LIGHT POLLUTION

These days we often hear about pollution in its various forms but another form of pollution – light pollution - is a  problem which many people are not aware of.  Light pollution is gaining increasing attention from astronomers, environmentalists and people who wish to reduce energy consumption.

What is light pollution?  The International Dark Sky Association  defines it as the inappropriate or excessive use of artificial light. There are four components of light pollution - glare, skyglow, light trespass and clutter.

Glare is excessive brightness that causes visual discomfort and skyglow is the light halo over inhabited areas.  Light trespass occurs where light falls where it is not intended or needed and clutter happens where groupings of light sources produce a bright, confusing effect.

The Dark Sky Association points out that much outdoor lighting used at night is inefficient, unnecessarily bright, poorly targeted and not properly shielded which means it is spilling into the sky rather than doing the job it was intended for.  This of course means that much of the electricity used to create it is being wasted.

According to a 2016 study, 80% of the world’s population lives under skyglow.  Major population centres like the United States and Europe are heavily impacted.  There 99% of people are unable to experience natural night.

While skyglow away from our major cities is not as bad as in Europe, the US and Asia, we are still affected by it. Even in comparatively small population centres like Grafton we do not see the night sky in all its glory. If you visit areas in western NSW away from towns and look at the night sky on a cloudless night, you are likely to be amazed at the clarity of the heavens and immense number of stars.

Light pollution is not a concern merely because of aesthetics and the need to conserve energy.  It has impacts on human health and disrupts ecosystems and wildlife – effects which will be discussed in a future “Voices of the Earth” column.

For more information in the meantime, check the Dark Sky website - http://darksky.org 

           
 - Leonie Blain

This article was originally published in the VOICES FOR THE EARTH column in The Daily Examiner on June 5, 2017.    

REWEAVERS’ AWARDS HONOUR ENVIRONMENTAL ACHIEVEMENTS

The tenth annual ReWeavers Awards dinner was held in Grafton on June 2 in the lead up to World Environment Day.  These awards recognise the valuable contribution individuals have made to environmental protection over many years. 

 

This year’s recipients were Bill Noonan and Phil Redpath of Grafton and Bob Friederich of Canberra (formerly of Grafton).

Bill Noonan joined the newly-formed Clarence Valley Conservation Coalition (CVCC) in 1988 and was very active in the successful campaign to prevent the establishment of a chemical pulp mill on the Clarence River.  He later became CVCC president, a position he held for 16 years. Bill has participated in many environmental campaigns and has been an articulate advocate for the natural environment over many years.

As an ecologist working for the NSW Government, Phil Redpath achieved large wins for conservation and improved the understanding of several threatened species and vegetation communities.  Along with botanist John Benson, he redefined our understanding of the state of the Australian bush at the time of colonisation, fire ecology and the Aboriginal use of fire.

As an officer of the National Parks and Wildlife Service from 1979, Bob Friederich made a major contribution to the establishment of the service in this area during a period of great change and increasing environmental awareness. As a planning co-ordinator and later as Manager of Grafton District, Bob served for 21 years on the North Coast before transferring to the Northern Tablelands as Regional Manager for five years.

The ReWeavers Certificates were present by Clarence Valley Mayor, Councillor Jim Simmons.

Mayor Jim Simmons, Bill Noonan, Phil Redpath, Bob Friederich  Photo: J Edwards

INCREASED THREAT TO KOALA SURVIVAL IN NSW STATE FORESTS

Both the North Coast Environment Council (NCEC) and the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) are very concerned about the survival of Koalas on the North Coast.  They regard the intensification of logging in State Forests with core koala habitat as a major threat.

The two conservation groups believe the current problem stemmed from the Forestry Corporation’s “grossly inflated resource estimates”. This led in 1998 to the signing of contracts which could not be fulfilled because there were insufficient saw logs to meet them.  As a result NSW taxpayers have been forced to pay at least $13 million in compensation to logging companies.

This is bad enough but another result of the poor decision about the availability of the sawlog resource is that logging has been intensified in North Coast State Forests.

NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh said, “Our analysis shows that of the 6,000 records of Koalas in State Forests in north-east NSW, 92% of them are in the 57% of forests proposed to be zoned for intensified logging, with the highest koala densities in the 140,000 ha of State Forests proposed to be zoned to allow virtual clearfelling.”

Mr Pugh pointed out that a 2014 study  by C McAlpine et al has shown that koala populations on the North Coast have crashed by 50% and that this situation is one of the costs of logging.

The NSW Government is currently negotiating new wood supply contracts which they intend to finalise by the middle of this year – even though most of the existing contracts do not expire until 2023.

This is yet another concern. Susie Russell, NCEC spokesperson, says that we cannot afford more of the same.  “New timber contracts covering core koala habitat will signal the end for NSW Koalas.  If the people of NSW want Koalas to exist in the wild, then our Government will have to stop giving their feed trees and homes to the loggers.  It’s pretty simple really.”

They have called on the Premier to ensure that logging in North Coast forests is not intensified and that habitat needed by Koalas will be excluded from logging.

            -Leonie Blain

This article was originally published in the VOICES FOR THE EARTH column in The Daily Examiner on May 22, 2017.