EcoRadio

Category: Sustainable Settlement and Agriculture

The Generator is founded on the simple premise that we should leave the world in better condition than we found it. The news items in this category outline the attempts people have made to do this. They are mainly concerned with our food supply and settlement patterns. The impact that the human race has on the planet.

  • Mining ‘more important’ than farming

     

    The Mining Amendment Bill, which would ban any new mining on areas defined as prime agricultural land, was also defeated in parliament on Thursday.

    “Ultimately mines generate many, many more jobs than agricultural production,” Mr Rees said.

    Mr Macdonald told reporters on Friday that while 100,000 NSW people were employed in farming, much of the work was part-time and seasonal.

    He said the work created $5.6 billion in terms of exports.

    But he said the mining sector, which employed about 75,000 people directly or indirectly, contributed $12.4 billion in exports last year.

    “You have to remember the mining communities really contribute significantly to those localities where there is significant mining,” he said.

    The comments follow a long-running battle involving farmers in the Liverpool plains in northern NSW, who have been lobbying state and federal politicians to stop BHP Billiton from mining coal in the area.

    Nationals leader Warren Truss criticised the NSW government’s stance.

    A spokesman for Mr Truss told AAP the statements “sound like they’re coming from people more concerned about mining royalties than food security”.

    Mining had built the nation, however “you can’t eat coal,” the spokesman said.

    “The NSW government would do well to listen to the concerns of people and try and work out a reasonable compromise rather than shooting the messenger,” the spokesman said.

    NSW Farmers Association president Jock Laurie said the issue had been put firmly on the agenda and it was clear the bill had a lot of support despite its defeat.

    “We need to ensure that the voice of agriculture is heard,” Mr Laurie said in a statement.

    “Prime agricultural land and its water resources must be retained and the nation’s agricultural resources safeguarded.”

  • A Moral Dilemma

    Garrett Hardin’s “lifeboat ethics” essay addresses this question.8 Those

    who argue that it is a global concern appear to avoid the issue of national sovereignty and responsibility in terms of both cause and remedies. Overlooked is the unforgiving fact that, regardless of an individual nation’s Footprint, in a world where nearly all nations exceed their maximum sustainable population level, at best, a zero-sum situation exists. Providing capacity to other nations implies reducing one’s own nation’s sustainable population level and Footprint  —and continual declines in standard of living. In a literal sense —especially considering immigration— it also intimates that individuals in exporting nations are being replaced by those in capacity importing nations —those inhabitants in or from the other less well-situated and frequently unaccountable countries.

    If Hardin’s “lifeboat” ethics and it displacement connotations is misplaced, then capacity-importing nations must be able to continue current practices without limit.
     

  • Sustainablity Initiatives

     

    Sustainability Education

    Education for Sustainability – Reorientating Australian schools for a sustainable future (PDF). John Fien. Tela Paper 8. Australian Conservation Foundation. 2001

    Education for sustainability involves approaches to teaching and learning that integrate goals for conservation, social justice, appropriate development and democracy into a vision and a mission of personal and social change.

    It seeks to develop the kinds of civic virtues and skills that can empower all citizens and, through them our social institutions, to play leading roles in the transition to sustainability.

    Sustainability Issues

    Teaching for a Sustainable World: International Edition. Griffith University and the Department of the Environment, Sport & Territories. 1997

    We need a new ecological ethic, an ecologically oriented value system based upon empathy with other species, other people and future generations, and respect for natural and social limits to growth.

    We need social systems, institutions and practices that support careful planning in order to minimise threats to nature and the quality of life.

    Issues of ecological sustainability and social justice

    There are great differences in the availability and use of resources around the world, with poverty and need in some areas matched by overproduction and over-consumption in others.

    • How can the over-consumption, waste and misuse of resources by some people be reduced?
    • How can the severe poverty that causes many to exploit the earth just to survive be eliminated?
    • How can the pressure on the environment from both causes be overcome?

    Some economic activities do great harm to environments, resources and communities.

    • How can economic activity be made of benefit to the communities and the companies involved, and without critical damage to the environment?

    Economic growth in some parts of the world is so high that it is leading to the production and consumption of many items that are super-luxuries and use resources that could be used to satisfy the needs of many of the world’s poor.

    • How can the resources consumed by such luxuries be redirected to aid the poor or be conserved for future generations?

    Relatively high population densities and growth rates in certain parts of the world, and the associated pressure on the local resource base, are symptoms of the legacy of colonialism and present-day structural inequalities in the world economic system rather than causes of environmental problems. Appropriate social development lies at the heart of the solution to population and environmental pressures.

    • How can the nexus between the environment, social development and population growth be formulated to ensure the sustainable use of resources?

    The indigenous and farming peoples of many countries have developed an ethic of sustainability and associated land use practices that have preserved their culture and harmony between people and nature for millennia.

    • How can the rights of these people be maintained and the knowledge and wisdom they possess be shared with others in all parts of the world?

    Women and young people have a vital role to play in environmental care and development, now and into the future. They have viewpoints, skills and interests that can help maximise the potential for sustainable development.

    • How can the wisdom, courage and talents of women and young people be used as a model for sustainable development policies and practices?

    The most effective arena for action on sustainability and justice issues is the local community.

    • How can people best organise themselves locally – and liaise with others nationally and globally – to collaborate in the movement towards sustainable development.

    Regional Sustainability

    Regional Futures – Sustainability in our regions. Australian Conservation Foundation. 2000.10

    Those regions that are tapped into the global economy are booming, while those regions based on traditional rural and industrial enterprises tend to be falling behind.

    A new agenda to support regional development is urgently required, and while the focus has tended to be on the social and economic aspects of the regional divide, a truly sustainable long term future for all regions must be underpinned by a healthy environment. Indeed environmental action in the regions can build social and economic sustainability.

    Sustainable Cities and Towns

    National Summit on the Future of Australia’s Cities and Towns – Communiqué. 2004

    To be successful into the future, Australia’s cities and towns must:

    • be diverse, vibrant and inclusive communities.
    • be globally competitive.
    • reduce ecological impacts.
    • enhance equity of access.
    • demonstrate good quality design.

    Strategies include:

    • a national, shared vision.
    • an integrated governance framework.
    • a good information base.
    • a national settlement strategy.
    • active citizen programs.
    • better infrastructure.
    • a sustainability audit of taxes, charges, funding and pricing.

    A National Action Framework will be considered by ministers within their own jurisdictions and at the-next Ministerial Council meeting.

    Components of the National Action Framework include:

    • a shared national vision.
    • benchmarking framework.
    • office of sustainable communities.
    • national information exchange and analytical tools.
    • community engagement.
    • reduced car dependency.
    • equitable broadband connectivity.
    • managed growth and decline.
    • cities for climate protection.
    • national infrastructure funding program.
    • a signed Kyoto protocol.

  • City birds sing higher than country cousins, scientists find

     

    Male great tits are territorial birds and they sing to defend their patch – usually around 100m sq – against other males. They also use the songs to attract mates.

    In their research, published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Marshall’s team recorded the songs they heard in city centres and also in the nearby rural areas. They found that, on average, the city songs were higher pitched than the countryside songs.

    Marshall’s team also went a step further. “We played back the songs we’d recorded in the cities to the birds in the rural areas and vice versa. And we also played the city birds other city bird songs and the same in the countryside. We found that they responded much more strongly to the songs of the birds form the same area, birds with a similar noise background.”

    This inability to recognise songs from members of its own species could lead to problems, said the researchers. If a city bird moves to a new area to attract mates or find food, its song may not be attractive to mates, nor would it be a warning to local males to stay away from its territory. “We know that great tit songs are largely determined by what they hear in the first year of their life and only small changes are known to occur after this stage,” said Marshall. Great tits do move their territories over the years, so those at the edges of towns might be most at risk.

    Previous research on birds in continental Europe has suggested a difference in song pitch between rural and city birds. In 2006, scientists at Leiden University in the Netherlands recorded the songs of great tits in 10 European cities including London, Prague, Paris and Amsterdam and compared the songs with birds of the same species in nearby forests. They found that not only was the pitch of city songs higher but also the urban birds sang faster, shorter, songs.

    Marshall’s study is the first to show that birds of a single species respond differently to the different songs. He said the next stage of the research would be aimed at working out whether female great tits also responded differently to the songs of males from different areas.

    The changes in song could mark the first step in an evolutionary process called speciation – when an organism splits into two or more different species because of the differing environmental pressures facing different populations. But, given that such an evolutionary change would take many generations to occur, it is impossible to be certain whether great tits were already heading down this path.

    • Listen to the urban great tit song here and the rural song here.

  • Mass bird death discovery near landfill

     

    Officers from the Department have been at the site since last night.

    Blood samples from the birds are being analysed at the WA Chemistry Centre.

    The Department says it is monitoring some of the remaining live birds from the area to work out what caused the deaths.

  • Rudd wooing Africa while our growers struggle

    Rudd wooing Africa while our growers struggle

    EXCLUSIVE by Steve Lewis

    May 29, 2009 12:00am

    LOCAL farmers are being robbed by the Rudd Government so it can use the cash to “buy” a seat at the United Nations Security Council, it was claimed yesterday.

    While the countryside has its funding cut despite battling floods and drought, hundreds of millions in extra aid dollars are going to Africa.

    Ignoring a $57 billion deficit, the Government announced $464 million extra for overseas “food security” in this month’s Budget – much of it going to African countries battling to provide sustainable farming.

    And The Daily Telegraph can also reveal that the main agency in charge of combating money laundering has had its budget slashed but has been told to help African nations.

    Who should the financial aid go to – NSW farmers or Africa? Tell us below

    Austrac confirmed plans to provide $7.7 million in “technical assistance” to four African countries. The votes of these countries – Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania and Namibia – will help decide whether Australia is elected to the UN seat. Dairy farmer Vic Rudder said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had his priorities the wrong way around.

    The 64-year-old battler said Canberra should look “after its own backyard first” rather than giving more money to overseas farmers.

    “Why give it in foreign aid when we are struggling here?” he said.

    Mr Rudd, a former diplomat, has strenuously denied suggestions his eventual goal is to become the UN secretary-general.

    But Liberal Deputy Leader Julie Bishop accused the PM of sacrificing farmers’ interests in order to “support his job application” for the UN.

    “This is nothing more than an ego-driven campaign by Mr Rudd to buy himself a place on the world stage,” the foreign affairs spokeswoman said.

    The National Farmers Federation also criticised the decision to cut $60 million from the agriculture Budget while boosting overseas aid.

    “The priority is wrong to cut spending here, while increasing it overseas,” NFF chief executive Ben Fargher said.

    Foreign Minister Stephen Smith this week admitted the Government planned to “enhance” Australia’s diplomatic presence in Africa.

    “We are under-represented in Africa and we need to start the job now of fixing that problem into the longer term,” he said.

    Controversially, Governor-General Quentin Bryce undertook a three-week tour of 10 African countries in March and April, costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

    Nationals leader Warren Truss said the Government was cutting $900 million from the agriculture Budget.

    “Labor wants a seat on the UN Security Council and they are prepared to pay any price,” he said.

    But Agriculture Minister Tony Burke said Mr Truss couldn’t count.

    “It’s a lie,” he said of the claim.

    Source: The Daily Telegraph