Biodiversity

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

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

In recent months the Department of Tourism has called for expressions of interest for development of eco- tourism ventures in National Parks. Queensland has only 7% of its area as national park, compared to 50% in Tasmania, however the Government has decided that in order to attract more tourists, developments should be allowed in national parks. Gecko has no objection to day visitors to national parks and would like to see better facilities and interpretation in our parks, but we cannot condone development in any national park.

Federal Elections and climate policy: After years of frustration with federal government inaction or worse on climate change, the topic is now well at the top of election discussions. The LNP continues to have a totally inadequate policy on climate change action being hamstrung by the extreme right wing coal loving MPs . The Labor Party has some good policies and the devil will be in the detail as to how they deliver these. The Greens are way out in front with their policies, but are unlikely to be able to deliver them, though they certainly will influence the debate. Other minor parties are generally very conservative and have poorly developed policies if any at all.

Since the very first Queensland National Park was established in 1908 at Witches Falls on Mount Tamborine, the debate about the purpose of national parks has continued. Are national parks primarily for the conservation of nature or are they for the enjoyment of nature by the human population? Or if it is to be both, what weight should the community give to conservation versus enjoyment?