EcoRadio

Category: Experts

  • Landcare groups adapt to climate change

    Landcare groups adapt to climate change

    The long held principle of bush regeneration is that “local is best.” The idea is that restoring the plant communities that existed in an area before the European invasion is the best way to “return” to a stable, natural environment and re-establish biodiversity to support animals and other plants endemic to the area.

    That may no longer be the best rule to work by, according to plant ecologist and researcher, Dr John Dwyer.

    Dr John Dwyer, in the field.

    He describes his research thus: “In general, I use Australian plant communities, both human-impacted and natural, to provide empirical tests of ecological theory. I am particularly interested in the processes that maintain species diversity and ecosystem function, and how these processes may be altered by human activity and ongoing climate change. I am also interested in natural regrowth vegetation and how it can be used to sequester carbon and enhance biodiversity in fragmented landscapes. Overall, I aim to advance ecological knowledge and inform better management of our unique ecosystems and landscapes.”

    Dr John appeared on EcoRadio with #yourLifeYourPlanet author, Geoff Ebbs, to discuss the implications of climate change on local bush regeneration. He described the multiple impacts of disruption from changes in land use and climate change on plant communities and the ecologies which depend on them.

    “Isolated populations are not as resilient and find it more difficult to adapt and migrate,” he explained. He also pointed out that they are less able to cope with existing diseases and the new diseases that might appear due to human activity and the migration of species in response to a warming climate.

    Listen to the full interview on our SoundCloud site.

    https://soundcloud.com/thegeneratornews/plant-communities-and-climate-change?si=1902d334e01340df99fe58986582fde5


    Geoff Ebbs and Dr John talk through the issues

    Related

  • Geoff and Erich in the Cage

    Geoff and Erich in the Cage

    Author of Your Life Your Planet, Geoff Ebbs, puts doctor and electric car owner, Erich Schulz, in the Cage for 26 minutes to get a handle on the role of electric cars in building a sustainable future.

    This quick snippet shows Erich discussing the role of technological innovation in inspiring people to be sustainable. It is much better than telling them to live more gently on the planet by “pushing their bike up hill and eating mung beans”, he says.

    Unkindly referred to as “two old needle-noses with grey, pony-tails arguing about mung beans and bike riding,” the encounter forms the basis of Tip 68 – Alternative Fuels and the experts page, Enter the Electroids.

    Enter the Electroids. Erich Schulz and Malcolm Mackenzie in Your Life, Your Planet
    Erich Schulz and Malcolm Mackenzie contributed to the discussions on energy and transport

    The full interview is also available online.

  • Restaurant Style Nachos

    The Urban Wolf talked to Your Life Your Planet about preserving food through fermenting and smoking. He specialises in Artisan-quality, smallgoods and locally-grown produce in Gippsland, Victoria.

    Here he runs through a recipe that kids love and that is easy to make.

    All the ingredients
    The ingredients for restaurant style nachos

    There are three stages to the preparation:

    1. Cooking the salsa sauce
    2. Mixing the topping
    3. Assembling the final nachos

    The Salsa sauce

    Vegetarians can simply skip the spicy chorizo sausage [in brackets]!

    The ingredients

    Ingredients prepared
    The ingredients prepared and ready to make the nachos
    • A can of mixed beans (drained) – or prepare your own from dried beans
    • A can of tomato puree – or prepare your own red sauce
    • Half a cup of vegetable stock
    • Table spoon of tomato paste
    • 2 garlic cloves
    • 1 onion (red)
    • 1 capsicum (1/2 red, 1/2 green)
    • Spices: Pepper, coriander, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper

    The method

    1. Finely chop garlic
    2. Dice onion and capsicum (5mm cubes)
    3. Puree or pulp tomatoes
    4. (slice sausage 3mm thick)
    1. Heat medium saucepan, add oil
    2. (fry sausage until coloured – remove to plate)
    Fry the sausage until coloured
    Fry the sausage until coloured
    1. Slightly fry onion and garlic before adding tomato paste
    Fry the onion and garlic before adding the tomato paste
    Fry the onion and garlic before adding the tomato paste
    1. Fry for about 3 more minutes.
    2. Add spices and cook for 2 minutes to get the flavour.
    Add the spices and fry for 2 minutes
    Add the spices and fry for 2 minutes
    1. Add capsicum and tomato and half the stock, cook for 5 minutes
    Add the capsicum and tomato
    Add the capsicum and tomato and fry for 5 minutes before adding the beans
    1. Add the beans and the rest of the stock and cook until a consistency you like
    2. (you can thicken with a teaspoon of cornflour in a tablespoon of water)

    The topping

    This herbed, sour-cream topping is refreshing and tasty. It offsets the rich warm taste of the salsa and is the perfect complement to the nachos.

    You can quickly put it together while the salsa is cooling.
    (In fact, it is so easy you can do it while the nachos are grilling – next step.)

    Ingredients

    Sour cream, lemon and herbs
    Sour cream, lemon and herbs
    • 3 tbs sour cream
    • ¼ tsp lemon juice
    • 2 tsp fresh chopped coriander (leave 1 tsp for garnish)
    • 1 tsp parsley fresh chopped
    • 1 pinch cumin ground
    • 1 pinch chilli powder
    • Salt & black pepper

    Method

    The creamy sauce

    Mix everything together and return to fridge.

    The final nachos

    Now comes the fun part: assembling the final product.

    The chips, cheese, salsa and creamy sauce, ready to assemble
    The chips, cheese, salsa and creamy sauce, ready to assemble
    Spread half the chips across two bowls and spoon on some salsa

    Arrange ½ amount corn chips into two med size soup plates.

    Spoon over each plate  ½ cup salsa.

    Add a second layer of chips and salsa
    Add a second layer of chips and salsa

    Top with more corn chips and ¼ cup salsa.

    Top again with the remaining chips and salsa.

    Add cheese [and chorizo] and grill or bake until the cheese melts
    Add cheese [and chorizo] and grill or bake until the cheese melts

    Place on the fried chorizo slices and cheese, before heating in the oven until the cheese is starting to melt.

    The final product - ready to serve
    The final product – ready to serve

    Now spoon the herbed, sour-cream topping over the nachos and garnish with the remaining chopped coriander.

  • Community startup: Gold Coast Tool Library

    David Paynter is the founder of the Gold Coast Tool Library. He passionately wants to reduce waste and transition our cities to a more sustainable way of living. “So many of the products we buy are made to be disposable. That frustrates the hell out of me.

    Oneika Polke, David Paynter and Susan Murray of the Gold Coast Tool Library
    Oneika Polke, David Paynter and Susan Murray of the Gold Coast Tool Library

    The tip is full of items being trashed that we can recover and share. Do we need to, or even want to, own all these items we rarely use?

    “That attitude inspired me to establish The Gold Coast Tool Library and it was incorporated in 2019. Our small but passionate volunteer team are in the start-up phase, building systems and processes, recruiting volunteers and collecting donations.

  • Professor Alice Payne: Design researcher

    Associate Professor in Fashion at the School of Design at QUT, Prof. Payne writes and researches about innovation that reduces waste in fashion.


    “The main problem is that fashion has encouraged us to consume so much. In earlier times, fabric was considered valuable and every scrap, literally, was treasured.

    “There are different approaches
    that address this:

    1. Design out waste
    2. Design with waste
    3. Dematerialise.

    You can see the full entry in Your Life Your Planet or find out more about Professor Payne’s research at Q.U.T.

    See also Tenfingerz entry

  • Applying self-care

    Leigh-Chantelle is a digital wellness coach and vegan veteran

    Leigh-Chantelle is an international speaker, consultant and published author who reflects on the world’s common challenges, and combines this with giving tips and tricks on how as a society we can solve them. She encourages others to take charge to enact the changes our world so desperately needs. Find out more at her website.

    “Veganism is not just about a diet. It is an ethical way of living. It is important to do the best thing for our animal friends, the environment and other people. Being vegan is the best way for me to lead by example.

    “One issue I have with veganism and the animal rights movement is that it hasn’t changed enough. Systematic processes of production and consumption still dominate and we are just going along with. We are still mass-producing. We have not learned the essential lessons that are really important to move forward into the next stage of evolution.”