Is this the future of conservation?

While I understand that this has been goingon for a while, I guess it is good to comment of some good environmental news. This was story written in the Weekend Australian Newspaper on the 11th October 2008 by Natasha Robinson.

Stockman Frank Shadforth has been farming the Northern Territories gulf country since the 70s and says he has noticed and experienced the disappeance of many animals including a woodpecker and small kangaroo. Now this stockman, whose father was the first aboriginal to purchase a longterm lease in Australia, has signed an historic sub lease agreement with the 'Australian Wildlife Conservancy' www.awc.org.au to help manage over 100,000ha of Mr Shadforths Seven Emu Station.

This station lays claim to over 300 species of reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds and mammals as well as 500 species of plants.

This is a fantastic story and I believe this type of arangement is a great model moving forward and should be encouraged through tax breaks and government grants as a way to encourage more of this behaviour.

Will this drought break or get worse?

According to David Jones from the Bureau of Meteorology Southern Australia has just successfully been through the worst drought on record, this drought has now been running for 12 years and we have seen the average temperature is up 1C. They say this is due to climate change, well I would agree. Everything that has been written over the past 10 years has forecast this to happen and here we are!!!

They are forecasting a very hot and dry summer for 2008 and 2009.

Do we pray that the rains will come or do we start to act, we need to act, long term there is a good chnace that Victoria and South Australia will become the next deserts?

Are we doing enough to prevent this???

When will the worlds leaders recognised the 'Great Ecological Crisis?'

I watch the reaction to the financial crisis facing the world with amazement. While I support the moves being made by Governments around the world, what I wonder is when will these some people realise that we are also facing an 'Ecological Crisis' and support it with the vigour as they are supporting all the banks and insurance companies.

Imagine if the US Government allocated US$700bn to save the worlds rainforests and other woodlands, I mean these are our carbon banks. What about allocating this money to poverty and thus preventing the continued destrustrion of forest for farming.

I am no expert on the cost of saving forest however I am sure US$700bn would go a long way in Indonesia or Brazil. not to mention all the money the rest of the world governments are allocating to save their own institutions. Australia alone is giving $4bn to the non bank lenders.

What about allocating these funds to research on renewable energy?

Do you think we could focus the governments of the world to the environment with the same intensity as they do with the finance sector, time will tell?