Gecko’s Campaigns Team are a passionate group of Gold Coasters giving a voice to the protection of the natural environment and advocating for the improved sustainability of the built environment.
The Gold Coast is recognised as an area of exceptional beauty and diversity of natural environments from the beaches and headlands, across the flood plains to the hills of the hinterland including, the World Heritage listed, Springbrook National Park. The Gold Coast has such a diversity of native plants and animals, many rare and endangered, that it is known as a biodiversity hotspot.
It is also an area of high population growth as more people seek to make their homes here to share in this bounty. This increasing population need to be accommodated and employment provided, while still protecting our exceptional beaches and bushland. It is the challenge of better management of both protection and sustainable development that inspires the Gecko campaigners.
The Campaigns Team with its combined knowledge and skills, meets fortnightly to discuss the issues, develop advocacy strategies and take appropriate action through appealing to the hearts and minds of Gold Coasters and the decision makers in the community. The Team brings together a number of experienced campaigners ready and willing to welcome and support any new comers to the team.
Join the Team and take action: New campaign team members are welcomed. If this is you please call the Gecko office 5534 1412 between 10am and 2pm Monday to Friday or send a message on Facebook and we will contact you.
Campaigns Team Meetings
The Campaigns Team Meets every second Friday at Gecko House, 139 Duringan St, Currumbin.
A Zoom option is available for those unable to attend in person or if the Covid 19 Virus situation dictates no in-person meetings.
The Campaigns Team meets to discuss strategies and actions regarding environmental matters for the Gold Coast and further afield in the 4 areas of climate change, biodiversity, protection of public open space and sustainability.
New members to the team are always welcome and should contact the Gecko office on 55341412. To see the date of the next meeting visit https://gecko.org.au/calendar-of-events/
Networks
The Campaigns Team also works in close collaboration with other conservation and community organisations on the Gold Coast and northern NSW which have similar interests. On a broader scale the Team works with or supports other organisations such as the Queensland Conservation Council and its member groups on State and National environmental issues.
Archived articles
The Federal legislation the Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) is under review by Professor Samuels, and his final report is due for release prior to Christmas. In the meantime the Federal Government is pushing through a Bill called Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation (Streamlining Approvals) Bill which gives the State Governments the role of assessing development applications under the EPBC Act, without any national standards to guide their decisions. Gecko is opposing this undue haste and has requested that such a decision is delayed at least until February 2021 until the Review report is made public and national standards are developed.
This year began with the horrific fires along the eastern seaboard and we were all very distressed not only with the human loss of life and property, but also the loss and injury of an estimated 3 billion native animals. The impact of this are still with us and are compounded by the inadequate Federal and State environment laws to protect wildlife and native plants remaining. The year continued with the advent of the Covid 19 pandemic in March, which resulted in the closing of the Gecko House office for several months, but the work of the campaigns team continued during the lockdown. The Campaign team works in 4 main areas – Biodiversity, Climate Change, Protection of Public Open Space and a Liveable Green City
In a few weeks Queenslanders will go to the polls to elect a government for the next 4 years and those of us in the conservation movement will be examining closely each party’s policies on the environment. No major party is without fault in failing to protect the amazing biodiversity we have in Queensland or taking effective action on climate change. It is understandable that during the pandemic and in its aftermath the focus of any government will be on getting the economy going, but unfortunately this is often at the expense of the environment on which the economy depends. This is very clearly seen in the situation with Queensland national parks. See gecko.org.au for more info.
Most governments have been slow to make the necessary policy and action changes to effectively reduced emissions and hold the global temperature to 1.5C by 2050.
Personal Actions for Climate Change You can make a big difference to climate change in your own personal life. Not only can you make an actual impact on how much carbon is emitted, your actions are particularly influential on the
On 27th September the Gold Coast City Council called for public submissions on amendments (changes) to the planning scheme (City Plan) and established a number of pop-up information sessions at various places throughout the city. Gecko urges all residents of Gold Coast to check out these proposed changes to the City plan and put in a submission. The amendments (changes) are intended to improve the City Plan and the way our City responds to the ongoing population growth. Not everyone will agree that all amendments are an improvement and this is why your submission is vital.
The State Government has been developing a koala conservation strategy for several years in response to the alarming decline in koala numbers over past decades. This is mainly due to loss of habitat, 74% since 1967, vehicle strikes, dog attacks and disease. A Expert panel examined the situation and provided the Government with a number of recommendations to respond to this situation. The Government has accepted all of the recommendations and the Strategy and mapping is the first of several actions to address the situation
The toll on wildlife throughout the eastern states of Australia has been high, but many small and large wildlife care organisations are trying to rescue and care for injured and orphaned wildlife with limited resources. These organisations will need help for many months to come so regular donations would be appreciated
Following several letters from Gecko asking about the future of The Spit master Plan the Government finally put forward a Bill “The Implementation of The Spit Master Plan” and called for submissions from the public which closed on 16th December 2019. Gecko made a submission
Gecko is generally pleased with the result with the exception that Philip Park is still at risk of being taken over by the cruise ship terminal. Since the completion of the Master Plan the Government has committed $60 million to its implementation over 4 years and recently announced initial expenditure of $6.8 million to improve access to the Spit.