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.

 

 

 

Pollination

The pollen of a flower contains the genetic material needed for reproduction of the plant. Pollen is made by the male organ of the flower, the stamen. Pollination is the distribution of the pollen to the female organ of the flower, the stigma.

The pollen from the stamen of one flower may be transferred to the stigma of the same flower – self-pollination – or to the stigma of a different flower – cross-pollination.

Very simply, once the stigma has received some pollen, fertilization of the ovules occurs and seed is produced, hence the plant can reproduce.

Plants use water, sunlight, and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to produce sugars (food) and oxygen: photosynthesis. Life as we know it would not exist without plants. Pollination of plants could be viewed as the necessary ecological process that sustains all life.

Pollen may be transferred from stamen to stigma by gravity, wind, and rain, or by animals – birds, bats, possums, lizards, spiders, and insects. Bees, flies, moths, butterflies, beetles, wasps, ants are just some insect families that are responsible for transferring pollen from one flower to another. It is estimated that 70+% of plants rely on insects for their pollination.

The body of this hoverfly is covered in fine 'pollen-catching' hairs

Plants have evolved various strategies for attracting insect pollinators: by providing pollen and nectar for food; by using fragrances of volatile oils; by using visual clues such as colours and shapes. Some of these strategies are very specific. Some species of flowers, some orchids in particular, are ‘engineered’ to attract just one species of insect.

The long beak and tongue of honeyeaters are suited for reaching the nectar of plants such as grevilleas

The sugar-rich nectar is stored in the nectary, generally deep within the flower, requiring the insect or bird, etc. to scuffle about or to have a long tongue to reach it, ensuring pollen grains are attached to its body.

 

PS: One for the lexophiles (or is it the logophiles?); why is it pollination and not pollenation? Aaaahhh, retirement is fun!