Where Have All My Spiders Gone?

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After a short visit to the US, (to attend a financial planning conference) I flew to Canada to visit my two sons and the young ladies who became their wives. By then, all four of them had temporarily stopped roaming around the world and were living in Toronto.  In the early hours of an 1994 Easter holiday morning, while a snowy blizzard howled outside, those words spilled easily from my heart and soul to write a poem and a story for my second son.

Pointed, painted Christmas stars,

 flags of white marking off their boundaries.

Red-legged bellies span my early morning walk

with webs to catch my steaming breath. [Read more…] about Where Have All My Spiders Gone?

Radio 6PR and an Email from the Premier’s Office – Jan 23, 2012

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The Premier’s Office responds:

On 23/01/2012, at 3:58 PM, WA-Government <WA-Government@dpc.wa.gov.au> wrote:

Dear Ms Dewar

Thank you for your email with regard to logging at Warrup Forrest.

In the absence of the Premier your email has been forwarded to the Hon Bill Marmion, Minister for Environment for his consideration of the issues you have raised.

Regards

Western Australian Government

My reply:

Dear Premier’s Office

Thank you for your reply.

I understand the Minister for the Environment will be absent from his office until February 16.  The urgency of this matter requires it not be pigeon-holed for three weeks because the damage the logging will cause will be irreparable in our lifetime.

To see such a serious matter being sidelined as being of little importance or urgency does not recommend your Government to me and I will continue to raise this in the media and with other public figures.

With respect

Lesley Dewar

http://StoriesMyNanaTells.com

 

Tonight (Mon 23 Jan,2012,) I had a good opportunity to speak on Graham Mabury’s Nightline Programme tonight on 6PR about the logging down at Nannup. I hope it broadcast well. I referred to the fact that my 90yo mother lived down there as a child; her family lived in abandoned timber worker’s huts, because the Mauri Timber Company had already decided it was not viable to log further at that time and we now have a once in a lifetime opportunity to save these trees.  They are 80 years older than they were when my mother was there and we may never have the chance again to preserve trees which were left behind nearly 100 years ago.  It is a unique chance to preserve trees which provide food, shelter and habitat.  I did not have an opportunity to speak to the issue at the Shire of Cockburn and the proposed clearing of an important feeding area.  Graham Maybury did a good job of linking my call to Social Media, Jess’s interview on their website and calling for listeners to leave their comments. I told Graham Mabury that I am absolutely disgusted with The Premier’s office – for the way they flicked my email across to the Minister for the Environment, knowing full well he is out of town until February 16, 2012.

 

This Is Why Our #BlackCockatoos Are Starving!

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The Hon. Colin Barnett, MEc, MLA,
Premier, Minister for State Development,
Government of Western Australia.

Dear Premier Barnett

Undoubtedly, you are aware of the critical state of our iconic black cockatoos and the loss of 100,000 hectares of bushland due to fires in the South West this summer. Today, logging has started in Warrup Forest near Bridgetown. This is a critical refuge for black cockatoos, numbats and so many other creatures; one of the few remaining areas where black cockatoos can feed on a natural diet.

The Hon. Bill Marmion, BE, MBA, MLA, Minister for Environment; Water is not available for meetings until February 16, 2012, to discuss placing any kind of ban on [Read more…] about This Is Why Our #BlackCockatoos Are Starving!

Black Cockatoos Are Starving In Western Australia

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Today, I met Merlin, a young red tailed cockatoo who is being nurtured as an education bird at the Kaarakin Cockatoo Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in the hills of Perth. Black Cockatoo Recovery Centre

It is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions when we wilfully allow our indigenous wildlife to be driven to starvation because of loss of habitat – drought, dieback, logging;  bush fires and prescribed burning have brought our cockatoos to the brink of extinction. The competition for food in remaining habitat puts enormous pressure on those pockets of vegetation. It is critical any planned logging in the South West is immediately halted and retained as habitat areas and food sources for these iconic birds.

Within the metropolitan area, land clearing for residential areas needs to be drastically controlled so that known feeding areas for black cockatoos are preserved and integrated into landscape planning for new developments – industrial, suburban and Government infrastructure. Documenting some of the poor planning decisions being made by State and Local Councils helps the community understand how ignorance, greed and lazy public officials are putting the very existence of these incredible birds at risk. [Read more…] about Black Cockatoos Are Starving In Western Australia

Channel 10 News Broadcast – #BlackCockatoo Starvation

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Channel 10 News Broadcast

On Monday, Channel 10 responded to a Media Release issued by the Conservation Council of Western Australia (CCWA)  drawing attention to the desperate plight of Western Australia’s black cockatoos – who are starving and in some cases, have suffered such degrees of malnutrition that they have to be euthanised. This link will open the Channel 10 News Broadcast on January 16, 2012 – after their news crew came up to the Black Cockatoo Recovery Centre at 322 Mills Road, East Martin in the Perth Hills.  Channel 10 Perth News Broadcast after interviews at Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Rescue Centre in the Perth Hills on Jan 16, 2012

 

CCWA Media Release

The CCWA Media Release: Crisis meeting to confront cockatoo starvation was direct:   QUOTE “What: With increasing numbers of starving cockatoos being forced out of their native habitats and into the Perth metro area in search of food, conservation groups from across WA are meeting on Monday for a crisis meeting to discuss what can be done to save these iconic birds. ……….. (cont)

Three key species, the rare Forest Red-tailed black cockatoo and the endangered Baudin’s and Carnaby’s black cockatoos, are starving throughout their traditional habitats and being forced to range further and further in search of food.

Despite this the Barnett Government’s logging agency, the Forest Products Commission (FPC), has released its plans to log thousands of hectares of native forests in 2012, with logging to begin at any moment. This includes the incredibly important habitat of Helms forests, which is one of the last remaining areas of good quality habitat in the fire-ravaged Nannup district and has a proven resident cockatoo population. (END OF QUOTE)

 

The meeting was attended by highly experienced conservationists with many years experience in the management, rehabilitation and release of black cockatoos – including Rob Versluis of the WA Forrest Alliance (WAFA) and David and Dee Patterson who have run the Black Cockatoo Rescue Centre in Nannup in the South West of WA for over 25 years.

The followup Media Release by CCWA included this statement by WA Forest Alliance spokesperson Jess Beckering:

“In the past 15 months escaped prescribed burns lit by the Department of Environment and Conservation have blackened nearly 100,000ha of cockatoo habitat in the Nannup area alone. That’s the equivalent of around 245 King’s Parks. Helms forest wasn’t burnt and is vital to the survival of the cockatoos and other native fauna who are now taking refuge there.

“DEC prescribed burning, continued logging of native forests, clearing of urban bushland and years of drought are combining to have catastrophic results for the cockatoos. We are looking forward to the Environment Minister getting home and giving this serious issue the urgent attention that it deserves.

The first step is postponing all logging and clearing of cockatoo habitat while we work out what can be done to prevent the extinction of these much-loved West Australian icons.”

West Australians concerned about the survival of our unique cockatoo species should contact their local MP AND attend a  Special Environment Matters seminar: Wed Feb 8 (Perth) Why are WA’s rare and endangered cockatoos starving?

 

 

FOOTNOTE:  Lesley Dewar (of Stories My Nana Tells) attended the meeting on Jan 16 and had an extensive tour of the facilities at Kaarakin with Cathie Dewhurst, one of their staff.  She would like to acknowledge the assistance of Channel10 who provided the link to the news broadcast and the excellent support for her earlier article Black Cockatoos Are Starving In Western Australia , which has been distributed through Social Media channels on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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