The Adélie penguin is a the smallest of the Antarctic penguins and the most numerous, being widely distributed around the fringe of the Antarctic continent, its conservation status is of least concern. However, life on the frozen continent depends on food produced in the Southern Ocean and climate change and fishing for krill are key threats to penguin survival. Australia is responsible for managing 42% of the Antarctic continent and the adjacent waters. Penguin conservation is a concern of the Australian government.
This woodblock print made in an edition of 100 on Awagami kozo using Holbein gauche colours. It’s traditional Chuban-sized; 25 x 19 cm. Signed and sealed with the double dagger. Available through Saru Gallery
The danger of water inrush has increased over the life of the Dendrobium coal mining operation, reaching a crisis during the flooding rains of 2022 when the board dropped plans to mine Area 5. This surprising decision was justified on commercial grounds in a climate of buoyant metallurgical coal prices. The retreat also followed a political attack and legal challenge to the Independent Planning to Commission, who had refused planning consent to mine Area 5 and 6, based on issues of water ingress. South32 had managed to convince parliament to disregard the IPC and proceed with an extension regardless, and now … nope, not happening.
South32 Chief Executive Graham Kerr explained the decision as “directing capital towards other opportunities” while “confident South32 can squeeze more coal out of the existing mine and Nearby Appin colliery for years to come”. No mention made of water issues with the mine, the problem blocking mine progress since it’s inception. Financial analysts pushing for renewables took the South32 decision to retreat as a sign of the demise of coal, while investors confident in a future for metallurgical coal reported “wet weather” as an explanation for South32 walking away from lucrative returns. [REF D]
Wet weather in the case of a “wet mine” like Dendrobium leads to flooding which can slow coal production and endanger the lives of miners. Mining disasters represent massive financial risk. Where the government is politically sensitive to loss of life a disaster can spell the termination of a mining operation. In 2017 Planning minister Stokes had signalled an urgent interest in mine safety on the Dendrobium lease by establishing an expert panel and later an IPC inquiry that collected negative assessments offered by other agencies. Terms of reference for the initial inquiry concentrated on “the height of cracking” at Dendrobium, underlining concern about mine flooding. Loss of water from reservoirs and dam safety were flagged as possiblities where “unconventional” cracking penetrates from surface to seam. The IPC was concerned that a leaking mine could drain the catchment in perpetuity, with water flooding out of the mine entrance sited lower than the reservoir.
After the IPC delivered South32 an unfavourable decision the Department of Planning and Environment, who favoured development, helped construct a mine-friendly campaign around BlueScope steelworks. Serial Planning minister Anthony Roberts, a close friend to the mining lobby, joined the political coup organised by then deputy premier John Barillaro to deliver Dendrobium the status of State Significant Infrastructure, deposing Stokes and regaining control of planning. Factions intent on pushing through planning approval may have lost sight of the dangers of ignoring the risk of disaster. After demolishing the independent review process, established to guard against corrupt conduct in the granting of coal leases, South32 seemed to have lost the will to capitalise on political advantage. Cold feet perhaps, or a reassessment of risk?
With the change in state government there was no change in fortune for South32, no political reason to drop expansion ambitions. In the event of disaster on the Dendrobium lease, Labor Planning minister Paul Scully now has the job of explaining why he also chose to ignore red flags raised by the IPC and others. In a Zoom meeting Scully explained that longwall mining, though more environmentally destructive than traditional bord and pillar, was safer for mine workers. Such an assurance ignoring the fact that the mine was leaking like a sieve due to subsidence cracking.
By failing to predict or explain the extent of mine flooding during the rainfall of 2022 hydrogeologists employed by South32 helped build the empirical case that the Dendrobium mine is operating under dangerous conditions. For a time the volume of water flooding the mine exceeded the capacity to pump it out. The link between rainfall and mine inflow is undeniably correlated yet there is a persistent denial that the mine is draining surface water. Admit nothing.
The further risk of damaging reservoir infrastructure was flagged by the Dam Safety Committee who had to argue for increased set-back limits. Such demonstrated uncertainty might be considered a safety issue. The risk previously divested by BHP is now in the lap of South32 who may repeat history and look to find an even smaller operator who will deal with the responsibility of mitigating risk and paying for rehabilitation. “South32 has hinted in recent times that BlueScope was the natural owner of the Illawarra mines, rather than a Perth-based company that was increasingly focused on the metals needed for decarbonisation.” [REF D]
Background
Longwall coal mining in the Illawarra has a long history of disasters; gas outbursts, fire, water inflows and tunnel collapse contributing to death of miners and jeopardising coal production. Operators weigh the risk of disaster and reputational damage against potential profits. Regulators will shut down mining operations after disasters; Wongawilli mine adjoining the Dendrobium lease is currently shut due to fire and collapse of the mine roof. Breaching safe operating practice is the primary trigger for mine closure by government. Entering the Dendrobium project BHP Billiton as parent company to Australian Iron and Steel Ltd, now Bluescope, was linked to the Appin mine disaster where a gas explosion in 1979 killed 14 people. Further gas outbursts in the Appin mine have seen long closures while gas is drained.
Feasibility studies for the Dendrobium project begun in 2000 assessed the safety risks of the mine project and whether those risks were acceptable to BHP. The Dendrobium project extending underneath three previous mines and jammed between Avon and Cordeaux reservoirs, with a driveway passing beneath Cordeaux reservoir, carried a high risk of water inflow that would be both expensive and dangerous to deal with. “The restricted mining areas has meant that geophysical parameters such as stress direction, roof strength variability and coal quality variations, have, for all intents and purposes, had to be dealt with as outcomes of the chosen mine layout rather than drivers of it.” [REF A pg. 25]. By 2015 the BHP board decided to drop the risks of coal mining in the Illawarra by creating another company South32 to transfer these risky mining assets.
Previous mines in grey, reservoirs in blue
In order to reach the larger untapped coal measures the mine progressed through Area1 with 2 longwall panels and Area 2 with 3 panels to establish a 6 km long underground driveway to begin transporting coal from the 14 panels comprising Areas 3A and 3B. As mining advanced with another 5 km of additional driveway, water inflows from the previous mines and collapsed panels in Areas 1 & 2 added to water collecting in Area 3 until pumping was unable to clear Area 3. “During March-April, very high rainfall resulted in high inflows to Area 2. Pumping from Area 3B was limited to prioritise pumping from Area 2 during that time.” [REF B pg. 15]
The prolonged period of flooding in 2022 preceded the decision to drop plans for the extension into Area 5; plans which would have added yet another 5km to the underground driveway, placing a flood-prone mine under further pressure to pump out an unpredictable volume of water while sending miners deeper into remote territory.
Consultants Advice
In April 2022 hydrogeology consultants HEC predicted groundwater inflows for Area 2 of Dendrobium mine to be stable at approx 1.1 ML/day. The total groundwater inflows of all mined areas were predicted to be 9.9 ML/day. Unfortunately wet weather intervened and the HEC predictions did not reflect the real situation, as can be seen in the report prepared by another consultant HGEO in September 2022. Area 2 inflows correlate closely with rainfall, and pumping from Area 3 was limited to prioritise Area 2 during this time. South32 had maintained that surface water hydrology was not directly related to groundwater discharge in the mine. Longer lag times and a low level of Tritium isotopes had been presented as evidence of an isolated groundwater balance. The rains of 2022 put a question mark to such assurances and it became imperative to understand why and where the increased inflow was coming from. In January of 2022 water ingress into Area 3 spiked at 16.21 ML/day as seen in Table2, section 3 of the Hgeo report, excerpt below. By September 2022 the daily inflow had climbed as high as 19 ML/day – nearly double the predictions offered in the previous HEC report.
Note: Units used in graphs are not consistent, changing from ML/year to ML/day
Timeline of Advice
1st April 2022 Appendix C HEC Surface Water Assessment for ICH Pty Ltd [REF C]
•23rd August South32 announces end of expansion plans for Area 5
•9th Sept 2022 South32 withdraws SSI application to mine Area 5
•15th Sept 2022 HGEO End of Panel Groundwater Assessment for Longwall 18 (Area 3B) Dendrobium
DENDROBIUM MINE End of Panel Groundwater Assessment For Longwall18
[REF B Pg. 15] “During March-April [2022] very high rainfall resulted in high inflows to Area 2.” Graph maps progress of each Longwall panel with panel 18 extending through 2022
Excerpts
An Olympic swimming pool containing 2.5 ML of water. During 2022 no less than 3 and sometimes 7 Olympic pools of water were pumped daily out of Dendrobium mine.
References
[REF A]
P. Whittall, Dendrobium Mine: From Paper to Production, in Naj Aziz and Bob Kininmonth (eds.), Proceedings of the 2004 Coal Operators’ Conference, Mining Engineering, University of Wollongong, 18-20 February 2019 https://ro.uow.edu.au/coal/125
[REF B]
DENDROBIUM MINE End of Panel Groundwater Assessment For Longwall18
[REF C]
Appendix C HEC Surface Water Assessment for ICH Pty Ltd
Dharawal National Park was declared in March 2012 by the newly elected Liberal-National state government led by Barry O’Farrell who had campaigned on the promise of ending mining in the water catchment. “no ifs, no buts”. Today Dharwal remains a place of wild beauty with deep tree-filled valleys sloping down to glittering creeks and pools, all part of the intact geology remaining after millions of years of sedimentation and erosion. Inside the Dharawal story, is a new chapter, a small handkerchief dropped into the plot of deep time. On the map the park is uniformly green except for oddly shaped pale patches that remain under the care and control of other parties, at the bottom a coffin-shaped section denotes a firing range. Another conspicuous remnant sits in the very middle of the park with its own access road. On this land, behind a cyclone wire fence and signs warning of explosive gas is the entrance to the defunct North Cliff colliery, the rusting gantry tower looming over a large concrete slab that seals the mine like a tomb. From under the edge of the slab the unceasing hissing of sulphurous escaping methane gas can be heard.
North Cliff gantry site in the middle of Dharawal National park, circled, is part of the West Cliff mine
SPECIAL AREAS
In the late nineteenth century large ‘Special Areas’ of bushland had been set aside to secure clean water for the growing cities of Sydney and Wollongong. Dharawal covers the O’Hares Creek and Stokes Creek catchments and sits between the Woronora Special Area and the larger Metropolitan Special Area. In 1927 this area was declared a water catchment, but by 1978 it was decided no more dams would be built and the protected catchment status was no longer needed, the land might be excised from the Special Areas and better used for mining and recreation. Underground coal mining was already underway in Dharawal but ongoing mining would now occur in an area known as State Conservation Area, while the area not yet mined was known as Nature Reserve. The juggling of permissible land use was glossing over the fact that mining inside the Special Area water catchments had always been illegal, Special Area status prohibits any activity that results in damage to the catchment. The change in planning priorities from protecting water to protecting mining is explained by the increasing wealth and influence of the coal lobby in politics.
The Special Areas set aside for the collection of clean drinking water. Mining damage goes unnoticed when entry by foot attracts a $44,000 fine.
MOUNTAINS OF COAL
In the 1970’s longwall coal mining technology allowed for a tripling of underground coal extraction over traditional tunneling methods. Up to 90 percent of an entire coal seam could be bought to the surface. One downside was a dramatic increase in subsidence damage above the enormous subterranean voids, up to 4km long and 300 m wide. These panels ranked side by side undermining the entire landscape. The new money to be made from mountains of coal called for new deals done between coal companies, planning regulators and politicians, but the scale of the surface damage would prove a challenge to gaining approval as community groups sprang up to oppose the scale of the destruction. Unpaid activists attempted to battle corporate interests with unlimited capital.
The lure of easy money quickly set up a rolling series of corruption scandals that engulfed successive Labor state governments and paved the way for the O’Farrell opposition. Once in power O’Farrell would need to differentiate his government from the outgoing Labor power-brokers heading into court and into gaol. Coal had become suspect political property. Dharawal was offered to the wider electorate as a token of good faith. Environmentalists had fought hard to protect the area and the promise to declare Dharawal had helped deliver local Liberal candidates record large swings in marginal seats. But after Dharawal was delivered, the promise of no further mining in the catchment (no if’s no buts) evaporated. A tacit arrangement emerged between Labor and Liberal-Nationals that meant no future coal project would achieve prominence by parliamentary debate. The production of coal accelerated, approvals ticked over.. In June of 2020 the Greens would be gagged from addressing a petition of 10600 signatures presented to parliament protesting mining under the Woronora reservoir. All speakers spoke in favour of mining including Lee Evans the local Liberal who had campaigned with O’Farrell on the issue. Also keen to allow mining under the reservoir was the water minister and her Labor shadow. By 2022 mining consent become the exclusive domain of the planning minister.
Coal mining leases in the Special Areas. Dharawal is pockmarked with exploratory holes, indicating intense investigation .
DEPARTMENTAL RESTRUCTURING
In the decade following the Dharawal declaration the Liberal-National government moved to restructure the planning process. The Independent Commision Against Corruption, the ICAC, that was largely responsible for uncovering coal corruption was set on a path of downsizing and underfunding. The Sydney Catchment Authority was disbanded with key proponents sidelined. The Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water was abolished. The Office of Environment and Heritage was disbanded. The Ministry of Environment was subsumed into an expanded Department of Planning Industry and Environment with ultimate control resting with the senior Planning minister. The Minister of the Environment no longer had a department to minister over. Environmental protections would be morphed into an offset methodology that put a price on everything and protected nothing. Dharawal was a turning point of sorts, but by no means a rejection of mining in the water catchment.
North Cliff portal with surrounding exploration drilling sites indicated by outlined circles. Like a game of battleships more misses than hits might indicate a losing game.
GAS OUTBURSTS
The history of mining in Dharawal illustrates an example of regulatory capture by mining interests; land set aside for water was reclaimed for mining, then used as a political offset to conceal other large mining operations in the Special Areas. The pivot over Dharawal may have also added to the bottom line of the miner. Mining leases are a gamble, not all operations are profitable. The profitability of the mining operation was in question while large compensation was demanded to relinquish the mining lease. The declaration of Dharawal National Park followed 30 years of stop-start longwall mining in the area that produced erratic volumes of coal under hazardous conditions, ongoing underground gas outbursts resulting in long recurring periods of evacuation of the mine while dangerous gases were ventilated. Making gassy mines safe requires expensive drilling to install gas ranges to tap off the gas. Dealing with that gas presents another problem, large vent towers with fans are needed. The gas itself represent a carbon emissions liability.
Mining disasters with large loss of life are not unprecedented, in 1979 14 miners were killed in a gas explosion in the nearby Appin mine owned by the same corporation. Another death in 1994 had occurred at NorthCliff illustrating the grim possibilities of continuing to work a gassy mine. The Dharawal coal reserves were problematic, gas outbursts threatened smooth production and hazards to life threatened regulatory oversight. When the Dharawal reserves were “sterilised” the coal companies had secured a route to planning approval to extend the operation of other less problematic mines inside the Special Areas. As well as an assured future in other parts of the Special Areas the relinquishment set out undisclosed compensation payments for unrealised economic potential and return on exploration costs and lease fees.
Coal is part of the steel-making supply chain. Land undermined and de-watered for coal is also core habitat for koalas
HIDDEN LIABILITIES
Coal leases grow over time as mines expand and permissions are negotiated. Adjoining leases can be consolidated and regularly change ownership. With each change in legal status can come rebranding and commercial arrangements that are held in-confidence for new and extended periods. Past liabilities for remediation or compensation can easily pass into the nether world of buried mining deals.
The economic gains from coal mining in the Illawarra are largely realised as corporate profits on export sales. 90% of the coal leaves on ships loaded from Port Kembla. Transportation costs mean that the closest coal to the port is also the most profitable. The cost of road infrastructure required to transport Dharawal coal was another problem for the miners to weigh up when deciding on whether to strike a deal and relinquish this lease area. Other leases owned by the same corporation would easily meet market needs.
The commercial value of the Dharawal lease was known only to the miner. Factors including the extent and quality of the coal that could be recovered, the cost of recovery and the cost of transportation of coal and disposal of waste, would all weight into the compensation cost incurred by the incoming Premier. Given that the miner was able to set the price, it would be reasonable to assume the compensation package was sufficient. The final cost of compensation remains hidden, but elements were laid out in publicly available documents. By responding to the premiers request to declare a national park the miner was able to produce a list of 9.5 million dollars worth of exploration costs, adjusted for inflation. Added to this are the refunded lease fees and loss of projected earnings.
SECRECY
Mining projects are subject to assessment by government through a “planning approval” process. To gain approval the miner is required to submit an Environmental Assessment Report which answers a set criteria laid out by the Departmental Secretary, who enacts the will of the Minister. So long as such questions are answered, approval might be expected. Answers might be modified if need be, but approval is the desired end point of the approval process. The negotiations take place between the miner and the department and out of the public eye.
Special Areas list of prohibitions does include bushwalking but does not include coal mining. Everything that happens within the Special Area is a secret from the public view.
TRANSPARENCY
One part of planning approval is designed to appear transparent; the process of public inquiry that is conducted to answer the suspicion of secret deals made against the public interest.
In order to gain planning permission to mine a larger parcel of land the miner was eventually subject to an inquiry in 2010 under a Planning Assessment Commission, or PAC, formed within the Department of Planning. The proposed project was known as the Bulli Seam Operation and would see the extraction of coal over 30 years from 136 longwall panels. As well as natural bushland areas, 222 swamps of natural significance, water catchment for Cataract dam, and large tracts of housing and public roads would be impacted. The PAC process would be a turning point for a range of reasons.
The BSO PAC inquiry was open to public submissions, but met in private with various interested government agencies. Also included in the process were a small number of unpaid community voices selected under the banner of a Community Consultative Committee, or CCC. This group would become specialised advocates to counter the almost inevitable planning approval. The public inquiry process devolved to a battle of expertise that soon became a game played behind closed doors. As it transpired the BSO was overturned, but whether this was a result of grassroots opposition or pressure from other quarters is unclear. Given the weight of submissions against the proposal and reading the political tea leaves the PAC ruled that the proponent’s evidence was misleading, unreliable, untrustworthy, and of insufficient rigor to grant approval. None were more surprised than members of the CCC who had assumed they had just been registering a protest to the inevitable progress of mining. The finding of the PAC gave Barry O’Farrell the trigger to declare Dharawal.
DIVESTMENT
In 2012 the Big Australian BHP/Billiton were the largest miner in the Southern coalfields, they had recently divested the steel mill in Port Kemblaand BHP operating through its subsidiary Illawarra Coal chose this time to divest from coal assets. An increasing tide of investor concern about coal emissions and climate change had meant that coal assets were damaging the brand. BHP had to avoid the appearance of a major corporation denying climate change and holding onto the risk of stranded assets. A new specialised company South32 was created to take on the BHP coal assets and weather whatever public disapproval might arise. In this way the Big Australian was able to wash its hands of a problematic coal operation while at the same time reaping a corporate profit. South32 continue to mine inside the Special Areas and operate the Appin and Dendrobium mines. South32 are skilled in putting in aggressive plans for coal extraction that discounts all opposition.
Mining under protected wilderness area has a huge impact on biodiversity. The Giant Dragonfly lived in the upland swamps that are drained by coal mining.
REMEDIATION
When the Dharawal park was declared in 2012 it carried the promise that protection extended to the core of the earth, this concealed the fact that mining activity had already nibbled into the area. Longwalls have been carved out under a large northeast section of the park. Large driveways lead from the Northcliff mine to other parts. Despite the win in saving Dharawal the land bears the scars of extensive mining activity. Coal mining begins with exploration leases which permit the building of roads, drilling of holes and seismic blasting. Before coal can be removed infrastructure must be built. Large areas are cleared at the pithead for storing bulk coal and processing. Mine waste and coal wash might make up as much as 20% of the ‘run of mill’ material coming to the surface. All this material has to be stored or transported. Settling ponds and waste heaps further extend the land claimed by the mine. Some surface impacts are subject to remediation requirements enforced by the regulator to varying degrees of success. There are other impacts that can never be reversed, the cracks that can never be filled, the aquifers that will never recharge and the gas that will continue to hiss out of the fractured ground. By on-selling problematic assets corporations also pass on the liabilities to smaller aggressive operators who have no public image to protect. BHP gave birth to South32 who were able to connect with Bluescope, another BHP offshoot, to overthrow the Independent Planning Commission. By lining up all major party politicians the Dendrobium mine was declared State Significant Infrastructure, and all objections overlooked. Such is the legacy of BHP decarbonising; coal mines are now synonymous with infrastructure and miners take open control of planning approval. The bright green future beckons.
The Pink-eared duck is Australia’s smallest duck with a total length no bigger than 40 cm. Sometimes known as the zebra duck, the striking banded colours are more obvious than the half dozen pink feathers behind the ear. This fresh nuptial plumage is most intense during breeding season. Their beaks are unique and the basis for their scientific name. Like an upside-down shovel curving down on the sides, with filamentous plates used to strain their food. Pink-eared ducks are gregarious and pair for life, and feed in groups of two or more, coordinating swimming in circles, tail-to-tail to stir up their food of algae and micro invertebrates. They are found on the flood plains west of the Great Dividing Range from Southern Victoria to the Northern Territory, where they make their homes in wetlands, swamps and the occasional sewerage treatment pond.
Because of their occasional super-abundance after exceptionally good rainfall pink-eared ducks have become treated as a game resource with annual duck shooting seen as an entitlement. This print was made thinking of the gentle volunteers who spend three months of the year illegally collecting wounded Australian ducks.
Blocks for this print were carved with traditional hangi-toh knife and a mini v-gouge.
Made from a solid cherry key block and two shina plywood background blocks.
Hand printed with a traditional Japanese baren using Holbien Gouache and Japanese Sumi.
Hand made and sized kozo paper from Awagami Japan.
The design was made first with an easy carve rubber mini block. This mini print is also available as a card.
The Double Dagger seal stamp represents extinction of a species and is used to indicate collaborative artwork made to raise awareness of threats to non-human life. More info at doubledaggerart.com
When sea levels rose to the current levels, the New Guinea Palm cockatoo population was split away from the Northern Australian population, a subspecies.
While Palm cockatoo numbers in New Guinea are still relatively high (although in decline), the Australian sub species population (Probosciger aterrimus macgillivrayi) is endangered with a high estimate of 2500-3000 remaining (as of 2022).
Palm cockatoos are the only bird known to make and play a musical instrument. He makes his own drumstick by stripping off the bark and whittling it down. He then bangs it against a hollow in a rhythmical pattern as a sexual display.
See interview and footage of Palm cockatoos with expert, Robert Heinsohn from the Australian National University on Youtube BBC here.
The standard threats apply to Palm Cockatoos – mining, habitat loss, climate change, illegal pet trade and fire. (With only one successful offspring every 10 years)
Ecological Report for Palm Cockatoo Habitat Survey 2022
Aurukun Bauxite Project, 22 March 2023 which is found in full here
This upgrading of status in Queensland is supported by a recent Population Viability Analysis (PVA) for the Australian subspecies of Palm Cockatoo, which estimates there are fewer than 2,500 individuals remaining in Australia at a best-case scenario (Keighley et al. 2021). Given the species’ endemicity to Queensland, it is likely the listing under the Environment Protection & Biodiversity Conservation Act will reflect this change in due course. Population instability is affected by slow life history characteristics, low breeding success, geographic and ecological barriers to dispersal and a sensitivity to habitat disturbance.
The Palm Cockatoo is categorised as both a Matter of National Environmental Significance (MNES) and a Matter of State Environmental Significance (MSES). Habitat critical to the survival of the species (in accordance with Commonwealth Significant Impact Guidelines) is not defined by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment & Water (DCCEEW); however, MNES potential habitat mapping for this species encompasses all riparian and Eucalypt woodland forest communities over the Project Site (DCCEEW 2023).
There is currently no national Recovery Plan for Probosciger aterrimus macgillivrayi, although the DCCEEW ‘Threatened Species Action Plan 2022-2032’ (2022) include the development of such documents as one of their targets. It has been suggested that the current approved conservation advice provides sufficient direction for actions to be implemented, mitigating against further threat or impact to this subspecies (Threatened Species Scientific Committee 2015). The Primary Conservation Action includes implementing fire management regimes to protect tree hollows and ensuring impacts from mining activity do not further reduce the amount of available breeding and foraging habitat (Threatened Species Scientific Committee 2015).
How can you help?
Write! Ask the federal Labour Environment Minister Murray Watt (known for approving developments) who replaced Tanya Plibersek because of pressure from Western Australia (source View from the Hill The Conversation here )
“Southern Launch has previously assured the general public that there would be minimal disturbance to birdlife beyond a “startled response”, where birds left the area during launch noises but returned soon afterwards.”
This style of minimising the harm is typical of an impact assessment, where proponents make the case for development. In reality these sensitive, shy birds will most likely leave their nests and not find their way back in time to keep their eggs viable.
During nesting season at night when the endangered emu-wrens are sleeping, if they leave their nests and eggs, what is the likelihood of them flying back in the dark?
Page 111 of the Assessment report explains how frequently these terrifying launch noises may occur.
Rocket launches can occur every 24 hours during nesting season at night while the birds are sleeping.
The proposal has the potential to disturb fauna, nearby residents and visitors to the locality through the creation of noise and vibration impacts during construction and operation. In particular, each rocket launch event would produce a moderate level of operational noise over several weeks and a high level of noise for a very brief period during the launch itself. Noise impacts from rocket testing would also occur over a brief period. Vibration effects during a launch would be confined to within the launch pad. At the maximum operating scenario, the proposed facility will host in the vicinity of 36 yearly launches (one every 2-3 weeks on average), with a rocket launched at any time over a 24-hour period.
The same article mentioned above by the ABC claims:
“Conservationists are concerned the launches will endanger 12 bird species, including the endangered southern emu wren, whose population stands at fewer than 750. “
My question for Tanya Plibersek, the federal environment minister who approved this project, have you ever observed birds startle at night? And do you sincerely believe these birds would find their way to their safe perches and nests every time?
Mallee emu-wren Lino and woodblock print by Joanna Bradley
Charles Darwin fundamentally changed how we see ourselves as human creatures by listening to evidence laid out by the animals that surround us. The beaks of different finch species that populate the Galápagos Islands told the astounding story of speciation and adaptation. But before, during and after the study of finches there were earthworms, and following the publication of “Origin of the Species”(1859) came”The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms, with Observations on Their Habits” (1881). This book was a bestseller, gathering the results of four decades of study, Darwin having first published on worms in 1837.
Darwin was following a hunch that soil fertility was a product of bioturbation, now specifically called biopedturbation since there are now half a dozen different categories of bioturbation recognised. The added “ped” refers specifically to the mixing of soil by animals. It’s also possible to mix marine sediments, etc.
Apart from exploring fundamental ideas about the nature of life, Darwin also succeeded in bringing ideas to public attention by arousing curiosity and involving others in his research. Darwin might have also started the first citizen science project by appealing for worm casting data from collaborators around the globe.His family members collected data on worm castings for him and went to the extent of conducting experiments testing the hearing of worms by playing musical instruments of different types. Worms turn out to be deaf.
Among many findings, Darwin calculated that worms in his locale were responsible for moving soil to the surface of a paddock in the order of 160 tons per acre per year. Worms were cast as the bio-engineers of soil fertility. The stuff Darwin called ‘vegetable mould’ was the organically altered pre-digested dark soil horizon in which plant roots thrived. Worms built the fertile soils that supported English agriculture.
In Darwin’s time worms were regarded as pests, only responsible for unsightly mounds of castings. In the end, Darwin the conservationist told his son William, what he hoped his book would reveal is that ‘worms have much bigger souls than anyone would suppose’.
Darwin made the utility of ecology evident, with worms as providers of ‘eco-system services’. Bandicoots likewise are among a whole suite of small native animals that tilled the Australian soil, keeping it in better condition for supporting plant life.
In the Australian context, soil structure is markedly different to that found in rural England. It should come as no surprise that soils that are frequently dry do not support the same populations of earthworms. Nor is there generally the same rich banding of soil horizons. Yet there is still bioturbation at play, where worms are absent, ants may carry out the work of dragging stuff in and out of the ground. Or larger burrowing animals may be at work. Bandicoots have long thin snouts which they insert into the soil to sense food items, they will then dig to retrieve the food. The ground is left pockmarked as if giant earthworms were at play.
British settlers brought with them a slew of animals to recreate home. Some, like rabbits, are master bioengineers which had coevolved with foxes, digging extensive burrows for safety. Feral cats and foxes do hunt rabbits but disproportionately ravage native mammal populations. Australian small mammals have suffered the largest extinction rates of anywhere in the world during the colonial era. Three species are confirmed as extinct in the last decade.
Thirty three species of Australian mammals have been lost since settlement. This includes four distinct species of geographically isolated barred bandicoots. Specimens remain only in museum drawers. The Eastern barred bandicoot once found on the mainland is now restricted to Tasmania where foxes are absent.
Other bandicoot species perhaps with greater ability to seek cover from predators will still emerge from bushland or from underneath buildings to dig holes into paddocks or lawns seeking a meal of invertebrates, including the odd juicy worm.
The declining condition of Australian soils has created a business opportunity for those who would offset carbon emissions by increasing soil carbon sequestration. As in Darwin’s time the public are ready to have the good news explained, there are animals who usefully dig the soil and they possess a soul bigger than you may suppose.
Australia is home to a greater diversity of bird species than anywhere else in the world, given the bird count of the island continent includes seabirds from the Antarctic south to the tropical north. There are about 850 terrestrial species that inhabit landscapes ranging from the arid interior to cool towering eucalypt forests. About 400 bird species are only found in Australia.
The diversity of birds has evolved in concert with the changing extremes of wet and dry seasons along with cyclical droughts, fires and flooding rains. Rolling changes in living conditions selects for animals that are tough enough to cope with boom and bust but also specialised in exploiting unique circumstances. Speciation, the evolution of new species, occurs where populations are geographically divided as happens when conditions become too extreme.
During periods of separation populations may drift apart as genes change and mates prefer different sexual characteristics, such as feather patterns. White feathers may appeal to some where black feathers are preferred by others. This process known as mate selection is a mystery that drives much animal biology as aesthetics of sound and colour are employed to induce pleasure and impress others.
All of this is to explain why Australia has not only white cockatoos but also also black cockatoos. Further still, there are five distinct species of black cockatoos with a larger number of recognised sub species. Each population has distinct plumage which appeals to mates as well as to people who are equally fascinated by beautiful form and colour.
Attractive feathers have long been collected and used as ornamentation and there exists today a lucrative on-line market in coloured feathers. It is possible to purchase individual flight feathers of red-tailed black cockatoos for $75 a piece or the whole bird for $1000. While trading in protected wildlife is prohibited there are exemptions made for feathers.
An argument exists that conservation can be funded by allowing trophy hunting and encouraging the growth of collections. The problems of a market driven approach to conservation are obvious, as rare specimens become more desirable they increase in value and attract more attention from collectors. Increasing value creates increasing pressure on wild populations and growth of a black market.
The trade in animal parts continues to be a major driver of population decline in endangered animals. Hunting for koala pelts in the early 20th century set the backdrop of the current divide in attitudes to exploiting wildlife as a resource. Legislation designed to protect wildlife is only as effective as the will to enforce any red lines. Economic carve-outs and loopholes are many and varied, all are tilted towards gains for people not for wildlife. The end of killing koalas for money was brought about by a total ban on trading in koala skins.
The first listed death of an environmental activist known as an “environmental killing” occurred in 1905 when Guy Bradley employed as the lone game warden in the wetlands of Florida was shot dead by poachers. Having previously worked as a guide for hunters Guy had decided to instead uphold conservation legislation protecting declining bird populations. The poachers were hunting egrets to remove their lacy plumes used to adorn fancy hats popular at the time.
Drawing by Elizabeth and John Gould
Red tailed black cockatoos
Woodblock print, 6 cherry blocks. Hand printed with a baren on Japanese/Thai hand made washi paper.
Oban size 38 x 25cm
Woronora hill in Heathcote National Park at 282m above sea level is the highest natural point in metropolitan Sydney. The Blue Mountains to the west are most imposing but equal elevation occurs on the gently rising Woronora Plateau in the south that lead to the Southern Highlands and 1000 square kilometres of untouched bushland, including the Special Areas set aside for water collection. The city of 5.3 million people sits inside a larger geological basin and this basin contains enough unique biodiversity to have been defined as the Sydney basin bioregion.
One species that is found only in the rocky bushland slopes of Sydney is the critically endangered broad-headed snake, an animal exquisitely adapted to the particular niche it inhabits. This snake is found on the relatively wet west facing slopes of the basin where solar radiation stores heat to assist nocturnal hunting and hatching of eggs. The snake lives on the geckos and other creatures also thriving on the particular conditions of the west facing slopes.
Contour map of Sydney basin
Geology of Sydney Basin
The Sydney Basin is a sedimentary basin with an area of approximately 44,000 square kilometres. It is defined by the great diving range in the west and the ocean escarpment in the east. The defining geology extends to the Hunter Valley in the north and south to Batemans Bay.
Around 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) thick, the Sydney Basin consists of Permian and Triassicsedimentary rocks… and contains economically significant reserves of coal.
During Gondawana times, about 250 million years ago the sandstone in Sydney Basin was deposited by monolithic rivers flowing from the south west to the east.
50 million years later (200 mya) the Lapstone fault (running north south at the foot hills of the blue mountains) caused a lift in the sandstone in the east defining Sydney’s sandstone coastline, the flattened Cumberland plains and lifted the great diving range – including the Blue Mountains.
Three Sisters at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains
Fast forward another 100 million years (100 mya) and the first snake fossils appear in tropical Asia .
Fast forward another 40 million years (60 mya) and Gondawana breaks up, Australia becomes a continent and the Sydney basin is then shaped …
into a landscape that was defined by bedrock valleys exposed into a raised plateau. Sydney’s largest rivers, such as the Hawkesbury, Parramatta, Georges and Hacking Rivers eroded the region’s deepest valleys. In this period, the Ashfield Shale got weathered to create a flatter landform with low, undulating topography and reasonably fertile soils, which heavily contrasted the plateaus, cliffs and gorges on the sandstone areas in the Sydney Region. The Botany Bay Basin was also developed at that time, which is infilled with sand.
At the same time Sydney Basin is forming (60 mya) the first fossil records of elapid snakes emerge in tropical Asia. Around 24 mya elapids made the journey to Australia. Elapid snakes are in the cobra snake family and have permanently erect fangs, which may also deliver venom. Many species can deliver a bite potentially deadly to humans (and dogs), but most are effectively harmless given the availability of anti-venom. Recorded snakebites exceed deaths by a hundredfold. There are 1 to 4 snakebite deaths per year in Australia, most are from handling or cornering the snakes.
There are around 80 species of Australian elapid snakes, including: death adder, red-bellied black snake, tiger snake, duggite, mulga snake, brown snake, yellow-faced whip snake, copperhead, golden -crowned snake, and mustard-bellied snake.
Broad-headed snake
Photo of Broad-headed snake on a tree in Heathcote National Park 2021 Tom Kristensen
The critically endangered Hoplocephalusbungaroides, broad-headed snake is a venomous snake from the elapidae family. Broad-headed snakes are possibly Australia’s most endangered snake given their dependence on the unique geology of specific sites in the sydney basin. Once relatively common, the BHS is now locally extinct in metropolitan Sydney and only found in a few of the National parks and state forests within the Sydney basin.
Unlike most elapids the BHS are at home in the trees. When the rocky outcrops become too hot in the summer the snakes will disperse into gullies where they seek refuge in hollow tree limbs. Being nocturnal ambush predators, they pick up geckos on the rocks and a wider array of prey found in the forest and leaf litter on the forest floor. Seasonal behaviour patterns over a long life span find the BHS returning to the same outcrops and hiding holes year on year.
Besides the favourable western-tilted geology the Sydney basin has produced a network of upland hanging swamps. These impermeable depression on sandstone benches offer a place for the development of peat swamps supporting dense low vegetation with ponding water. These swamps store and release water through dry periods providing an oasis to a wide range of animals, including frogs, another staple food for BHS. These biodiversity gems are destroyed by the longwall coal mining that fractures the entire geology overlying the coal seams. Unfortunately the location of the swamps within the protected Special Areas has meant that their destruction has gone largely unnoticed.
Technical Report 2: Upland swamp development and erosion on the Woronora Plateau during the Holocene Kerrie M. Tomkins and Geoff S. Humphreys Macquarie University
Slow to mature, slow to reproduce, and confined to western slopes living under the flat sandstone rocks prized by landscapers, BHS are not able to adapt to human impacts on their environment. Being a small snake under a metre in length, and very attractively marked the BHS are poached from reserves and sold to collectors. Basking snakes are also commonly squashed on the proliferating mountain bike trails as national parks are increasingly managed as a recreational resource.
BHS give birth to live young unlike other elapid snakes that lay eggs. Presumably there is an advantage for baby BH snakes to be able to hide in rocks as soon as they are born.
If you come across a pretty yellow and black patterned snake in Sydney it’s most likely to be a carpet diamond python – the southern most and highest altitude occuring carpet python. While from an entirely different snake family to elapids, diamond pythons and broad-headed snakes look very similar to the untrained eye.
Diamond python Royal National Park 2025Diamond python Royal National Park 2025
Golden-crowned snake, a small Australian elapid snake on the road at dusk, just missed by the car.Red-bellied black snake (elapid)Mustard-bellied snake (elapid)Broad-headed snakeSydney Basin and Great dividing range (red)Distribution of broad-headed snakesGolden-crowned snake (off the road)Yellow-faced whipsnake (elapid) Broad-headed snake killed by bicyclePhoto of dead broad-headed snake on walking/cycling track Royal National Park by Abigail Bradley
The dingo is recognised by governments as a distinct native animal, but is variously considered a form of domestic dog, unworthy of taxonomic distinction, or a subspecies of dog or wolf, or a full species in its own right. The legal protection afforded dingoes varies widely from tourist attraction in National parks to “invasive native” in places where they are unwanted.
Dingoes and eagles, being apex predators are possibly the two most persecuted native Australian wild animals. Lethal control practices, both legal and illegal, seek to reduce predator numbers to remove risk to livestock. There is a fine line between “control” and extirpation – local extinction. Ecological studies have established that removing apex predators can have wider implications for biodiversity. Describing dingoes as “pests” gives permission for their destruction, but misses the vital role that large predators might play in controlling other animals, including feral cats and foxes, but also goats and pigs.
On the 10th Sept 2024 the NSW Government department of Environment and Heritage website published this explanation about dingoes and wild dogs:
What are wild dogs?
A wild dog is any dog living in the wild, including feral dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) and their hybrids. Wild dogs can have significant impacts on livestock, especially sheep. As a result, they have been identified as a priority pest animal under the 11 regional strategic pest animal management plans developed by Local Land Services. It is therefore necessary to manage wild dogs under the General Biosecurity Duty of the Biosecurity Act 2015.
This update was published in answer to the revelation that “wild dogs” previously considered dingo hybrids were in fact genetically pure dingos. The long-held justification for treating dingos as feral animals had been removed, but the response from government was to allow business as usual by treating native dingoes as a pest species wherever farmers would like to favour grazing animals.
Dozens of scientists have written to the New South Wales, Victorian and South Australian environment and agriculture ministers to push for changes to dingo policies in light of new scientific research.
The decision to preference grazing animals over wildlife is made despite the reality that vast areas of the outback deliver marginal returns to farmers. The construction and patrolling of the 5614 km long dingo-proof fence, and provision of bounties for dead dingoes, speaks to priorities of government in providing action, but also employment to the bush. The political dimension of the ongoing extermination of a species seen as a pastoral threat should remind us of the sad demise of the Tasmanian Tiger.
Printing process photos
The larger design developed from small rubber studies, these transferred onto wood blocks for carving and printing. Rubber works best with oily ink and brayer while wood is needed for the traditional Japanese techniques using brushes and water based inks.
Dingo pups woodblock print
by artists Tom Kristensen and Joanna Bradley
Japanese woodblock print 4 blocks of cherry. Hand carved, hand printed on Japanese/Thai hand made washi paper.
A$250.00
5 Pack of Dingo cards
Hand printed on 100% recycled made in Australia card
19 x 12.5cm
(countries other than Australia must pay an extra $35 postage)
A$45.00
10 Pack of Dingo postcards
Hand printed on 100% recycled made in Australia card
19 x 12.5cm
(countries other than Australia must pay an extra $35 postage)
Green and golden bell frog, Ranoidea aurea NSW status, Endangered. Commonwealth status, Vulnerable.
Eats insects, worms and small vertebrates. Sunbakes to aid digestion.
Tadpoles take 3-11 months to mature.
Classification
A ground dwelling frog in the tree frog family, one of Australia’s largest frogs the adults are between 4.5-11cm in size.
Very similar to other frogs in the Ranoidea genus, the green and golden bell frog is able to hybridise and is often found together with the closely related growling grass frog (R. castanea) and yellow spotted bell frog (R. raniformis).
“The species is now classified within the Ranoidea aurea complex, a closely related group of frogs in the genus Ranoidea.[4] This complex is scattered throughout Australia: three species occur in south-east Australia, one in northern Australia, and two in Southwest Australia.”
“Ranoidea aurea is equally and most closely related to R. castanea and R. raniformis. A microcomplement fixation technique using serum albumins has indicated the species closest to R. aurea is R. ranifomis. Albumin immunological distance data suggest no differentiation between the two, and the green and golden bell frog evolutionally separated from the other two species about 1.1 million years ago.”
From the Wikipedia entry on the green and golden bell frog (GGBF)
Offsets
The GGBF faces steep population declines in the remaining habitat, and is listed as endangered in NSW, where threats to biodiversity are largely managed with an “offset” mechanism. The Biodiversity Offset Market puts a monetary value onto threatened species and their habitat, this can be used to draw up compensation deals. These values are known as “species credits” and given that the market has been established by government to facilitate development in environmentally sensitive areas, outcomes favour developers. The cost of offsets is never a deterrent to a major development because the rules will be altered in such cases. There’s been no recorded improvement in environmental outcomes using an offset scheme, for frogs or any other species, anywhere, ever.
The market price on endangered frogs fluctuates depending on supply and demand for sites to be destroyed versus sites that might potentially be saved. We could speculate that the price should also reflect frog population health and numbers, but it’s unlikely that populations are monitored sufficiently to establish if offsets are effective. When it rains do the prices go down as more frogs reproduce? When it’s dry do prices go up as frogs perish? As frogs head to extinction does the price reflect the intrinsic value of another lost species. Does any of this economic activity increase the extent of frog habitat? Probably not, but it provides job opportunities for biologists who might otherwise raise concerns about development threats.
According to wikipedia, only 40 sites remain where GGBFs can be found. However species credit market prices dealing in habitat loss continue to fluctuate. How is it that the habitat market offset price can rise and fall while habitat loss continues in one direction?
On the 11th Nov 2022 species credit price for the green and golden bell frog was $22,348. The most recent sale of GGBF species credits on 28th Oct 2024 was $1,651, a 93% fall in value, yet the underlying conservation concerns are as dire as ever, chytrid fungus and habitat destruction remain as major threats.
No one can properly explain the species market, but green and golden bell frogs remain endangered and have vanished entirely from 90% of its previous recorded range. Meanwhile several government enquires at state and federal level have established that the biodiversity offset market is a failed concept.
Wetlands
The key to conservation is protecting habitat. Wetlands provide habitat for frogs but are just as crucial for birds, and frogs provide protein for birds. It’s entirely possible for an endangered bird to eat an endangered frog, such are the complications of conservation and over reliance on a diminishing area of suitable habitat.
Kooragang Island is one of three East Australian Islands where GGBF are found, and also major industrial hub. In 1983 a Kooragang wetlands rehabilitation and nature reserve were formed. 1984 it was declared a Ramsar site of 2926 hectares.
“The Hunter Estuary Wetlands Ramsar site is extremely important as both a feeding and roosting site for a large seasonal population of shorebirds and as a waylay site for transient migrants. Over 250 species of birds have been recorded within the Ramsar site, including 45 species listed under international migratory conservation agreements. In addition, the Ramsar site provides habitat for the nationally threatened Green and Golden Bell Frog, Estuary Stingray and Australasian Bittern.” Aust Gov DCCEEW 2019
Best friends. Loyal and trustworthy. Optimistic. Friendly, intelligent and reliable.
Hard working sheep dogs with a way of worming their way into your heart, the Aussie Kelpie was long believed (but now questioned) to be related to or bred from Australian native dogs – dingoes.
“For much of the 20th century and early 21st century it was claimed that kelpies were partly descended from dingoes.[6] In 2019, it was widely reported[7][8][9] that a genomic study conducted by researchers from the University of Sydney indicated that the kelpie had no dingo ancestry[10] although this is still uncertain. Claire Wade, co-author of the study’s paper, said that she has never suggested there was “no dingo blood in the Kelpie breed” as the media reported.[11] Wade explained:
The genes studied in our analysis were specifically chosen because it is those aspects of Kelpies (the ears and the ginger/cream colours) that lead most everyday people to presume the relationship between Kelpie and dingo. The evidence of our study proves conclusively that, at least for those characteristics, there is no evidence for relationship to be found.[11]“
Learning to understand the many needs of an animal from a young age is beneficial for teaching empathy to children.
This print of his pet dogs Duke and Lou was designed by Frank Errington age 8.
Australian Kelpie cards 3 pack
Hand carved, hand printed onto hand made gampi and washi paper, mounted onto gift cards 100% recycled Australian made card. Colours vary. 19 x 12.5cm
Designed by Frank Errington
A$45.00
Border collie gift cards 3 pack
Hand carved, hand printed onto hand made gampi and washi paper, mounted onto gift cards.
12 x 12cm
Designed and carved by Jo Bradley
Bush stone curlews are largely nocturnal with large eyes to assist a life in low light. They favour open areas to forage and nest. Eggs laid directly on the ground are vulnerable to being eaten by predators. Nesting parents can adopt a range of strategies to protect eggs, the bush stone curlew relies on camouflage, as the name suggests. It’s able to strike a pose like a statue, sometimes lying flat on the ground, neck extended, looking like a stone. The eyes are partially closed when the curlew is intent on blending in, but flutter wide open if detected, with eye contact maintained while the bird attempts to distract attention from the nest.
The eggs are also speckled to blend in with the leaf litter and go unnoticed.
If a person should come too close to nesting curlews they will attempt to lead them away from the nest by hissing, strutting and flapping around with raised wings. Naturally time off the nest is not good for the eggs and stressful, stone-curlews would prefer to remain on the eggs. Stone-curlews in repeated contact with people have been observed to allow closer intrusion towards the nest.
Bush stone-curlew numbers are under threat in NSW where they are declared endangered. Feral foxes make an easy meal of ground dwelling birds.
Tom Kristensen 2024 ǂ
Bush stone curlew mini print and 5 card pack
One hand made Japanese woodblock mini print on hand made washi paper. Plus 5 facsimile cards with message to politicians. 19 x 12.5cm
A$45.00
Bandicoots mini print and 5 card pack
One hand made Japanese woodblock mini print on hand made washi paper. Plus 5 facsimile cards with message to politicians. 19 x 12.5cm
I watched that instagram post about CO2 that you sent to me. My thoughts are that I reckon you should read up on the nature of different gases. They’re interesting. CO2 works in a similar way to how the colour black absorbs more heat than white. CO2 absorbs infrared radiation. So like we need a certain amount of nutrients to maintain homeostasis, the ecosystems on the planet needs a certain amount of CO2 to maintain equilibrium. Human activity has shifted the equilibrium and ecosystems are changing because of that. There is some fascinating history in geological records that show different phases of the planet in relation to CO2 levels. Venus is lethal because the gases in its atmosphere cause extreme heat. I loved chemistry (I even went back to do some at uni after we met when we studied music together – what a nerd!) and I have no trouble accepting that releasing large amounts of CO2 changes the current equilibrium of earth. Ecosystems especially oceans are changing – to what, who knows? Maybe Antartica will have forests again? Try wikipedia on CO2
Yes, there’s definitely a lot of problems in this world with greed and cruelty. Rich and powerful people want to maintain that balance of power. Power comes from literally power – energy/ electricity etc. So yes there’ll be corruption associated anywhere there’s money and energy. But there’s no scientific conspiracy to lie about climate change to reduce CO2 just to take power away from fossil fuel companies.
I hope we can always keep talking…
Beautiful Woronora River January 2025
Temperature change in NSW by Tom Kristensen
Hand carved woodblocks and printed onto hand made Japanese washi paper.
Oban size 38 x 25cm
Horseshoe Crabs and Red Knot Endangered horseshoe crabs provide eggs for endangered shorebirds. Evolutionary storylines reaching back hundreds of millions of years are now in danger of ending with habitat destruction and ocean harvesting. The red knot is a medium sized migratory shore bird, it flies vast distances from breeding grounds in the north to winter feeding grounds in the south. The feeding areas are restricted to highly productive wetlands and sand flats on intertidal zones, places that are increasingly taken into human use, for agriculture and coastal property development. In the middle of the major migratory path from the Arctic tundra to the tip of South America the red knots make a vital stopover to feed on eggs of the horseshoe crabs. The extinction of horseshoe crabs through over-harvesting would likely cut off the migration path of the red knots. Other migration paths exist but all are under similar pressures.
20 x 20 cm, 1 Shina block, Water-washable oils (COBRA) on Nishinouchi washi with sumi sizing, edition 24 for Baren Exchange. Part of the Double Dagger series where two printmakers illustrate environmental themes
Tom Kristensen 2024 ǂ
Red knot and Horseshoe crabs lino print
Hand carved and printed by Tom Kristensen in the style of Ono Tadashige onto black hand made Japanese washi paper.
20 x 20cm
Migrates in flocks following nectar flow in ironbark woodland.
Major threat – land clearing.
Warragamba Dam Raising Project Offset* prices exceeded capacity for government to pay. Solution; reclassify flooding of honeyeater habitat as a temporary impact
•Offsets are deals done to allow for Destruction of the environment
As of 10th July 2023 the species credit price for Regent Honeyeater is $4,308.00.
With a range of brightly coloured species appearing during summer, the glittering Christmas beetles are most beloved of Australian insects.
The largest Christmas beetle species found in Sydney is the queen beetle which grows to 30 mm in length. Adults feed on eucalyptus leaves while the larval grubs feed on roots of grasses beneath. The beetles thrived in the open woodlands prior to clearing for expanding agriculture and housing. Loss of tree canopy means suburban areas no longer support the beetles that were enjoyed by children of past generations.
The decline of Christmas beetle numbers has prompted entomologists at the Australian Museum to open a citizen science project. An app provides taxonomic tips to help identify beetles. Sightings can be recorded to help establish the range of beetle populations.
The Queen Christmas Beetle is named for the green reflections glinting off the dark feet.
Woodblock print Hand carved and hand printed on handmade Japanese washi Tom Kristensen 2024 ǂ
Blue Christmas beetle deluxe folder card mini print
Hand carved and printed beetle and eucalyptus leaves folder. The beetle is mounted on gold paper with notes on a golden slip behind the beetle. An absolute favourite print, easy to display.
14 x 20cm (with folder closed)
A$150.00
Green Christmas beetle deluxe folder card mini print
Hand carved and printed beetle and eucalyptus leaves folder. The beetle is mounted on gold paper with notes on a golden slip behind the beetle. An absolute favourite print, easy to display.
14 x 20cm (with folder closed)
Tadashige Ono was born in 1909 near the end of the Meiji era; four decades of industrialisation and military expansion under the imperial eye of the emperor. Japanese military victory over China on the Korean Peninsula led to the Chinese revolution of 1911, overturning 2000 years of monarchy with the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Other revolutions in Russia and Germany saw the rise of more REDS.
Communist posters and pamphlets were illustrated with proletarian art, seemingly carved from wood with a pen knife. Woodblock art, historically dismissed as plebeian, was now authentically primitive. The young Ono entering art school was energetically criticising industrial development and capitalism, while leading fellow artists to mount group exhibitions and publish magazines. His early black and white work was crowded with figures; at work, on strike, partying. He produced a 50-page graphic novel illustrating “the death of three generations”, a pregnant mother is seen pushing a coal cart, then dying while giving birth in the mine. As his work became more colourful Ono depicted landscapes and village life; cats and birds predominate as silent witnesses while the people go about their daily lives. Scenic views of Japan and abroad combine with comments on pollution, wreckage and warfare. Ono was a respected scholar of prints and a bold innovator. He developed a technique enabling multicoloured prints to be made from a single block.
Champion of the Japanese print tradition, which had always produced affordable art for the masses, he worked in universities teaching the history of prints and passing on printmaking skills. Always producing prints at incredible speed, Qno encouraged others to join his print revolution. He mentored many important artists, including Kiyoshi Saito. Although a museum opened after his death in 1990, that museum has now sadly been deaccessioned, perhaps an indication of a lack of respect for a RED rabble rouser.
These 36 views are presented in the Sosaku Hanga tradition: self-carved and hand printed. This print was made from a Linoleum floor tile, Japanese gampi washi, and Royal Talens water-washable oils, and backed with Thai kozo chiri. The seal indicates the Double Dagger project; prints from collaborating artists on environmental themes: Australia is an island continent producing rivers of RED iron ore and black coal.
This print in answer to Ono’s Ume (fT:) – Sea 1959
Tom Kristensen
2024
Red Green Island by Tom Kristensen
Made in the style of Ono Tadashige on a single lino block.
25.5 x 20cm
Number 29 in Tom’s Green Island series, this print is about how increasing global temperature is changing to once very stable climates and locations.
A$150.00
Print by Tom KristensenBackingVerso of Red Green Island
Koala: Phascolarctos cinereus. Status: Endemic to Eastern Australia. Endangered in NSW, QLD & ACT.
Koalas are shy marsupials living in eucalyptus forests. They are fussy eaters with favourite trees and particular leaves they prefer to eat. Koalas are at home in the treetops, able to leap from tree to tree, they are safest when hidden in the canopy. Koalas need to keep moving to find suitable trees, water, and a mate. During fire koalas may flee or perish while climbing out of deadly heat and smoke.
Koalas were once widespread across eastern Australia, but half their forest has been cleared since settlement. Numbers have dropped alarmingly in recent decades with continuing deforestation and increasing habitat fragmentation. Climate change represents a significant ongoing threat. Broad-scale drought and fire kill large numbers of koalas and lack of habitat connectivity prevents repopulation by surviving koalas. The Australian Government declared koalas endangered across most of their range in 2023. The NSW Government advised that koalas are likely be extinct by 2050 without urgent action taken to protect them.
Governments hope to avoid the extinction of endangered biodiversity by developing an offset market, where developers pay dispensation for destroying natural areas. Fees known as “credits”, are assessed by the developer following formulas based on vegetation types. The monetary value of credits can be paid to the government Biodiversity Conservation Trust. Funds are used to employ ecologists who attempt to compensate for destroyed natural areas by adding benefit in other areas. It is also possible to buy species credits from another landholder who promises to protect biodiversity. Government has set up a market to buy and sell credits, the species credit price varies according to supply and demand. All offset schemes begin with habitat destruction but claim to deliver positive outcomes.
This pair of prints is stamped with the Double Dagger seal; artists working in collaboration illustrating environmental themes.
Joanna Bradley carved the joey print using 2 lino blocks, Sakura black on Shioji kozo washi. The gum leaf wrapper by Tom Kristensen from a single Shina block, Holbein gouache on vintage Yamato chiri.
Endangered by fire Joey koala lino and woodblock print
Hand carved and printed with baren Joey koala lino print 25.5 x 20cm
With beautiful woodblock print eucalyptus leaves wrapper 80 x 22cm (approx). Both prints are hand printed onto Japanese/Thai washi paper.
A$150.00
Joey koala lino and woodblock print
Hand carved and printed with baren Joey koala lino print 25.5 x 19cm
With beautiful woodblock print eucalyptus leaves wrapper 80 x 22cm (approx). Both prints are hand printed onto Japanese/Thai washi paper.
Horseshoe crab: Family: Limulidae Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Merostomata (legs attached to mouth) Species: Limulus polyphemus. Status: Four very similar species endemic to Eastern Americas and the Indo-pacific. Two species vulnerable to extinction in 2016.
450 million years ago horseshoe crabs were almost identical to horseshoe crabs living today. They pre-date the emergence of the woody plants that formed coal beds. Their closest modern relatives are spiders and scorpions. They have 10 legs, blue copper-based blood and 10 sets of eyes – including 2 photoreceptors in their tail.
Harvested for fertiliser, fishing bait, and for biomedical bleeding.
For years, HC were unprotected, shovelled up by the dump-truck load, crushed, and spread to fertilise fields in Delaware US. They are now protected in New Jersey, so after 10-year maturation in the Atlantic off Delaware Bay horseshoe crabs return to the beaches to mate.
Their only defence is their strong shell. The stingless tail is used for navigation and balance, their eggs and hatchlings are essential food for migrating Red knots, another endangered species.
Horseshoe crab blood contains proteins that react to the presence of bacteria forming a protective gel. Most people will have benefited from horseshoe crabs because their blood is used by the biomedical industry to detect positive gram bacterial contamination in vaccines and IV drugs. One litre of blue blood was worth about $16000 USD in 2020, “one of the most expensive resources in the world”
A synthetic alternative has been available for many years but it is even more expensive than the crab blood because of the high profits available and a patent protecting intellectual property.
This Double Dagger lino and woodblock print was made by Joanna Bradley in collaboration with Tom Kristensen who carved the coloured background wood blocks and helped research.
This print is about how human greed and disregard can drive the most resilient and biologically perfect creatures to the brink.
Horseshoe crab blood harvest
By Tom Kristensen and Jo Bradley
4 shina woodblocks hand carved and 1 lino block hand carved. Hand printed on Japanese washi paper using a baren
Largest Australian owl, and one of top ten largest in the world, the powerful owl with a wingspan of 2m, lives in old forests with tall trees and hollows along the Australian eastern coast from South Queensland, through Victoria and up to 200km inland.
Powerful owls prey on tree-dwelling marsupials like possums, Joey koalas, and gliders.
Their range can include urban areas beside bushland. Soft repetitive 2 long note calls at night.
Australian owls do not have feathered ear tufts or horns on their heads and with smaller head size relative to body, powerful owls and their much smaller cousins, southern boobooks, are described as hawk-owls.
Powerful owls are threatened by habitat destruction and poison baits. They are classified as vulnerable to extinction.
Jo Bradley 2022
Powerful Owl Burnum Burnum Sanctuary Sutherland 2022 by Matilda Bradley
Powerful owl print
by Tom Kristensen and Jo Bradley
3 hand carved shina blocks and one hand carved lino block hand printed with baren.
25.5 x 20cm
Greater Gliders, like Koalas, eat a diet of eucalyptus leaves. They are nocturnal, they depend on old growth forest, and sleep about 21 hours per day.
To stay safe from predators, such as Powerful Owls and Eagles, Greater Gliders use up to 20 different tree hollows in their range for sleeping and hiding.
The Black summer of 2019 was devastating for Australian wildlife, severely impacting Greater Glider numbers. This species has now been declared endangered and is headed towards extinction.
Catastrophic fire cannot be prevented, however another major threat to Greater Gliders is logging. Some Eastern states in Australia have committed to ending old growth forest logging, however government employed, and tax payer subsidised loggers continue to tear down Greater Glider habitat – Just to make wood chips and pulp.
Lino block carving
Endangered greater glider lino and woodblock print
By Tom Kristensen and Joanna Bradley
25.5 x 20cm hand carved lino and cherry. Printed by hand with a baren onto Japanese/Thai washi paper (also hand made)
photo credits 1-9 Tom Kristensen (often with Steve Anyon-Smith) 10-11 Mel Clarke
Introduction
There is a well-documented, widespread koala population in Sutherland LGA with 190 individually identified animals, roughly equivalent to the estimated population of koalas in Campbelltown LGA. The Macarthur district also has a bushfire management plan currently on exhibition, but there is a major difference… Macarthur identifies koala habitat as a focus area but Sutherland doesn’t.
Both federal and state governments list koalas as an endangered species in NSW. Key threats to koalas include drought, fire and habitat fragmentation. The management of fire in the landscape will be crucial to the survival of koalas as climate change drives extreme conditions in the bush. Managing fire risk has seen an increasing demand for more hazard reduction burns, but setting widespread frequent fires in koala habitat between the unavoidable fire seasons might be contributing to adverse ecological outcomes.
GovernmentTargets
The pressure from government to achieve large hazard reduction burn targets has put koalas in the way of unnecessary harm. While large-scale burning in remote bushland does deliver large HR targets it does little to protect housing. Indeed, frequent fire might be altering plant communities, decreasing the stock of koala feed trees and increasing the flammability of bushland. Frequent fire may suppress the cyclical recovery of koala populations, koalas need years to recover numbers after a bushfire. As a consequence, broad scale extinction may occur as a result of increasing local extinctions.
The koalas in the Sutherland shire belong to a larger population that extends west into Holsworthy military range and on to Campbelltown. These koalas are free of the chlamydial disease that affects other populations north and south. The close proximity of koalas to metropolitan Sydney should provide extra political incentive to manage their wellbeing. As the public becomes increasingly aware of the existence of nearby koalas more pressure will be placed on fire management to deliver strategies that work to protect koalas.
Fire Impacts on koalas
To be clear on the impacts of fires on koalas, it’s worth understanding how koalas have evolved to cope with bushfires. Koalas have excellent territorial awareness and may seek shelter near water and in caves. If the fire is approaching from one direction koalas are capable of moving ahead of a slow moving fire front. When overtaken by fire a koala is likely to climb a tall tree and attempt to sit it out. After a fire, surviving koalas will abandon burnt forest and attempt to resettle in unburnt habitat. Displaced koalas will be competing with other koalas and coping with the stress of surviving in unfamiliar territory.
To summarise, koalas can die directly from being burnt, from heat stress, from smoke inhalation or from longer-term decline from burns or airways injuries. Displaced koalas can then die from thirst, starvation, road strike or dog attack in attempting to establish new territory. The decline may take weeks or months to play out as koalas try to cope with the aftermath of the fire.
RFS Response
Sutherland RFS are concerned about koalas and have told the public about “having koalas top of mind in planning burns”. Unfortunately that concern is not yet developed in the draft bushfire risk management plan for Sutherland which only refers to the existence of an Area of Regional Koala Significance without defining where that area might be and how it might relate to fire planning. There are no specific measures for koala conservation mentioned in the draft plan
RFS recently delivered a set of assurances in announcing an extensive burn in Holsworthy Military Range. As reported by Kelly Fuller, Friday 8th September, on ABC Illawarra, the following promises were made regarding koalas:
“Koalas at forefront of planning for major hazard reduction burn in Sydney’s south west, RFS says” “Illawarra/Sutherland RFS acting manager David Barnett (sic) said a lot of planning had gone into preparing for the burn and it would be conducted along guidelines developed for threatened species. … So that means having a fire [with] a half to one- metre flame height and trying to keep … the upper canopy out of the fire. … The burn will be conducted from the northern edge of the identified area, southwards down each side. … What that does is it allows the koalas and other wildlife … to move out of the path of the fire – hopefully without getting burnt or anything – giving them the opportunity to get into refuge areas as well. … The RFS will use an aircraft with an infra-red camera to conduct a thermal heat survey. Firefighters on the ground will also use the cameras to conduct visual inspections. So if they see any koalas, their objective is to hold the burn until the koalas are able to move on – we won’t burn them out – we have got them front of mind.”
Such promises may be well-meaning but they are unrealistic and impossible to deliver. RFS are incapable of finding any meaningful fraction of koalas living in a burn area of 27 square kilometres. (See Figure 2) RFS volunteers have no training in finding koalas and have their hands full controlling an active fire. The proposal to deal with koalas on the day of the burn is equivalent to doing nothing.
Unfortunately RFS are also challenged in delivering a fire with a flame height between half and one metre. The intensity of fires delivered this season has exceeded the prescriptions in dramatic terms; with widespread heavy use of aerial incendiaries and thick black smoke plumes indicating intense fire. Post fire surveys also confirm that prescriptions were exceeded (see Appendix A & Figure 1)
Figure 1 Holsworthy HR burn smoke plumes
Bushfire Management Committee Response
I have previously been approached by RFS and Sutherland Shire Council to provide advice on koalas, and over the last two years I have offered numerous verbal briefings and written suggestions, and recent koala mapping information, to Sutherland RFS Hazard Reduction Burn Planning Team. This current submission should hopefully serve as a reminder of information already put before RFS and other members of the Bushfire Management Committee. The major landholders have all been made aware that they have koalas under their protection. Anyone is free to obtain information on the management of koalas from the NSW DCCEW koala team. Mapping of the known distribution of koalas in Sutherland is freely accessible on the Bionet database (See Figure 2)
Recommendations
Bionet records of koalas should be examined and included in burn plans
Burns in koala habitat should include surveys for koalas before and after burns
Bushfire Risk Management Committees should include an ecologist, or Technical Advisor Wildlife, able to advise the RFS Incident Management Team. That person should engage with the community on koala surveys.
Each burn in koala habitat should trigger a site report to inform future plans
Figure 2 Bionet koala records and Holsworthy HR burn
Appendix A
Koala Survey of Deepwater, Woronora Heights Before and after Hazard Reduction Burn of 15/7/23 Tom Kristensen for Sutherland Shire Council and others. 12/9/23
Introduction
This report presents evidence of koalas in the hazard reduction burn area known as Deepwater at Woronora Heights in Sutherland shire. The shire is home to a large population of koalas as established by broad survey work across a range of sites conducted in the last two years. Each site containing core koala habitat is an important piece in the map of koala occupancy with koala movements recorded between sites. The Deepwater site represents the end of koala distribution along the Woronora River and a staging area for population expansion into the Forbes Creek catchment to the southeast and Bangor to the northeast. See Map 1.
At least three koalas are known to use the Deepwater area. Recent sightings are of the large male, named Sydney Water. In February there was a sighting of a small sub-adult named Theo. It is assumed there is also a female using the area, mother to Theo.
Council inspections confirmed that koalas did occur in the area before and after the hazard reduction burn. Koalas have survived the burn but may now have moved away from the burn area. While the burn was generally of low intensity, important koala feed trees have also been killed in this burn. See Fig 3
Burn Area
Deepwater burn area covers the west facing slope below Woronora Heights down to the Deepwater Estate on the flats of Woronora River. The area within containment lines set out by formal fire trails covers 27 ha.
Following approaches from council and RFS in early July Tom Kristensen was asked to advise on koalas in the proposed burn area. Before the burn two site inspections were made with Kevin and Graham. Information was relayed to Phillip Rook, an RFS HR burn plan manager and member of Sutherland Bushfire Management Committee. Given feedback on koala occupancy the RFS burn plan was reduced in area from 27 ha to 20 ha. The burn was carried out by RFS on the weekend of July 15-16 with the lower section of the site where koalas were previously seen excluded from burning. See Map 1.
Map 1 Deepwater HR burn area Green base layer is extent of Grey gum forest, preferred feed tree for koalas Orange layer is the initial proposed Hazard Reduction burn areas for 2023 Grey layer is the Deepwater HR area that was actually burnt.
Research Team
Koalas are listed as endangered species under both the current state Biodiversity Conservation Act 2019 and federal EPBC Act 1999. Responsibility for managing koalas affects all land managers. Local koala conservation efforts are coordinated by Joe Stammers of the Southern Sydney Koala Management Team, DCCEEW. Photographs of koalas in the area were provided to council by Steve Anyon-Smith and Tom Kristensen (BSc ecology USyd) both active Bushcare volunteers at Sutherland Shire Council. Steve and Tom have been surveying koalas in Sutherland shire for last two years, building an ID guide for 180 individual koalas based on nostril patterns. Steve has been briefly contracted by council to find koalas.
Site inspections for council were conducted by Kevin Seymour, head of Bushcare, member of Bushfire Management Committee, now retired, and Graham Avery who is the Natural Areas Aboriginal Heritage Officer from the Bushland Unit under Open Space Operations at Sutherland Shire Council.
This survey of the Deepwater koala population is part of the Sutherland Shire Council’s Open Space Strategy 2021, and Delivery Program and Operational Plan 2022-2026. It falls to the Natural Areas Aboriginal Heritage Officer to help ensure that any of the threatened species including koalas and their habitats are protected during hazard reduction burns. Kevin has been the chief instigator of this report.
Bionet Records
Sighting records for two koalas at Deepwater have been entered onto Bionet. While it is assumed that Bionet is a primary tool for RFS and ecologists preparing burn plans, it is evident that Bionet cannot provide sufficient and timely detail to effectively manage koalas, cryptic creatures able to travel large distances. Knowledge of occupancy and the extent of core habitat requires additional survey work
Three council inspections at Deepwater occurred between July and September 2023. On each occasion koala scat was found which could have been used to file a Bionet record, however the cumbersome nature of Bionet outweighs the benefit derived from entering multiple scat records. Previous survey work in Deepwater had been carried out by Steve Anyon-Smith and Tom Kristensen who provide koala sighting data to the Koala Management Team, Jodie McGill at NPWS, and to Sutherland Shire Council. Each of these agencies has taken shared responsibility for entering some of the 465 sightings collected by Steve and Tom, with data for Deepwater bundled into this backlog. It seems that the work of entering data onto bionet is exceeding capacity and few entries appear in Sutherland for the year 2023.
Observations
Freshly burnt areas represent a unique opportunity to easily observe scat on a black background, with a clear timeline An inspection made on September 5 after the burn revealed extensive koala scat dropped in burnt areas, vindicating the decision to treat the area as occupied by koalas regardless of whether they were observed by RFS on the day of the burn. The scat was from at least two different animals given clusters of different sized scat. Besides koala scat the burnt areas revealed scat dropped by wallabies, brushtail and ringtail possums. See Figure 2
Sutherland koalas are most often seen occupying grey gums, Eucalyptus punctata, and these trees reveal the most claw scratches having a soft smooth bark. Based on sighting records the second most favoured trees are the Sydney peppermint, Eucalyptus piperita, which has a fibrous bark that is more difficult to read for scratches. After the burn clearly evident scat fields indicate that koalas, large and small, were favouring peppermints over grey gums in the burnt area. No fresh green scat was found, all scat was copper-coloured and estimated to be a month old.
Section of the burnt area reveal high canopy scorching and the collapse of large peppermints fully consumed by fire. Peppermints are particularly vulnerable to repeated fires due to their low branching trunk structure, which is easily “piped” by fire at the base. Given the preference by koalas for these trees future burn plans might take this susceptibility into account.
Photographs of a young sub-adult koala named Theo provide a good match with a public sighting of a koala found in the grounds of Woronora public school on August 30, six weeks after the burn. Theo was first seen sheltering in the turpentine grove at the northwestern corner of the site. To reach the school Theo may have used footbridge to cross the Woronora River, the only crossing available, or he may have swam over. Koalas are known to seek out new territory after a burn has affected the quality of habitat. The disruption of koalas after burning may take months to play out as koalas compete and explore for new territory.
Theo before burn sheltering in Cheese tree, Glochidian ferdinandi, a rainforest species inside the turpentine grove that stands in the western gully of Deepwater. Turpentine forest is classified as TEC, Threatened Ecological CommunityTheo at school. After burn in an Angohora costata across the river in the school grounds of Woronora Public – picture from school facebook page
Conclusions
This report is best understood if read together with the RFS burn plan which speaks to fire intensity and the Review of Environmental Factors regarding koalas. Fire intensity should be planned with a view to preserving koala habitat as well as avoiding immediate harm to koalas. The REF suggests burns will be held off if koalas are observed on site, this is clearly an inadequate precaution given that koalas are not easily observed. Koalas should be assumed to be present where there are clear signs and recent sightings.
More inspections and mapping will add to our understanding of koalas living in the area and help shape fire planning. It is hoped future surveys across the shire will be conducted before and after burning to build a broader knowledge base. Ideally knowledge of koalas would be easily accessible to be shared amongst land managers and others with an interest in conserving koalas.
There is a clear need for staff trained in ecology to co-ordinate further surveys and provide advise to land managers. It is also likely that increasing community awareness of koalas will drive a need for more community engagement by managing agencies.
Figure 2 Scat observed in burnt area, small sub-adult (top) and larger adult (below) Note leaf drop post-fire and seedling germination (top)Figure 3 Fire damage to koala- favoured peppermint trees
This written submission presents additional material to that put before the IPC via the electronic public hearing. I spoke about frogs and the need for independent scientific studies.
I am writing to oppose the proposal for expanding operations at the Russell Vale colliery. I am concerned that mining subsidence will continue to impact the ecology of the lease area through the draining of surface water and drawdown of groundwater in the upper slopes. These changes will have an adverse effect on Endangered Ecological Communities and raise the risk of catastrophic fire. I am further concerned that the planning process does not allow for adequate investigation of these impacts and that a Special Area set aside for the protection of water quality has now become a place where mining damage is concealed from independent scientific scrutiny.
I am aware that this proposal before the commission is for bordand pillar extraction rather than longwall mining, and that the predicted subsidence and ecological effects are said to be negligible. I have two concerns about the prediction of “negligible effects”. First, it is made despite the acknowledgment that there is more settlement yet to come from the previous longwall mining operations. Second, despite recording subsidence of 1.7 metres under upland swamps, the proponents have been unable to identify ANY previous effect on swamp ecology, guessing instead that changes observed are within natural variation. An alternative interpretation is that the monitoring methodology was insufficient to detect effects.
I have studied the recommendations of the IEPMC and I am not satisfied that the DPIE have paid sufficient regard to ecological issues as addressed in the Planning Secretary’s Final Assessment Report. I am not convinced the Revised UEP will result in only “imperceptible subsidence” as the Department assures us. Nonetheless the department has also recommended an increase in groundwater monitoring with the drilling of extra bores and placement of extra piezometers, recognising an inadequacy of past sampling. This engineering solution is but a single blunt tool to measure ecological outcomes, and it has failed in the past. The pattern of drying after subsidence covers the broader landscape and selective monitoring of sites will only tell a fraction of the story. The proponent has a poor history of identifying changes in the environment and there is no reason to expect a change in outlook; coal-miningcompanies are not in the business of identifying ecological problems.
There are various ways of investigating ecological change in the landscape. I have a belief in field research; carefully tracking the abundance and distribution of plants and animals while noting environmental changes.
I live in Maianbar inside the Royal National Park south of Sydney, on Dharawal country. I have a degree in ecology from the University of Sydney. I work on a citizen science project,studying frogs by pooling data from recordings made using a smart phone app. Two endangered frogs grab my attention most, the giant burrowing frog and the red-crowned toadlet. One is as large as an apple and the other is as small as a grape. One is a solitary creature filling an entire valley with a wailing trill on a rainy night, while the other is gregarious and chatty whenever there is water to enjoy. The giant burrowing frog has a larger southern range and is listed by both State and Federalgovernments as a threatened species, while the red-crowned toadlet exists in greater numbers; its range is tightly constricted to Sydney sandstone country and it has a State listing as a threatened species. Both frogs are dependent on upland water supplies; but both live principally outside of swamps, both also live within the lease area of the Russell Vale colliery. There is a possible third endangered frog, Littlejohn’s tree frog and a large faunal assemblage including the Giant dragonfly – also a threatened species, but for now I will concentrate on the one frog.
The red crowned toadlet, Psuedophryne australis is a tough little frog that might help us monitor the drying of the environment. It doesn’t cope with urbanization, but left alone, it does very well, coping with the adversity of drought and fire. Similar to the iconic alpine Corroboree frog, also in the genus Psuedophryne, a small dark frog with vivid yellow marking resembling body paint, the red-crowned toadlet wears striking red markings most obvious on the top of head.
After the recent drought ended, the local frogs started calling again, and some have been calling ever since. Red-crowns call day and night, continually advertising the presence of free water. As that water disappears, the calls dial down. The calling is done by the mature males, alerting widely dispersed females and sub adults to the availability of water, essential for reproduction.
The life cycle of a frog begins in water with an egg mass and then tadpoles start a race against time to produce legs and venture onto land. Red-crowns live in rudimentary burrows, which makes them a little cocky; unlike other more common frogs that fall silent as you approach, the red-crowns keep calling. Living in a burrow affords protection from predators and also protects them from desiccation. They also lay their eggs under shelter, giving their tadpoles that same protection. This ability to inhabit a burrow means these frogs can live in drier conditions, but it also means they need to site the breeding nests in a place that will be occasionally wet, so the common location is upstream where the water flow is not too heavy after rain. Red crowns are mostly found in the drainage lines that go on to form the creeks downstream.
If you were thirsty and looking for water you could do worse than listen out for red-crowns calling; the more reliable the water hole, the louder and more animated the calling will be. Ina large group, each frog takes a slightly different part and helpsbuild a distinct orchestral piece. As the water dries out after rain, only the most enduring water holes remain audible in the landscape. Usually these water holes will have a solid rock bottom; and often they are covered over with fallen debris and quite hidden from view.
Because they croak so readily, red-crowns are easily surveyed.Their changing calling patterns may provide valuable insight into the availability of water to a wider range of animals. Other frogs, small mammals, birds and reptiles will also drink and hunt from these hidden water holes. While the sound of frogs calling might reveal hidden water in the landscape, the lack of calls may reveal missing water. If frogs are unable to complete their breeding cycle due to insufficient surface water they will no longer be able to persist in the long-term. Mining related cracking depletes surface water and increases the rate at which ponds go dry. If rainfall no longer brings on the croaking of toadlets, that might reveal something of the condition of a landscape that is no longer periodically wet enough to support these hardy frogs.
Mining-induced cracking may be simulating drought conditions for our Endangered Ecological Communities; we may be running an unmonitored experiment. Cracking in upland sections of bush is off the radar compared to cracking of open creek beds. Cracking under the soil can go unnoticed. Disruptions in upland drainage lines may not be obvious sincewater is not normally visible in this environment. Monitoring of groundwater in swamps will miss effects that are felt in the drier slopes surrounding the swamps. The lack of water is not just a problem for the persistence of threatened species; it is an existential problem for people.
As a member of the Rural Fire Service I have seen the consequences of uncontrolled wildfire first hand. These extreme fire events, as witnessed only last summer, are not of the same class as bushfires; crown fires exceed tree canopy heights by multiples, fire propagates in unforeseen directions, and unique cloud formations draw winds in that feed the conflagration. After the fire has finished, the recovery response of vegetation is often crippled; stands of gum trees that would once have sprouted with vivid epi-cormic growth remain dead, shrubs that would have re-sprouted from the base remain dead, and seeds that would have germinated have been incinerated. Animals are likewise obliterated. This catastrophic damage does not account for the entire fire ground, there are still islands of green and larger burnt areas that will fully recover, but there are also the dead zones. The extent of these areas is determined by fuel factors and weather conditions. Where there is sufficient groundwater the vegetation will hold higher moisture content and burn with less intensity. Water retained in the environment is the best preventative for fire damage.
There are important questions to be answered about ecology and the disruption of water supply by coal mining in the protected Special Areas. I would ask the Panel to consider facilitating access to this lease area by ecologists other than those hired by the proponent. I propose further study of red-crowned toadlets as an indicator species for the drying environment. The protection afforded by Special Area status should not be used to shield mining operators who can make the unimpeachable claim that they are having a “negligible effect” on the environment. If we don’t look we wont see, and if we don’t listen for the frogs we wont hear them either.
What’s a koala worth? Just suppose you were responsible for looking after koala habitat, but you decided to gather royalties from the land by leasing it out to mine coal, koalas would be moved on. Is there a price you could charge the mine operator to compensate for the death of the dispossessed koalas? As it so happens there is such a scheme in New South Wales and prices start as low as $345. Bargain! This is the ‘spot price’ of a single ‘species credit’, an IOU for a dead koala, or part there-of. It’s a win-win, the miner makes money from coal and the government picks up a little extra cash for dead koalas. And where do you go to get your dead koala dispensation? The DPIE – Department of Planning, Industry and Environment. Note that ‘Environment’ is subordinate to Planning and Industry. There is a senior planning minister and there is a junior environment minister but only the senior minister has control of a department. (EDIT: DPIE was changed to DPE under Matt Kean and then DCCEEW under Penny Sharpe)
The price of threatened species on the biobank spot market.
The history is dry but it is important; through the evolution of management structures patterns emerge; intractable environmental problems are smoothed over while the need for planning consent is promoted. One constant is the word ‘biodiversity’, it encompasses the idea of ‘nature’ – and all the drawers full of stuff in the natural history museum, the mineral specimens, the bugs and bird pelts, and all that footage in David Attenborough’s back room. There is the stuff we admire and there is the stuff we use to get rich by turning into other stuff; koalas into coats, logs into timber, coal into steam, ore into metal. The trick is to protect the diversity of the natural world and simultaneously extract value from it. The problem is that all this stuff is tangled together; the birds need the bugs, and the koalas need the trees, and the trees need the rocks, and so on. Managing biodiversity might be seen as a project of ‘sustainability’, keeping things as they are, or it might be an exercise in accountancy, moving assets around to maximum advantage, like opening an offset savings account.
There develops a list of negatives that attach to offset methodology, ways in which offsets are inadequate and ways in which the offset process can be corrupted. These weaknesses could be addressed over time or they could develop further, in NSW the weaknesses have proliferated. The Nature Conservation Council released a report in 2016,
The idea of the biodiversity offset was developed in the USA in the 1970s as a way to recreate natural settings. One section of river could be dammed and developed for urban expansion after the river was diverted into nearby farmland. If the newly established river banks were properly replanted it would be an adequate offset for the missing original section of river. To the casual observer this is a marvellous trick, a sleight of hand where a coin can disappear from the hand to reappear behind your ear. With skill it seems possible to produce something new that is just as good as that which has disappeared. The reality is that the new river is an artifice, it is redirection, like the magic trick it relies on a lapse in attention, you may not notice that which has gone missing. Once large trees have been removed it may seem that the young saplings are a reasonable replacement. The assumption is that everqything important will be transported along with the conceptual urge to recreate. In NSW the recent decision to clear koala habitat to allow for an expanding quarry site is justified by providing nearby offset land, yet to be planted with koala feed trees.
2. The Unseen Losses
The example of redirecting a river is one type of active intervention where the water might heal the landscape. Aquatic plants and animals can move with the water to inhabit the new offset site. The water itself will draw life to relocate. Some features will be left behind, the stream bed, the roots of ancient trees, the animals that burrow in these roots perhaps an ideal habitat for particular rare species like a platypus. Other environmental factors might flow from diverting water, the turbidity and salinity might increase. It would take a particularly dedicated level of scrutiny to assess these possibilities and to monitor the changes over time. Perhaps the expense of close scrutiny is not the first priority of those seeking development consent. Mining destroys ancient underground rivers that are home to fragile undiscovered subterranean animals known as the stygofauna and troglofauna, it might be convenient to destroy these unseen life forms without first looking for them.
3. Switching Near and Far
Another scenario, besides the moveable river, common in NSW is the clearing of land for housing development. Here an offset site may be another block of land that is not adjacent to the development site. Koalas are victim to this type of offset planning, trees that are felled in an area with enough forest to support a viable koala colony cannot be offset by other trees that are not connected to that area. The ‘connectivity’ value of a particular site can’t be offset by a similar disconnected site. Fragmented landscapes occur over large scales and they die a death of a thousand cuts. Smaller blocks have greater edge effects . Koalas are nomadic and capable of crossing open ground to find fresh trees, but they are also extremely vulnerable to dog attack and car strike. Fragmented landscapes are criss-crossed with roads and fences, urbanisation brings disruption and danger.
4. The Liability of Responsibility
Offsetting is best defended where it is used to protect and remediate sites that have unrecognised biodiversity values that are very similar to the development site. This is the ‘like-for-like’ exchange. Taking the example of woodland forest, it’s possible for farmland to revert to woodland over time. Even though it had been cleared for grazing there exists a seed bank within the soil, rare and endangered plants may resume their place in the understory. Given the passage of decades large trees may grow, and the cleared farmland earmarked for housing may now have high biodiversity value. Clearing that land for a second time might be in breach of conservation laws, and the property speculator may feel aggrieved that a real estate investment had been thwarted by the unwanted regrowth. One solution for the wary landholder is to continually keep the land cleared so that it never attracts unwanted attention, another solution is to make revegetated land available as an offset to another development. This is the crux of recent squabbling within the NSW government, land gaining value for housing development is also land supporting koala populations.
5. Halving of Assets
Take a moment to recognise the planning paradox of awarding offset credits to landholders with valuable biodiversity assets; that value is only realised if there is a market demand for the credits, meaning a similar area of land with similar assets will be cleared. This is the mathematics of decline, one block is saved when another is cleared. In accounting terms this is known as a net loss. Notice how easily the economic parlance of assets and values becomes attached to environmental attributes, and appreciate how the apprehension of damage can drive those values; increasing scarcity creates value. The concept of biobanking incentivises scarcity. When koalas are relatively common there is no incentive to protect them, by the time they are endangered their value as a tradable commodity will not protect them.
6. Temporary Perpetual Stewardship
Stepping back again, let’s also recognise the inevitable question, what happens when the offset block is required for another housing estate? In theory the ‘stewardship’ of offset land is a responsibility carried ‘in perpetuity’, – for ever and ever. In practice the offset steward is given a modest upfront payment that shortly dwindles to a pittance. Perhaps there is money to build a fence to protect a koala colony, but that fence will not be maintained. Small stewardship fees will disappear while the profits offered by development will remain a continual lure to alter the stewardship agreement. We can guess that ‘perpetual’ stewardship is highly unlikely and is more accurately described as ‘temporary’. The use and abuse of language to support the illusory benefits of offset methodology is revealing; positive outcomes are assumed to flow from positive language.
7. Avoidance of Avoidance
Offsetting is presented as a measure of last resort. The planning mantra is that offsetting should only be used as the last resort after reasonable attempts have been made to avoid doing damage, or repairing any damage done. Avoid, Mitigate, Offset. In reality the temptation to slip through to the offset mechanism is irresistible. If avoiding an adverse impact is seen to affect the profitability of a project that alone is reason to skip the avoidance requirement. Mitigation of damage is only considered necessary where it can be demonstrated to be cost effective, and making good irreparable damage is a fruitless promise best put to one side. Some effort will be made towards cosmetic remediation – a strip of trees along a roadside or ridge line to create the appearance of forest, or cracks filled in a stream bed to give the impression of an intact watercourse. These measures are designed for the corporate prestige rather than environmental benefit. By far the cheapest approach to gaining consent is to promise offsets. Offsets are preferred because they deliver the highest profits, the only reason to abandon offsets is again where the cost becomes prohibitive, but where the proponent controls the assessment process the costs are also managed.
8. The Cost of Consulting
The BAM – Biodiversity Assessment Methodology is entirely transparent, all the information is online. It has been designed so that any landholder can engage. Like a tax return the integrity of homework may be subject to audit, or not. For those developers seeking a smooth path to development consent there are offset consultants who will work to drive down your biodiversity assessment costs. Like any accountant there are fees to be paid for handling the paperwork and delivering the lowest return. Like taxation law, the BOP – Biodiversity Offset Policy is full of detail that can be used to the advantage of the developer and against the environment. These consultancies employ ecologists, people who may have hoped to protect biodiversity are now paid by clients to reduce that responsibility.
9. Compliance and Corporate Culture
Offset planning provides a theoretical pathway for responsible development, but it can be instructive to see how the planning process plays out in reality. Large corporations have the political and financial resources to extract maximum advantage by ‘gaming the system”. With a coal mining project the timeline begins with establishing a mining lease., either on crown land or private property. This initial step carries the potential for corruption with the windfall profits to be made from assigning mining rights. With exploration begins the flow of revenue to the government and also begins the environmental destruction; roads are built, holes are drilled, explosions set off underground. The commercial arrangement develops where the mining company pays the DPIE to accept its own assessment of the damage to be done. The unseemly haggling to minimise the declared damage and drive down the cost of offsets will carry on for years up until such time as the mine is no longer profitable. When the flow of money dries up the cost of the damage becomes an unfunded problem for the future.
10. Adaptive Management
Planning approval to proceed with a mining project is subject to conditions of consent including a negotiated offset package. Each threatened species and threatened community will have an individual tally of required species credits based on formulas that have been assessed and calculated by offset consultants working for the proponent. The ‘retirement’ of those offsets may be decided in time on review of ‘performance criteria’ subject to ongoing monitoring and ‘adaptive management’. For instance, a drained upland swamp may be deemed to retain some biodiversity value and only subject to partial offsets. A Koala may be found wandering the carpark looking for missing trees and taken as proof that impacts are not so bad after all.
11. Capture of Conservationists
When site-based offsets are recognised as an impossible task in a finite world of dwindling biodiversity assetts the time comes to offer up cash to the Biodiversity Consevation Fund. The species credits have a dollar value for this precise purpose; to provide developers an escape from the real world of conservation. Those conservation biologists not working in the offset consultancy industry are now caught in the net of seeking funding that derives from development. Naturally the discretion of funding approval may be linked to the interests of the source of that funding.
12. Buying Bureaucrats
The arcane intricacies of Biodiversity Offset Policy BOP gives power to a small number of closely involved players with sufficient knowledge to navigate the system. The career path of those involved may begin within government and proceed to contracts outside government in consultancy work or other business positions in land development. In truth it is never clear on whose behalf the public servant is working while seeking to smooth the planning process. Legislative obstacles that are impediments to cash flow affect the motivation of government employees and enterprise, the issue of conflict of interest becomes very murky as consultants re-enter the employ of government while also working in the private sector. The distinction between service in the public and private sectors is lost.
13. Limitless Power
By exerting control and capture of all parts of the planning process; removing antithetical government agencies, replacing legislation, defunding political opposition – the planning minister has control of a monolithic structure that yields only to political instruction. The entire organisation is entirely transparent, except when it isn’t. The appointment of experts onto panels of Enquiry, the appointment of Commissioners onto public panels, the appointment of judges into the Land and Environment Court – all these political decisions direct the process and the outcome.
Conclusion
Some of the preceding guff may help explain the decision by the DPIE to sanction mining in the Sydney water catchment, while justifying the destruction as a net benefit to both water and biodiversity resources. The 39 species credits that attach specifically to koalas – from the clearing of 28 hectares and the de-watering of 940 hectares of koala habitat – will bring in the princely sum of $29,055, payable after further challenge by the proponent South 32. None of this reflects on the good standing of BHP, the Big Australian who acquired the mining lease, secured planning permission and then divested the assert to offset damage to their corporate reputation. Green washing and aspirational offsetting allow the semblance of conservation, while the reality is that the destruction continues unabated. Time to call a spade a spade and offload an offset methodology built and maintained by developers. Offsetting does contain the germ of a good idea, to make the best of a bad situation, but it is now no more than having your cake and eating it too.
the price of a koala species credit from the NSW biobank
Afterword
The IPC, Independent Planning Commission, were required to review the DPIE sponsored plan by South32 to expand the Dendrobium coal mine, and they rejected the proposal. The use of offsets had finally exceeded the capacity of forgiveness for bullshit. Until… Mark Latham conspired with Labor to wedge the planning minister, but that’s another story.
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