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Ecological decline : Comments
By Robert Ellison, published 29/8/2006It is urgent that the trend to declining biological diversity is reversed.
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Posted by Horus, Thursday, 31 August 2006 5:45:38 AM
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Thanks Horus
Please see my post under The ’business of beneficence’ http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=4849#53661 Posted by Ludwig, Thursday, 31 August 2006 2:02:52 PM
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All posts on this topic have failed to acknowledge that we have government departments, established decades ago, to protect the environment and human and animal health from pollution. They have failed abysmally!
In addition, they continually refuse to enforce regulations because of their zeal to share their beds with pollutant industries whilst totally ignoring the Precautionary Principle. Until communities publicly denounce these departments and their ministers, and expose them for what they are - defenders of polluters, the status quo will remain. These tossers must take responsiblity for the serious degradation of human health through excessive, toxic air emissions and the continuing destruction of the environment! Intellectual argument will not achieve results - actions will! When you are concerned about an environmental problem, ring your local department of environment and ask what they are doing about it. You will be inundated with heaps of "bureau speak" which actually translates to "zilch!" Posted by dickie, Thursday, 31 August 2006 9:36:43 PM
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Biodiversity is the third element of sustainability after ensuring the welfare of current and future human populations. While accepting that many of the changes to landscape are permanent and essential to maintaining the economic systems on which our lives depend, I believe that we must do what we can to reverse the degradation of ecological systems leading to loss of biodiversity.
The causes of the continuing decline are land clearing, destabilised rivers, feral species, changed fire regimes, land salinity and fragmented habitat. Addressing all of these issues in an holistic framework, and at a local level, is required to turn around the continuing degradation of our landscapes. Despite expending significant resources on the environment, our existing systems have failed to reverse ecological decline. I argue that this is a result of a systemic failure. We don’t need a lot more money – we need a new system. Posted by indigo, Monday, 4 September 2006 9:07:28 AM
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I've learnt to be just a little skeptical of activists, be they working in the environmental or any other field of human interest. In the 1960s, the Northern Terrtitory Conservation Commission spent taxpayer money warning that the Amazon rainforest would disappear by 1980 thanks to agricultural clearing. During the forestry and RFA debate we had here in WA in the late 1990s, the point was never publicised that, in spite of 150 years of logging, all except a very small number of plant and animal species recorded in the early days of settlement were still present in the forests.
Only a few years ago, the WA Herbarium listed over 50 species of south west WA plants as being extinct. After a 10 year program to go back to the original collection areas and see what was there, over 30 of these 'extinct' species were found, so the list of 'lost forever' plants has now reduced to less than 20. Of course we must be aware of the huge impact that human beings are having on the planet, but the type of scaremongering that activists like Robert Ellison used in the beginning of his article should not be relied upon when people have to make calm, rational decisions about our future. Posted by Bernie Masters, Monday, 4 September 2006 10:43:49 AM
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Bernie , that's a pretty good strike rate for your skeptics in the SW of WA ,finding that ONLY 20 of the "extinct" 50 species are REALLY EXTINCT .
I'd be skeptical of environmentalists predictions and science too , if that's the best they can do . Posted by kartiya, Wednesday, 6 September 2006 11:14:15 PM
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You make some cogent points on environmental issues.
I would be interested to hear your views re the topic/thread 'The Business of Beneficence'.
From an environmental angle.