KOSCIUSZKO WILD HORSE HERITAGE BILL 2018

The Clarence Valley Conservation Coalition (CVCC) recently wrote to the NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian about her government's decision to ignore the 2016 Wild Horse Management Plan for dealing with feral horses in the Kosciuszko National Park in southern NSW.

The text of the letter is printed below.

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The CVCC would like to add its voice to others, including the International Union for Conservation of Nature, who have expressed their shock and dismay regarding the passing of the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Bill 2018 through the NSW Parliament.

This Bill has enormous implications for the future management of the National Heritage listed Kosciuszko National Park. 

It precludes the implementation of the 2016 Wild Horse Management Plan, instead requiring initiation of a new plan that prioritises the dubious historical heritage value of the population of feral brumbies in the park – a population which threaten the truly unique values of this park such as the endemic alpine plants and plant communities which are found nowhere else. 

Kosciuszko National Park protects outstanding alpine and subalpine vegetation, birds, frogs, reptiles and mammals and has done so since 1944 when established as a state park under its own legislation.

Horses are grazing animals and grazing was ended in the national park in the late 1960s in response to scientific evidence about the damage it causes to the environment. Feral horses cause immense damage to fragile alpine vegetation and waterways, damage which is evident to even the most untrained human eye, the consequences of which are indisputable. They trample, erode and pollute the national park’s unique alpine wetlands and catchments.

The CVCC is immensely disappointed that members of your Government have chosen to abandon science, proper process and the advice of the NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee in favour of a single stakeholder group.

 

We call on you to revoke the bill to ensure the protection of the Kosciuszko National Park for future generations by implementing the 2016 Wild Horse Management Plan.

CLARENCE VALLEY COUNCIL'S LIVING SUSTAINABLY AWARDS

This year was the eighth year of Clarence Valley Council's Living Sustainably Awards.  These awards recognise outstanding contributions or achievements which enhance environmental, social and economic sustainability.

The awards have two important functions.  As well as  recognising achievements, they show others in the community how some individuals and groups are developing lifestyles or methods or skills that look to meeting challenges of today and of the future.

The winners of these Awards were announced on Thursday August 9 at a ceremony at Council's Environmental Learning Facility (ELF).

Nominations for Living  Sustainably Awards

There were a total of nine nominees in the five categories. 

THE WINNERS WERE:

Community Group

Mend and Make Do

Business

J Notaras and Sons

Individual

Bob Kershaw

School

Dundurrabin Public School

Our Backyard

Stan and Magda Mussared

INNOVATIVE TYRE RECYCLING PLAN

China’s decision to stop accepting foreign recycling waste unless it was almost completely uncontaminated has led to concern about the viability of recycling in Australia.  Governments, including local councils, have been forced to re-assess how they handle recyclables and whether materials such as plastics and glass can be economically recycled rather than being disposed of in  landfill.

While there is much to be concerned about in the current situation, there has been some positive news on the recycling front.

Adrian Fuller, a Gold Coast metal recycler, scraps 1,200 to 1,500 cars a month. Because scrapping the vehicles involved disposing of tyres at a cost of $3.30 to dump each tyre, he looked at ways of cutting this cost.  The alternative was to find ways of recycling the tyres which meant that the resource was being used and he could benefit financially from its re-use.

One method of doing this is to shred tyres and turn them into products such as playground equipment and gym matting.

Instead Mr Fuller will be using the technology of Canadian company Eco-Flex to convert finely crumbed rubber into fire retardant bricks, pavers, fence panels and sound barriers.  He plans to start production by the end of the year.

Waste Management Association of Australia CEO Gayle Sloan welcomed Mr Fuller’s decision.

“We recognise as the waste industry that what we’re actually dealing with is resources and these companies that are prepared to invest in technology to turn that back into other products is just terrific,” she said.

“We know that if we recycle we create 9.2 jobs for every 10,000 tonnes that we recycle, compared with 2.8 jobs if we simply landfill.”

If his new enterprise is successful Mr Fuller hopes to expand to recycle large quantities of end-of-life tyres.  He pointed out that disposing of or storing the many thousands of these tyres was a problem around the country.

Ms Sloan said that greater consumer awareness about the benefits of buying recycled rubber products would help the waste management industry.

Hopefully that will happen with the increasing public awareness about problems with recycling waste.

            - Leonie Blain

 This article was originally published in the VOICES FOR THE EARTH column in The Daily Examiner on July 16, 2018.  

 

 

Adrian Fuller.