevoi, sea snails, the lot.”

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[Source: Shannon Leckie, ‘Under cover of darkness a lone stance against wildlife poachers‘, by Tim Elliott, 20110430, ^http://www.smh.com.au/environment/under-cover-of-darkness-a-lone-stance-against-wildlife-poachers-20110429-1e0sj.html]

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The Exclusive Restaurant Trade in Australia is also on the rise.

Not content with the garden variety fish and chips, exclusive seafood restaurants across Sydney are luring the more discerning diner try more novel offerings, including Australian native red sea urchins, which can be found at Long Reef.

Red Sea Urchin
(Photo from Long Reef)

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While it is not known which Sydney restaurants may be serving up sea urchins poached from the Long Reef Aquatic Reserve, the following article reveals recent trends by exclusive seafood restaurants across Sydney to include unusual marine animals on their menus.

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‘Deep Sea Dining’

…by Olivia Riordan and Lissa Christopher,Sydney Morning Herald’s ‘Good Living’ magazine on 15th December 2009.

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‘A few courageous chefs, the discovery of great local product and diners’ willingness to try novel foods have combined to bring a strange-looking creature off the sea floor and into Sydney’s fine dining venues. Sea urchin has a host of new fans.

”I’ve sold more sea urchin in the past 12 months than I have in the past four years,” says Wayne Hulme from Christie’s Seafood.

Christie’s Asian clientele have enjoyed the spiny creatures for years but, Hulme says, Neil Perry was among the first chefs to put it on a modern Australian menu. ”He’s 10 years ahead of everyone else,” Hulme says.

At Rockpool, Perry serves snapper with a sea urchin roe butter.

The roe inside sea urchins is the real prize. It has a rich, sharp taste Perry describes as “a spoonful of icing sugar, salt straight from the sea and an egg” and Hulme describes as “sweet, salty and weighty”.

Live sea urchin dish at Hugos Manly by chef Massimo Mele.
© Photo: Marco del Grande


Red sea urchins are prized over black sea urchins because they carry roe year round, says Ralph Lavender, a diver and fisher who works with his son on the coast near Kiama and provides Christie’s with up to 100 kilograms of sea urchins each week.
Black urchins are more common, he says, but they’re barren for six months of the year. They’re just starting to carry roe again now.

Lavender attributes the rising popularity of sea urchins to chefs realising good local product is available and Australian diners’ growing willingness to try new things.

”People have changed their culinary delights, if you like
,” he says. ‘‘They’ll try witchetty grub, a bit of kangaroo tail, a bit of camel meat.”

Now they’re trying sea urchin and Lavender couldn’t be happier. Demand for his catch outstrips his capacity to supply, he says. NSW Department of Primary Industries licensing restrictions place limits on how many sea urchins he can bring in.

Hulme says that, until recently, a lot of the sea urchin roe sold at Christie’s was imported from Chile, arriving fresh but pre-extracted and packaged. Lavender’s sea urchins arrive in Sydney alive with their spikes still wiggling.

Rockpool isn’t the only Sydney restaurant serving sea urchin. Martin Benn from Sepia serves a sea urchin roe butter with mulloway and at Kables Restaurant, chef Carl Middleton makes a sea urchin soup with shark fin and lemon grass, presented in a sea urchin shell.

The head chef with the Hugos Group, Massimo Mele, uses sea urchins in a range of dishes and has been known to dive for them himself. Mele grew up eating the “beautiful and simple” urchins on the Italian coast and doesn’t complicate them on his own menu.’

[Source: ^http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/12/14/1260639163722.html]

 

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So where do Sydney restaurants serving ‘Sea Urchin Sauce’ get their sea urchins from?

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At Rockpool restaurant in The Rocks, “Perry serves snapper with a sea urchin roe butter“.

[Source: ^http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/12/14/1260639163722.html]

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Jonah’s of nearby Whale Beach offers as a main course: “Crepinette of Kingfish and Ocean Trout, prawn and scallop mousse, Kipfler potatoes, spinach and Sea Urchin sauce | $48.00

Source: ^http://www.bestrestaurants.com.au/restaurants/NSW-Greater-Sydney-jonahs.aspx]

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Rise in Darlinghurst back in 2005 served up Amuse-bouche which included “semi-poached egg, sea-urchin sauce, salmon roe and shiso“.
[Source: ^http://grabyourfork.blogspot.com/2005/02/rise-darlinghurst.html]

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Quadrant Restaurant at Circular Quay on its lunch menu includes for main, “pan roasted blue eye cod, braised fennel, sea urchin butter sauce

[Source: ^http://mirvac-hotels.assets0.blockshome.com/assets/quay-grand-suites-sydney/7uqAftquXhxhatm/full-quadrant-menu-updated-250510.pdf]

.

Kabuki Shoroku Seafood Japanese Restaurant  in St Martin Tower Clkarence Street Sydney, serves up ‘Kaisen Funamori’, which is described on the menu as:
Chef’s best selection of fresh sashimi assortment ( live lobster, live abalone, oyster, tuna, salmon, sea urchin and white fish)”

[Source: ^http://www.kabukishoroku.com.au/menu.htm]

.

So where do these restaurants get their sea urchins from?

Are the sea urchins poached from wildlife sanctuaries?

Are the sea urchins endangered?

.

How would diners know?

Do diners care?

.

.

.K


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Concerned locals frustrated at government inaction are taking matters into their own hands

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‘SOS..Save-Our-Snails’

‘Pressure is mounting on authorities to do more to stop the illegal collecting of marine life from Long Reef Aquatic Reserve.  Locals have flooded The Manly Daily with complaints about people illegally gathering large sea snails and shellfish from the unique reserve.

Both Warringah Council and the National Parks and Wildlife Service claim to be regularly patrolling the rock platforms, but residents claim it is ineffective.

Beacon Hill resident Joe Van Ewyk took this photo at the reserve late last year.

Illegal poaching of marine life from Long Reef Aquatic Reserve
© Photo Joe Van Ewyk

“There was a group who were very efficient and methodical at removing shells, etc, using metal bars and placing them into a bucket,” he said. “They were there for a considerable length of time – no one confronted them, rangers or otherwise.”

Mr Van Ewyk said not enough was being done to protect the unique platform.

“Go up to Port Stephens and stick your nose into a marine park and you’ll have three rubber duckies onto you straight away, checking your boat for fishing equipment,” he said.

“They’re very keen up there but down here there is nothing.”

Lucette Rutherford said she and her husband regularly swam at Collaroy Basin near the rock platform and on numerous occasions had seen groups of people collecting buckets of shellfish from the rock platforms.

“My husband has called NSW Fisheries and Warringah Council numerous times and only ever reached an answering machine,” he said. “It is distressing to see this damage to the marine life in our protected areas and the open disregard these people show.”

Marine expert Phil Colman said the illegal activity was a regular occurrence and could have a detrimental impact on the broader environment.

“When you target somewhere like Long Reef Aquatic Reserve you are affecting an important link in the food chain,” he said.

A Warringah Council spokeswoman said rangers conducted daily patrols and worked closely with Fisheries, the Surf Club and the Friends of Long Reef to protect the area.

Anyone who sees any illegal activity should contact Warringah Council on 9942 2111 or Fishers Watch Phoneline 1800 043 536.

Mr Colman will lead a guided tour of Long Reef Aquatic Reserve on February 20 from 4pm to 6pm. Details: 0411 124 200.

[Source:  ^http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/sos-save-our-snails/]

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‘Come and join my marine corps urges reef saviour’


Wildlife warrior Shannon Leckie has extended his covert surveillance operation to Long Reef and is looking for volunteers to join the cause.

Concerned nearby resident to Long Reef, Shannon Leckie, is trying to catch the poachers in the act.

.

Mr Leckie, who uses night-vision goggles, camouflage equipment and video recorders to record illegal poachers, wants to create a group of wardens to help protect marine life at the protected reserve.  Poaching has been an ongoing issue with people ignoring signs and taking large sea snails and shellfish from the rock platform at low tide.

The former navy medic said he needed volunteers to help record the details of illegal poachers.

“I will film them and then relay the information up to someone in the carpark who can record their licence plates,” he said. “We will then pass that information on to the authorities.”

Only last week Mr Leckie filmed a group of people poaching from the platform in plain sight. “I got them as they walked off the rock shelf and they just looked straight at me,” he said.

One person who has already enlisted is Warringah Greens councillor, Christina Kirsch, who said she would to hand out flyers educating people about the protected reserve.

AQUATIC RESERVE

  • Extends from Collaroy rockpools to Long Reef Surf Life Saving Club.
  • The reserve was declared in 1980 to protect marine invertebrates on rock platforms and sub-tidal marine plants and animals.
  • Except for fin fishing, collecting or harming marine plants or animals in the reserve is banned.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

  • To become a volunteer warden at Long Reef email ckirsch@optusnet.com.au

.

[Source:  ‘Come and join my marine corps urges reef saviour’, by Brenton Cherry in Manly Daily newspaper, 20110513, ^http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/come-and-join-my-marine-corps-urges-reef-saviour/]

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.


Under cover of darkness a lone stance against wildlife poachers

by Tim Elliott, Sydney Morning Herald, 20110430.

.

‘Eco Warrior … fed up with wildlife pillaging on the northern beaches, Shannon Leckie is donning camouflage gear and trying to catch people in the act.
© Photo: Edwina Pickles

.

‘If you spot a man hiding in the bushes with a video camera around the northern beaches do not be alarmed. It’s just Shannon Leckie, former Royal Australian Navy medic and eco-vigilante extraordinaire. Fed up with the systematic pillaging of native wildlife from his local area, Mr Leckie is going undercover, dressed in combat fatigues and equipped with night-vision goggles and a video camera.

“It’s going to be hit and miss,” the 40-year-old father of two admits. “I plan to get a lie-out position and then just film whatever illegal activity I see. If I catch anyone I’ll call the police and then hand the footage over.”

Mr Leckie will not be carrying any weapons.

“I don’t want to scare anyone. It’s just that the government isn’t putting enough money into this. In Africa and America they have teams dedicated to stop poaching, but here it seems to be pretty much a free for all, especially with the water dragons at Manly and the sea life at Long Reef.”

The eastern water dragon, a lizard protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, was once a common sight along the walkway from Manly to Shelly Beach. But a recent spate of “lizard napping” has halved their numbers, with offenders plucking the animals from the cliffs and bundling them into pillowcases and beach towels.

“It’s a huge problem for us,” said Henry Wong, the general manager of Manly Council, which installed anti-poaching signs in December. “They tend to take the breeding males, because they’re the biggest, which is devastating the colonies.”

Stealing a water dragon attracts a $3300 fine or six months’ imprisonment, but catching offenders has proven difficult. The last arrest was in September 2009, when Manly police caught two teenagers with water dragons stuffed into their backpacks. The teenagers, who were from the western suburbs, told police they wanted to take the lizards home as pets. But Mr Wong believes it is possible the animals are being traded on the black market.

Mr Leckie agrees. “I assume they are selling them overseas, because native Australian flora and fauna fetches quite bit of money.”

Mr Leckie also plans to monitor the northern beaches’ rock platforms. “There are groups and whole families that start at Palm Beach in a bus and go down the peninsula, combing all the rock shelves for marine life, looking for anything they can sell in a restaurant or eat themselves – sea urchins, shellfish, cunjevoi, sea snails, the lot.”

Phil Colman, a marine expert with the Collaroy group Fishcare Volunteers, said the Long Reef Aquatic Reserve was particularly vulnerable, because of its size, diversity and various points of entry. “I have seen people using penknives and crowbars, even bits of wood, to forage on the reef. Usually they target turban shells, and sometimes limpets. They can collect 200 or 300 limpets in a session. You call the fisheries inspectors but by the time they arrive the people are long gone.”

Recognised as the most diverse intertidal marine environment in NSW (“and one of the best in Australia,” according to Mr Colman), the aquatic reserve is used as a teaching platform by university students and schools as far away as Broken Hill.

“And yet poaching there is a constant problem. The issue is that when you target somewhere like Long Reef, you effect the entire food chain.”

Warringah Council recently allocated $40,000 to look into establishing an education centre and “wet lab” at the reef for international and local students. However, in the meantime Mr Leckie will be watching. “I just feel I have to act now, because it’s been going on for so long.”

[Source:  http://www.smh.com.au/environment/under-cover-of-darkness-a-lone-stance-against-wildlife-poachers-20110429-1e0sj.html]

Long Reef
© Photo by Brent Pearson 20090412.

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.

References:

.

[1]  ^http://www.awrc.org.au/uploads/5/8/6/6/5866843/gamble_pets.pdf

[2]  ^http://members.ozemail.com.au/~surfcity/Pages/Beach.html

[3]  ^http://www.redbubble.com/people/salieri1627/art/5500094-rock-pool-long-reef-aquatic-park-sydney-30-exposure-hdr-panorama-the-hdr-experience
Philip Johnson

[4]  http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/nationalparks/parkHome.aspx?id=a0004

[5]  http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/nationalparks/parktypes.aspx?type=aquaticreserve

[6]   Weedy Seadragon, ^http://www.abyss.com.au/scuba/pc/Weedy-Seadragon-p4291.htm

[7]  ^http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllopteryx

[8]  Olivia Riordan and Lissa Christopher, 20091215, ^http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/12/14/1260639163722.html

[9]  Under cover of darkness a lone stance against wildlife poachers, Tim Elliott, 201104309, ^http://www.smh.com.au/environment/under-cover-of-darkness-a-lone-stance-against-wildlife-poachers-20110429-1e0sj.html

[10]  ‘Come and join my marine corps, urges reef saviour’, by Brenton Cherry, 20110513, ^http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/come-and-join-my-marine-corps-urges-reef-saviour/

[11]   ^http://www.flickr.com/photos/lsydney/5626257447/

[12]   ^http://www.aquariumslife.com/saltwater-fish/seahorse/weedy-sea-dragon-phyllopteryx-taeniolatus/

[13]   ^http://www.riverwonders.com/p-97-weedy-sea-dragon-show-specimen-5-6.aspx

[14]   ^http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/sos-save-our-snails/

[15]   Wobbegong sharks released at Long Reef Aquatic Reserve, ^http://mosman-daily.whereilive.com.au/photos/gallery/wobbegong-sharks-released-at-long-reef-aquatic-reserve-photos-by-simon-cocksedge/

[16]   Wobbegongs return to the wild but stay close to home, Aaron Cook, March 9, 2011
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/animals/wobbegongs-return-to-the-wild-but-stay-close-to-home-20110308-1bmod.html

[17]  A world in a rock pool, By Rachel Sullivan, ^http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2011/01/18/3114813.htm

[18]   ^http://travel.aol.com/travel-guide/australia-and-south-pacific/australia/sydney/long-reef-aquatic-reserve-thingstodo-detail-387857/

[19]   http://www.warringah.nsw.gov.au/news_events/documents/WMatters13Autumn09.pdf   (page 5)

[20]  ‘$40,000 kick start for plan to stop poaching’, by Brenton Cherry, 20110304
^http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/40-000-kick-start-for-plan-to-stop-poaching/

[21]   http://www.warringah.nsw.gov.au/council_then/documents/20110208m.pdf  (pages 9-10)

[22]  ^http://www.lachlanhunter.deadsetfreestuff.com/JB/geo-sitesK-L.htm

[23]   ^http://www.reefcarelongreef.org.au/

[24]   Save Long Reef Coalition.

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[The above Internet references were accessed 20110626]

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– end of article –
RSPCA Qld provides for pocket pets like rats, mice and guinea pigs but the category
“Pocket Pets” also includes native and exotic wildlife species: birds, reptiles, fish,
crabs, amphibians and invertebrates.

As the human population increases in Australia so does housing density, especially on
the East Coast. The popularity of smaller animals as pets is on the rise. It is
generally considered, and most often incorrectly, by the broader community that these
species are less needy and easier to care for than dogs and cats. I offer the following
for consideration in the wildlife as pets debate and argue that having wildlife as pets is
generally not a good idea.
http://www.awrc.org.au/uploads/5/8/6/6/5866843/gamble_pets.pdf

Long Reef Aquatic Reserve was declared in 1980 It extends from Collaroy rock baths south to Long Reef SLSC, and from mean high water out 100m from mean low water (Approx 60 ha.). The reserve was declared primarily to protect marine invertebrates found on the rock platforms, and to protect subtidal marine plants and animals. It is also important for marine education. Long Reef Aquatic Reserve includes two main rocky shores. The northern rocky reef area is protected from southerly swells by the prominent eastern headland, whilst the eastern large platform is more exposed. Different organisms occur in these different areas. Sydney’s northern beaches feature many diverse rock platforms. Long Reef Aquatic Reserve is unique due to its exposure to all four points of the compass. Species dwelling here have managed to adapt well to a huge range of severe conditions. Long Reef Aquatic Reserve has a wide variety of habitats, including sheltered boulder fields and surf-exposed ledges. The diversity and abundance of marine invertebrates here is rarely seen anywhere.

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~surfcity/Pages/Beach.html

The Long Reef Aquatic Reserve was declared primarily to protect the marine invertebrates and sub-tidal marine plants and animals. Isobel Bennett AO (1908-2007, at right) was a marine conservation pioneer whose work on Sydney’s rock platforms led to the establishment of the Aquatic Reserve in 1980 by the state government. The reserve covers an area of approx. 60ha from the high water mark out to 100m from low water, extending from the Collaroy rock pool south to Long Reef Surf Club on Long Reef beach.

Long Reef Aquatic Reserve was declared in 1980 It extends from Collaroy rock baths south to Long Reef SLSC, and from mean high water out 100m from mean low water (Approx 60 ha.). The reserve was declared primarily to protect marine invertebrates found on the rock platforms, and to protect subtidal marine plants and animals. It is also important for marine education. Long Reef Aquatic Reserve includes two main rocky shores. The northern rocky reef area is protected from southerly swells by the prominent eastern headland, whilst the eastern large platform is more exposed. Different organisms occur in these different areas. Sydney’s northern beaches feature many diverse rock platforms. Long Reef Aquatic Reserve is unique due to its exposure to all four points of the compass. Species dwelling here have managed to adapt well to a huge range of severe conditions. Long Reef Aquatic Reserve has a wide variety of habitats, including sheltered boulder fields and surf-exposed ledges. The diversity and abundance of marine invertebrates here is rarely seen anywhere.

http://www.redbubble.com/people/salieri1627/art/5500094-rock-pool-long-reef-aquatic-park-sydney-30-exposure-hdr-panorama-the-hdr-experience
Philip Johnson

Long Reef Aquatic Reserve on Sydney’s northern beaches is approximately 20 kilometres north of the city. It extends from Collaroy rock baths south to Long Reef Surf Lifesaving Club, and from mean high water to 100 metres out from mean low water.

The reserve includes two main rocky shores. The northern rocky reef area is protected from southerly swells by the prominent eastern headland, while the larger eastern platform is more exposed. Different organisms occur in these two areas.

Long Reef Aquatic Reserve protects the marine invertebrates on the rock platforms as well as subtidal marine plants and animals. It is also an important site for marine education.

What you can do in the reserve

Long Reef Aquatic Reserve has been set aside for the protection of marine plants and invertebrates. When lifting rocks, be careful of attached animals and about exposing animals underneath to direct sunlight. Also be sure that the rocks are put back in the same place.

Fin-fish can be taken by line or spear only but bring your own bait. Strict bag limits apply to both the numbers and sizes of fish caught. If unsure of what these are, ask the local Fisheries Officer.

With the exception of fin-fish, no marine plants or animals can be harmed. This includes the collection of empty shells and dead plants or animals because they provide important habitat or food for living invertebrates.

The penalties for breaking the rules are quite severe. NSW Fisheries legislation provides for fines up to $110,000 and on-the-spot fines also apply. All fishing or diving gear may also be forfeited.

For further information

Contact NSW Fisheries Sydney North on 8437 4901

or the Port Stephens Fisheries Centre, Protected Areas Unit on 4982 1232

Report any illegal activity to Fishers Watch Phoneline 1800 043 536

(free call 24 hrs State wide)
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/nationalparks/parkHome.aspx?id=a0004

Reserve types in NSW – Aquatic reserve

Aquatic reserves have been established to protect biodiversity and provide representative samples of our wonderfully varied marine life and habitats. New South Wales currently has 12 aquatic reserves declared under the Fisheries Management Act 1994.

Although aquatic reserves are generally small compared with marine parks, they play a significant role in the NSW marine protected area system. Apart from protecting important habitat, nursery areas and vulnerable and threatened species, aquatic reserves also have valuable research and educational roles.

Community involvement is critical in the management of aquatic reserves. Through public involvement in management planning processes, the government seeks to achieve community partnership in these important places, providing on going protection for the future.

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/nationalparks/parktypes.aspx?type=aquaticreserve

Weedy Seadragon

Weedy Seadragons are only found in southern Australian waters, usually ranging from Geraldton WA, to Port Stephens NSW and down around Tasmania. They are weird and mystical looking, not quite seahorse, not quite fish. The Weedy Seadragon is closely related to the seahorse, being a member of the Syngnathidae family. Their habitat is listed as moderately to sub maximally exposed reefs between 1-50m. In Sydney have a number of dive sites where seadragons are spotted on almost every dive. More details…
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Weedy Seadragons can grow to about 46cm in length. They are orange/red in colour with numerous whitish spots on a lot of their body and along their tube shaped snout. The seadragon also have bluish purple stripes and some yellow markings along their bodies as well. They have leaf like appendages and a few short spines occurring along their body. The seadragon camouflage is quite good and they do resemble seaweed floating on the bottom of the sea floor. Unless you know what you are looking for seadragons can be easily overlooked. Once you have found a few of these creatures it becomes easier to spot them.

Weedy Seadragons usually have a single brood of eggs per season, but if conditions are favourable they have been known to have two broods in one season. They usually breed in spring, however several males weedy seadragon have been spotted in Sydney recently with eggs. Prior to mating the male prepares the area of his tail where he will keep the eggs. This area becomes slightly swollen, soft and spongy. The female actually pushes the eggs onto the males tail. Once on his tail they are fertilised. The male carries anything from 120 to 300 eggs on his tail. He carries the eggs for about 2 months and then the eggs hatch over a period of 6 days. The seadragon hatchlings are quite large when born ranging fm 2.5cm-3.5cm in length and still have a yolk sac attached to them, which supports them for two days while their snout grows. Once their snout is grown they can begin to feed. Juveniles can double in length in one week and can reach 15cm by the end of 14 weeks. Some baby weedy seadragons (about 7cms) have been spotted recently on some of our dives at Kurnell. January this year a lot of juveniles were seen out at Kurnell.

The seadragons diet mainly consists of sea lice and other small crustaceans. They seem to suck their prey straight into the snout! There is much concern for the future of the Weedy Seadragon and others in their family. They are threatened by habitat destruction, and potentially by the aquarium trade. Currently seadragons are protected under fisheries legislation federally and in most states where they occur, it is illegal to take or export them without a permit.

When diving with these beautiful creatures remember not to touch them, be happy to look and photograph the seadragon without harassing them.

http://www.abyss.com.au/scuba/pc/Weedy-Seadragon-p4291.htm

Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, the Weedy Seadragon or Common Seadragon, is a marine fish related to the seahorse. It is the only member of the genus Phyllopteryx. It is found in water 3 to 50 m deep around the southern coastline of Australia, approximately between Port Stephens, New South Wales and Geraldton, Western Australia, as well as around Tasmania. Weedy Seadragons are named for the weed-like projections on their bodies that camouflage them as they move among the seaweed beds where they are usually found.
Weedy Seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, from the Sketchbook of fishes by William Buelow Gould, 1832

Weedy Seadragons can reach 45 cm in length. They feed on tiny crustaceans and other zooplankton, from places such as crevices in reef, which are sucked into the end of their long tube-like snout. They lack a prehensile tail that enables similar species to clasp and anchor themselves. Phyllopteryx taeniolatus swim in shallow reefs and weed beds, and resemble drifting weed when moving over bare sand.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllopteryx

=======================

Olivia Riordan and Lissa Christopher
December 15, 2009
Page 1 of 2 | Single page

Afew courageous chefs, the discovery of great local product and diners’ willingness to try novel foods have combined to bring a strange-looking creature off the sea floor and into Sydney’s fine dining venues. Sea urchin has a host of new fans.

”I’ve sold more sea urchin in the past 12 months than I have in the past four years,” says Wayne Hulme from Christie’s Seafood.

Christie’s Asian clientele have enjoyed the spiny creatures for years but, Hulme says, Neil Perry was among the first chefs to put it on a modern Australian menu. ”He’s 10 years ahead of everyone else,” Hulme says.

At Rockpool, Perry serves snapper with a sea urchin roe butter.

The roe inside sea urchins is the real prize. It has a rich, sharp taste Perry describes as “a spoonful of icing sugar, salt straight from the sea and an egg” and Hulme describes as “sweet, salty and weighty”.

Red sea urchins are prized over black sea urchins because they carry roe year round, says Ralph Lavender, a diver and fisher who works with his son on the coast near Kiama and provides Christie’s with up to 100 kilograms of sea urchins each week. Black urchins are more common, he says, but they’re barren for six months of the year. They’re just starting to carry roe again now.

Lavender attributes the rising popularity of sea urchins to chefs realising good local product is available and Australian diners’ growing willingness to try new things.

”People have changed their culinary delights, if you like,” he says. ”They’ll try witchetty grub, a bit of kangaroo tail, a bit of camel meat.”

Now they’re trying sea urchin and Lavender couldn’t be happier. Demand for his catch outstrips his capacity to supply, he says. NSW Department of Primary Industries licensing restrictions place limits on how many sea urchins he can bring in.

Hulme says that, until recently, a lot of the sea urchin roe sold at Christie’s was imported from Chile, arriving fresh but pre-extracted and packaged. Lavender’s sea urchins arrive in Sydney alive with their spikes still wiggling.

Rockpool isn’t the only Sydney restaurant serving sea urchin. Martin Benn from Sepia serves a sea urchin roe butter with mulloway and at Kables Restaurant, chef Carl Middleton makes a sea urchin soup with shark fin and lemon grass, presented in a sea urchin shell.

The head chef with the Hugos Group, Massimo Mele, uses sea urchins in a range of dishes and has been known to dive for them himself. Mele grew up eating the “beautiful and simple” urchins on the Italian coast and doesn’t complicate them on his own menu.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/12/14/1260639163722.html

Live sea urchin dish at Hugos Manly by chef Massimo Mele.
Photo: Marco del Grande

=======================

Under cover of darkness a lone stance against wildlife poachers
Tim Elliott
April 30, 2011

Eco Warrior … fed up with wildlife pillaging on the northern beaches, Shannon Leckie is donning camouflage gear and trying to catch people in the act. Photo: Edwina Pickles

IF YOU spot a man hiding in the bushes with a video camera around the northern beaches do not be alarmed. It’s just Shannon Leckie, former Royal Australian Navy medic and eco-vigilante extraordinaire. Fed up with the systematic pillaging of native wildlife from his local area, Mr Leckie is going undercover, dressed in combat fatigues and equipped with night-vision goggles and a video camera.

“It’s going to be hit and miss,” the 40-year-old father of two admits. “I plan to get a lie-out position and then just film whatever illegal activity I see. If I catch anyone I’ll call the police and then hand the footage over.”

Mr Leckie will not be carrying any weapons.

“I don’t want to scare anyone. It’s just that the government isn’t putting enough money into this. In Africa and America they have teams dedicated to stop poaching, but here it seems to be pretty much a free for all, especially with the water dragons at Manly and the sea life at Long Reef.”

The eastern water dragon, a lizard protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, was once a common sight along the walkway from Manly to Shelly Beach. But a recent spate of “lizard napping” has halved their numbers, with offenders plucking the animals from the cliffs and bundling them into pillowcases and beach towels.

“It’s a huge problem for us,” said Henry Wong, the general manager of Manly Council, which installed anti-poaching signs in December. “They tend to take the breeding males, because they’re the biggest, which is devastating the colonies.”

Stealing a water dragon attracts a $3300 fine or six months’ imprisonment, but catching offenders has proven difficult. The last arrest was in September 2009, when Manly police caught two teenagers with water dragons stuffed into their backpacks. The teenagers, who were from the western suburbs, told police they wanted to take the lizards home as pets. But Mr Wong believes it is possible the animals are being traded on the black market.

Mr Leckie agrees. “I assume they are selling them overseas, because native Australian flora and fauna fetches quite bit of money.”

Mr Leckie also plans to monitor the northern beaches’ rock platforms. “There are groups and whole families that start at Palm Beach in a bus and go down the peninsula, combing all the rock shelves for marine life, looking for anything they can sell in a restaurant or eat themselves – sea urchins, shellfish, cunjevoi, sea snails, the lot.”

Phil Colman, a marine expert with the Collaroy group Fishcare Volunteers, said the Long Reef Aquatic Reserve was particularly vulnerable, because of its size, diversity and various points of entry. “I have seen people using penknives and crowbars, even bits of wood, to forage on the reef. Usually they target turban shells, and sometimes limpets. They can collect 200 or 300 limpets in a session. You call the fisheries inspectors but by the time they arrive the people are long gone.”

Recognised as the most diverse intertidal marine environment in NSW (“and one of the best in Australia,” according to Mr Colman), the aquatic reserve is used as a teaching platform by university students and schools as far away as Broken Hill.

“And yet poaching there is a constant problem. The issue is that when you target somewhere like Long Reef, you effect the entire food chain.”

Warringah Council recently allocated $40,000 to look into establishing an education centre and “wet lab” at the reef for international and local students. However, in the meantime Mr Leckie will be watching. “I just feel I have to act now, because it’s been going on for so long.”

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/under-cover-of-darkness-a-lone-stance-against-wildlife-poachers-20110429-1e0sj.html#ixzz1PuLdhur9

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/under-cover-of-darkness-a-lone-stance-against-wildlife-poachers-20110429-1e0sj.html

=====
WILDLIFE warrior Shannon Leckie has extended his covert surveillance operation to Long Reef and is looking for volunteers to join the cause.

Mr Leckie, who uses night-vision goggles, camouflage equipment and video recorders to record illegal poachers, wants to create a group of wardens to help protect marine life at the protected reserve.

RELATED NEWS: Guardians of the night gear up to catch poachers

Poaching has been an ongoing issue with people ignoring signs and taking large sea snails and shellfish from the rock platform at low tide.

The former navy medic said he needed volunteers to help record the details of illegal poachers.

“I will film them and then relay the information up to someone in the carpark who can record their licence plates,” he said. “We will then pass that information on to the authorities.”

Only last week Mr Leckie filmed a group of people poaching from the platform in plain sight. “I got them as they walked off the rock shelf and they just looked straight at me,” he said.

One person who has already enlisted is Warringah Greens councillor, Christina Kirsch, who said she would to hand out flyers educating people about the protected reserve.

AQUATIC RESERVE
*Extends from Collaroy rockpools to Long Reef Surf Life Saving Club.
*The reserve was declared in 1980 to protect marine invertebrates on rock platforms and sub-tidal marine plants and animals.
*Except for fin fishing, collecting or harming marine plants or animals in the reserve is banned.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
*To become a volunteer warden at Long Reef email ckirsch@optusnet.com.au

Come and join my marine corps, urges reef saviour

Environment

13 May 11 @ 03:45pm by Brenton Cherry
http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/come-and-join-my-marine-corps-urges-reef-saviour/

====

Aplysia dactylomela

PHOTO: Long Reef, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, December 1995, 12cm long alive.

======

Rock Pool, Long Reef
=====
Species name: Phyllopteryx taeniolatus
Common names: Common seadragon, Weedy Sea Dragon
Family: Syngnathidae (Pipefishes and seahorses)
Subfamily: Syngnathinae
Order: Syngnathiformes
Class: Actinopterygii
Maximum length: 18.11 in
Minimum tank size: unknown
Hardiness: Difficult. Not many aquariums have weedy sea dragons because they do not survive well in captivity. In fact, only slightly more than half do survive.
Aggressiveness: Peaceful
Reef Compatibility: Excellent
Distribution: Eastern Indian Ocean: southern Australia, from southern Western Australia to New South Wales and Tasmania
Diet: They use their tube shaped snout to such up zooplankton and any other tiny crustaceans they can find including mysids. Feeding is what makes them difficult to keep Weedies in an aquarium. They refuse to feed on anything other than their native food or live mysiid shrimps

Additional information:
Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, also known as the Weedy Sea Dragon is native to the Eastern Indian Ocean where it is found among seaweeds and coral reefs at depths of 0-160 feet. Unfortunately, not many aquariums have weedy sea dragons because they do not survive well in captivity. According to Marine Depot Blog, only about 50 aquariums worldwide have sea dragons. This might explain why it was so difficult to find information about this species.

Phyllopteryx taeniolatus is a close relative of the seahorse. It looks similar to the seahorse, except it has long weed-like structures that stick out from their bodies which makes them really difficult to distinguish in their natural environment. They have a long pipe-like snout with a small terminal mouth. The body is usually brown or reddish with their weed-like structures being greener. They also have yellow spots. The body is long and covered in rings of bone.
It is interesting that the Weedy Sea Dragon is so well camouflaged because scientists are still unsure if these animals actually have predators or not.

Sea dragons, sea horses and pipe fish are the only species where the male carries the eggs but seadragons do not have a pouch for rearing the young. Instead, the male carries the eggs fixed to the underside of his tail from where they eventually hatch.

I have found close to nothing about how to keep the Weedy Sea Dragon in aquarium.

http://www.aquariumslife.com/saltwater-fish/seahorse/weedy-sea-dragon-phyllopteryx-taeniolatus/

http://www.riverwonders.com/p-97-weedy-sea-dragon-show-specimen-5-6.aspx

=====

PRESSURE is mounting on authorities to do more to stop the illegal collecting of marine life from Long Reef Aquatic Reserve.

Locals have flooded The Manly Daily with complaints about people illegally gathering large sea snails and shellfish from the unique reserve.

Both Warringah Council and the National Parks and Wildlife Service claim to be regularly patrolling the rock platforms, but residents claim it is ineffective.

Beacon Hill resident Joe Van Ewyk took this photo at the reserve late last year.

“There was a group who were very efficient and methodical at removing shells, etc, using metal bars and placing them into a bucket,” he said. “They were there for a considerable length of time – no one confronted them, rangers or otherwise.”

Mr Van Ewyk said not enough was being done to protect the unique platform.

“Go up to Port Stephens and stick your nose into a marine park and you’ll have three rubber duckies onto you straight away, checking your boat for fishing equipment,” he said.

“They’re very keen up there but down here there is nothing.”

Lucette Rutherford said she and her husband regularly swam at Collaroy Basin near the rock platform and on numerous occasions had seen groups of people collecting buckets of shellfish from the rock platforms.

“My husband has called NSW Fisheries and Warringah Council numerous times and only ever reached an answering machine,” he said. “It is distressing to see this damage to the marine life in our protected areas and the open disregard these people show.”

Marine expert Phil Colman said the illegal activity was a regular occurrence and could have a detrimental impact on the broader environment.

“When you target somewhere like Long Reef Aquatic Reserve you are affecting an important link in the food chain,” he said.

A Warringah Council spokeswoman said rangers conducted daily patrols and worked closely with Fisheries, the Surf Club and the Friends of Long Reef to protect the area.

Anyone who sees any illegal activity should contact Warringah Council on 9942 2111 or Fishers Watch Phoneline 1800 043 536.

Mr Colman will lead a guided tour of Long Reef Aquatic Reserve on February 20 from 4pm to 6pm. Details: 0411 124 200.

http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/sos-save-our-snails/

===
Wobbegong sharks released at Long Reef Aquatic Reserve
http://mosman-daily.whereilive.com.au/photos/gallery/wobbegong-sharks-released-at-long-reef-aquatic-reserve-photos-by-simon-cocksedge/

Wobbegongs return to the wild but stay close to home
Aaron Cook
March 9, 2011

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Nearly gone … a wobbegong is released.

Nearly gone … a wobbegong is released. Photo: Nick Moir

IT IS hard to take a shark seriously when it appears to be wearing brown pyjamas and sporting a beard, but the four wobbegongs released near Collaroy yesterday are worthy of some respect.

Raised in the Sydney Aquarium, the two-year-olds are now fending for themselves in the wilds of Long Reef Aquatic Reserve.

The sharks were carried across the beach in a big red bucket before entering their new home with barely a splash, as a crowd of more than 100 well-wishers scrambled to catch a glimpse.
Advertisement: Story continues below

Chelsea Kilgour, 5, from Glenorie, took a day off school to see a real shark, and described the 60-centimetre-long wobbegongs as friendly and not at all scary.

With shark populations collapsing worldwide and local wobbegong numbers in decline, the juveniles are part of a research program investigating whether sharks bred in captivity can thrive in the wild.

The joint venture between Sydney Aquarium and Macquarie University, called Project Wobbegong, is already a success, with 12 out of 17 individuals released setting up home in the area or returning on a regular basis.

The results raise hopes the aquarium’s shark breeding program can boost numbers in waters around Sydney.

”It gives Sydney Aquarium the chance to restock depleted wild populations knowing that they are going to have a chance of survival,” a Sydney Aquarium Conservation Fund spokeswoman, Claudette Rechtorik, said.

Now in its third year, the project tracks the sharks it releases with a mixture of electronic and visual tagging.

Researchers were surprised that most of the wobbegongs had remained near Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve where they were released.

”We thought they would just take off and that would be the end of it,” Ms Rechtorik said.

Wobbegongs are one of six species of shark bred by the aquarium and are said to take their name from an Aboriginal word meaning ”shaggy beard”.

They can live for 30 years and pose no threat to humans, Ms Rechtorik said.

”The only way someone would be hurt by a wobbegong is if they step on one or provoke it.”

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/environment/animals/wobbegongs-return-to-the-wild-but-stay-close-to-home-20110308-1bmod.html#ixzz1QJvS52XT

http://www.theage.com.au/environment/animals/wobbegongs-return-to-the-wild-but-stay-close-to-home-20110308-1bmod.html

=====

A world in a rock pool

Scoured out of the rock by millennia of wave action, rock pools are rich and fascinating places to explore. In the second part of our two-part beachcombing guide discover the plant and animal life you’ll find among the rocks.

By Rachel Sullivan

Slideshow: Photo 1 of 11
Rock pools

No two rock pools are the same. (Source: dazza17 – DJ/Flickr)
Related Stories

On the beach, Science Online, 12 Jan 2011
Stowaways found hitching ride on seaweed, Science Online, 15 Sep 2010
Sea urchins ‘bulldozing’ Tasmanian reef, Science Online, 08 Dec 2009

At first glance, they might appear to be home to only a few limpets and some seaweed, but peering into the depths of even the smallest rock pool reveals incredible diversity. And no two are ever the same.

Species vary widely between pools and between areas, says Dr Neville Barrett, a marine biodiversity expert from the University of Tasmania.

“You can never predict what you’ll find because every pool is a different shape, size and depth. Even experts don’t know every species,” he says.

“Generally speaking, though, the deeper the pool the more stable it is and the greater the diversity of species found within,” Barrett says.

Crabs and other crustaceans are easily spotted throughout pools, while small fish like blennies and gobies dart around the bottom feeding on tiny crustaceans.

Meanwhile, sea stars stick around the edges. Larger species like the eleven-armed sea star and the velvet sea star may be easily spotted, but smaller species like the little sea star which is less than 15 millimetres across, or the southern biscuit star which comes in a variety of patterns and colours are often only found under boulders.

Large red anemones are also fairly conspicuous, trapping amphipods and isopods in their sticky tentacles, but living under boulders are also lots of smaller species, says Barrett.

When: Summer provides great conditions for exploring the shoreline

When: The intertidal zone. Scientists divide the Australian coastline into tropical and temperate zones. On the east coast the two zones meet around Fraser Island, Queensland, and the west coast they meet around Shark Bay, Western Australia.

Shells and snails

Seaweeds, corals, worms, sponges, barnacles, limpets and other molluscs like mussels, snails, whelks, nudibranchs and oysters may be found in the depths of rock pools.

In temperate waters, beachcombers can often see the turban snail, known for its distinctive green-striped shell. Growing up to four centimetres in size, they feed on algae growing on rock platforms.

Limpets, with their distinctive, oval shaped shell, are another frequent sight along rocky shorelines. During high tide they move about and graze on algae, returning to the same place when the tide falls and sealing themselves tightly against the rock to conserve moisture.

“Rock pools are teeming with life and there’s a lot happening that we don’t see,” says Barrett.

However, you should avoid putting your hands in the water and exploring rock crevices, as not all creatures are harmless.

One creature that hides under boulders and in pools that have a sandy floor, is the blue-ringed octopus, which is very common in New South Wales and Victoria.

“They are able to burrow down and hide in the sand which makes them hard to see,” says Barrett.

Normally blending into its surroundings, this small brown octopus develops brilliant blue ring-shaped markings when it is threatened.

Despite its attractive markings, the blue-ringed octopus is extremely poisonous and should not be approached or handled.
Tropical pools

Rock pools are generally regarded as a temperate phenomenon, but they can also be found in the tropics, despite the higher proportion of sandy beaches to rocky headlands in the region.

However, with the extreme temperature variations that can occur in a small pool that is isolated from the sea for many hours at a time, tropical rock pools generally contain much less diversity than temperate ones, according to Barrett.

“To put it in perspective, coral bleaching occurs when the sea level temperature increases by one degree. In a rock pool the temperature can vary by up to 10 degrees,” he says.

“Life in tropical rock pools tends to be less colourful, and is restricted to the few species that are able to tolerate prolonged high temperatures like barnacles and limpets, which are able to seal tightly to the rocks to stop moisture loss.”

Even in temperate regions, the inhabitants of smaller pools face the same challenges, so small pools tend to be home to only the most robust species like sea lettuce, Neptune’s necklace and crabs.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2011/01/18/3114813.htm

=====

This impressive marine reserve covers the large rocky peninsula and the surrounding rock platforms between Long Reef and Collaroy beaches on Sydney’s North Shores. It features a range of coastal habitats from crumbling sea cliffs, blowzy dunes, surf-pounded rock platforms and sheltered rock pools. Long Reef’s rock platforms are unique as they are exposed on all points of the compass. The reserve was established in 1980 to protect the enormously diverse marine life that makes the most of these varied habitats. It is best explored at low tide, and snorkeling is possible on the south side on calm days. But remember: this is a protected area, so don’t take anything! Also check local press for details of free guided walks provided by Fishcare Volunteers where you might spot elephant snails, octopus, pelicans, penguins, fairy wrens, blue periwinkles or even the odd whale.

http://travel.aol.com/travel-guide/australia-and-south-pacific/australia/sydney/long-reef-aquatic-reserve-thingstodo-detail-387857/

====

Council Rangers now have the
authorisation to protect the diverse
marine life in the Long Reef Aquatic
Reserve.
The aquatic wonderland was declared
a reserve in 1980 to protect the
subtidal marine plants and animals and
marine invertebrates found on the
rock platforms.
Long Reef Aquatic Reserve covers
almost 60 hectares and extends from
Collaroy rockpool to Long Reef Surf
Life Saving Club and from the high
tide line to 100 metres out to sea.
Long Reef Aquatic Reserve has a
wide variety of habitats and the
diversity and abundance of marine
invertebrates is rarely seen anywhere
else. We are fortunate to have a truly
unique environment on our doorstep.
Until now only NSW Fisheries staff
had the authority to issue fines to
people taking marine life from the
platform or intertidal area.
Warringah Council Rangers have
recently undertaken training with
NSW Fisheries to investigate and
prosecute people illegally removing
marine fish and vegetation. Fines of up
to $500 can apply.
http://www.warringah.nsw.gov.au/news_events/documents/WMatters13Autumn09.pdf   (page 5)

$40,000 kick start for plan to stop poaching

Environment

4 Mar 11 @ 05:32pm by Brenton Cherry
An environmental education centre is proposed for Fishermans Beach, Collaroy, in the Warringah Surf Rescue building

An environmental education centre is proposed for Fishermans Beach, Collaroy, in the Warringah Surf Rescue building

AN environmental education centre, with a full-time caretaker, is being touted as a way to stop illegal poaching at Long Reef Aquatic Reserve.

This week Warringah Council allocated $40,000 towards design concepts for the centre, which would be in the Warringah Surf Rescue building at Fishermans Beach.

It would attract international and northern beaches students, who would stay on site while studying the reef’s ecosystem.

The announcement of funding follows criticism that Warringah Council has not done enough to stop illegal poaching of marine life from the rock platform.

But Warringah Mayor Michael Regan said the centre could be an ideal solution.

“It’s an area we want to protect and preserve,” he said. “And having an environmental centre would be great for educational and scientific purposes.

“To have students, residents and many other community organisations using the facility will increase the understanding and awareness about the importance of the area, as well as be a deterrent to illegal poaching.

“I believe we could make it cost-neutral and we could have this very active natural site.”

Marine expert Phil Colman, who leads tours of the reef, said he had been pushing for a year for more to be made of the ecologically significant site.

“Long Reef is a fantastic biological teaching platform,” he said.

“This centre would allow university students coming from Sydney and overseas to use the room as a base (and) get material from the reef and study it on site.”

EDUCATION
CENTRE
-At the Warringah Surf Rescue building, Fishermans Beach
-Could include a laboratory with scientific research equipment as well as a “wet bench’‘, with a continuous supply of salt water
-Possibility for bunk-style accommodation to allow students to stay on site
-Existing surf rescue radio base would be incorporated in the design

http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/40-000-kick-start-for-plan-to-stop-poaching/

‘This article is factually incorrect. The mayoral casting vote killed a plan to stop poaching at Long Reef. I had asked for a report and recommendations to council on various options to tackle the ongoing poaching at Long Reef – including improved signage and patrols, volunteer guardians of the Reef and a potential zero tolerance zone for the Eastern platform. Unfortunately it got voted down – the voting pattern is in the council minutes of the last February meeting.’ – Christina Kirsch comment (Posted on 5 Mar 11).

4.2 Mr Paul Jaffe made a statement regarding the Long Reef rock platform and asked the
following question:
What can Council do to have Rangers patrolling the Long Reef rock platform?
Answer: The Mayor advised that Council needs to look at better ways of patrolling areas
such as this. The Director of Strategic and Development Services further advised that the
area is patrolled daily. The Director advised that there are eight Rangers on duty and that
Minutes of Council Meeting on 8 February 2011
Page 10 of 41
this area is already treated as a priority area. National Parks and Wildlife can be contacted
however Council can only pursue this if offenders can be identified. It was also advised that
the Rangers priorities do shift during the day to patrol other areas including school zones.

http://www.warringah.nsw.gov.au/council_then/documents/20110208m.pdf  (pages 9-10)

References:

http://www.lachlanhunter.deadsetfreestuff.com/JB/geo-sitesK-L.htm

http://www.reefcarelongreef.org.au/

Save Long Reef Coalition

Introduced fire & cats killing The Kimberley

Thursday, March 24th, 2011
Golden Bandicoot is under threat of extinction in The Kimberley.

.

“Australia has the worst extinction record for mammals of all countries in the world (Johnson 2007), and has international obligations (Convention on Biological Diversity 2006) and national commitments (Commonwealth of Australia 1999) to avoid species extinctions.  Meeting these obligations will require effective and ongoing conservation management.”

[Source: Priority threat management to protect Kimberley wildlife, p47,CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Feb 2011, Australia]

.

.

.

At 6am on 1st June 1990, I started my prepared and serviced HT Holden outside my father’s place in Melbourne and executed my planned drive mission across to Adelaide then up the Centre to Kununurra in the East Kimberley.  I was 26; I had saved up.  I was on a mission to get my commercial helicopter license and to work in cattle mustering in the Kimberley in the process to ‘get my hours up’.

The Kimberley was a very hot and steamy; a world away from temperate urban Melbourne.

Well, after some months and growing up in a remote landscape, I did achieve  my license with Golden West Helicopters, then did some mustering. I took risks, recalling pivot turns over isolated beaches and I learnt a lot…what city kids should.

Some memories that will remain with me (until my memory doesn’t) are the waking to East Kimberley bird calls from the pilot shack at the red dusty caravan park down the road from Kununurra Airport.  When building my cross-county and low-level endorsement hours up, I will never forget flying the R22 low over wild rivers full of long lizards (crocs), or slowly navigating the thick mist at 50 foot AGL at dawn, or flying free over the wide rugged red rock landscape, or finding the eagles nest on a remote hill miles off in some north westerly direction from Kununurra.  My memory of the Kimberley is of a wild special place, like Emma Gorge and the amazing remote drive to Wyndham – so isolated – so free.  But it is the unique bird calls that recur in my memory of the magic natural tropical home of The Kimberley.

So when I now later learn that the Kimberley and its scarce wildlife are under threat, I have no hesitation posting the following article to advocate the urgency of the Kimberley’s wildlife conservation.

The Kimberley is indeed like nowhere else!

~ Editor

.


.

According to the findings of a current ecological study and report published in February 2011 by the CSIRO and The Wilderness Society:

up to 45 native species in the Kimberley region will die out within 20 years if no action is taken”.

.

The report found that the two most destructive threats to survival of native species are:

  1. Feral cats

  2. Frequent large scale fire regimes   (deliberate or neglected)

.

It has called for an immediate cash injection of $95 million to save wildlife like the Golden Bandicoot, the Scaly-tailed Possum and the Monjon Rock Wallaby from extinction.  Even with the current $20 million per year spent on Kimberley conservation the region is still set to lose some 31 native animals, according to the report.

The report is a culmination of collaborative ecological research and workshops was undertaking across the Kimberley region by scientists with the CSIRO’s Ecosystem Sciences, along with The Wilderness Society,  Australian Wildlife Conservancy, Fenner School of Environment and Society (ANU), and The Ecology Centre at the University of Queensland.  Its authors from these organisations include Josie Carwardine, Trudy O’connor, Sarah Legge, Brendan Mackey, Hugh Possingham and Tara Martin.   Regrettably,  the only contributing organisations permanently based in the Kimberley appear to be the Kimberley Land Council and Environs Kimberley.  Perhaps this is half the problem; the other half being ye ol’ lack of political will, because surely Australia has plenty of taxpayer funds in circulation.

If ever the ecological precautionary approach principle was a vital precondition of human actions, the Kimberley is the place where it most applies.  The recurring theme throughout the report is the lack of comprehensive survey data from the region.  Ecologically, the Kimberley is grossly data deficient.  Consequently, humans know not what they do, nor what the impact of what they do is, nor how close the thirty odd threatened and endangered native animals are to regional extinction.

The Scaly-tailed Possum (Wyulda) , Monjon Rock Wallaby and the Cave-dwelling Frog are thought to be uniquely endemic to the region, so if they are wiped out from the Kimberley, as a species they will become globally extinct, like the Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacene) and the Dodo.

Wyulda, or Scaly-tailed Possum (Wyulda squamicaudata)
endemic to the Kimberley, and highly sensitive to bushfires

.

Due to human encroachment and habitat destruction across northern Australia and the ferals and destructive practices they have brought with them, the still mainly wild Kimberley remains the last survival refuge for many of Australia native at-risk species.

Native vertebrate fauna of the Kimberley like the Northern Quoll, Golden-backed Tree-Rat, Golden Bandicoot, Gouldian Finch, Spotted Tree Monitor, Western Chestnut Mouse, and Stripe-faced Dunnart are at serious risk of extinction.

.

Priority Threat Management Actions for The Kimberley

.

Experts identified key broadscale threat management actions for improving wildlife persistence (p5):

1.    Combined management of fire and introduced herbivores! – feral donkeys, cattle, horses, pigs
2.    Eradication, control, quarantine of weeds! – rubber vine, gamba grass, mesquite, passionfruit
3.    Control of introduced predators! (particularly feral cats)

.

“The single most cost-effective management action would be to reduce the impacts from feral cats (at $500,000 per bioregion per year) with a combination of education, research and the cessation of dingo Baiting.”        [p.6-7]

.

While anticipated to have low feasibility of success, the feasibility has not been started nor tested.

“The next most cost-effective action is to manage fire and introduced herbivores (at $2–7 million per bioregion per year); this action is highly feasible and, if implemented effectively, would generate large improvements in probabilities of persistence for almost all wildlife species.” [p.6-7]

.

Northern Quoll  (Dasyurus hallucatus)
Native to the Kimberley, but seriously  at risk from feral cats and bushfires

.


.

Natural Integrity and (Human) Threats

.

.

Threats to The Kimberley from ‘Bushfire Management’

.

“Frequent, extensive and very hot fires in the Kimberley affect its ecosystems in several ways. They change the structure and composition of vegetation, endangering some species of plants and removing important wildlife habitat refugia. They also leave the ground unprotected from the heavy monsoonal rains, causing soil erosion and later stream sedimentation.”

Inappropriate fire regimes pose a threat to biodiversity in the Kimberley and across northern Australia (e.g. Bowman et al. 2001; Russell-Smith et al. 2003). Historically, Indigenous people managed fire throughout the region, which included fine scale prescribed burning across a variety of vegetation types and around important cultural and food resource sites, such as rainforest patches. This most likely resulted in a mosaic of burnt and unburnt vegetation and provided buffers against unplanned wildfires around critical biodiversity refuges (Environmental Protection Authority 2006).

Broadscale State-sanctioned Arson of the Kimberley
(Photo: Ed Hatherley, Western Australia Department of Environment and Conservation)
[Source: ^http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/new-fire-plan-for-the-kimberley.htm]

.

These fire patterns have been replaced in the past few decades with one that is increasingly dominated by extensive and intense mid to late dry season fires. As a consequence, the mean age (and variance) of the vegetation has declined (Legge et al. 2010).

Altered fire regimes interacting with other degrading processes, especially over-grazing, have led to structural and floristic change in vegetation, declines in vegetation cover and critical resources such as tree hollows. They are also associated with increased soil erosion after heavy rains (doubled erosion rates have been recorded in similar situations in the Top End of the Northern Territory (Townsend and Douglas 2000), leading to increased sedimentation in stream beds. These changes have severe negative impacts on native flora and fauna (Vigilante and Bowman 2004; Legge et al. 2008). Extensive flat savanna areas are more vulnerable to large intense fires, as there are fewer inflammable refugia such as rocky areas.

Without appropriate management, the impacts of fire are likely to increase as the region is predicted to become even more fire prone with ongoing climate change (Dunlop and Brown 2008)”. [pp.11-12]

.

Floodplain wetland of the Hann River
as it leaves the Phillips Range,Marion Downs Wildlife Sanctuary, The Kimberley.
© Photo by Wayne Lawler, Australian Wildlife Conservancy

.


.

Threats to The Kimberley from ‘Feral Cats’

.

“Invasion by feral predators has contributed to range reductions and population declines of many native animals in Australia; small to medium sized mammals have been particularly affected. The primary feral predator in the Kimberley is the domestic cat. Cats have possibly been present in the region since the 1880s and were established by the 1920s (Abbott 2002).

The number of cats occurring in the Kimberley is unknown due to difficulties in survey, although a radio-tracking study at Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary suggests there is one individual per 3 km², each eating 5–12 native vertebrates daily. If this population density of cats occurred throughout the region there would be over 100,000 individuals present, consuming at least 500,000 native animals every day (Legge unpublished data).

There is some evidence that dingoes, as a top predator, can help control the negative effects of smaller predators like foxes and cats (Glen et al. 2007; Johnson and VanDerWal 2009; Letnic et al. 2010; Kennedy et al. 2011). The regular baiting of dingoes is therefore likely to exacerbate the problem of introduced feral predators (Wallach et al. 2010).” [pp.13-14]

Cat killing wildlife
[Source:  Australian Wildlife Carers Network, ^http://www.ozarkwild.org/cats.php,
Photo: Australian Government]

.

“The Kimberley is a national priority in this effort to avoid further extinctions due to its intact suite of wildlife species, including many endemics, and its role as a refuge for an increasing list of species that are declining or have been lost in other areas of northern Australia.” [p.47]

.


.

Further Reading on Kimberley Conservation:

.

[1] Carwardine J, O’Connor T, Legge S, Mackey B, Possingham HP and Martin TG (2011), Priority threat management to protect Kimberley wildlife , CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, CSIRO Australia, Brisbane, and The Wilderness Society, (76 pages), ISBN 978 0 643 10306 1,  http://www.csiro.au/resources/Kimberley-Wildlife-Threat-Management.html

[2]Australia to lose 45 species in 20 years’, 20110323, AAP, http://www.smh.com.au/environment/australia-to-lose-45-species-in-20-years-20110322-1c5bx.html

[3] Marion Downs Sanctuary (Kimberley), Australian Wildlife Conservancy, http://www.australianwildlife.org/AWC-Sanctuaries/Marion-Downs-Sanctuary.aspx.

[4] Mornington Sanctuary (Kimberley), Australian Wildlife Conservancy, http://www.australianwildlife.org/AWC-Sanctuaries/Mornington-Sanctuary.aspx

[5] Kimberley Land Council, http://klc.org.au/

[6]  Environs Kimberley, http://www.environskimberley.org.au/

[7] Kimberley Australia, http://www.kimberleyaustralia.com/kimberley-environment.html

[8] Save the Kimberleyhttp://savethekimberley.com/blog/?tag=kimberley-environment-development-conservation

[9] Save the Kimberleyhttp://www.savethekimberley.com/wp/tag/kimberley-environment-development-conservation/

[10] The Wilderness Societyhttp://www.wilderness.org.au/campaigns/kimberley/northern-australia-taskforce-recognises-kimberley-environment-must-be-protected

[11] The Kimberley – Like Nowhere Else, http://www.likenowhereelse.org.au/what_needs_to_be_done.php

[12] (Government site)  West Kimberley National Heritage assessment, Australian Heritage Council,
http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/ahc/national-assessments/kimberley/index.html

[13] Kimberley Foundation Australia (KFA), http://www.kimberleyfoundation.com

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Australian Wildlife Conservancy

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– end of article –

https://www.habitatadvocate.com.au/?page_id=13848

An ignorant crime against wildlife in NP

Friday, February 4th, 2011

The local Blue Mountains Gazette newspaper of the Blue Mountains (west of Sydney) yesterday reported the harming of wildlife in the Blue Mountains National Park (read below).

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$100 REWARD


Disgusted at this wildlife crime,  the editor is offering a one-off reward of $100

for the identification of the offender(s) responsible for this wildlife bashing

and its reporting to the National Parks and Wildlife office at Blackheath, which secures a conviction.

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Contact the editor : info@habitatadvocate.com.au

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Snake bludgeoned at Blackheath

by Krystyna Pollard (journalist), 20110202, page 11.

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‘National parks officers have condemned the brutal bludgeoning of a female (eastern) brown snake carrying 19 eggs at Blackheath’s Evans Lookout.

The snake was found on January 13 by a member of the public in her nest alive but with a broken back, according to National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) ranger Vanessa Richardson.

“This brown snake had lived in the vicinity of Evans Lookout for over five years and lived harmoniously with many visitors who appreciated observing her in the natural environment,” she said in a statement.

“She was well known to NPWS staff and many tour operators enjoyed taking visitors to the site to see a real Australian snake in the wild.”

The snake was taken for treatment, however vets were unable to save her, Vanessa said.

“She was carrying 19 eggs, which were taken to a licensed reptile carer but unfortunately the eggs have collapsed and all eggs have failed,” she said.

“The end result of this is not the death of one brown snake but 20.

“The event has saddened local NPWS staff and wildlife carers and I would urge anyone with information on who may have harmed the snake to come forward.”

While snakes were not as popular with the community as other native wildlife, the NPWS reminded people that all native animals in NSW were protected and each had an important role to play in the ecosystem, Vanessa said.

“I understand if some members of the community are concerned by snakes if they happen upon them inside their homes,” she said.

“However in their natural environment they are overwhelmingly docile unless provoked. In fact most people that get bitten by snakes do so when trying to catch them, annoy them or kill them.

“Snakes preserve their venom to kill prey not people. If you leave them alone it is extremely unlikely they will do you any harm.”

Those caught harming wildlife face on-the-spot fines of up to $500. Higher penalties can be imposed by courts.

Anyone with information about the attack should contact the NPWS Blackheath office on 4787-8877.’

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Comment:

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This is a deplorable crime against wildlife in native and protected habitat.  All flora and fauna in National Parks are protected from harm or disturbance.

In New South Wales under the National Parks and Wildlife Act (1974) Section 98(2), it is unlawful to harm protected fauna. Do do so attracts  100 penalty units and/or a6 month custodial sentence.

As at 7th December 2010, under the Crimes (Setencing Procedure) Act 1999 Section 17, this fine equates to $11,000 (100 penalty units  multiplied by $110).

Hopefully, witnesses will come forward so that the perpetrators may be brought to justice, charged and convicted.

The introduced settler culture of Australia’s colonial history, ignorantly perceived Australian wildlife as vermin.  The Australian bush and its native flora and fauna, rather than being respected, have long been detested by new arrivals.  Such has been the immature misunderstanding due to ignorance.  The abnormal fear of snakes (‘ophidiophobia‘) has been at the extreme.  Henry Lawson’s 1892 short story ‘The Drover’s Wife’ most famously fueled this cultural fear as he described the snake in the story as having “an evil pair of small, bright bead-like eyes“, as “the enemy”  and as the ..”original curse  in common with mankind.”

In 2011 in national parks, most of us have surely developed a healthy respect for wildlife and its existence rights.  As wildlife habitat shrinks and comes under increasing human threat, is it not humans whom are nature’s vermin?

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Australia’s Eastern Brown Snake tends to inhabit grasslands and Dry Scheropyll forests situated in dry locations especially with rocky outcrops.

“It is a highly nervous, swift moving and alert snake which usually prefers to prevent confrontations with home owners. It is very quick to flee when seen or threatened but when cornered or attacked can be an explosive snake which will repeatedly lunge and defend vigorously.”

It’s diet is preference to lizards, frogs, other snakes, bird nestlings and baby rabbits, and small rodents such as rats and is therefore valuable in controlling pest species.  Mating occurs in October to late Spring females oviduucal eggs are seen in late November to December.

Eastern Brown Snake
Cresent Head NSW
© Photo by ‘Bev’
http://habitatnetwork.org/PhotoPages/Member-and-AnimalPhotos.htm#E
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References:

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[1]  Blue Mountains Gazette, p.11, ‘Snake Bludgeoned at Blackheath‘, by Krystyna Pollard, http://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/news/local/news/general/snake-bludgeoned-at-blackheath/2064355.aspx

[2]  Snake Handler.com.au,  http://www.snakehandler.com.au/?pid=main&p=30

[3]  HabitatNetwork.org  http://habitatnetwork.org/PhotoPages/Member-and-AnimalPhotos.htm#E

[3] National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974,  Specific Penalties and Orders, Judicial Commission of NSW, http://www.judcom.nsw.gov.au/publications/benchbks/local/National_Parks_and_Wildlife_Act.html

[4]  CRIMES (SENTENCING PROCEDURE) ACT 1999, Section 17 ‘Penalty Units’, http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/cpa1999278/

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