Why garden for wildlife?

Our native fauna – birds, mammals, and invertebrates – are in decline. The independent, university-based Biodiversity Council describes the situation as a biodiversity crisis. Much of our fauna is endemic and we have the distinction of being one of the worst countries for the extinction of our plants and animals.

The inertia of all three levels of government to reverse this trend is appalling. We have the evidence right under our noses.

Left: Waterford Rise Warragul                          Right: Buln Buln Rd Drouin

The Australian government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act currently has over 600 animal species on its threatened list. 145 of them are classed as critically endangered, described as ‘species at an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.’

There is a growing grass-roots (pun intended) movement of habitat gardeners determinedly working to reverse the trend – see links at the end of this post.

Habitat gardening involves creating a garden that provides food, water, and shelter for our indigenous wildlife. Even a tiny native habitat garden – a pot on a balcony with a correa in it – will often go some way to attracting some native birds, bees, or butterflies. A tiny habitat garden will often provide a stepping stone, a connection for wildlife to access perhaps a nearby park or reserve. These connections help ensure genetic diversity.

Native Blue-banded Bees and Superb Fairy-wrens often inhabit a native garden

There is a certain level of pleasure watching native fauna inhabit a wildlife garden – to watch a Blue-banded Bee using its rather special buzz-pollination technique to extract pollen from a flower – is a mood-elevating experience. Who doesn’t enjoy seeing a tiny flash of blue as a Superb Fairy-wren dashes between shrubs?

Habitat gardening is not just good for the animals; it is good for the gardener too.

A few online references for some inspiration:

Gardens For Wildlife Victoria - a network of community members and council/shire officers across Victoria.

Backyard Buddies – an initiative of the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife.

WIRES – Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service

The Nature Conservancy Australia – a global non-profit body working to conserve nature

Sustainable Gardening Australia – aims to inspire individuals, communities, and organisations to garden sustainably.

Native Plant Project - The best of Australia’s gardens to inspire your own native plant project large or small.

Australian Native Plant Society – Garden designing with Australian plants.

Try searching various Shire Council websites using the term ‘wildlife garden’ – except BBSC!

More posts on this topic to follow.

 

The value of urban parkland

By scanning the real estate pages for homes in Drouin, it doesn’t take much to realize that nearby parkland is a significant selling point:

“…just a short stroll from Drouin's vibrant town centre and beautiful Civic Park.”

“…close to schools, parks, and town amenities.”

“…only moments from Bellbird Park.”

 The Property Council of Australia found that a 2013 study “showed a 5-7 per cent increase in home value for properties immediately adjacent to parks in Melbourne.” Research by Infrastructure Victoria found that “Parks are more likely to have a positive effect on house prices in regional Victoria than in Melbourne.”

Alex Goudie Park Drouin

Of course, elevated house prices are not the only, or even the principal benefit of urban parkland. Urban green spaces are not just viewed as an ‘amenity’ these days. Parks, reserves, roadside corridors, etc. are now seen as essential components for healthy, happy, and habitable urban living.

Urban parklands and green spaces help to mitigate the urban heat island effect providing relief for our increasingly hot summers.

Brooker Park Warragul

An inviting park provides space for recreational and social activities. Shared leisure places help to promote social cohesion, a sense of place, and inclusion, leading to the building of a stronger, healthier community.

The value of urban biodiversity provided by parks, wetlands and reserves has become critical for the survival of much of our native flora and fauna.

Green infrastructure in urban situations can provide better air quality by filtering atmospheric pollutants. Trees and other vegetation help to absorb stormwater runoff. Some urban parks will often have cultural or historical significance as well.

Golden Whistler Reserve Drouin

Joseph Paxton, an English gardener, architect, and engineer is credited as having designed and built the first public park, Birkenhead Park in Liverpool, opened in April, 1847. This began the public parks movement which spread around the world. Today we appreciate the benefits of public parks, reserves, and open spaces, and, as our cities and towns grow, our need for urban parkland is becoming increasingly important for the promotion of happier and healthier communities.

Let’s get it right!

 

What is net-zero?

If you are a climate change denier and don’t believe our planet is warming up, or if you don’t believe the science behind the reason for the 1·6°C rise in global temperature anomaly since 1900, or if you don’t believe that the disappearing glaciers, bleaching corals, increased severity and frequency of bushfires and floods, has anything to do with climate change, you need read no further; you don’t need to know what net-zero is.

The current federal Labor Government has a policy that legislates “net-zero emissions by 2050 with a 2035 target of reducing emissions by 62-70% below 2005 levels”.

On the 4^th November, The Nationals announced they do not support net-zero and will “Unleash all our energy, including coal, gas, nuclear and renewables”.

On Thursday 13^th November, Susan Ley, leader of the federal Liberal Party announced “We are not pursuing net-zero, we are pursuing energy affordability and emissions reduction”.

The Nationals and some Liberals point out that Australia contributes just over 1% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions whereas China for example contributes almost 30%. The flaw in this argument is that we sell nearly 90% of the coal and gas we mine to China and other high contributing countries. We sometimes even buy some of it back for domestic use! On a per capita basis, we are one of the highest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world. 

Greenhouse gases - particularly carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide - trapped in the atmosphere are overheating the planet. To slow down global warming, the science tells us that we need not only to remove these gasses from the atmosphere but most of all we must stop emitting them.

Most of Australia’s 15 operational coal power stations are ageing and are planned to be phased out by 2038 – Loy Yang Power Station

Net-zero does NOT mean all greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere are eliminated. We will never achieve that. Net-zero is simply the condition where there is a balance between the gases being emitted into the atmosphere and those being extracted. Scientists believe this will stabilize global warming to somewhere less than 2°C above pre-industrial conditions.

Trees and other plants remove carbon dioxide from the air naturally but we will never be able to plant enough trees to achieve net-zero without other strategies. Soils naturally absorb carbon but agricultural practices often make this natural process an unreliable means of extraction.

Worldwide, devastating wild fires are on the increase – Grantville NCR 2019

There are several technological means of extraction that are being examined – direct air capture, biomass removal and storage, carbon mineralization, ocean-based systems (sea-grass and mangrove forests, etc.) – but again, these methods on their own are nowhere near enough to achieve net-zero.

If climate change is to be mitigated, net-zero by 2050 would seem to be a minimal prerequisite. We will never achieve net-zero without drastically cutting our use of fossil fuels. Let’s get real about this.