Sunlight and Seaweed by Tim Flannery

Reviewed by Meron Wilson, NPA Sydney Environmental Book Club 

Sunlight and Seaweed by Tim Flannery looks at the mess we have gotten ourselves into, fouling our planetary nest by living beyond our ecological means, and offers a few rays of hope we can yet put things right-ish.

Fight for our marine sanctuaries

Adele Pedder, Australian Society for Marine Conservation

The world’s oceans are facing increasing challenges with climate change, pollution and overfishing. In light of these challenges it is becoming increasingly important to set aside large areas of our ocean to restore some balance beneath the waves and allow marine ecosystems to function in their natural state. Globally more and more nations are relying on marine parks to give their parts of our blue planet a fighting chance.

Saving our Underwater Forests

John Turnbull, Member, National Parks Association of NSW

Deforestation. A drive through the forests around Port Macquarie or Eden is all it takes to see the impact of the clearing of our native terrestrial forests. We can see the bulldozers and logging trucks.  On a grander scale, with the help of satellite imagery, we can see the loss of native forests over time. In the years since European colonisation, for example, Australia has lost almost 40% of its native terrestrial forests[i].

Citizen Science and Community Projects Update

Margot Law and Stephanie Clark, Citizen Science Officers.

Dragons of Sydney

The ‘Dragons of Sydney’ project conducted a Sydney-wide Water Dragon backyard survey. This survey aimed to uncover the features of people’s backyards that led to the presence or absence of water dragons; things like water features, vegetation, presence of pets, and personal uses of backyard space. 

Regional Forest Agreements

Strange times for NPA and the NSW public!

Oisin Sweeney, Senior Ecologist, National Parks Association of NSW

Members and supporters have received several emails from NPA over the last couple of months on the subject of native forest logging on public land and the laws that permit it: Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs). A lot has happened recently, so it’s a good time for an update. Let’s start at the beginning.