We are all busy people doing our part to make a positive difference to our community and the environment. As the challenges grow, our knowledge of where to go to get help or find resources, how to reach out to get support for projects or how to develop strategies for a campaign can be a struggle. Maybe the Guardians of the Wet Tropics project could help you.

The future’s uncertain and the end is always near
So where do you sit on the doom to hope scale. Do you find it easier to imagine the end of the world than to see humans change our behaviour, turn the ship around, save our civilization and all that sails within her. Or do you think that human ingenuity, optimism and technology will save the day.

Mareeba Shire council has just released a new Environmental Protection and Sustainability Policy, stating "this policy has been developed in recognition of the many natural assets of the Shire and the value that its residents and visitors place upon them."

Friends of the Earth FNQ supports Queensland Conservation's National Parks for Life campaign for better funding and a doubling of Queensland's protected areas.

'Well-managed national parks and private land reserves are our best chance to protect endangered wildlife, conserve nature for future generations and protect cultural values.

Could Kuranda become a “Ciudad Dulce”?

A recently published report, “Combating ecosystem collapse from the tropics to the Antarctic”(1), prepared by thirty-eight scientists from Australian universities and agencies describes nineteen Australian ecosystems that are collapsing due to the prolonged and ongoing impacts of human activity.

It was uplifting to see so many women and men in the March 4 Justice demonstrations throughout the country recently, including the one in Cairns. The courage of the survivors who spoke out was both moving and inspiring. 

Living in the Barron River catchment is a great lifestyle for many – but come the first rains of the wet season the water turns different shades of muddy brown, and often resembles chocolate milk.  Over the wet it stays a constant brown, sometimes dark, clay or tan.  The reason is sediment – soil and debris washed off the land and into the river during rain.  Big storms will often see the water go brown very quickly, full of sediment washing out of the river mouth and into the sea.  It then drifts onto coral reefs and destroys them.

In early October, yet another science report was released by the World’s leading climate body, the IPCC, confirming that climate change is well underway, and that under current estimates warming will reach 1.5 degrees in the next few decades.

An increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius will make the climate much more unstable; bigger storms and cyclones, harsher droughts and heat waves.

However, 2.0 degrees hotter is much, much worse and would cause very serious social, economic, and environmental problems. Destruction of coral reefs, rising sea levels, collapsing food supplies are all real and happening now.

Limiting warming to 1.5 degrees would require a complete reduction of greenhouse gasses to zero by 2050 or sooner.

This requires fundamental change to energy, agriculture, transport systems and pretty much everything that humans do – and on a global scale. A few solar panels and wind farms is only a start.

But we all know this – scientists have been telling us with increasing alarm for decades that the planet is getting cooked – and we, its inhabitants, are facing a very uncertain and unstable future. The IPCC report is optimistic that governments across the world will see the light and quickly move to phase out fossil fuels and start planning to adapt to the uncertain future.

Unfortunately, this optimism seems misguided. The Paris Climate Agreement signed in 2016 will not limit global warming to 1.5 degrees – actually it will do very little because the commitments are too weak and the United States has run away.

Most governments and industry either don’t care or far worse are staging a huge deception campaign to undermine climate science, and any real efforts to limit greenhouse emissions.

The public has been duped by the likes of the coal and oil industry, by their slick marketing companies, and by dodgy scientists and lobby groups funded by these interests. For example, Tony Abbott and his colleagues have happily pushed the coal industry’s agenda, undermining energy reform and dumping real climate action.

These people and the industries they support are a minority, holding humanity to ransom for their own political or financial gain. Let’s stop being hoodwinked by big industry and demand immediate and far reaching action to reduce greenhouse emissions to zero.

ACTION:To move Australia beyond fossil fuels, the climate movement must grow to an unprecedented scale and size. Join FoE Australia's Tipping Point team of national volunteers: email [email protected] to find out more.

Toolbox for Sustainable Development

What is sustainable development?

Perhaps the most complete definition is development that meets the needs of the current generation without degrading the ecological inheritance of future generations.

Is this what we are seeing in our region?

Over the last few decades, there has been an onslaught on the recovering rainforest and bush in Kuranda and the wider region. Cassowaries and other endangered wildlife have been killed by loss of habitat, traffic, feral animals and domestic cats and dogs. Just recently, large numbers of paperbarks have been cut down in the centre of Mareeba to evict flying foxes.

As habitats shrink, the clashes between humans and wildlife will increase unless a more collaborative and sustainable planning approach is taken. With this vision in mind, the Kuranda Region Planning Group (KRPG) has been set up. See www.kurandaregion.org for further information. This is a network of local residents, environmental groups and wildlife experts that aim to work with government at all levels. FoE FNQ is a member of this network.

ACTION: Support KRPG's Wet Tropics World Heritage Vital Corridor Buy Back Scheme email [email protected] for further information.

Opposing environmentally destructive development

We have various options:

Engaging with the official governmental planning system at local, State or Federal level

We can put in submissions to Mareeba Shire Council about potentially environmentally destructive developments that conflict with the Mareeba Shire Planning Scheme 2016 For a list of current development applications, see https://msc.qld.gov.au/building-planning/development-applications/

If the development is still approved, we can then appeal in the Planning and Environment Court against the approval – but only if we were submitters. The Environmental Defenders' Office (EDO) offers legal advice, fact sheets and community handbooks prepared by legal experts. However court cases can be lengthy and expensive. Mediation is another option to achieve a better outcome.

Very large developments are assessed by all three layers of government – and this is the case for the mega resort KUR-World.

ACTION: Write a submission to the Coordinator General about KUR-World. Email [email protected] to find out more.

Nonviolent direct action

In the 50^th year after Martin Luther King was killed, this remains one of the most powerful tools we have. The Daintree Blockade in the 1980s was a local example of people risking their lives to protect the rainforest. Though it failed to stop the Bloomfield track being bulldozed through, it helped to save the Daintree and kick started the listing of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. This inspiring local history has been chronicled in the new book The Daintree Blockade: the battle for Australia's Tropical Rainforests by Bill Wilkie.

It is well worth the read with the added bonus of name spotting local eco-heroes who still live in the area. As Bob Brown said ' The sheer energy and commitment of those campaigners on the ground- that was the core to saving the Daintree itself' As we battle mega resorts and huge subdivisions and find out how weak and woolly the planning law is in Queensland, this may be what it takes to save the Kuranda region.

Protesters buried in the path of bulldozers in efforts to stop the Daintree road.

Photo by Cliff Frith.

Bryan Law and others up to his chest in mud blocking the Daintree Road.

Our Kuranda property was recently sprayed with the herbicide Roundup by Council workers without our authorisation. Our property adjoins Jumrum Creek which ultimately flows to the Great Barrier Reef via the Barron River. Due to the ecological sensitivity of our property and region, we initiated a formal complaint through the Queensland Ombudsman. Mareeba Shire Council’s actions and subsequent dismissive response reveals a common belief that Roundup is innocuous. While this complacency has been fostered through decades of aggressive marketing by agrochemical company Monsanto, there is mounting research suggesting Roundup is toxic not only to the environment, but to human health.

In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified Roundup’s declared principle ingredient ‘glyphosate’ as "probably carcinogenic to humans"[1]. The European Chemicals Agency has classified it “a substance causing serious eye damage and being toxic to aquatic life with long-lasting effects"[2]. After bitter division in 2017 the European Union approved a limited 5-year licence for glyphosate, with France declaring a ban within 3 years. Currently, more than 700 US farmers, landscapers & gardeners are involved in a lawsuit against Monsanto claiming that exposure to glyphosate caused their cancers.[3]