appetite. There is nothing natural about horses eating the food supplies of native animals such as the wombat. There is nothing natural about the way the way horses hard hoofs rip up fragile river beds and bogs. Suggesting that national parks can be put to a good use as paddocks to feed horses is a far cry from their original intention of protecting native biodiversity.
Scientists call for feral horse protection to be droppedThis is much clearer than the above; it's science, conclusions based on evidence and peer reviewed. The article says:
"Dozens of scientists today signed a new accord, calling on the New South Wales Government to overturn the so-called Brumby Bill which handed new protections to the wild horses in the Kosciuszko National Park based on their cultural significance."
Dr Dick Williams from Charles Darwin University said that an emotionally engaging message is needed. He is quoted as saying, "What science has to do, is to sell the beauty of the Australian Alps." This will not be easy. Feral horses are part of our culture, and this needs to be reviewed in light of contemporary values. The cost of allowing feral horses to continue to degrade alpine and other regions is significant.
The Snowy River has been damned, er, dammed, and is now much smaller than before. The following is the start of a poem, The man from Snowy Trickle.
There was movement on the high plains, for
the scientists had shown
That the horses trampled hard the soft grass
land.
And had caused extensive damage – parks
budget it was blown,
So conservationists they had to take a stand.
The did not act for money, saving nature was
their only goal.
They called upon the government to change
Save the future for our children, and save
your mortal soul
Then later look proudly on the mountain range.
Read another article that talks about similar themes to the above.
Proposal to change a national park to state forestThe article says:
"Nationals MP Austin Evans is preparing to introduce a bill to state parliament to return the Murray Valley National Park in southern New South Wales to state forest."
This is an unprecedented suggestion. National parks are not created on a whim. There's a fairly long process to consider the merits of the possible park, 30 years for Murray Valley NP. While jobs are important, parks have benefits that may be hard to quantify, and do not have the appeal to the broader community that jobs do.
For example, biodiversity does not rate on most balance sheets. There's no immediate dollars in this. However, the science is clear: biodiversity is essential. Another aspect that is often not considered is the quality, quantity and timing of water. A pristine forest slowly absorbs precipitation and slowly lets this run off, like a sponge. Logged areas have precipitation rapidly run off, causing siltation and loss of soil nutrients. Water was one reason that logging ceased in a number of Victorian areas.
So the matter must be considered holistically, with all costs over time. One example is the Heyfield logging mill in Gippsland, Victoria. Due to dwindling supplies, the mill was no longer viable and the Victorian government bought the mill for around $50 million. There are 250 jobs at the mill, so it works out at about $2 million a job. This is not a final figure as the mill staff spend in the community.
It should be noted that if the mill was run sustainably, perhaps from pine plantations, then the problem would not have arisen. For as long as I can recall, conservationists have been suggesting pine plantations.
One Murray Valley local says that visitor numbers have dropped. The change in conditions could well be due to the visitor practices being unsustainable and damaging the land. We need to think longer than the short term, and consider what we are leaving for our children. I've made short-term sacrifices to achieve long-term goals. After many years this has paid off very well.
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Bushwalk
