Winter 2021 – National Parks Association of NSW

Book Review: The Curious Life of Krill

Posted by NPA NSWon June 1, 2021in Winter 2021Leave a comment

Author: Stephen Nicol | Reviewer: NPA book club

‘The Curious Life of Krill’ by Stephen Nicol was the book we discussed at our zoom meeting in March. We were all quite fascinated and had greatly enjoyed reading the book. It is hugely informative, well written and a good size.

Below questions are only a tiny example of all the extraordinary facts about krill we learnt, and the book dives into other important areas such as the protection of Antarctica and associated politics.

Verdict: a must read. – Enjoy!

Feral Horse Poster – Cynthia Breheny’s work and imagination

Posted by NPA NSWon June 1, 2021in Winter 2021Leave a comment

Di Thompson, member, NPA NSW and NPA ACT

At the end of the first COVID year (December 2020), Gary Thompson and I visited Canberra’s Institute of Technology (CIT) exhibition of students’ major artworks. We were there to see a unique poster designed and assembled by a friend and colleague, Cynthia Breheny with a special environmental message.

Halt, defend yourself, stand: Protecting Burragorang before and after Warragamba Dam

Posted by NPA NSWon June 1, 2021in Winter 2021Leave a comment

Taylor Clarke, Gundungurra

My name is Taylor Clarke. I am a proud Gundungurra woman, my people are the Bidjiwong people of Burragorang Valley. We are the custodians of lands spanning approximately 11,000 kilometres, bordering Tharawal, Darug, Wiradjuri and Ngunawal nations. Much of our Country is now within what is known as the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (GBMWHA), and Sydney’s Water Catchment around Warragamba Dam.

New Koala SEPP Commences in NSW – But Worse is Yet to Come

Posted by NPA NSWon May 31, 2021in Winter 2021Leave a comment

Cerin Loane, Senior Solicitor, Environmental Defenders Office

This article originally appeared on EDO’s website (edo.org.au) on 8 April 2021 and has been reprinted with permission.

Following its announcement on 8 March 2021 (see our earlier update), the NSW Government has now made State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala Habitat Protection) 2021 (Koala SEPP 2021). It commenced on 17 March 2021, while Koala SEPP 2020 continues to apply to some rural zones.

Koala Protection in NSW: how our most valued native animal is abused

Posted by NPA NSWon May 31, 2021in Winter 2021Leave a comment

Gary Dunnett, Executive Officer, NPA NSW

The koala populations of NSW were decimated during the first quarter of the 20th century by commercial hunting for the fur trade. Many local populations were pushed towards or into extinction. We’re now nearly a hundred years since the peak of commercial hunting and many areas, especially in the south-eastern corner of the State, remain largely bereft of koalas. In other places, especially those with limited accessibility, such as the military lands in southwestern Sydney and the dense forests of the northeast, koala populations staged major recoveries after the cessation of commercial harvesting.

Unfortunately, that recovery had largely come to an end by the 1970s as habitat loss from coastal development, agricultural clearing and forestry, along with increasing mortality due to collisions with motor vehicles, dog attacks and infectious diseases, all took their toll on local koala populations. The result is that, as we approached 2021, the NSW Upper House Inquiry into the future of koalas in NSW concluded that, without significant change in the way we protect koalas and their habitats, the species will become functionally extinct (ie incapable of maintaining viable local populations) in NSW within the next 50 years.

Re-Wilding in Review

Posted by NPA NSWon May 31, 2021in Winter 2021Leave a comment

Gary Dunnett, Executive Officer, NPA NSW

Re-wilding emerged on the Australian conservation scene atop John Wamsley’s feral-cat skinned hat. Despite all the attention on killing cats and foxes, the core concept of rewilding is gentle simplicity itself – remove the competitors to native species, stop them from coming back, then give nature the chance to take care of itself.

Why then, more than fifty years later, are we still grappling with whether re-wilding has a place in the NSW Protected Area Network? I suspect the answer lies in our continuing unease about whether the environmental impacts of introducing hard barriers into ‘natural’ landscapes outweigh the environmental benefits of controlling feral species and re-introducing locally extinct wildlife.