DNA study shows feral cats killing more reintroduced native species than estimated
"Tests on DNA taken from reintroduced native animals in remote SA shows feral cats are the main culprit in their deaths. Feral cats have been blamed for two-thirds of Australia's mammal extinctions since European settlement."
>>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-22/feral-cats-killing-more-native-species-than-estimated/105197140
#cats #ExtinctionCrisis #roaming #pets #Bellingen #BiodiversityCrisis #conservation
Once you could hear the sound of koalas -
"all you hear is trucks now..."
Destruction of koala habitat through sprawl, roads and dogs
"Almost 2m hectares of forests suitable for koalas have been destroyed since 2011. They are one of more than 2,000 Australian species listed as under threat in what scientists are calling an extinction crisis." >>
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2025/apr/12/endangered-koalas-and-the-ecologist-documenting-their-extinction-video
#Biodiversity #koalas #conservation #NSW #Bellingen #roads #vehicles #pets #thylacines #extinction #destruction #Australia
April school holiday season in NSW is also koala breeding season.
Car crash stats from the Northern Rivers:
"From May 2023 to May 2024, 71 koalas were hit by vehicles, of which just 13 were rehabilitated and released back to the wild. Unfortunately, 80% of koalas hit by vehicles last year did not survive the impact. Our statistics show that there has been a 15% increase in the number of koalas admitted to our Northern Rivers Koala Hospital as a result of car strikes than the previous year. In a single week in 2023 six koalas died from vehicle strikes and from June to December 2022, Friends of the Koala, were called to 42 car strikes across the Northern Rivers region. This is devastating."
"Urban environments are stressful and disorienting for koalas. They experience both acute and chronic stress trying to find sufficient food and negotiating roads, domestic dogs, pools and fences."
>>
https://friendsofthekoala.org/koalas-and-cars/
#mobility #koalas #wildlife #roads #cars #speeding #RoadTrauma #pets #dogs #holidays #Bellingen #NSW #biodiversity
Weeds - "We need to go and make sure you can't buy them anymore."
The ecological damage already caused by weeds that had 'escaped' household gardens was tiny compared to the potential threat posed by plants sold at gardening retailers.
"We've introduced so many plants into Australia now that, when you go for a walk in your local bush, one in eight of the plant species you see there have been introduced. At least three-quarters of weeds established in the Australian environment have come from escaped garden plants, according to a 2004 report by biosecurity strategist John Virtue."
>>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-06/garden-stores-selling-plants-that-could-be-next-invasive-weeds/105128092
#plants #flora #weeds #gardens #culture #BushDumping #dumping #horticulture #industry #markets #regulation #Bellingen #InvasiveSpecies #NSW
Paris residents to vote on making 500 more streets pedestrian
"Parisians vote in a referendum on Sunday to decide whether an extra 500 of the city's streets should be pedestrianised and greened, in a new push by the French capital's left-leaning town hall to curb car usage and improve air quality."
"This is the third such referendum in Paris in as many years, following a 2023 vote that approved a ban on e-scooters, and a decision last year to triple parking charges for large SUVs.For the past 25 years we've gradually been reclaiming public space for pedestrian traffic, for gentle traffic, and with 'garden streets', to create lungs within neighbourhoods, the places where we live."
"If approved, Sunday's referendum will eliminate 10,000 extra parking spots in Paris, adding to the 10,000 removed since 2020. The capital's two million residents will be consulted on which streets will become pedestrian areas. If Parisians vote in favour of the proposal, the 500 streets to be vegetated will bring the total of these "green lungs" to nearly 700, just over one-tenth of the capital's streets."
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/paris-residents-vote-making-500-more-streets-pedestrian-2025-03-22/
#cars #pedestrians #pollution #air #traffic #FossilFuels #climate #PublicSpaces #Bellingen
Bellingen, Hyde St.: We like speeding trucks and parking, parking and parking...
At least turn Church St. from a car park into 'green infrastructure'
Highway expansions and road widening
How America (Australia) Can Break Its Highway Addiction
"After a century of rampant roadbuilding, the U.S. highway network is ubiquitous, dominating the American landscape in bucolic rural settings as well as dense urban ones. Rather than being a tool for mobility, it has become a monument to an auto-centric lifestyle that fouls the air and depletes the public coffers. Neither the country nor the planet can afford to keep expanding it."
"At the federal level, even asking questions about the collective climate impact of highway building appears verboten."
>>
https://slate.com/business/2024/08/construction-traffic-cars-driving-transportation-highway.html
#Sprawl #roads #highways #expansion #cars #automobility #industry #asphalt #Motordom #MobilityDesign #ClimateBreakdown #pollution #NSW #CoffsHarbour #bellingen #GlenifferRoad
Logging machinery and other combustion machines are driving koalas out of their habitat at Bellingen/ Gleniffer'sTuckers Nob forests.
#biodiversity #bellingen #gleniffer #GlenifferRoad #NSWLogging #cars #sprawl #FCNSW #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #SaveTuckersNob
Zero road deaths - An unmet target
"Time-series projecting road traffic fatalities in Australia: Insights for targeted safety interventions
Projections for 2030, 2040, and 2050 show Australia won't achieve its zero-fatalities vision."
>>
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020138325000269
#MobilityDesign #roads #cars #speeding #RoadTrafficFatalities #RTFs #ZeroRoadDeaths #failure #holidays #travel #rural #risks #Bellingen #enforcement #ActiveTransport
Documentation of the systematic destruction of Tuckers Nob forests
"Presentation for Friends of Tuckers Nob on the history and significance of Tuckers Nob State Forest and why it must be included in the NSW Government's proposed 'Great' Koala National Park. Based on a recent preliminary report submitted to government, showing the original forest and koala sightings, with a list of moratorium areas (including Tuckers). All the most recent developments, bringing the viewer up to date. This is why we need a #GreaterKoalaPark, with no logging."
The video has a link to the report containing the results (maps) of the investigations by Dr Tim Cadman and local community-based citizen scientists:
>>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKZvVjG_XvM
#ResourceFrontiers #extractivism #biodiversity #ecocide #koalas #NativeForests #rainforest #BellingenLogging #clearfelling #NSWLogging #Bellingen #community #trauma #harm #moratorium #FCNSW #plantation #conversion #annexation #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #SaveTuckersNob #bushfire #risk
The wide open spaces
of tabula rasa (blank / clean slate)
Connell "Park", Bellingen
Scraping (rasa/ radere) off the bio-diverse 'writing'.
Where is the walking and cycling infrastructure ?
Let's redirect funding from roads to walking and cycling infrastructure.
"Australia spends $714 per person on roads every year – but just 90 cents goes to walking, wheeling and cycling. Unfortunately, that’s how much the Australian government has invested per person annually on walking, wheeling and cycling over the past 20 years."
"As a result of this over-investment in car road-building, Australia has the smallest number of walking trips of 15 comparable countries across Western Europe and North America. Many Australians are dependent on cars because they have no other choice in terms of transport options."
"Road use is inherently dangerous – in Australia last year, more than 1,300 people died on our roads, which is more than 25 people a week."
"The typical Australian household spends 17% of its income on transport – with car ownership making up 92.5% of that figure, compared to 7.5% on public transport."
"A major source of all emissions in Australia are from driving."
"Redirecting funding from the current road budget makes the most sense, because getting more people walking, wheeling and cycling eases pressure on the transport system (think of school holiday traffic). "
"When it comes to transport, the saying goes “we get what we build” – so if we build more roads, we get more people driving. If we build paths, we get more people walking and cycling short journeys and our roads are less congested."
>>
https://theconversation.com/australia-spends-714-per-person-on-roads-every-year-but-just-90-cents-goes-to-walking-wheeling-and-cycling-247902
The Australian and NSW governments are funding the $2,200,000,000 ($2.2 billion), 14-kilometre Coffs Harbour bypass project. Cars will save 12 minutes. Imagine the walking and cycling infrastructure...
https://www.pacifichighway.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/media/documents/2023/coffs_harbour_bypass_project_update_june_2023.pdf
The Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk
Intensifying the throughput rate with a series of soaring walkways through the Gondwana Rainforest
The $56.4 million investment in Dorrigo National Park will create “accessible, engaging and immersive experiences for visitors. The 4-day walking track will “connect people with nature... The new 46-km multi-day walk along the rugged escarpment within Dorrigo and Bindarri national parks, includes hiker camps, pedestrian bridges and lookouts.”
The review of environmental factors for the Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk is available for public comment
>> until 24 February 2025. >>
https://www2.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/parks-reserves-and-protected-areas/park-management/community-engagement/walking-tracks-and-trails-in-national-parks/dorrigo-great-walk
https://www.nsw.gov.au/have-your-say/dorrigo-escarpment-great-walk
The Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk project has the potential to put though an extra 200,000 visitors ...>
https://bellingenshirenews.com/2023/11/22/new-opportunities-flagged-for-shire/
There is an information session at the
Gleniffer Hall at 10am on Tuesday 11 February
at which staff from National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) will outline the draft review of environmental factors (REF) for the Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk.
Eliminate disposable coffee cups entirely
"More than one billion disposable coffee cups end up in Australian tips every year. Banning disposable coffee cups seemed to be a logical step."
Some cafes are acting to reduce waste in New South Wales. >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-31/bermagui-takeaway-coffee-cup-ban/104840958
#TakeAway #packaging #cafes #waste #pollution #NSW #Bellingen #CoffeeToGo
Road and dog density contribute to the extinction of koalas
Road and highway density (road length per square kilometer) and an aggregation of domestic dogs leads to the demise of the marsupial through vehicle crashes and mauling by pets.
Dissanayake, R.B., Stevenson, M., Astudillo, V.G. et al. Anthropogenic and environmental factors associated with koala deaths due to dog attacks and vehicle collisions in South-East Queensland, Australia, 2009–2013. Sci Rep 13, 14275 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-40827-w
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-40827-w
Koalas and Dogs Don’t Mix
https://cdn.environment.sa.gov.au/environment/docs/pa-fact-koalasdogsdontmix.pdf
Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Managing dog and koala/wildlife co-habitation. Why does leashing matter? Bellingen Council
https://www.bellingen.nsw.gov.au/Development/Public-health-and-safety-services-and-approvals/Ranger-Services/Animal-care-and-control
Major Roads. Australian Openstreetmap
https://eatlas.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/df464abf-59be-41cc-a271-d17035582c4c
#koalas #wildlife #Biodiversity #habitat #sprawl #cars #roads #vehicles #crashes #Roadkill #dogs #roaming #pets #DogOwnership #extinction #GlenifferRoad #RosesRoad #Bellingen #BellingenShire
The roaming cats of Bellingen are one of the biggest threats to wildlife
"The average pet cat kills 110 native animals each year, roughly 320 million across Australia, and that doesn’t even include frogs or insects. The species is directly responsible for the third highest number of extinctions in Australia, after humans and chytrid fungus."
Victoria has " effective legislation that’s empowering local government to take action on the issue of roaming pet cats."
>>
https://au.news.yahoo.com/calls-for-major-rule-change-as-big-threat-roams-free-in-aussie-state-054425641.html
Local councils are tightening cat ownership laws to help protect wildlife and keep your pet safe
https://biodiversitycouncil.org.au/news/cat-ownership-laws-ABC-Radio-Interview
Drone locates 20 koalas in forest due to be logged next year
"A thermal drone imaging survey has been conducted over a plantation within the Great Koala National Park footprint. 20 koalas were detected over two nights at Tuckers Nob State Forest, which is due to be logged in the New Year."
The so called 'plantations' are more like native forests. Tuckers Nob forest must be included in the great koala national park. Video>>
https://www.nbnnews.com.au/2024/12/18/drone-locates-20-koalas-in-forest-due-to-be-logged-next-year/
#LoggingImpacts #NSWLogging #BellingenLogging #koalas #SaveTuckersNob #Bellingen #Gleniffer #plantations #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #wildlife #conservation #drones #RadioTelemetry #FCNSW #destruction
Dog shit etiquette
"I’ve seen full bags tied to low-hanging branches and kids’ play equipment."
"The person who ties the bag on to a low-hanging branch of a street tree (disturbingly common) or leaves it on a car bonnet or on top of – or in – letterboxes. I’ve also seen full bags of dog poo tied to kids’ play equipment in the park and to fence palings. I’ve occasionally seen them left on the sea wall of the small, off-leash beach near me – right next to the bin."
One woman "was bagging the poo her dog had just laid on the nature strip in a blue plastic bag. Because her back was to me she had not seen me when she tied the bag up and promptly tossed it over the low front fence on to the middle of the front lawn of the house she’d halted in front of. "
Dog owners in Bellingen just let their canines off leash to dump their faeces on other people's gardens or wildlife habitat.
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/15/poodunnit-dear-fellow-dog-owners-why-do-so-many-of-you-bother-to-bag-pet-mess-then-not-bin-it
#dogs #DogShit #DogOwners #AntiSocialBehaviour #pets #waste #TidyTown #Bellingen #pathogens #wildlife
Koala deaths though road and highway crashes
“There were five koala deaths on this section of the Bruxner Highway in August alone and any protection measure we can take to reduce that toll is worth taking. A section of the highway between Lismore and Casino will have the speed reduced from 100km to 80km in a bid to reduce koala deaths...Members of the public regularly call us about koalas in roadside trees, which causes sleepless nights wondering if they will be the next ones hit that we have to pick up.”
There seems to be a lack of impact data on the 'dispersed' koalas of the 'upgraded' Gleniffer 'Highway' through the industrially logged forests of Bellingen/Gleniffer. The 50s mobility design has achieved its goal, more traffic is speeding now. Meanwhile, photos proliferate of 'koalas in roadside trees'.
>>
https://indynr.com/speed-zone-change-on-bruxner-highway-will-reduce-koala-deaths/
#koalas #wildlife #MobilityDesign #roads #cars #roadkill #DeathHotspots #speed #GlenifferRoad #speeding #BellingenLogging #Bellingen #Gleniffer #conservation #MembersOfThePublic
Koala habitat and roads
"A research project to compile the first genome map of koalas across eastern Australia has exposed areas where the species is most at risk.The most surprising results were in coastal pockets of NSW, where koala populations are increasingly hemmed between sprawling coastal communities, and the Pacific Highway."
"Those koala populations are really quite constrained genetically because you've got ocean on one side, highway on another and a town to the north and a town to the south.The fracturing of habitat makes it hard for koalas to mix and diversify the genes of their offspring, putting the species at risk of extinction from environmental shocks, and serious diseases like chlamydia."
>>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-03/koalas-genome-map-university-of-sydney/104647824
#koalas #wildlife #habitat #MidNorthCoast #NSW #roads #cars #sprawl #extinction #GlenifferRoad #Bellingen #CoffsHarbour #PacificHighway
Fom Queensland to NSW, the same story:
“Koala habitats have got smaller and smaller over the years, and the roads through them have got busier...The animals that draw visitors to the Queensland capital are being run down at an alarming rate. Just three days apart in November, separate pairs of mother and joey koalas were hit by vehicles and left to suffer on the side of the road. They were just hit and left. People don’t stop..This year we've hit over 100 within a 6km radius."
vehicle strikes crashes
https://au.news.yahoo.com/road-sign-exposes-dark-truth-about-popular-tourist-attraction-030508724.html
#koalas #wildlife #sprawl #roads #cars #motorists #roadkill #TheDrive #Brisbane #Bellingen #GlenifferRoad #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #SacrificeZone #ecocide #Biodiversity #extinction makers
