I think that this issue is larger than just laying the blame on those who are doing their best to care for our biodiversity, be it government departments or non-profit organisations. If they are failing it is not because of their lack of commitment. It is because despite all of the good that they are doing, and there are numerous examples of where people are working hard to research and protect our biodiversity, the impact of overpopulation and excessive consumption is so all encompassing that it undermines much of this great work. I don’t believe that the problem has been caused by people being ‘locked out’ of natural areas and I think that a comparison with the UK is not productive due to the cultural, historical and natural differences between the two countries. The restrictions on accessing areas with threatened species and keeping native animals as pets is as a result of overpopulation and historical loss of habitat. When I was a kid I had Green and Golden Bell Frogs, Bearded Dragons and Bluetongues as pets. This may have helped to increase my love of nature but I also learnt that it was best for these animals to remain in the wild. People wanting to have hands on access to wildlife can become a wildlife carer or assist with bird banding or other fauna survey projects. The NSW National Parks Association has held community wildlife surveys giving non-scientists a chance to get up close and personal with our wildlife. It would be good to increase the general community’s interaction with nature but not at all costs. People, including children, who show an interest in nature can find many community groups (bird clubs, conservation groups etc.) to join but membership of most groups has declined with very few young people joining.
I believe that the real issue is that our western culture does not clearly identify with nature, even though our rampant consumerism does rely on nature to feed it. I also believe that most Australians do want to conserve our wildlife but as has been stated earlier, as long as it doesn’t impact negatively on them. There are also people who think that environmental issues are so complex that they just ignore them and hope that the ‘experts’ or the government will look after them. Scientists are often not very good at relaying their research results to the general public. That is why scientists like Tim Flannery are so important, while I may not agree with everything that he states, he is raising the issues and being provocative. As a grandparent the differences that I see between our children and our grandchildren is quite stark. Despite that fact that our older grandchildren have their faces glued to screens much of the time once they are extracted from the technology they still show a great interest in the natural world either by experiencing it in bushland areas or in museums. Our children, while not being actively anti-environment think that environmentalism is an extreme view held by their parents. It creates much humour in the family.
While typing this I just heard on ABC Radio that a survey of teenagers showed that only 31% were concerned about the environment.
Simon, you keep referring to access issues. I’m sure there are places I can’t go birding, but apart from private land, I can’t think of many, or at least not many where there are no alternatives. Can you give some examples, please?
Peter Shute
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I also think in the UK it is a spatial issue. Because UK is so much smaller there is an acceptance that if something is lost from an area it may be gone for good because there are not the wide open apparently natural areas that we have over here. As a result the NIMBY attitude can have a very positive impact for the preservation of species at a local level. Dom
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And the importance the government puts on wildlife. Birdsong and the ability for citizens to hear a range of songs is one of the governments KPIs against which it is publically measured and reported. When working for RSPB in London the local authorities were very involved in local environmental improvements because it was a requirement that had to be met. Dom
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Perhaps the higher concern for the environment in the UK is partly due to the more noticeable loss of it, or maybe they’ve just had more nuclear accidents than us. It’s hard to get excited about something if it’s not obvious to you that there’s a problem, even if there is one.
Peter Shute
===============================
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Richard, Bear in mind that the RSPB had fewer than 80,000 members 30 years ago. I worked for them when they were undergoing their ‘million member campaign’ in the ’90s. Things changed in the UK as a result of their attitude and that of groups like National Trust. One of the principle reasons why RSBP is so successful is that they control land and create access opportunities for people to engage. That said, they began a new focus last year employing people to help them rebrand as they feel they don’t reach or engage enough of the UK. By contrast, Australian conservation groups, national park authorities and others who control land access and access to wildlife are 20-30 years behind this thinking. It’s not to do with lack of care in the community, it’s to do with the attitude of those who control access. The only way that can ever change is by growing support from the community – politicians react quickly to large consensus but no-one has ever tried to create one. This might surprise you – we surveyed 80,000 people recently. We had 1,015 responses. 50% of the list were involved in a prize promotion to ‘Win a Road Trip from LA to Las Vegas”. All were Australians. When asked to rank the importance of features of their holidays, 75% ranked “seeing amazing wildlife” as “high” on their list of priorities. So if Australians don’t “care”, how come three quarters of them want to experience wildlife on their holidays? Fact is, we’ve made wildlife inaccessible and most people don’t know how to find it. The job to change this is in our hands and our hands alone. We can keep blaming bureaucracy as we have done for decades, or we can create new ways to facilitate change. I know what I’m going to do : ) Regards, Simon.
It’s probably not going to happen unless someone urges us on to do it. Is it my imagination, or is that starting to happen more and more on this list recently?
Peter Shute
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
I think that this issue is larger than just laying the blame on those who are doing their best to care for our biodiversity, be it government departments or non-profit organisations. If they are failing it is not because of their lack of commitment. It is because despite all of the good that they are doing, and there are numerous examples of where people are working hard to research and protect our biodiversity, the impact of overpopulation and excessive consumption is so all encompassing that it undermines much of this great work. I don’t believe that the problem has been caused by people being ‘locked out’ of natural areas and I think that a comparison with the UK is not productive due to the cultural, historical and natural differences between the two countries. The restrictions on accessing areas with threatened species and keeping native animals as pets is as a result of overpopulation and historical loss of habitat. When I was a kid I had Green and Golden Bell Frogs, Bearded Dragons and Bluetongues as pets. This may have helped to increase my love of nature but I also learnt that it was best for these animals to remain in the wild. People wanting to have hands on access to wildlife can become a wildlife carer or assist with bird banding or other fauna survey projects. The NSW National Parks Association has held community wildlife surveys giving non-scientists a chance to get up close and personal with our wildlife. It would be good to increase the general community’s interaction with nature but not at all costs. People, including children, who show an interest in nature can find many community groups (bird clubs, conservation groups etc.) to join but membership of most groups has declined with very few young people joining.
I believe that the real issue is that our western culture does not clearly identify with nature, even though our rampant consumerism does rely on nature to feed it. I also believe that most Australians do want to conserve our wildlife but as has been stated earlier, as long as it doesn’t impact negatively on them. There are also people who think that environmental issues are so complex that they just ignore them and hope that the ‘experts’ or the government will look after them. Scientists are often not very good at relaying their research results to the general public. That is why scientists like Tim Flannery are so important, while I may not agree with everything that he states, he is raising the issues and being provocative. As a grandparent the differences that I see between our children and our grandchildren is quite stark. Despite that fact that our older grandchildren have their faces glued to screens much of the time once they are extracted from the technology they still show a great interest in the natural world either by experiencing it in bushland areas or in museums. Our children, while not being actively anti-environment think that environmentalism is an extreme view held by their parents. It creates much humour in the family.
While typing this I just heard on ABC Radio that a survey of teenagers showed that only 31% were concerned about the environment.
Greg
Dr Greg. P. Clancy
Ecologist and Birding-wildlife Guide
PO Box 63 Coutts Crossing NSW 2460
0266493153 0429601960
Simon, you keep referring to access issues. I’m sure there are places I can’t go birding, but apart from private land, I can’t think of many, or at least not many where there are no alternatives. Can you give some examples, please?
Peter Shute
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
http://birding-aus.org ===============================
I also think in the UK it is a spatial issue. Because UK is so much smaller there is an acceptance that if something is lost from an area it may be gone for good because there are not the wide open apparently natural areas that we have over here. As a result the NIMBY attitude can have a very positive impact for the preservation of species at a local level. Dom
Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
http://birding-aus.org ===============================
And the importance the government puts on wildlife. Birdsong and the ability for citizens to hear a range of songs is one of the governments KPIs against which it is publically measured and reported. When working for RSPB in London the local authorities were very involved in local environmental improvements because it was a requirement that had to be met. Dom
Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Perhaps the higher concern for the environment in the UK is partly due to the more noticeable loss of it, or maybe they’ve just had more nuclear accidents than us. It’s hard to get excited about something if it’s not obvious to you that there’s a problem, even if there is one.
Peter Shute
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Richard, Bear in mind that the RSPB had fewer than 80,000 members 30 years ago. I worked for them when they were undergoing their ‘million member campaign’ in the ’90s. Things changed in the UK as a result of their attitude and that of groups like National Trust. One of the principle reasons why RSBP is so successful is that they control land and create access opportunities for people to engage. That said, they began a new focus last year employing people to help them rebrand as they feel they don’t reach or engage enough of the UK. By contrast, Australian conservation groups, national park authorities and others who control land access and access to wildlife are 20-30 years behind this thinking. It’s not to do with lack of care in the community, it’s to do with the attitude of those who control access. The only way that can ever change is by growing support from the community – politicians react quickly to large consensus but no-one has ever tried to create one. This might surprise you – we surveyed 80,000 people recently. We had 1,015 responses. 50% of the list were involved in a prize promotion to ‘Win a Road Trip from LA to Las Vegas”. All were Australians. When asked to rank the importance of features of their holidays, 75% ranked “seeing amazing wildlife” as “high” on their list of priorities. So if Australians don’t “care”, how come three quarters of them want to experience wildlife on their holidays? Fact is, we’ve made wildlife inaccessible and most people don’t know how to find it. The job to change this is in our hands and our hands alone. We can keep blaming bureaucracy as we have done for decades, or we can create new ways to facilitate change. I know what I’m going to do : ) Regards, Simon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Simon Mustoe Tel: +61 (0) 405220830 | Skype simonmustoe | Email simonmustoe@ecology-solutions.com.au
Visit BIRD-O at http://www.bird-o.com Follow BIRD-O on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/birdodotcom Like BIRD-O on Facebook? Visit http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/Bird-O/117732794921095 Email BIRD-O at info@bird-o.com
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It’s probably not going to happen unless someone urges us on to do it. Is it my imagination, or is that starting to happen more and more on this list recently?
Peter Shute
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
http://birding-aus.org ===============================